Medical Lingo / Abbreviations Trivia

31. When a doctor writes that an order be given PRN, when does he want the order given?

From Quiz Medical Terminology 101

Answer: as needed

Most orders for pain medication are written to be given PRN. If a doctor wants a medication given immediately, it will be a STAT order. Q 2-3h is the term for every 2-3 hours. BID is the order for twice per day.

From Quiz Medical Terminology in 10 Easy Lessons

Answer: suffix

Lesson 2: Suffixes. Most medical terms are made up of word parts - these are prefixes, suffixes, and roots. We also use "combining vowels" (more about them later) to link word parts together. These word parts are used as "building blocks" to create medical terms. Each word part in a medical term has a specific meaning and function. The basic definition of a medical word is the sum of the meanings of each of its parts. For example, in the word mammogram, -mamm- or mamm/o means breast and -gram means x-ray so a mammogram is an x-ray of the breast. Suffixes are word parts that go at the end of the word. They provide context - they tell us what is going on. In the example of mammogram, the -gram on the end indicates that a medical procedure is involved. Suffixes usually have a meaning that indicates a medical condition, symptoms (such as pain), or a procedure. They can also indicate a medical instrument, a person or an area of study. In addition to having a specific meaning, the suffix serves a grammatical function in that it indicates whether the word is a noun, verb, adjective or other part of speech.

From Quiz Just What the Doctor Ordered

Answer: thermometer

Thermometers can be used to measure a patient's temperature by being placed either under the tongue or armpit, or by being inserted into the rectum. The first medical thermometer is credited to Santorio Santorio in 1612. Other doctors would use them in the 18th century and found that the progress of an illness correlated to temperature. These thermometers were large and took quite a bit of time to capture a reading. It was Sir Thomas Allbutt who invented a portable thermometer (able to read a patient's temperature in about five minutes) in 1867.

From Quiz Medical Abbreviations

Answer: Stroke

A CVA can be a catastrophic occurrence to anyone who suffers from such an incident. A CVA is caused by the blood flow to your brain being interrupted causing confusion, weakness, dizziness and trouble seeing. Another medical emergency called TIA, or "transient ischemic attack", is very similar to the CVA. This is considered to be a mini stroke. The difference between the TIA and CVA is that, often, the TIA is caused by a blockage, usually a blood clot, that is only temporary. With the TIA there is no brain damage as with the CVA. There is little difference in the symptoms so time is of the essence. Call the medical emergency number immediately when any symptoms appear to prevent further damage.

From Quiz Medical Prefixes, Suffixes and Medical Terms

Answer: Within or inner

Medical terms that begin with "endo" refer to the inside or within the body. This might include hormones, thyroid and the pancreas. Other examples include endoskeleton and endometriosis.

From Quiz The Moon's a Balloon

Answer: Edema

Edema is swelling in the tissues, causing "puffy" ankles, legs, abdomen, face or whatever. Even plants can get edema. Susan is a little overweight, and fast food does contain a lot of salt, which can make the problem worse. She should see her doctor, because although edema is usually nothing, it can be a sign that something is wrong. If everything checks out okay, Susan can wear special support stockings, and get up and move around several times a day, to reduce the puff. Psoriasis is a skin condition, effusion is escape of fluid, and cumulus are puffy clouds.

From Quiz Take this Quiz PRN

Answer: before meals

AC in Latin terms translates to "ante cibum". If you see PC on a medication label that would stand for "after meals".

From Quiz For the Medical Savvy

Answer: Bed sore

The decubitis ulcer is often seen in bed-ridden patients in hospitals and nursing homes. It is caused by pressure where the patient is unable to change position.

From Quiz Doctor Who?

Answer: circulatory & lymphatic systems

From the Greek 'angeion', angiology is the better known in the USA as vascular medicine. An angiologist is trained in the preventing, diagnosing and treating vascular and blood vessel related diseases. Study of the gastrointestinal & digestive tract -- gastroenterology. Study of the respiratory system -- pulmonology. Study of the urinary tract -- urology.

From Quiz What's The Real Diagnosis?

Answer: Urinary tract infection

UTI is a collective term which refers to infection occurring anywhere along the urinary tract which include kidney, ureter, urinary bladder or urethra. Bladder infection, which is more common, is referred to as cystitis whereas infection of the kidney for example, is called pyelonephritis. UTI is more common in women than in men partly due to the close proximity of the urethral opening to the anus and vagina, as well as the shortness of the urethra in the female, in comparison to the urethra in the male. As a man advances in age however, if he develops hypertrophy of the prostate gland, his incidence of UTI increases due to retention of urine and stasis which allows for proliferation of bacteria.

From Quiz When the Doctor Says....III

Answer: He needs abdominal surgery

Pressing the hand into the abdomen slowly and releasing it quickly will elicit a very painful response, usually with the patient jerking if there is evidence of infection in the abdominal cavity, as with a ruptured appendix.

