Educational content for students. Not medical or coding advice. Having symptoms? See the patient guide.
The word parts you need to decode metrorrhagia and the rest of gynecologic vocabulary.
| Word part | Meaning | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| men/o | month; menstruation | menorrhagia, amenorrhea |
| metr/o, metri/o | uterus | metrorrhagia, endometrium |
| hyster/o | uterus | hysterectomy, hysteroscopy |
| uter/o | uterus | uterine |
| cervic/o | cervix (neck) | cervicitis |
| colp/o, vagin/o | vagina | colposcopy, vaginitis |
| oophor/o, ovari/o | ovary | oophorectomy |
| salping/o | fallopian tube | salpingitis |
| gynec/o | woman, female | gynecology |
| olig/o | few, scanty | oligomenorrhea |
| poly- | many, much | polymenorrhea |
| a-, an- | without, absence of | amenorrhea |
| dys- | painful, difficult, abnormal | dysmenorrhea |
| hypo- | below, deficient | hypomenorrhea |
| endo- | within | endometrium |
| peri- | around | perimenopause |
| post- | after | postmenopausal, postcoital |
| -rrhagia, -rrhage | bursting forth; excessive flow | metrorrhagia, hemorrhage |
| -rrhea | flow, discharge | leukorrhea |
| -rrhaphy | suture | colporrhaphy |
| -rrhexis | rupture | amniorrhexis |
| -itis | inflammation | endometritis |
| -ectomy | surgical removal | hysterectomy, myomectomy |
| -scopy | visual examination | hysteroscopy |
| -plasia | formation, growth | hyperplasia |
| my/o | muscle | myometrium, myoma |
| -oma | tumour, mass | leiomyoma |
| -algia, -dynia | pain | dyspareunia (related) |
Key bleeding terms
- Menorrhagia: heavy or prolonged menstrual bleeding (FIGO: HMB).
- Metrorrhagia: bleeding between periods / at irregular intervals (FIGO: IMB).
- Menometrorrhagia: heavy, prolonged bleeding that is also irregular.
- Polymenorrhea / oligomenorrhea: too-frequent / too-infrequent periods.
- Amenorrhea: absence of periods.
- Dysmenorrhea: painful periods.
- Postcoital bleeding: bleeding after sex.
- Postmenopausal bleeding: any bleeding after menopause, which should always be checked [NHS].
Terminology per FIGO 2018 and MeSH. Drill these with the flashcards.
Sources
- Postmenopausal bleeding NHS
- The two FIGO systems for normal and abnormal uterine bleeding symptoms and classification of causes of AUB in the reproductive years: 2018 revisions Munro MG et al., Int J Gynecol Obstet 2018
- Metrorrhagia (MeSH Descriptor D008796) U.S. National Library of Medicine
We link to primary medical sources so you can check our work. See the editorial policy and the full reference list.