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"Ethics taught by an unethical scientist"

CONFUSED WORDS

The following are terms that are often confused with totally different terms with similar spelling or pronunciation.
  1. abducted <=> abdicated
  2. aboral <=> arboreal
  3. acanthocytes <=> acanthocystis
  4. acetazolamide <=> acetahexamide
  5. acinic <=> actinic
  6. acinus <=> a sinus
  7. alcoholic <=> alkalosis
  8. alkalosis <=> ankylosis
  9. amacrine => amsacrine
  10. ambien <=> amen
  11. amiodarone <=> amrinone
  12. anisakiasis <=> anisokaryosis
  13. anlage <=> analog
  14. antinomy <=> antimony (antinomy is the mutual incompatibility of two logical laws; antimony is a mineral element)
  15. aphasia <=> aphagia
  16. aptotic <=> apoptotic
  17. arboreal <=> aboriginal
  18. arterial <=> atrial (relating to an artery v relating to the atrium of the heart)
  19. arteritis <=> arthritis
  20. auscultation <=> osculation (auscultation is listening for internal body sounds, with a stethoscope; osculation is kissing)
  21. auscultation <=> oscultation (auscultation is listening for internal body sounds, with a stethoscope; oscultation is not a work in the English language)
  22. auxilliary <=> axillary
  23. auxin <=> axon
  24. biennial <=> bianual (biennial is every 2 years; biannual is every 6 months)
  25. bilingual <=> by lingual
  26. biomatrix <=> biometrics
  27. brachial <=> branchial (brachial refers to an arm)
  28. branchial <=> bronchial (branchial refers to the the embryonic arches and clefts homologous to gills)
  29. callous <=> callus
  30. callosal <=> colossal (related to corpus callosum v big)
  31. Candida <=> Canada
  32. carney syndrome <=> carney triad (Carney syndrome is myxoma, spotty pigmentation, endocrinopathy; Carney Triad is gastric leiomyosarcoma, pulmonary chondroma, extraadrenal paraganglioma, mainly in young women)
  33. cerumen <=> serum (cerumen is ear wax, serum is the clear liquid that separates out from clotted blood)
  34. chancre <=> chance
  35. chancre <=> chancroid (syphilitic ulcer due to the spirochete Treponema pallidum v sexually transmitted genital sore due to Haemophilus ducreyi)
  36. chlorpropamide <=> chlorpromazine
  37. choleric <=> caloric
  38. cholic <=> colic
  39. chondroid <=> chordoid
  40. chondroma <=> chordoma
  41. chorionic <=> chronic
  42. chromatin <=> chromatic (nuclear material v relating to colors)
  43. chrysolite <=> chrysotile (yellow olivine v asbestos)
  44. cingula <=> singular (a gyrus in the brain v not plural)
  45. circumbscribed <=> circumcised (a surrounding demarcation v removal of foreskin)
  46. cirrhosis <=> serositis (liver fibrosis and damage v inflammation of the outer lining of organs)
  47. cirrhosis <=> xerosis (liver fibrosis and damage v dry skin)
  48. clonidine <=> klonipin
  49. clozapine <=> olanzapine
  50. coitus <=> colitis (intercourse v inflammation of large bowel)
  51. colic <=> colonic (infantile stomach ache v relating to colon)
  52. cometologist <=> cosmetologist
  53. conscience <=> conscious
  54. contin <=> oxycontin
  55. cosmologist <=> cosmetologist
  56. costal <=> coastal (costal refers to ribs)
  57. cryptogram (an encrypted message) <=> cryptogram (an obsolete and inappropriate taxonomic term referring to plants, as well as protists and fungi, that do not produce seeds)
  58. culdoscopy <=> culposcopy
  59. cygnet <=> signet
  60. decease <=> disease
  61. deceased <=> desist (you can cease and desist without being deceased)
  62. deciduous <=> dioecious
  63. diabetic <=> dietetic
  64. diploic <=> diploid
  65. disc <=> disk (synonyms, but where one form is commonly used, the other form is unwelcome)
  66. disease <=> decease
  67. diseased <=> deceased
  68. durezol <=> durasal (durezol is an eye drug, durasal is a wart remover)
  69. dyskaryosis <=> dyskeratosis
  70. ectatic <=> ecstatic
  71. endochondral <=> enchondral (these are synonyms)
  72. ensure <=> insure
  73. epidermic <=> epidemic (relating to the top layer of skin v an outbreak of disease)
  74. epiphysis <=> epiphytic
  75. epitaxis <=> epistaxis
  76. erythemic <=> erythremic (erythemic means red and erythremic refers to red cells)
  77. exxon <=> exon
  78. facial <=> fascial
  79. facies <=> faeces
  80. familiar <=> familial
  81. fetal <=> fatal
  82. firearm <=> forearm
  83. flomax <=> volmax
  84. flutamide <=> flumadine
  85. foreword <=> forward
  86. hallux <=> helicis
  87. helicis <=> hallux
  88. hematoma <=> hepatoma
  89. herpetic <=> herpangina
  90. huff <=> hof
  91. hydatid <=> hydatidiform
  92. ileitis <=> iliitis
  93. ileum <=> ilium
  94. intercostal <=> intercoastal (between ribs v between coasts)
  95. isotope <=> isotrope
  96. isotrope <=> isotope
  97. kalemic <=> cholemic