From Quiz What - Ectomy?

Answer: Stomach

A gastrectomy can be either a partial or complete removal of the stomach. They are performed for the treatment of cancer or anything that perforates the stomach wall, the most common being a perforated ulcer. It used to be used as a treatment for peptic ulcers but these are now treated with antibiotics since the discovery that they are usually caused by a bacteria called helicobacter pylori. This discovery was made by two Australians, pathologist Robin Warren and physician Barry Marshall, who both received the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 2005 for their work on this.

From Quiz Medical Test Abbreviations and Acronyms

Answer: PT/INR

PT/INR is a Prothrombin Time/International Normalized Ratio test. Doctors mainly look at the INR and if it is greater than 3.0, they usually hold that day's dose of Coumadin. A PTT is a Partial Thromboplastin Time and is usually ran while a patient is on Heparin therapy (They have a "heparin drip" which is continuous IV) A PTT is ordered every 6 hours until 3 consecutive therapeutic levels are reached, then they're ordered every 12 hours. A CBC is a Complete Blood Count as described in question one (1). A BMP is a Basic Metabolic Panel, which has the your basic electrolytes levels in your blood.

From Quiz A Glance through a Medical Lexicon

Answer: Sheath

The plural is thecae indicating a Latin origin.

From Quiz Medical Terminology A-Z (Part 3)

Answer: Rhegma

Rabiate- Having rabies; rabid. Rugine- File used in surgery, especially to trim bone surface. Rimula- A tiny fissure, slit, or crack of the brain or spinal cord. Rhegma- A rupture, tear, or fracture.

From Quiz Medical Terminology A-Z (Part 2)

Answer: Jugum

Jactatio - restless tossing of the head and body during illness. Jelly - a thick, gel-like mass or substance. Jugalar - relating to the veins of the neck. Jugum - a deep furrow between two points.

From Quiz Medical Terminology A-Z (Part 1)

Answer: Barognosis

Bacca- A berry. Bilobate- Having 2 lobes. Barism- Any number of symptoms caused by ingestion or internal use of borax or any boron compound.

From Quiz Medical suffixes and their meanings

Answer: suture

Herniorrhaphy, for example, means to repair a hernia by stitching, or suturing, it.

From Quiz Medical Meanings: Names of Diseases

Answer: leprosy

The name leprosy comes from the Greek word "lepros" meaning "scaly, rough or mangy". However, it is thought that the disease which we know as leprosy today may not actually be the same disease that the ancient Greeks called leprosy. They may have been referring to psoriasis. Leprosy is also known as Hansen's disease because Gerhard Hansen, a Norwegian doctor, discovered the bacteria (Mycobacterium leprae) which caused the disease.

From Quiz Derogatory Medicine

Answer: Morbid

A person who is either 100 pounds overweight or who has a body mass index (BMI) of greater than 40, is referred to as morbidly obese.  BMI equals a person's weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared. (BMI=kg/m2).

From Quiz What Does All of this 'Medical Terminology' Mean?

Answer: the brain

The combining form cephal/o does mean head, but encephal/o means brain. This is a record of the electricity in the brain.

From Quiz When the Doctor Says ... II

Answer: A stomach feeding tube

Specifically, it refers to placement of a feeding tube between the skin of the abdomen and the stomach, rather than one inserted in the nose or mouth. It is called a Percutaneous Endoscopic Gastrostomy.

From Quiz When the Doctor Says ... I

Answer: An unblocking of the male urinary tract

It stands for "TransUrethral Resection of Prostate". It might also be done to biopsy the prostate on suspicion of cancer.

From Quiz Eponyms in Medical Terminology

Answer: colour blindness

Daltonism is named after John Dalton, an English physician and chemist. Dalton was the first person to identify and study colour-blindness. Dalton and his brother were both colour-blind so his interest was natural. However, he is more famous for being the founder of atomic theory - the premise that all matter is made up of small indivisible particles called atoms.

From Quiz Medical Terminology for Malingerers 2

Answer: stye

Hordeolum is Latin for "little barleycorn" because a stye was thought to resemble one.

From Quiz Medical Terminology for Malingerers

Answer: "tummy rumbles"

Borborygmi are "tummy rumbles" or the audible gurgling sounds made in the abdomen by the passage of gas through the liquid contents of the intestine. They are quite normal. This medical term comes from the Greek word "borborygmos" which means "growling bowels".

From Quiz That's What The Dentist Said.....

Answer: Temporomandibular Joint

This long-winded term, the temporomandibular joint, is the union of the jaw to the skull (the temporal bone of the cranium 'temporo-' with the mandibular condylar head) -- creating a joint which helps open and close our mouths. An articular disk divides the joint. This disk may become inflamed or stressed by chewing function to where there is pain in the joint.

From Quiz Medical Terminology

Answer: An elevated body temperature

Latin for Febris, or fever.

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Last Updated Oct 24 2026 5:48 AM

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