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Chondro- is a combining form used like a prefix meaning “cartilage” or “grain.” In medical terms, the form indicates “cartilage” and in scientific terms, it refers to “grain” or “granular.”

Chondro- ultimately comes from the Greek ����ó�Ի���Dz�, meaning “cartilage” or “grain.”

Closely related to chondro- are the combining forms chondrio- and chondr-, which can also indicate “cartilage” or “grain” in medical and scientific terms.

One example of a medical term that features the combining form chondro- is chondrotomy, meaning “the surgical division of a cartilage.”

The first part of the word, chondro-, means “cartilage.” The second combining form –tomy means “cutting, incision.” Chondrotomy has a literal sense of “cutting cartilage.”

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

• chondroblast
• chondrocyte
• chondroectodermal dysplasia
• chondrodystrophy
• chondrogenesis
• chondrolysis
• chondromalacia
• chondromere
• chondropathy
• chondrophyte
• chondroplast
• chondroporosis
• chondrosarcoma

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

• chiro-
• chloro-
• choro-
• choroido-

The combining form -cyte means “cell.” With this in mind, what type of cell is a chondrocyte?