Understanding how to develop and interpret medical terms involves breaking down the word. In order to do so, the suffix of the word needs to be assessed first, followed by the prefix and the root.
The prefix component is intended to describe supplementary data concerning things like the location of a specific body part, and suffixes are affixed to the end of the word's root to help signify various features including circumstances, disease progression or course of action.
Medical terms and their roots agree or follow their etymology: Greek and Latin are the two languages that most of the words are derived from. For example, consider the Latin prefixes endo (within) and trans (across) as well as the Greek prefixes of para (beside) and dys (difficult).
Medical terms become easier to figure out once a person gains an understanding of how the vocabulary is structured and formed. It's a similar process to learning a new language because different plurals and such are applied.
Key medical terms may differ according to the specific area of practice or medicine involved. For example, a veterinarian would have to be familiar with the body parts of animals and their conditions.
The "Chambers Classical Roots for Medics" is a great book that serves as a straightforward guide to comprehending medical terminology, and breaks down the various Latin and Greek plurals and conditions.