Prefixes

Prefixes 

Prefixes are letters which we add to the beginning of a word to make a new word with a different meaning. Prefixes combine with words to create new meanings. Super + Star = Superstar (top player). Most Common Prefixes:

auto-	self	autobiography, automobile
mega-	very big, important	megabyte, mega-deal, megaton
non-	not	non-payment, non-smoking
semi-	half	semicircle, semi-retired
tele-	at a distance	television, telepathic

 

Önüne “in” gelmesine rağmen negative olayan kelimeler: Invaluable: “valuable” ın önüne in gelmesine ragmen negative değildir. Valuable: değerli, kıymetli, faydalı; Invaluable: paha biçilmez

Genius: deha; ingenious: dahiyane

 

Prefixes and their variants:

Prefixes and their variants	Meanings	Examples
A	1.on, in, of, to, toward; 2.beginning and end of action	1. aboard, aback, afoot, again, akin, alive, anew, around, ashore, aside; 2. abide, arise, arouse, awake
an, a	not, without	anarchy, anecdote, anemia, achromatic, agnostic, atheist
ab, abs, a	away from	absent, absolute, abstract, abuse, avert
ad, a, af, ag, al, an, ap, as, at	at, near, to, toward	advance, advise, addiction, aggression, announce, appoint, approach, approve, assemble, assert, attention
Ante	Before	antecedent, anteroom
anti, ant	against, opposite	antibiotic, antiseptic, antiaircraft, anticommunist
Be	1.archaic verb formation; 2.around, at, by, on, over, completely	1. become, befall, befoul, befriend, behave, believe, belittle, belong, bemuse, beset, besiege, bewitch; 2. below, beneath, beside, between, befogged, belated
By	near	byproduct, bystander, bystreet
circum	around, round	circumference, circumspection, circumstance
com, con, col, cor, co	together, with, very	commerce, communicate, compass, computer, confirm, conference, collect, collapse, corruption, coworker, coexist
contra, contro, counter	against, in opposition	contraband, contradict, controversy, counteract, counterattack, counterforce, counterproductive
De	away, from, down, of, out of, reverse action	debate, decide, default, defend, degrade, delay, depend, describe, design, despair, destroy, detract, devise, devote

dia, di	across, through, between,	diabetes, diagnosis, diagonal, dialect, dialogue, diameter
dis, di	1.reverse action, not; 2.apart, away, completely	1. disagree, discover, dislike, dismiss, disrespect; 2. digest, dimensions, direct, distant, distribute, divert, divorce
down	down, downward	downgrade, downhill, download, downpour, downright
Dys	bad, ill	dysentery, dysfunction, dyslexia, dyspepsia, dystrophy
Ecto	outer, outside	ectoderm, ectoplasm
en, em	in, into	enable, enact, enforce, engage, enquire, enthusiasm, entrap, environment, enwrap, embarrass, embroidery
Eso	inner	esophagus, esoteric
endo	within	endocarditis, endocrinology, endoderm, endomorph
ex, ec, ef, e	1.out of, from, completely; 2.former	1. exchange, exclude, exist, expand, expensive, explain, export, extension, external, extract, effect, emerge, emit; 2. ex-husband, ex-wife, ex-president, ex-mayor
Exo	outside, outer	exogamy, exogenous, exosphere, exoteric, exotic
extra, extro	outside, beyond	extraordinary, extrovert
for	away, wrongly, extremely	forbid, forget, forgive, forgo, forlorn, forsake, forswear
fore	before, in front, front part	forecast, foresee, foresight, forethought, foreword
forth	forward	forthcoming, forthright
hyper	over, above	hyperactive, hyperbole, hyperfunction, hyperinflation
hypo	below, under	hypochondriac, hypocrisy, hypothalamus, hypothesis
in (engl.)	in, inside, into, inward	inbound, income, incoming, inland, inlay, inmate, inside
in, il, im, ir (latin)	in, inside, into, inward	incident, incision, index, influence, inquire, interior, internal, illuminate, impeach, import, important,
in, il, im, ir (latin)	not	individual, inexpensive, intolerable, illegal, illogical, immature, immoral, impolite, impossible, irregular,
infra	below	infrared, infrastructure
inter	between, together, during	intercept, interest, interfere, interpreter, interview
intra, intro	inside, within	intravenous, introduction, introvert
mal	bad, wrongful	malfunction, malpractice, maladjusted, malicious
male	evil	malediction, malefaction, maleficent, malevolence

