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Medical terms glossary page 3

Medical terms explained in plain English. 2,035 words and meanings, most familiar first.

Word	Meaning
prescribe verb	To order (a drug or medical device) for use by a particular patient (under licensed authority).
accelerator noun	A muscle or nerve that speeds the performance of an action.
accommodation noun	The adjustment of the eye to a change of the distance from an observed object.
frail adjective	In an infirm state leading one to be easily subject to disease or other health problems, especially regarding the elderly.
booster verb	To give a booster shot to; to boost.
ulcer noun	An open sore of the skin, eyes or mucous membrane, often caused by an initial abrasion and generally maintained by an inflammation and/or an infection.
hysteria noun	A mental disorder characterized by emotional excitability etc. without an organic cause.
miscarriage noun	The spontaneous natural termination of a pregnancy, especially before it is viable; the fatal expulsion of a foetus from the womb before term.
herpes noun	A viral infection, caused by Human alphaherpesvirus 1 and Human alphaherpesvirus 2, marked by painful, watery blisters in the skin or mucous membranes or on the genitals.
ointment noun	A viscous preparation of oils and/or fats, usually containing medication, used as a treatment or as an emollient.
aneurysm noun	An abnormal blood-filled swelling of an artery or vein, resulting from a localized weakness in the wall of the vessel.
neurotic adjective	Useful in disorders of, or affecting, the nerves.
insomnia noun	A sleeping disorder that is known for its symptoms of unrest and the inability to sleep.
recession noun	A procedure in which an extraocular muscle is detached from the globe of the eye and reattached posteriorly.
infectious adjective	Able to infect others.
anesthesia noun	An artificial method of preventing sensation, used to eliminate pain without causing loss of vital functions, by the administration of one or more agents which block pain impulses before transmitted to the brain.
traction noun	A mechanically applied sustained pull, especially to a limb.
migraine noun	A severe, disabling headache, usually affecting only one side of the head, and often accompanied by nausea, vomiting, photophobia and visual disturbances.
graft noun	A portion of living tissue used in the operation of autoplasty.
vegetation noun	An abnormal verrucous or fibrinous growth
moderate adjective	More than mild, less than severe
shiver noun	A bodily response to early hypothermia.Wp
slipper noun	A kind of bedpan urinal shaped somewhat like a slipper.
termination noun	An induced abortion.
diagnostic adjective	Characteristic of a particular disease.
acoustic noun	A medicine or other agent to assist hearing.
occult adjective	Secret; hidden from general knowledge; undetected.
murmur noun	The sound made by any condition which produces noisy, or turbulent, flow of blood through the heart.
transfusion noun	The transfer of blood or blood products from one individual to another.
blockade noun	Inhibition of the activity (function) of chemical messengers or their receptors, such as (often) receptor antagonism.
repressed adjective	Showing the suppression of emotions or impulses.
gauntlet noun	An eruption of pellagra on the hands.
schizophrenia noun	A psychiatric diagnosis denoting a persistent, often chronic, mental illness characterised by abnormal perception, thinking, behavior and emotion, often marked by delusions.
scrubbed adjective	With hands washed according to operating room protocol and wearing sterile gown and sterile gloves.
chemotherapy noun	Any chemical treatment intended to be therapeutic with respect to a disease state.
locally adverb	In a restricted part of the body.
chandelier noun	An endoilluminator used in eye surgery.
exclude verb	To eliminate from diagnostic consideration.
taxis noun	The manipulation of a body part into its normal position after dislocation or fracture.
measles noun	An acute and highly contagious disease which often afflicts children caused by the virus Measles morbillivirus and causing red rashes, fever, runny nose, coughing, and red eyes.
benign adjective	Not posing any serious threat to health; not particularly aggressive or recurrent.
dialysis noun	Utilization of this method for removal of waste products from the blood in the case of kidney failure: hemodialysis or peritoneal dialysis.
recipient noun	An individual receiving donor organs or tissues.
complication noun	A disease or diseases, or adventitious circumstances or conditions, coexistent with and modifying a primary disease, but not necessarily connected with it.
anesthetic noun	A substance administered to reduce the perception of pain or to induce numbness for surgery and may render the recipient unconscious.
anthrax noun	An acute infectious disease of herbivores, especially sheep and cattle, caused by Bacillus anthracis.
unofficial adjective	Not listed in a national pharmacopeia etc.
stasis noun	A slackening or arrest of the blood current, due not to a lessening of the heart’s beat, but to some abnormal resistance of the capillary walls.
