-trophy
nourishment, development, growth
From Greek trophē, nourishment, food
Meaning
What does -trophy mean?
-trophy is a suffix meaning nourishment, development, growth. It comes from Greek trophē, nourishment, food.
Hypertrophy is bigger cells; hyperplasia (-plasia) is more cells. Atrophy is wasting away.
In real words
Medical words with -trophy
wasting away or shrinking of a tissue or organ, such as a muscle · In the dictionary
enlargement of an organ or tissue because its cells grow bigger, not more numerous · In the dictionary
a disorder in which tissue, often muscle, weakens and breaks down; also faulty development or nutrition
osteodystrophy
abnormal bone growth and weakening, as in renal osteodystrophy, a bone disease of chronic kidney disease
lipodystrophy
a disorder in which body fat is lost or builds up in abnormal places
pseudohypertrophy
enlargement of a muscle by fat and other tissue rather than muscle growth, as in the calves in Duchenne muscular dystrophy
adrenoleukodystrophy
an inherited disease, mostly of males, that damages the myelin around brain nerves and also the adrenal glands
Don't mix it up
Parts easily confused with -trophy
Sources
Checked against
Written for biofideX in plain words, after checking these references:
- 1.4 – Suffix – Building a Medical Terminology Foundation 2e
- Appendix A: Word Parts and What They Mean
- -trophy - Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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Changes in structure
-trophy is one of 11 parts in this lesson. Learn them together, then take real words apart.
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