Can someone help me get started with this? If you were to break down the terms, "cervical", "mastoid", and "ethmoid"; how might those word parts look? What would be the definitions for each word part?
I am not understanding what break down means?
Many words, especially scientific terms, come the ancient Greek or Latin languages. To break down a word, you find out what the different parts mean. For instance, "cervical" comes from the Latin cervic, meaning "neck."
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/cervical
Look the other words up in a dictionary to find their origin or etymology.
* come FROM the ancient . . .
To break down a term means to analyze and separate its different word parts to better understand its meaning. This can be particularly helpful in medical terminology as many terms are composed of several word parts, such as prefixes, roots, and suffixes. By breaking down the terms "cervical," "mastoid," and "ethmoid," we can identify the word parts and their respective definitions:
1. Cervical
- Word Parts: "Cervic-" and "-al"
- Definitions:
- "Cervic-": Referring to the neck or cervix.
- "-al": Pertaining to or relating to.
2. Mastoid
- Word Part: "Mastoid"
- Definition: Referring to the mastoid process, which is a bony protrusion behind the ear.
3. Ethmoid
- Word Part: "Ethmoid"
- Definition: Referring to the ethmoid bone, which is a bone located in the skull that separates the nasal cavity from the brain.
By breaking down these terms, we can understand that "cervical" refers to something related to the neck or cervix, "mastoid" refers to something related to the mastoid process, and "ethmoid" refers to something related to the ethmoid bone.