Explanatory Notes for the Medical Dictionary Entries

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[Main Entries] [Order of Main Entries] [Homographs] [End-of-Line Division]
[Variants] [Run-On Entries]

MAIN ENTRIES
A boldface letter or a combination of such letters, including punctuation marks and diacritics where needed, that is contained in the Main Entry field is a main entry. The main entry may consist of letters set solid, of letters joined by a hyphen, or of letters separated by one or more spaces:

al.ler.gy . . . noun

¹an.ti-in.flam.ma.to.ry . . .adjective

blood vessel . . . noun

non-A, non-B hepatitis . . . noun

The material in lightface type that follows each main entry explains and justifies its inclusion in the dictionary.

Variation in the styling of compound words in English is frequent and widespread. It is often completely acceptable to choose freely among open, hyphenated, and closed alternatives. To save space for other information, this dictionary usually limits itself to a single styling for a compound. When a compound is widely used and one styling predominates, that styling is shown. When a compound is uncommon or when the evidence indicates that two or three stylings are approximately equal in frequency, the styling shown is based on the treatment of parallel compounds.

ORDER OF MAIN ENTRIES
The main entries follow one another in alphabetical order letter by letter without regard to intervening spaces or hyphens: elastic stocking follows elasticity and right-handed follows right hand. Words that often begin with the abbreviation St. in common usage have the abbreviation spelled out: Saint Anthony's fire, Saint Vitus' dance.

Full words come before parts of words made up of the same letters. Solid words come first and are followed by hyphenated compounds and then by open compounds. Lowercase entries come before entries that begin with a capital letter:

meta . . . adjective

meta- . . . prefix

work.up . . . noun

work up . . . transitive verb

tri.chi.na . . . noun

Trichina . . .noun

Entries containing an Arabic numeral within or at the end of the word are alphabetized as if the number were spelled out: glucose phosphate comes after glucose-1-phosphate and before glucose-6-phosphate while LD50 is between LD and LDH. Some chemical terms are preceded by one or more Arabic numerals or by a chemical prefix abbreviated to a Roman or Greek letter or by a combination of the two usually set off by a hyphen. In general the numerical or abbreviated prefix is ignored in determining the word's alphabetical place: N-allylnormorphine is entered in the letter a, 5-hydroxytryptamine in the letter h, and 2-microglobulin in the letter m. However, if the prefix is spelled out, it is used in alphabetizing the word: beta globulin is entered in the letter b, and levo-dihydroxyphenylalanine in the letter l. In a few cases, entries have been made at more than one place to assist the reader in finding the place of definition, especially when the prefix has variants: gamma-aminobutyric acid, defined in the letter g, is often written with a Greek letter as -aminobutyric acid, and an entry has been made in the letter a to direct the reader to the place of definition.

If the names of two chemical substances differ only in their prefixes, the terms are alphabetized first by the main part of the word and then in relation to each other according to the prefix: L-PAM immediately precedes 2-PAM in the letter p.

HOMOGRAPHS
When main entries are spelled alike, they are called homographs and are distinguished by superscript numerals preceding each word:

Although homographs are spelled alike, they may differ in pronunciation, derivation, or functional classification (as part of speech). The order of homographs is usually historical: the one first used in English is entered first. In this dictionary abbreviations and symbols are listed last in a series of homographs and are not given superscripts. Abbreviations appear before symbols when both are present.

END-OF-LINE DIVISION
The dots within entry words indicate division points at which a hyphen may be put at the end of a line of print or writing. Such dots are not shown after a single initial letter or before a single terminal letter because printers seldom cut off a single letter:

abort . . .intransitive verb

body . . .noun

Nor are they shown at second and succeeding homographs unless these differ among themselves in division or pronunciation:

¹mu.tant . . .adjective

²mutant . . .noun

¹pre.cip.i.tate \pri-'sip-&-"tAt\ verb

²pre.cip.i.tate \pri-'sip-&t-&t, -&-"tAt\ noun

There are acceptable alternative end-of-line divisions just as there are acceptable variant spellings and pronunciations. No more than one division is, however, shown for an entry in this dictionary.

Many words have two or more common pronunciation variants, and the same end-of-line division is not always appropriate for each of them. The division du.o.de.num, for example, best fits the variant \"d(y)ü-&-'dE-n&m\ whereas the division du.od.e.num best fits the variant \d(y)u-'äd-&n-&m\. In instances like this, the division falling farther to the left is used, regardless of the order of the pronunciations:

du.o.de.num \"d(y)ü-&-'dE-n&m, d(y)u-'äd-&n-&m\

A double hyphen at the end of a line in this dictionary stands for a hyphen that belongs at that point in a hyphenated word and that is retained when the word is written as a unit on one line.

VARIANTS
When a main entry is followed by the word or and another spelling, the two spellings are equal variants.

ten.di.ni.tis or ten.don.itis

If two variants joined by or are out of alphabetical order, they remain equal variants. The one printed first is, however, slightly more common than the second:

phys.i.o.log.i.cal or phys.i.o.log.ic

When another spelling is joined to the main entry by the word also, the spelling after also is a secondary variant and occurs less frequently than the first:

lip.id also lip.ide

If there are two secondary variants, the second is joined to the first by or. Once the word also is used to signal a secondary variant, all following variants are joined by or (except as discussed in the next paragraph):

¹ce.sar.e.an or cae.sar.e.an also ce.sar.i.an or cae.sar.i.an

If one variant has an italic label British or chiefly British, the label applies to all of the variants given after it. If the British label is preceded by also, the variants appearing before the label are preferred in British as well as in U.S. usage to those following the label. If a variant after the first one following a British or chiefly British label is preceded by also, it and succeeding variants are secondary British variants:

ster.il.ize also British ster.il.ise ... -ized also British -ised; -iz.ing also British -is.ing

hem.ag.glu.ti.nin... also he.mo.ag.glu.ti.nin ... or chiefly British haem.ag.glu.ti.nin also hae.mo-ag.glu.ti.nin

A variant whose own alphabetical place is at some distance from the main entry is also entered at its own place with a cross-reference to the main entry. Such variants at consecutive or nearly consecutive entries are listed together:

tendonitis variant of TENDINITIS

procaryote, procaryotic variant of PROKARYOTE, PROKARYOTIC

RUN-ON ENTRIES
A main entry may be followed by one or more derivatives or by a homograph with a different functional label. These are run-on entries. Each is introduced by a lightface dash and each has a functional label. They are not defined, however, since their meanings can readily be derived from the meaning of the root word:

healthy . . . adjective --health.i.ly adverb --health.i.ness noun

drift . . . noun . . . --drift intransitive verb

A main entry may be followed by one or more phrases containing the entry word. These are also run-on entries. Each is introduced by a lightface dash but there is no functional label. They are, however, defined since their meanings are more than the sum of the meanings of their elements:

²couch . . . noun --on the couch : . . .

risk . . . noun --at risk : . . .

Variants are shown, where appropriate, at run-on entries:

par.a.sit.ize also British par.a.sit.ise also British par.a.sit.isa.tion . . . transitive verb . . .--par.a.sit.iza.tion also British par.a.sit.isa.tion ... noun

A run-on entry is an independent entry with respect to function and status. Labels at the main entry do not apply unless they are repeated.

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[Main Entries] [Order of Main Entries] [Homographs] [End-of-Line Division]
[Variants] [Run-On Entries]

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