Latin and Greek Terminology

Abstract

Latin and Greek terminology is another obstacle to be overcome on the way to becoming fluent in medical English. Romance-language speakers (Spanish, French, Italian, etc.) are undoubtedly at an advantage, although this advantage can become a great drawback in terms of pronunciation and, particularly, in the use of the plural forms of Latin and Greek. Since most Latin words used in medical English keep the Latin plural ending – e.g., metastasis, pl. metastases; viscus, pl. viscera – it is essential to understand the basis of plural rules in Latin. All Latin nouns and adjectives have different endings for each gender (masculine, feminine, or neuter), number (singular or plural), and case – the case is a special ending that reveals the function of the word in a particular sentence. Latin adjectives must correlate with the nouns they modify in case, number, and gender. Although we can barely remember it from our days in high school, there are five different patterns of endings, each one of them is called declension. The nominative case indicates the subject of a sentence. The genitive case denotes possession or attachment. Dropping the genitive singular ending gives the base to which the nominative plural ending is added to build the medical English plural form.