vagino-

Vagino– is a combining form used like a prefix meaning “vagina.” The vagina is the passage leading from the uterus to the vulva. It is often used in medical terms, especially in pathology.

Vagino– comes from Latin vāgīna, meaning “sheath.” Find out how the flavor vanilla also derives from vāgīna at our entry for the word. The equivalent combining form from Greek is colpo-, from kolpos, meaning “womb.” Learn more at our Words That Use article on colpo-.

What are variants of vagino-?

When combined with words or word elements that begin with a vowel, vagino– becomes vagin–, as in vaginosis. Want to know more? Read our Words That Use article about vagin-.

One example of a medical term that features vagino– is vaginoplasty, also known as a colpoplasty, “plastic surgery of the vagina.”

The form vagino– means “vagina,” and the form –plasty may also look familiar; it means “surgical repair, plastic surgery,” from Greek –plastia. Vaginoplasty literally means “plastic surgery of the vagina.”

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

• vaginocele
• vaginomycosis
• vaginopexy
• vaginoscopy
• vaginotomy

What are some other forms that vagino– may be commonly confused with?

• vago-
• vaso-
• veno-
• vino-

The combining form –tomy means “cutting, incision.” With this in mind, what kind of medical procedure is a vaginotomy?