-rrhea

The combining form -rrhea is used like a suffix meaning “flow” or “discharge.” It is often used in medical terms, especially in pathology.

The form -rrhea comes from the Greek rhoía, meaning “a flow” (like a stream). In Greek, the word rhoía helped form the Greek diárrhoia, literally “a flowing through,” source of the English diarrhea. Cha cha cha.

What are variants of -rrhea?

Variants of -rrhea include -rhea (spelled with a single r) and, chiefly in British English, -rrhoea and -rhoea (spelled with an o). The British English spelling of diarrhea is diarrhoea, for instance.

An example of a relatively common word that features -rrhea is gonorrhea, a sexually transmitted disease.

The first half of the word, gono-, means “sexual” or “reproductive.” We know that –rrhea means “discharge.” Gonorrhea literally translates to “sexual discharge.”

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

• dysmenorrhea
• galactorrhea
• logorrhea (compulsive talkativeness)
• menorrhea
• amenorrhea
• leukorrhea
• pyorrhea

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

• -rrhaphy
• -rrhagia
• -rrhexis
• -rrhiza

The combining form pyo- means “pus.” With this in mind, what does the medical term pyorrhea mean?