What are the three steps for defining a medical word as illustrated with the example gastr/o/enter/itis?

The three steps for defining a medical word are: 1. Define the suffix, or last part of the word. 2. Define the first part of the word, which may be a prefix, word root, or combining form. 3. Define the middle parts of the word.

Using the example gastr/o/enter/itis, the steps are as follows: Step 1 involves defining the suffix -itis, which means inflammation. Step 2 requires defining the first part, gastr/o, which refers to the stomach. Step 3 includes defining the middle part, enter, which means intestine. Therefore, gastr/o/enter/itis means inflammation of the stomach and intestine.