What does gloss mean in medical terms?

gloss

Meaning: tongue

Type: Word root · Body system: Digestive System & Abdomen

A word root is the core of a word; prefixes and suffixes attach around it. On this page: what gloss means, and real medical words that use it, each broken down into its parts.

Example words using gloss

glossitis
gloss (tongue) + -itis (inflammation) = inflammation of the tongue
hypoglossal
hypo- (below) + gloss (tongue) + -al (pertaining to) = pertaining to below the tongue

Shortened forms

Charts and notes shorten long terms — see the Medical Abbreviations guide for the short forms you will meet in real records.

Please note: This section teaches the language of medicine — what word parts mean and how terms are built. It is an educational reference, not medical advice. For the meaning of a word in your own medical record, ask the clinician who wrote it.