fibr-

Fibr- is a combining form used like a prefix meaning “fiber” (or “fibre,” in British English). It is often used in some scientific and medical terms. In medicine, fiber refers to slender, threadlike parts of nerve, muscle, or connective tissue.

Fibr- comes from the Latin fibra, meaning “fiber, filament, entrails.” Outside of medicine, fiber has a wide variety of senses in areas ranging from botany to optics to chemistry to nutrition, of course. Be sure to get your fill of fiber at our entry for the word.

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

Want to know more? Read our Words That Use fibro- article.

One example of a medical term you may be familiar with that features the combining form fibr- is fibroma, “a tumor consisting essentially of fibrous tissue.”

As we know, fibr- means “fiber.” The suffix -oma is used to form names of tumors. Fibroma literally translates to “fiber tumor.”

Another term formed from fibri- is fibrin, with -in denoting a chemical compound. In biochemistry, fibrin is the insoluble protein end product of blood coagulation. In botany, fibrin means “gluten.” The combining form fibrino- represents fibrin in compound words.

What are some words that use the combining form fibr-?

• cystic fibrosis
• fibratus (using the equivalent form of fibr- in Latin)
• fibremia
• fibriform
• fibroid
• fibrosis
• fibrous

What are some other forms that fibr- may be commonly confused with?

• fascio-
• ferro-
• tribo-
• vibro-

The suffix -oid means “resembling, like.” With this in mind, what does the medical adjective fibroid, which often refers to tissue or tumors, literally mean?