The suffix -emesis indicates which symptom or condition?

• A. Bleeding
• B. Cough
• C. Vomiting
• D. Pain

Answer: (C)

Understanding medical suffixes helps you read what a term is describing. The suffix -emesis denotes vomiting. So when you see this ending, it signals vomiting as the symptom or condition involved. For example, hyperemesis gravidarum means excessive vomiting during pregnancy, and an emetic is something that induces vomiting, while an antiemetic reduces it. That makes vomiting the correct interpretation of the suffix -emesis. The other options describe different signs: bleeding is named with terms like hemorrhage or -rrhagia, a cough relates to the respiratory tract, and pain is usually shown with -algia or -odynia.