In medical terminology, “-ary” is a suffix meaning “pertaining to” or “relating to.” It connects a root word to a body part, system, or function, telling you that the term describes something associated with that structure. You’ll find it in dozens of common medical words, from “pulmonary” (pertaining to the lungs) to “urinary” (pertaining to urine or the urinary tract).
How the Suffix Works
Medical terms are built from parts: a root that identifies the body structure, and a suffix that describes the relationship. The suffix “-ary” almost always means “pertaining to,” “relating to,” or “associated with.” When you see it at the end of a word, it’s signaling that the term describes something connected to whatever the root word names.
For example, “pulmon-” comes from the Latin word for lung. Add “-ary” and you get “pulmonary,” which Merriam-Webster defines as “relating to, functioning like, associated with, or carried on by the lungs.” Pulmonary respiration is respiration carried on by the lungs. A pulmonary embolism is a blood clot occurring in the pulmonary artery. The suffix doesn’t change its meaning from one term to the next. It consistently means “of or relating to.”
Common Medical Terms Using “-ary”
Once you recognize the pattern, you can decode unfamiliar terms on your own. Here are some of the most widely used examples:
- Pulmonary: Pertaining to the lungs. Pulmonary edema, for instance, is fluid buildup in the lungs.
- Coronary: Pertaining to the heart (from “corona,” meaning crown, because the coronary arteries wrap around the outside of the heart like a crown).
- Urinary: Pertaining to urine or the urinary tract. The combining forms “urin/o” and “ur/o” both refer to urine.
- Biliary: Pertaining to bile or the bile ducts. A biliary obstruction is a blockage in the system that carries bile from the liver.
- Mammary: Pertaining to the breast. The mammary gland is the structure within the breast that produces milk, made up of glandular, fatty, and fibrous tissue.
- Axillary: Pertaining to the armpit. Axillary lymph nodes sit in the armpit region and play a role in draining fluid from the breast and upper body.
- Capillary: Pertaining to hair-like structures. Capillaries are blood vessels so small they require a microscope to see, thinner than a human hair, transporting blood, nutrients, and oxygen to cells throughout the body.
- Salivary: Pertaining to saliva. Salivary glands produce the fluid that helps break down food in your mouth.
“-ary” vs. Similar Suffixes
Medical terminology has several suffixes that mean roughly the same thing as “-ary,” and they can be confusing at first. The suffixes “-al,” “-ic,” and “-ous” all also mean “pertaining to.” Renal means pertaining to the kidneys. Hepatic means pertaining to the liver. Venous means pertaining to veins. These suffixes are largely interchangeable in meaning, and which one gets used depends on the Latin or Greek root it attaches to, not on a difference in definition.
You may also see “-ary” combined with other suffixes in longer words. “Genitourinary” combines roots for the reproductive organs and the urinary tract into a single term covering both systems. “Retromammary,” used in breast imaging, adds the prefix “retro-” (behind) to describe tissue located behind the mammary gland. The “-ary” portion still means the same thing in every case.
Why This Matters for Reading Medical Records
If you’re looking at a lab report, a diagnosis, or discharge paperwork, recognizing “-ary” lets you quickly identify which body part is involved. A term like “biliary colic” tells you the problem relates to the bile system. “Coronary artery disease” tells you the arteries supplying the heart are affected. You don’t need to memorize every medical word individually. Learning a handful of suffixes like “-ary,” “-itis” (inflammation), and “-ectomy” (surgical removal) gives you a framework for breaking down most terms you’ll encounter.
The root is the part worth paying attention to when you see an unfamiliar word. If you know that “hepat-” means liver and “-ary” means pertaining to, you can figure out that “hepatobiliary” refers to the liver and bile system together, even if you’ve never seen that specific term before.