It's Greek To Me!

Greek and Latin Prefixes, Roots and Suffixes used in English
This page © 1999 by Nicholas E. Miller


Basic term

Meaning

Greek
Latin
Prefix
Suffix

erythro

red

Yes
.
Yes
.

Examples

Definition

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erysipelas (5)

(noun) - red + skin = an acute skin disease with fever and spreading inflammation.

erythroblast (4)

(noun) - red + bud, shoot = multicolored cell of red marrow that synthesizes hemoglobin and that is an early stage of red blood cell formation. Erythroblastic is the adjective form.

erythroblastosis (5)

(noun) - red + blast + condition or abnormal condition = irregular presence of erythroblasts in the blood. The plural form is erythroblastoses.

erythroblastosis fetalis (5)

(noun) - red + blast + condition or abnormal condition + fetus = a blood disease of the fetus or newborn caused by an Rh-negative mother producing antibodies in the blood of an Rh-positive fetus destroying fetal erythrocytes and characterized by erythroblasts in the blood and jaundice.

erythrocyte (3)

(noun) - red + cyte = red blood cell, red corpuscle; the hemoglobin-containing cells that carry oxygen and are responsible for the red color of blood. Erythrocytic is the adjective form.

erythroid (5)

(adj.) - red + shape = connected with erythrocytes or their precursors it.

erythromycin (2)

(noun) - red + mycin = an antibiotic effective against many bacteria, and obtained from Streptomyces erythreus.

erythropoiesis (5)

(noun) - red + creation = production of red blood cells (as from the bone marrow). Erythropoietic is the adjective form.

erythrosin, erythrosine (5)

(noun) - red + eosin = reddish dyes made from fluorescein.

exoerythrocytic (5)

(adj.) - outside + red + cyte = occurring outside the red blood cells.