Basics of Medical Terminology Practice Test

Combining forms show the body part or structure a term is about. cephal/o designates the head and appears in words like cephalalgia (headache) or cephalic (pertaining to the head). It comes from the Greek kephale meaning head. Crani/o, on the other hand, refers to the skull (cranium), as in craniotomy or craniectomy. The other two options connect to different organs altogether: cardi/o means heart, and gastr/o means stomach. So the combining form that means “head” is cephal/o.