  98. kerasin <=> keratin
  99. kerasin <=> kerosene
  100. keratinic <=> actinic
  101. keratinic <=> keratotic
  102. keratinocytic <=> keratinolytic
  103. keratosis <=> ketosis
  104. lienal <=> lineal (splenic v an unbroken line of ancestors)
  105. lipoma <=> lymphoma
  106. lobulated <=> lobated
  107. malleolus <=> malleus
  108. meiosis <=> meoisis (meiosis is haploid division; meoisis is a process wherein microsporocytes produce tetrads of four spores, the contents of pollen grains)
  109. meningitis <=> meningitidis
  110. milia <=> milium
  111. miotic <=> meiotic
  112. miotic <=> mitotic
  113. mitosis <=> meiosis
  114. mitotic <=> meiotic
  115. mucous <=> mucus (verb v noun)
  116. myelofibrosis <=> myofibrosis (fibrosis of bone marrow v fibrosis of muscle)
  117. myeloid <=> myoid (of bone marrow v of muscle)
  118. myiasis <=> meiosis
  119. myofibroma <=> myelofibroma
  120. myosis <=> meiosis
  121. noble (in chemistry, refers to metals that only occur naturally in a pure form) <=> nobel (the prize)
  122. nucleus <=> nucleolus
  123. oncology <=> ontology (oncology is the field of medicine dealing with cancer; ontology is the study of the basic categories of being, and their relationships)
  124. ontogeny <=> ontology
  125. orchid <=> orchard
  126. orchidectomy <=> orchiectomy
  127. organic <=> organoid
  128. paladin <=> palladin (Paladin is a heroic knight, and palladin is a protein overexpressed in pancreatic cancer named after the renaissance architect Andrea Palladio)
  129. palatal <=> palatial (of the mouth's palat v big gaudy house)
  130. paleodontology <=> paleontology
  131. palette <=> palate (artists paint on a palette; the palate is the roof of your mouth)
  132. palpation <=> palpitation (palpation is exploring by touch; palpitation is the sensation that your heart is beating erratically)
  133. palpitation <=> palpation
  134. panel <=> penal
  135. panel <=> penile
  136. parental <=> parenteral (parental refers to a mother or father; parenteral is a route of administration of liquid medicine or food into the body other than the normal enteral (gastrointestinal) route)
  137. parotid <=> carotid
  138. parotid gland <=> carotid gland
  139. pathogen <=> parthenogen
  140. pathogenesis <=> parthenogenesis
  141. penal <=> penile
  142. penicillamine <=> penicillin
  143. perineal <=> perennial
  144. perineal <=> perianal
  145. perineal <=> peritoneal
  146. perineal <=> peroneal
  147. pipette <=> pipetta
  148. plaque <=> plague
  149. pleiotropic <=> pleiotypic
  150. plural <=> pleural
  151. polypoid <=> polyploid (shaped like a polyp v carrying extra sets of chromosomes)
  152. polypoid <=> polypod (shaped like a polyp v having multiple pods, as in certain ferns)
  153. porphyria <=> porphyruria (a condition in which there is overproduction of porphyrins v porphyrins in the urine)
  154. potable <=> portable (safe to dring v can be carried)
  155. prilosec <=> prozac
  156. proptosis <=> ptosis
  157. prostrate <=> prostate
  158. protuberant <=> protruberant
  159. pseudomonas <=> pseudonymous
  160. ptosis <=> tylosis
  161. pyrolysis <=> paralysis
  162. quinine <=> quinidine
  163. rachischisis <=> rachitis
  164. rachischitic <=> rachitic
  165. radial <=> radical
  166. relic (ancient item that persists to modern times) <=> relict (much like relic, but applies exclusively to animals and other organisms)
  167. retrovir <=> ritonavir
  168. rett <=> ret
  169. rickets <=> rickettsia
  170. rosacea <=>rosea
  171. saliva <=> salvia
  172. semantic <=> somatic
  173. serous <=> serious
  174. severe <=> sever
  175. silicon <=> silicone
  176. singleton <=> singultus (one of a kind v hiccup)
  177. somatic <=> semantic
  178. sonography <=> stenography
  179. species <=> specious
  180. tendonitis <=> tendinitis (these two terms are equivalent, though they shouldn't be; there's no such thing as a tendin)
  181. taenia <=> tinea
  182. takoma <=> trachoma
  183. thecoma <=> thekeoma
  184. tinnitus <=> tinnitis
  185. tophus <=> typhus
  186. torsion <=> distortion
  187. trachoma <=> trachea
  188. tribonema <=> treponema
  189. trichina <=> trachoma
  190. trichina <=> trichura
  191. trichinosis <=> trichosis
  192. trichinosis <=> trichuriasis
  193. trichinosis <=> trichinellosis <=> trichiniasis (these are all valid synonyms)
  194. typhoid fever <=> paratyphoid fever
  195. urethral <=> ureteral (urethra is not the ureter)
  196. vagitis <=> vaginitis (inflammation of vagus nerve v inflammation of vagina)
  197. venous <=> venus (of the veins v the planet)
  198. virial <=> viral (virial temperature is a term from physics meaning the average energy per particle in an accretion disk)
  199. zocor <=> cozaar


Last modified: January 16, 2011, by Jules J. Berman, Ph.D., M.D.