fester noun	A sore or an ulcer of the skin.
gauze noun	A similar bleached cotton fabric used as a surgical dressing.
rigor noun	A feeling of cold with shivering accompanied by a rise in body temperature.
rupture noun	A break or tear in soft tissue, such as a muscle.
psychiatry noun	The branch of medicine that focuses on mental and behavioral health by subjectively diagnosing, treating, or preventing mental disorders (mental illnesses) and behavioural conditions.
relapse verb	To recur; to worsen, be aggravated (after a period of improvement).
calculus noun	A stony concretion that forms in a bodily organ.
therapeutic noun	A therapeutic agent
prospective adjective	A study that starts with the present situation and follows participants into the future
ventilator noun	A machine that moves breathable air into and out of the lungs of a patient who is unable to breathe sufficiently.
malignant adjective	Tending to produce death; threatening a fatal issue.
coronary noun	Any of the coronary vessels; a coronary artery or coronary vein.
endorse verb	To report (a symptom); to describe.
prognosis noun	A forecast of the future course or outcome of a disease or disorder based on current medical knowledge.
susceptible adjective	Especially sensitive, particularly to a stimulus
popeye noun	Exophthalmia.
pathological adjective	Pertaining to pathology.
inhaler noun	A device with a canister holding medicine (either in powder or gas form) which is sprayed and inhaled by the patient, often for treating asthma and other respiratory diseases.
lenient noun	A lenitive; an emollient.
prevention noun	Any measure intended to limit health-related risks (such as information campaigns, vaccination, early diagnosis etc.).
sinus noun	An abnormal cavity or passage such as a fistula, leading from a deep-seated infection and discharging pus to the surface.
gent noun	Short for gentamicin.
toothache noun	A pain or ache in a tooth.
irritable adjective	Responsive to stimuli.
epilepsy noun	A medical condition in which the sufferer experiences seizures (or convulsions) and blackouts.
sentinel noun	A sign of a health risk (e.g. a disease, an adverse effect).
recruitment noun	Opening of collapsed lung alveoli by means of controlled increase in transpulmonary pressure using mechanical ventilation. (treatment strategy for ARDS)

Word	Meaning
toxicology noun	The branch of pharmacology that deals with the nature, effect, detection and treatment of poisons and poisoning.
transvestite noun	A person, typically a heterosexual male, who compulsively seeks and derives paraphilic sexual arousal from cross-dressing, especially if the urges and behavior cause the patient distress or social impairment.
regression noun	The diminishing of a cellular mass like a tumor, or of an organ size.
cretin noun	A person who fails to develop mentally and physically due to a congenital hypothyroidism.
clubbing noun	A thickening of the ends of fingers and toes.
tetanus noun	A serious and often fatal disease caused by the infection of an open wound with the anaerobic bacterium Clostridium tetani, found in soil and the intestines and faeces of animals.
meningitis noun	Inflammation of the meninges, characterized by headache, neck stiffness and photophobia and also fever, chills, vomiting and myalgia.
obesity noun	The state of being obese.
remission noun	An abatement or lessening of the manifestations of a disease; a period where the symptoms of a disease are absent.
tampon verb	To plug (a wound) with a tampon or compress.
tangle noun	A paired helical fragment of tau protein found in a nerve cell and associated with Alzheimer's disease.
hypothermia noun	Abnormally low body temperature; specifically, below 35 degrees Celsius for humans.
diagnose verb	To determine which disease is causing a sick person's signs and symptoms; to find the diagnosis.
manifestation noun	The symptoms or observable conditions which are seen as a result of some disease.
dangle verb	Of a patient: to be positioned with the legs hanging over the edge of the bed.
snare noun	A similar looped instrument formerly used to remove tumours etc.
gout noun	An extremely painful inflammation of joints, especially of the big toe, caused by a metabolic defect resulting in the accumulation of uric acid in the blood and the deposition of urates around the joints.
eloquent adjective	Relating to areas in the brain that serve an identifiable neurological function, in which injury leads to focal deficits or disability.
contraction noun	The process of contracting or becoming infected with a disease.
lupus noun	Any of a number of autoimmune diseases, the most common of which is systemic lupus erythematosus.
typhoid noun	Short for typhoid fever.
catheter noun	A small tube inserted into a body cavity to administer a drug, create an opening, distend a passageway, or remove fluid.
heartburn noun	A burning pain in the chest that is caused by stomach acid entering the gullet.
resonance noun	The sound produced by a hollow body part such as the chest cavity upon auscultation, especially that produced while the patient is speaking.
