Drills on Diction Worksheet

Root/Meaning: Adip/Fat
Term: Adipose
Definition: Fat stored in the fatty tissue of animals.
Sentence: Whales have lots of adipose to keep them warm.

Root/Meaning: Bio/Life
Term: Biopsy
Definition: Removing a sample of tissue from an organism for diagnostic evaluation.
Sentence: The doctors performed a biopsy on Anna to see if her stomach tissue was infected.

Root/Meaning: Capit/Head
Term: Decapitate
Definition: To cut off someone’s head.
Sentence: "Off with her head!" screamed the Queen of Hearts. Alice was quite terrified at the thought of being decapitated.

Root/Meaning: Cephal/Head
Term: Cephalad
Definition: Toward the head or anterior.
Sentence: On a human body, the chest could be referred to as cephalad.

Root/Meaning: Corp/Body
Term: Corpus
Definition: A part of the body with a specific function.
Sentence: Many parts of the body are called corpus, such as your heart or liver.

Root/Meaning: Crani/Skull
Term: Cranium
Definition: The part of the skull that encases the brain.
Sentence: To crack your cranium would be a very painful experience.

Root/Meaning: Dent/Tooth
Term: Dental
Definition: Of or pertaining to the teeth.
Sentence: I was having some pain in my teeth, so I went in to get some dental work done.

Root/Meaning: Hist/Tissue
Term: Histology
Definition: A branch of biology that studies tissue.
Sentence: If you have a question about bodily tissues, would you ask a biologist or a histologist?

Root/Meaning: Later/Side
Term: Lateral
Definition: to the side
Sentence: Lateral to Missy was a small blue cat.

Root/Meaning: Ocul/Eye
Term: Oculist
Definition: A doctor who treats eyes/diseases of the eye.
Sentence: Sammie had a strange eye infection, so she went to an oculist to find out what the problem was.

Root/Meaning: Oste/Bone
Term: Osteoblast
Definition: A cell growing inside a fetus that will eventually turn to bone.
Sentence: Since it was still very early in her pregnancy, Lucy’s unborn baby had not yet formed
bone from his osteoblasts.

Root/Meaning: Phag/Eat
Term: Phagocyte
Definition: A type of white blood cell which ingests any type of foreign object in the body.
Sentence: Microscopic fragments of rust were left in Bobby’s arm from his cut, so his body produced many phagocytes to ‘consume’ the rust particles.

Root/Meaning: Pleur/Side
Term: Pleura
Definition: A certain tissue found in the lungs.
Sentence: There are many different kinds of epithelial tissues in the lungs, one of which is a delicate tissue called pleura.

Root/Meaning: Quad/Four
Term: Quadriceps
Definition: The large muscle located in front of your thigh.
Sentence: It’s really painful to pull your quadriceps because it makes if difficult to walk for a few days.

Root/Meaning: Stern/Chest
Term: Sternum
Definition: In vertebrates, the breastbone.
Sentence: When performing CPR, you must be careful not to snap off the xiphoid process, which is located just under the sternum.

Root/Meaning: Ab/Away from
Term: Abduct
Definition: To take away.
Sentence: It is really sad when children are abducted from plain sight, but there is always a chance to rescue them.

Prefix/Meaning: Ad/Toward
Term: Adrenal
Definition: A hormone produced by the adrenal gland that enables higher senses, increased strength and stamina.
Sentence: When you’re scared, your body produces adrenaline from the adrenal gland, which enables you to protect yourself and escape danger quickly.

Prefix/Meaning: Angi/Vessel
Term: Angiosperm
Definition: A flowering plant.
Sentence: Roses, daffodils, and sunflowers are all types of angiosperms.

Prefix/Meaning: Auto/Self
Term: Autograft
Definition: Removing tissue from a part of the body to replace damaged or missing tissue from another part of the body.
Sentence: Jordan’s leg had been severely burnt, so the doctors performed an autograft in order to restore his skin tissue.

Prefix/Meaning: Centi/Hundred
Term: Centimeter
Definition: 1/100 of a meter.
Sentence: A penny is about 5 centimeters wide.

Prefix/Meaning: Circum/Around
Term: Circumflex
Definition: Curving around.
Sentence: There are many blood vessels in your body that are circumflexed.

Prefix/Meaning: Dextro/Right
Term: Dextrad
Definition: Toward the right side.
Sentence: The building was dextrad to me. (?)

Prefix/Meaning: Epi/Upon
Term: Epigastric
Definition: The anterior walls of the abdomen.
Sentence: It would really hurt to be kicked in the epigastric area of your abdomen… but it would hurt to be kicked anywhere.

Prefix/Meaning: Ex/Out of
Term: Excision
Definition: To remove.
Sentence: The doctors worked hard to excise the bullets from the man’s leg.

Prefix/Meaning: Inter/Between
Term: Internal
Definition: Inside
Sentence: Internal bleeding is life-threatening.

Prefix/Meaning: Non/Not
Term: Nonviable
Definition: Incapable of life or growth.
Sentence: A good example of something nonviable would be a rock.

Prefix/Meaning: Ortho/Straight
Term: Orthopedics
Definition: Medical specialty concerning prevention and correction of skeletal system abnormalities or injuries.
Sentence: My mom’s feet have bone spurs, so she must use orthopedic shoes until she can get surgery.

Prefix/Meaning: Path/Disease
Term: Pathology
Definition: The study of diseases.
Sentence: It must be a risky job to be a pathology scientist.

Prefix/Meaning: Pseudo/False
Term: Pseudopod
Definition: A temporary growth spurt used by some microorganisms that enables locomotion.
Sentence: A pseudopod is the reason that when looking at microscopic organisms, they seem to "shoot" along.

Prefix/Meaning: Sinistro/Left
Term: Sinistrad
Definition: Toward the left side.
Sentence: Sinistrad to Joey’s body laid a broken mirror. He was sure to have bad luck now.

Prefix/Meaning: Cide/Kill
Term: Pesticide
Definition: a drug that kills pests to save crops
Sentence: Pesticides may kill the pests in your crop, but it could poison you or you animals.

Prefix/Meaning: Itis/Inflame
Term: Hepatitis
Definition: Inflammation of the liver.
Sentence: Ben’s father has hepatitis, but luckily, Ben never got it.

Prefix/Meaning: Logy/Study of
Term: Histology
Definition: The study of bodily tissues.
Sentence: In histology, there are many, many types of tissues to understand.

Prefix/Meaning: Meter/Measure
Term: Thermometer
Definition: A device that measures temperature.
Sentence: Billy thought he had a fever, so he used a thermometer to find out for sure.

Prefix/Meaning: Plasty/Formed
Term: Osteoplasty
Definition: Plastic surgery on a bone to restore it from injury or defect.
Sentence: Gary didn’t like his cheekbones being so high, so he got osteoplasty to fix them.

Prefix/Meaning: Scope/Examine
Term: Microscope
Definition: A tool used to see organisms or particles that are microscopic.
Sentence: Amanda used a microscope to determine if a blood sample contained any diseases.