English dictionary of medical terms (72)


Back to welcome

[dictionary] Go to the previous part of the dictionary

[Multilingual]No:1420 - prosthesis
(Gr. 'a putting to') an artificial substitute for a missing body part, such as an arm or leg, eye or tooth, used for functional or cosmetic reasons, or both.
[Multilingual]No:1421 - protease
proteinase (= any enzyme that catalyses the splitting of interior peptide bonds in a protein).
[Multilingual]No:1422 - protective
(L. protegere to cover over) an agent that affords defense against a deleterious influence, such as a substance applied to the skin (skin p.) to avoid the effects of the sun's rays (solar p.) or other noxious influences; called also screen.
[Multilingual]No:1423 - protein
(Gr. protos first) any of a group of complex organic compounds which contain carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and usually sulphur, the characteristic element being nitrogen, and which are widely distributed in plants and animals. Proteins, the principal constituents of the protoplasm of all cells, are of high molecular weight and consist essentially of combinations of a-amino acids in peptide linkages. Twenty different amino acids are commonly found in proteins, and each protein has a unique, genetically defined amino acid sequence which determines its specific shape and function. They serve as enzymes, structural elements, hormones, immunoglobulins, etc., and are involved in oxygen transport, muscle contraction, electron transport, and other activities throughout the body, and in photosynthesis.
[Multilingual]No:1424 - proteolytic
1. pertaining to, characterized by, or promoting proteolysis. 2. an enzyme that promotes proteolysis (= the splitting of proteins by hydrolysis of the peptide bonds with formation of smaller polypeptides).
[Multilingual]No:1425 - prothrombin
(pro + Gr. thrombos cloth -in chemical suffix) Factor II.
[Multilingual]No:1426 - protozoan
1. any individual of the protozoa; protozoon. 2. of or pertaining to the protozoa; protozoal.
[Multilingual]No:1427 - protrusion
(L. protrudere to push forward) the state of being trust forward or laterally, as in masticatory movements of the mandible.
[Multilingual]No:1428 - proximal
(L. proximus next) nearest; closer to any point of reference; opposed to distal.
[Multilingual]No:1429 - pruritic
pertaining to or characterized by pruritus.
[Multilingual]No:1430 - pruritus
(L. from prurire to itch) 1. itching; an unpleasant cutaneous sensation that provokes the desire to rub or scratch the skin to obtain relief. 2. any of various conditions marked by itching, the specific site or type being indicated by a modifying term.
[Multilingual]No:1431 - pseudomenbranous
marked by or pertaining to a pseudomembrane.
[Multilingual]No:1432 - pseudotumour
an enlargement that resembles a tumour.
[Multilingual]No:1433 - psoriasis
(Gr. psoriasis) a common chronic, squamous dermatosis, marked by exacerbations and remissions and having a polygenic inheritance pattern. The most distinctive histological findings in well-developed psoriasis are Munro microabscesses and spongiform pustules. It is characterized clinically by the presence of rounded, circumscribed, erythematous, dry scaling patches of various sizes, covered by greyish white or silvery white, umbilicated, and lamellar scales, which have a predilection for the extensor surfaces, nails, scalp, genitalia, and lumbosacral region. Central clearing and coalescence of the lesions produce a wide variety of clinical configurations, including annular or circinate, discoid or nummular, figurate, and gyrate arrangements. Called also p. vulgaris
[Multilingual]No:1434 - psychiatric
pertaining to or within the purview of psychiatry.
[Multilingual]No:1435 - psychic
pertaining to the psyche or to the mind; mental.
[Multilingual]No:1436 - psychogenic
produced or caused by psychic or mental factors rather than organic factors.
[Multilingual]No:1437 - psycholeptic
of or relating to psycholepsy; that is an attack of hopelessness and mental inertia especially following elation and occurring typically in psychasthenic (= characterologically weak) patients.
[Multilingual]No:1438 - psychologic, psychological
pertaining to psychology.
[Multilingual]No:1439 - psychomotor
pertaining to motor effects of cerebral or psychic activity.

[Dictionary] Go to the next part of the dictionary