-megaly
Meaning of -megaly: An ending that records size and nothing else: the organ named in front of it is bigger than it should be.
Definition of -megaly
-megaly is a suffix meaning abnormal enlargement of an organ or body part. The word part in front names what is enlarged, so hepatomegaly is an enlarged liver and cardiomegaly is an enlarged heart. It is a physical finding rather than a diagnosis, since congestion, inflammation, infection, stored material, extra muscle and tumor all make an organ larger.
What does the ending mean?
Enlargement. An organ described with this ending is larger than it should be, judged against what is normal for a person of that size and age. It is a finding, established by examining or imaging the body, and it sits in a report the way a temperature does: as an observation waiting for an explanation.
What does it attach to?
A word part naming the organ, joined by the linking letter o. Hepat/o gives hepatomegaly, splen/o gives splenomegaly, and the two combine into hepatosplenomegaly when both are enlarged together. Not every organ takes the ending in everyday use: an enlarged thyroid is nearly always called a goiter rather than thyromegaly.
| Word | Word part in front | What it names | What is enlarged |
|---|---|---|---|
| hepatomegaly | hepat/o | liver | The liver, felt below the rib margin |
| splenomegaly | splen/o | spleen | The spleen, normally hidden under the ribs |
| cardiomegaly | cardi/o | heart | The heart shadow on a chest image |
| acromegaly | acr/o | extremity or tip | Hands, feet and jaw, growing during adult life |
| megacolon | mega, moved to the front | large | The colon, with the parts reversed |
Why does it say nothing about the cause?
Because organs grow for reasons that have nothing in common. A liver enlarges when blood backs up into it from a failing heart, when fat accumulates in its cells, when a virus inflames it, when abnormal material is stored inside it, and when a tumor grows within it. A spleen enlarges from infection, from blood disorders, from a blocked vein draining it, and from the same storage conditions. The word records the size and stops there, which is why it belongs among findings rather than diagnoses.
Which words are confused with it?
Hypertrophy and hyperplasia describe how an organ grew: hypertrophy means the individual cells enlarged, hyperplasia means their number rose. Dilatation means a chamber stretched around a larger volume, enlarging the outline without adding tissue. Cardiomegaly on a chest image covers all three at once, since a wide heart shadow may be thickened muscle, a stretched chamber or fluid gathered in the sac around it.
Terms built on -megaly
3 entries in this glossary use this word part. Each one follows the same pattern.
- acromegaly Changes arrive so slowly that old photographs, a ring that no longer fits or a rising…
- hepatomegaly Hepatomegaly is enlargement of the liver beyond its expected size.
- splenomegaly Splenomegaly is enlargement of the spleen beyond its expected size.
Also known as
Used in a sentence
The abdominal examination was recorded as showing no organomegaly.
Good to know
An organ described as enlarged has been measured rather than explained, and the ending gives no indication whether congestion, infection, stored material, extra muscle or tumor accounts for the size.
Word origin
Where “-megaly” comes from
From the Greek megas, meaning great or large, whose stem megal- supplies the combining form. The same root gives megalith and megaphone.