The best way to learn medical terminology is to become familiar with the structure and the most commonly used components. Basic Components of Medical Terms. Most medical terms consist of three basic components: root word (the base of the term), prefixes (letter groups in front of the root word) and suffixes (letter groups at the end of the root word). When placed together, these three components define a particular medical term.
Vicar general. A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop of a diocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary.
The papacy first used this title in the 8th century; earlier they used the title vicar of Saint Peter  or vicarius principis apostolorum, the vicar of the chief of the apostles .. In Catholic canon law, a vicar is the representative of any ecclesiastic entity.