What does -plasia mean in medical terms?

-plasia

Meaning: formation; development

Type: Suffix

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

Example words using -plasia

hyperplasia
hyper- (excessive) + -plasia (formation) = increase in cell number in a tissue
dysplasia
dys- (abnormal) + -plasia (formation) = abnormal cell development

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.