What does -phyte mean in medical terms?

-phyte

Meaning: plant; growth

Type: Suffix

A suffix goes at the very end of a word, after the root. On this page: what -phyte means, and real medical words that use it, each broken down into its parts.

Example words using -phyte

osteophyte
osteo (bone) + -phyte (growth) = a bony growth
dermatophyte
dermato (skin) + -phyte (plant/growth) = a fungus that grows on skin

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.