What do the endings "-a," "-e," and "-y" signify in medical terminology?

In medical terminology, the endings "-a," "-e," and "-y" are often used as suffixes that can modify the meaning of a root word or can serve a grammatical purpose in terms of word formation. Although one of the options suggests they have "no meaning," this isn't entirely accurate because these endings do contribute to the meaning in various contexts.

The correct understanding is that "-a" often indicates a plural form (as in "bacteria") or a noun (as in "anemia"), "-e" can be used in terms like "osteocyte" to refer to a cell type, and "-y" signifies a condition or process, as in "hypertrophy," which denotes the condition of increased size. Hence, rather than having no meaning, these suffixes help to form medical terms that describe specific conditions, processes, or types of structures, demonstrating their functional significance in medical language.

In the context of the other options, "-e" typically pertains to nouns or a specific type of word form rather than strictly indicating 'pertaining to' or 'resembling,' and thus cannot be understood as being synonymous with those meanings. Similarly, while there are suffixes that do indicate 'producing' or 'causing,'