py-

Py- is a combining form used like a prefix meaning “pus.” It is often used in medical terms, especially in pathology.

Py- comes from the Greek pýon, meaning “pus.”

Py- is a variant of pyo-, which loses its –o– when combined with words or word elements beginning with vowels.

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

This one’s not for the squeamish. One medical term that features the combining form py- is pyemesis, meaning “the vomiting of pus.”

The first part of the word, py- means “pus.” The second part of the word, emesis, is a medical term for “vomiting. Literally translated, pyemesis is “pus vomiting.”

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

• pyemia
• pyarthrosis
• pyesis
• pyic
• pyin
• pyosis (from Greek pýōsis)

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

• my-
• pyelo-
• pyro-

Not every word that begins with the exact letters py- is necessarily using the combining forming py- to denote “pus,” e.g., pyre or pylon. Discover their origins at our entries for the words.

The suffix -oid means “resembling, like.” With that in mind, what does pyoid mean in everyday language?