Biology and some english help please!!!?

Question

What are the meanings of the prefixes/root/suffix in these words

-phagocyte

-epithelium

-amylase

-endotherm

-tetrapod

-leucorrhoea

-amphibian

-agnatha

-carcinogen

Answer 1

Hi there

Phagocyte:

Phago - related to ingesting or imbibing

Ctye - cell

A phagoctye is a white blood cell which goes around engulfing things which don't belong

Epithelium:

Epi - skin

Thelium - not entirely sure, but probably related to protection or membrane

The Epithelium is a membrane of cells that lines "a tube or cavity" and protects it

Amylase:

Amy- possibly related to amyloids, a fibrillar structure which can form tangles and cause disease

ase - this suffix occurs at the end of enzymes, eg anhydrase, methylase

Hence, an amylase is an enzyme, which breaks down starch to maltose

Endotherm:

Endo - internal

therm - related to temperature

Endotherm is hence an animal that can regulate it's own body temperature

Tetrapod:

Tetra - 4

pod - foot or leg

A tetrapod is a 4 legged animal

Leucorrhoea:

oea - relates to discharge

Not sure about the rest of it, but google tells me it's a whitish discharge from the genitals

Amphibian:

Amphi/ambi - of 2 different types

ian - not sure about this one

The amphibian is an animal which spends different "phases" of it's life on water or on land.

Agnatha:

A- without

natha - teeth or jaws

The agnatha is a type of eel or fish which has no jaw

Carcinogen:

the word itself is from the greek meaning cancer causing, but I'm not sure how it divides up

Sorry it's incomplete, but I hope this helps.