OINTMENT—A semisolid, fatty, or oily preparation of medicinal substances for
external application.
OLFACTORY—Pertaining to the sense of smell.
OLIGEMlA—Deficiency in the volume of blood.
OPHTHALMIC—Pertaining to the eye.
ORGANISM—Any living thing.
OSMOSIS—The diffusion of fluids through a membrane or porous partition.
OSSIFICATION—Changing or developing into bone.
OXIDATION—The union of a substance with oxygen.
PALPABLE—Capable of being touched or felt.
PALPITATION—An abnormal, rapid, regular or irregular beating of the heart, felt
by the patient.
PARAPLEGIA—Loss of motion and sensation of the lower half of the body.
PARASITICIDES—Drugs that kill parasites.
PARENTERAL—Administration of drugs by injection.
PARESIS—Slight or partial paralysis.
PAROXYSM—A sudden attack, or intensification of the symptoms of a disease,
usually recurring periodically.
PATHOGEN—An organism capable of producing disease or causing infections.
PATHOGENICITY—The capability of an infectious agent to cause disease in a
susceptible host.
PERCUSSION—The act of striking a body part with short, sharp blows as an aid in
diagnosing the condition by evaluating the sound obtained.
PERIPHERAL—Outward part or surface.
PERSISTENT—Stubborn; persevering.
PETECHIA—(pl. petechiae) A round pinpoint, nonraised, purplish red spot caused
by hemorrhage in the skin.
pH—Scale measuring the acidity or alkalinity of a solution.
PHAGOCYTOSIS—The ingestion and destruction by phagocytes of cells,
microorganisms, and other foreign matter in the blood or tissue.
PHARMACOGNOSY—The study of the action of drugs and their uses.
PHYSIOLOGICAL—Characteristic of or appropriate to an organism’s
functioning.
PLEXUS—Network.
PRECIPITATION—The quality or state of being separated from solution or
suspension by chemical or physical change, usually as an insoluble amorphous
or crystalline solid.
PRONE—Lying face down.
PROPHYLACTIC—The prevention of disease; preventive treatment.
AV-9
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