-megalia

The combining form -megalia is used like a suffix meaning “irregular enlargement” of an organ or part of the body. It appears in a few medical terms, especially in pathology.

The form -megalia ultimately comes from the Greek mégas, meaning “great, large.”

The form –megalia is a less-common variant of -megaly.

Want to know more? Read our Words That Use -megaly article.

Corresponding forms of -megalia and -megaly combined to the beginning of words is megalo- and megal-. Learn more at our Words That Use articles for the forms.

A variant of megalo- that you may be familiar with is mega-, as in megaphone or megabyte. Mega- is also used as a unit of measure prefix to indicate a fact of one million (e.g., megahertz).

One of the few terms that features the combining form -megalia is splenomegalia, more commonly referred to as splenomegaly. Splenomegalia is “enlargement of the spleen.”

The combining form spleno- means “spleen.” The second part of the word, -megalia, means “irregular enlargement.” Splenomegalia literally translates to “irregularly large spleen.”

What are some words that use the combining form -megalia?

• acromegalia
• cardiomegalia
• enteromegalia
• hepatomegalia

What are some other forms that -megalia may be commonly confused with?

• -machy
• -mania
• -melia

The combining form cardio- means “heart.” What does the medical condition cardiomegalia, more commonly known as cardiomegaly, involve?