J. P. K. Kritizinger - Medical Terminology for Students of the Health Professions

The lifeblood of every scientific specialised subject field is the language it uses to name its concepts with a view to meaningful communication within that field. Without communication the subject would be isolated, and development would inevitably and eventually cease, resulting in its demise.

A specialised subject field requires its own terminology, i.e. vocabulary specially designed for the subject.

In this regard the subject field of the health and veterinary sciences is no exception. As one of the oldest sciences developed by man, its terminology has been established over many centuries as far back as classical Greek and Latin, the two languages which today form the basis of the terminology used in modern health and veterinary sciences.

A course in medical terminology provides the student with a key to unlock this specialised language, often regarded as incomprehensible by the uninitiated. In the process of teaching and learning, the student develops

• an appreciation for the language of medicine
• a curiosity about the meanings and origin of medical and veterinary terms
• a more meaningful assimilation of terminology
• less dependency on medical dictionaries
• an appreciation for related vocabularies, such as zoology and medical entomology, and aspects of botany, pharmacy, biochemistry and endocrinology.

It is the sincere wish of the authors that this book will contribute to making the students studies in the health and veterinary sciences a meaningful experience.

JH Meiring
October 2017

TERMIN-/-o-/LOG-/-y
The English word terminology literally refers to a study (-logy) of terms (TERMIN-). The Latin verb terminare means to set bounds to or to mark off by boundaries. Terminus was also the name of a Roman deity presiding over boundaries.

The English words term, terminal, terminate, terminus, determine, and determinism are among the derivatives of these Latin words.

Since prehistoric times man has, in one way or another, been involved in exercising ways and means to deal with disease. In primitive times this varied from using plants, herbs and vegetables to heal; to trying to extract the evil disease-causing intruder from the body.

Recorded history dawned when the calendar was established and writing was invented. These events also made recording the history of medicine possible. Medicines fascinating history has been documented from ancient times until today and covers the early Babylonian and Egyptian medicine, traditional medicine and surgery in the Orient (India, China, Japan), early Greek and Roman medicine, Arabian teaching of medicine, and eventually the phenomenal developments in medicine in modern times.

Modern medicine is, in many respects, indebted to developments in medicine during the Greek and Roman period. The Greco-Roman period in the history of medicine was marked by personalities whose influence on the development of medicine was invaluable.

Asclepios, who lived about 1200 bce , is said to have performed many miracles of healing. After his death he was deified and was worshipped in temples throughout Greece, where many people claimed to have been cured.

It was, however, the work of the early Greek philosophers rather than the priests of Asclepios that led people to refuse to be guided by superstition when seeking the reasons for illness and disease. During the sixth and fifth centuries bc , Pythagoras and Empedocles taught them to seek the strange ways of nature for themselves. They prepared the way for