Go to 'thermo-' entry Go to 'dino-' entry Go to 'chondro-' entry Go to 'aero-' entry Go to '-logy' entry Go to 'thaumato-' entry Go to 'nano-' entry Go to '-sophy' entry Go to 'bucco-' entry Go to '-ism' entry Go to '-lysis' entry Go to 'galacto-' entry Go to '-anthropy' entry Go to 'pneumo-' entry Go to '-ploitation' entry Go to '-lithic' entry Go to '-sepalous' entry Go to 'onco-' entry Go to '-parous' entry Go to 'dermato-' entry Go to 'multi-' entry Go to 'dodeca-' entry Go to '-zoon' entry Go to 'vermi-' entry Go to 'crystallo-' entry Go to 'biblio-' entry Go to 'eco-' entry Go to 'juxta-' entry Go to 'facio-' entry
Affixes: the building blocks of English
Affixes: the building blocks of English
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terato-

Monsters or abnormal forms.

[Greek teras, terat-, monster.]

Though teratology can be a collection of tales about fantastic creatures and monsters, it is also the scientific study of congenital abnormalities and abnormal formations. Most terms in terato- have this medical sense, as in teratogenesis, the process by which congenital malformations are produced in an embryo or fetus, such as by a teratogen; a teratoma is a tumour composed of tissues not normally present at the site; a teratocarcinoma is a form of malignant teratoma occurring especially in the testis.

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