Explanatory Notes for the Medical Dictionary Inflected Forms

[Introduction] [Nouns] [Other Inflected Words]
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INFLECTED FORMS INTRODUCTION
The inflected forms recorded in this dictionary include the plurals of nouns; the past tense, the past participle when it differs from the past tense, and the present participle of verbs; and the comparative and superlative forms of adjectives and adverbs. When these inflected forms are created in a manner considered regular in English (as by adding -s or -es to nouns, -ed and -ing to verbs, and -er and -est to adjectives and adverbs) and when it seems that there is nothing about the formation to give the dictionary user doubts, the inflected form is not shown in order to save space for information more likely to be sought.

If the inflected form is created in an irregular way or if the dictionary user is likely to have doubts about it (even if it is formed regularly), the inflected form is shown in boldface either in full or, especially when the word has three or more syllables, cut back to a convenient and easily recognizable point.

The inflected forms of nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs are shown in this dictionary when suffixation brings about a change in final y to i, when the word ends in -ey, when there are variant inflected forms, and when the dictionary user might have doubts about the spelling of the inflected form:

thirsty . . . adjective --thirst.i.er; -est

²atrophy . . . verb -- -phied; -phy.ing

kid.ney . . .noun --plural kidneys

sar.co.ma . . . noun -- plural -mas also -ma.ta

burn . . . verb -- burned ... or burnt ...; burn.ing

sta.tus . . . noun -- plural sta.tus.es

On the other hand, if the inflected form is created in an irregular way or if the dictionary user is likely to have doubts about it (even though it is formed regularly), the inflected form is shown in boldface, either in full or cut back to a convenient and easily recognizable point.

For more details about inflected forms of nouns, see Nouns. For more about inflected forms of other words, see Other Inflected Words.

NOUNS
A plural is shown for a noun when it ends in a consonant plus o or in a double oo, and when its plural is identical with the singular. Many nouns in medical English have highly irregular plurals modeled after their language of origin. Sometimes more than one element of a compound term is pluralized:

ego . . . noun, plural egos

HMO . . . noun, plural HMOs

²tattoo . . . noun, plural tattoos

¹pu.bes . . . noun, plural pubes

en.ceph.a.li.tis . . . noun, plural -lit.i.des

cor pul.mo.na.le . . . noun, plural cor.dia pul.mo.na.lia

Nouns that are plural in form and that are regularly used with a plural verb are labeled noun plural. Nouns that are plural in form but are not always construed as plural are appropriately labeled:

in.nards . . .noun plural

rick.ets . . . noun plural but singular in construction

smelling salts . . . noun plural but singular or plural in construction

A noun that is singular in construction takes a singular verb when it is used as a subject; a noun that is plural in construction takes a plural verb when it is used as a subject.

OTHER INFLECTED WORDS
The inflected forms of verbs, adjectives, and adverbs are also shown whenever suffixation brings about a doubling of a final consonant, elision of a final e, or a radical change in the base word itself. The principal parts of a verb are shown when a final -c changes to -ck in suffixation:

²scar . . . verb scarred; scar.ring

hot . . . adjective hot.ter; hot.test

op.er.ate . . . verb -at.ed; -at.ing

sane . . . adjective san.er; san.est

¹break . . . verb broke . . .; bro.ken . . .; break.ing

¹ill . . . adjective worse . . .; worst

²panic . . . verb pan.icked . . .; pan.ick.ing

Regularly inflected forms are shown when it is desirable to indicate the pronunciation of one of the inflected forms:

²blister . . . verb blis.tered; blis.ter.ing \-t(&-)ri[ng]\

Inflected forms may be shown at run-on entries and may be cut back like inflected forms of main entries:

¹scab . . . noun . . . scab.bi.er; -est --scab.by ... adjective

rem.e.dy . . . noun . . . plural -dies; --remedy ... transitive verb -died; -dy.ing

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