What does lith/o mean?

• A. Stone, Calculus
• B. Appendix
• C. Within
• D. Above or Excessive

Answer: (A)

Lith/o is a combining form that means stone. It appears in medical terms about stones in the body, such as lithotomy (removal of stones) or lithotripsy (crushing stones). In anatomy, calculus refers to a stone formed in a body organ, like a kidney or gallbladder stone. So the idea is that lith/o denotes stone, and calculus is itself a stone, making the pairing Stone, Calculus the best match. The other roots point to entirely different ideas—appendix isn’t about stones, within comes from intra- or endo-, and above or excessive comes from hyper- or supra-.