alcoholism noun	Acute alcohol poisoning.
compliance noun	The accuracy with which a patient follows an agreed treatment plan
pacemaker noun	A medical implement that is used to stimulate a heart to beat by simulating the action of the natural pacemaker.
latent adjective	Remaining in an inactive or hidden phase; dormant.
leprosy noun	An infectious disease caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium leprae, gradually producing nerve damage and patches of skin necrosis and historically handled by permanently quarantining its sufferers.
onset noun	The initial phase of a disease or condition, in which symptoms first become apparent.
rheumatism noun	Any disorder of the muscles, tendons, joints, bones, nerves, characterized by pain, discomfort and disability.
vasectomy noun	The surgical incision of all or part of the vas deferens as a means of male sterilization.
hematoma noun	A swelling of blood, usually clotted, which forms as a result of broken blood vessels.
chit noun	A small sheet of paper on which is written a prescription to be filled; a scrip.
acne noun	A skin condition, usually of the face, that is common in adolescents. It is characterised by red pimples, and is caused by the inflammation of sebaceous glands through bacterial infection.
roc noun	Rocuronium.
wart noun	A type of deformed growth occurring on the skin caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV).
triage noun	The process of sorting patients so as to determine the order in which they will be treated (for example, by assigning precedence according to the urgency of illness or injury).
appendicitis noun	Inflammation of the vermiform appendix
corona noun	A manifestation of secondary syphilis, consisting of papular lesions along the hairline, often bordering the scalp in the manner of a crown.
dissect verb	To separate muscles, organs, and so on without cutting into them or disrupting their architecture.
lightening noun	The sensation caused by the descent of the uterus into the pelvic cavity before the onset of labour
erosion noun	A shallow ulceration or lesion, usually involving skin or epithelial tissue.
induction noun	The process of inducing the birth process.
intubate verb	To insert a tube into.
ligature verb	To ligate; to tie.
organizer noun	A group of cells that, together with the evocator, control differentiation in the embryo; the inductor
fixation noun	Preservation of biological tissues from decay due to autolysis or putrefaction.
affinity noun	The attraction between an antibody and an antigen
metamorphosis noun	A change in the structure of a specific body tissue. Usually degenerative.
tourniquet noun	A tightly-compressed bandage used to stop bleeding by stopping the flow of blood through a large artery in a limb.
blister noun	Something applied to the skin to raise a blister; a vesicatory or other applied medicine.
thyroid noun	An extract prepared from the thyroid gland of animals and used in treating deficiency of thyroid hormones.
bagging noun	Use of BVM to ventilate a patient.
stimulus noun	Something external that elicits or influences a physiological or psychological activity or response, or that affects any of the sensory apparatuses.
piggyback noun	The connection of one intravenous drip to another.
anemia noun	A medical condition in which the capacity of the blood to transport oxygen to the tissues is reduced, either because of too few red blood cells, or because of too little hemoglobin, resulting in pallor and fatigue.
stethoscope noun	A medical instrument used for listening to sounds produced within the body.
typhus noun	One of several similar diseases, characterised by high recurrent fever, caused by Rickettsia bacteria. Not to be confused with typhoid fever.
lac noun	Laceration.
mumps noun	A contagious disease caused by the Mumps virus of the genus Rubulavirus, mostly occurring in childhood, which causes swelling of glands in the face and neck.
regimen noun	Any regulation or remedy which is intended to produce beneficial effects by gradual operation.
stigma noun	A visible sign or characteristic of a disease.
edema noun	An excessive accumulation of serum in tissue spaces or a body cavity.
blockage noun	Occlusion of a lumen (especially that of a blood vessel or intestine), or the thing that is causing it; as:
extort verb	To twist outwards.
dissection noun	Surgical removal
posterior adjective	Relating to or denoting presentation of a fetus in which the rear or caudal end is nearest the cervix and emerges first at birth.
systolic noun	Short for systolic blood pressure.
incubator noun	An apparatus used to maintain environmental conditions suitable for a newborn baby.
anchorage noun	The surgical fixation of prolapsed organs.
heroics noun	Emergency intervention to save a patient's life.
fib noun	The fibula.
pinhead noun	A human head that is unusually tapered or small, often due to microcephaly, or a person with that trait. Often promoted in freak shows as "human pinheads".
tandem noun	A hollow metal tube containing radioactive material, inserted through the vagina into the uterus for treatment of gynecological cancer.

Meanings from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0). Sources