-penia
deficiency, abnormally low number
From Greek penia, poverty, need
Meaning
What does -penia mean?
-penia is a suffix meaning deficiency, abnormally low number. It comes from Greek penia, poverty, need.
Its opposite in blood counts is -osis: thrombocytopenia is too few platelets, thrombocytosis too many.
In real words
Medical words with -penia
too few platelets in the blood, which raises the risk of bleeding
lower than normal bone mineral density, a milder form of bone loss than osteoporosis
a shortage of all three kinds of blood cell: red cells, white cells and platelets
a low number of lymphocytes in the blood
a lower than normal number of blood cells
an abnormally low number of white blood cells in the blood · UK spelling: leucopenia
low counts in two of the three blood cell lines: red cells, white cells and platelets
Don't mix it up
Parts easily confused with -penia
Sources
Checked against
Written for biofideX in plain words, after checking these references:
- 1.5 Common Suffixes – Medical Terminology 2e
- 1.4 – Suffix – Building a Medical Terminology Foundation 2e
- -PENIA Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster
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Disease and symptoms
-penia is one of 15 parts in this lesson. Learn them together, then take real words apart.
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