In English, the root “-bolism” means “metabolism.” Let’s first look at three words related to “metabolism”:
metabolism 新陈代谢; catabolism 分解代谢; anabolism 合成代谢
Obviously, all three words share the root “-bolism,” which means metabolism.
Next, let’s look at the prefixes of these three words respectively:
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meta-: change; transformation. For example: metaplasia (化生: refers to the process where one differentiated tissue transforms into another differentiated tissue). The meaning of the prefix meta- is self-evident. Returning to the word itself, you can naturally associate it with its meaning because it represents the transformation of substances within an organism (including synthesis and decomposition).
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cata-: down; downward. Here are a few examples: ① catarrh (mucous membrane inflammation, catarrh); “catarrh” literally means flowing downwards, for instance, the “catarrh symptoms” during a cold describe excessive mucous discharge (runny nose); ② cataract (waterfall; torrent), which is quite obvious. Note that this word also refers to “cataract” (eye condition), possibly related to the clouding of the lens in the later stages of cataracts; ③ catalog (catalog), where -log means “to speak; to record,” meaning a catalog is basically a list of things to be spoken of or recorded next.
I believe that with the above three examples, you should easily understand the suffix “cata-.” Returning to catabolism itself, decomposition metabolism naturally has a “downward” connotation (you can remember it as “ashes to ashes, dust to dust”). This should be easy to recall, right?
- ana-: excessive. For example: anaplasia (anaplasia: refers to the regression of differentiated mature cells and tissues to a primitive immature state). Malignant tumor cells lack differentiation and exhibit significant pleomorphism, and we know one characteristic of malignant tumor cells is uncontrolled cell division and proliferation. Therefore, ana- can be understood as carrying the meaning of “excessive” or “increasing.” I believe at this point it is easy to remember anabolism as “synthetic metabolism” (increase in substance).
Finally, let’s talk about the root “-plasia” mentioned above. This root means “formation; growth (especially in cell number),” referring to changes in tissue morphology and cell quantity. Another example: hyperplasia (hyperplasia: a phenomenon where active mitosis increases cell numbers within a tissue or organ). Hyper- means “more or larger,” indicating increased cell number growth—this is “hyperplasia.” Hyperplasia is different from “hypertrophy” (肥大), which I will explain later.
The above is my sharing on how to understand three medical English words related to the metabolic process, along with some related roots and affixes. I hope this can be helpful to everyone.