myc-

Myc- is a combining form used like a prefix meaning “mushroom, fungus.” It is used in many medical and scientific terms, especially in biology—as well as in a branch of biology known as mycology, as we’ll discuss below.

Myc- comes from the Greek ��ý��ŧ��, meaning “mushroom, fungus.”

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

The closely related combining forms myceto- and -mycete both also indicate “mushroom, fungus.” The combining form -mycin used in the names of antibiotics, usually those derived from fungi.

Want to know more? Read our Words That Use myco-, myceto-, -mycete, and -mycin articles.

One example of a term in medicine that features the combining form myc- is mycosis, “the presence of parasitic fungi in or on any part of the body.”

The first part of the word, myc-, means “fungus.” (Fungi is a plural form.) The suffix -osis is used to denote disorders or abnormal states, including diseases. Taken together, mycosis literally translates to “fungus disorder.”

������ are some words that use or are related to the combining form myc-?

• mycelium
• mycetism
• mycid
• mycota
• mycotic

������ are some other forms that myc- may be commonly confused with?

• my-
• myel-
• myx-

The suffix -ota is used in taxonomic names, especially of phyla. With this in mind, what kind of organisms can be found in the kingdom known as Mycota?