What is folliculitis, and what are its root and suffix?

• A. Derm/o + -itis
• B. Follicul/o + -itis
• C. Follic/o + -itis
• D. Follicul/o + -pathy

Answer: (B)

Folliculitis means inflammation of a hair follicle. In medical terms, you form this by combining the structure’s name with a suffix that shows what’s happening. The structure here is the hair follicle, and its combining form is follicul/o. The suffix -itis denotes inflammation. Put together, follicul/o + -itis gives folliculitis, the inflammation of a follicle. Using follic/o as the root isn’t the standard form for this structure in this term, and -pathy would imply a disease or disorder rather than inflammation, so they don’t fit. Derm/o would be for skin, not the follicle.