meso, mes	middle	Mesolithic, mesosphere, Mesozoic
meta	after, beyond, with, changing	metabolism, metagalaxy, metamorphosis, metaphysics
mid	middle	midnight, midwife, Midwest (U.S.), mid-June
mis	bad, wrong; negation	misfortune, mislead, misplace, misprint, mistake, mistreat
non	not	nonalcoholic, noninterference, nonsmoker
ob, o, oc, of, op	against, on, over, to, toward, completely	object, obligation, observe, obstruct, obtuse, omit, occupation, occur, offend, oppose, opposite, oppressive
off	away from, apart from	offbeat, offline, off-season, offshore, offspring, off- white
on	in the process	online, oncoming, ongoing, onlooker
out	out, beyond	outgoing, outlaw, outnumber, outstanding
over	beyond, above	overcoat, overcome, overdo, overeat, overweight
para	beside, near	paragraph, paralegal, paramedic, paranormal
per	through, very, for, thoroughly	perceive, percent, perfect, perform, perfume, permanent, persevere, persistent, perspective, persuade, peruse
peri	around, beyond, near	pericardial, perimeter, periscope
post	after, behind, later	posthumous, posterior, posterity, postgraduate
pre	before, in front of	precise, predict, prefer, prepare, present, prevent, prewar
pro	before, forward, in place of, in favor of	proceed, progress, prologue, prohibit, prospective, protect, proconsul, proverb, provide, proactive
re	again, back	react, recollect, recover, remind, rename, renew, repeat, reserve, respond, retell, revert, review, revolve, reward
retro	backward	retroaction, retroflex, retrograde, retrogress, retrospect
sub, sup	under, below, inferior	sub-Atlantic, submarine, submit, subordinate, substandard, substantial, subtropical, supply
super, supra	above, beyond, over	superconductor, supernatural, supersonic, supraorbital
syn, sym, syl	together	synchronize, syntax, symmetry, symphony, syllable
trans	across, beyond, through	transaction, transcontinental, transfer, transform
ultra	beyond, extreme	ultraviolet, ultrasound
un	not; reverse action	unable, unhappy, unnecessary, unemployment, unrest; undo, unlock, unpack, unplug, unwrap
under	below, beneath	underdeveloped, underestimate, undertake,

		underwear
Up	up, upward	upcoming, update, upgrade, uphill, uploading
with	together	withdraw, withhold, withstand

 

 

 

Most prefixes are written as one word with the root or stem. But some words with prefixes are hyphenated or have two variants of spelling. For example, some people prefer "anti-aircraft, non- smoker", while others write "antiaircraft, nonsmoker". Such multiplicity presents some difficulty for language learners. Most prefixes are not separated by a hyphen, that is, they are written as one word with the root or stem.

 

Prefix “ex”

Nouns in which the prefix “ex” means "former" are written with a hyphen. For example: ex- husband, ex-wife, ex-champion, ex-mayor, ex-minister, ex-president, ex-President Reagan.

 

Do not separate the prefix “ex by a hyphen in other meanings of the prefix “ex”. For example: exceed, exception, exceptional, exchange, exclude, expensive, explain, extension, extinction.

 

 

Prefix “pro”

Newly formed words with the prefix “pro” in the meaning "in favor of" are usually written with a hyphen.

For example: pro-life (adj.), pro-choice (adj.), pro-family (adj.), pro-activism (noun), pro-feminism (noun).

 

Older, more established words with the prefix “pro” in the meaning "in favor of" are usually written as one word. For example: proanarchy (adj.), procommunist, promonarchy (adj.), promilitarist, proslavery (adj.), proactive. Do not separate the prefix “pro” by a hyphen in other meanings of the prefix “pro”. For example: proceed, proconsul, procurator, prohibit, prolongation, promotion, prospective, provide.

 

In most cases and meanings, the prefix “re” is not separated from the root of the verb by a hyphen, for example, return, respect, remove, relate, repair, replace, reply, research, resist.

 

Also, there is usually no hyphen between the prefix “re” in the meaning "again" and the root or stem, e.g., renew, retell, retype, rewrite. But the hyphen is used to avoid misunderstanding if the verb like this already exists and has another meaning: re-coun, recount; re-cover, recover; re- serve, reserve; re-present, represent; re-lease, release; re-press, repress

 

Root begins with capital letter:

Use the hyphen with the prefix if the root or stem is a proper noun or adjective and begins with a capital letter. For example: anti-American, anti-Catholic, mid-March, non-Euclidean, non-Celtic, pre-Newtonian, pre-Saxon, pro-American, pro-Darwinism, sub-Atlantic, sub-Himalayan, un- American

 

Do not separate these prefixes by a hyphen in other cases. For example: antibiotic, antimonopoly, midnight, midsummer, nonsmoker, nonalcoholic, prehistoric, prewar, subcommittee, submarine, unattractive, unemployment

 

Hyphen between two vowels:

If the prefix ends in a vowel, and the root or stem starts with a vowel (especially if the vowels are the same, or if their combination could be understood as a different sound), the hyphen is often (but not always) used between them to avoid misunderstanding. For example: anti-imperialistic; anti-inflationary; cooperative, co-operative; coordinate, co-ordinate; co-worker, coworker; coauthor, coeducation; pre-election, preelection; pre-emptive, preemptive; pre-establish, preestablish; de-emphasize, deemphasize; de-energize, deenergize; de-ice, deice

 

 

Compound words:

Some prepositions, postpositions, and adverbs can be used as prefixes. Strictly speaking, they are not prefixes; they are combining forms of prepositions, postpositions, or adverbs at the beginning of the word. Words formed in this way are compound words, and they may have variants of spelling, e.g., by-road, byroad; by-street, bystreet; by-product; bystander; mid- seventies, mid-1970s, midseventies, mid seventies; off-season; offshore; off-line, offline; on-line, online.

 

Latin and Greek number prefixes (and their variants) are listed below, with meanings, examples in words. Some of the prefixes denoting number are quite common and are found in frequently used words. Other number prefixes are used mostly in technical literature where they denote very large or very small numbers.

 

 

Latin	Greek	Meanings
Uni	Mono	One
prim, prima	proto, prot	First
bi, bin	Di	Two
du, duo	dy, dyo	Two
Tri	Tri	Three
ter, terti		3 times; third
quadri, quadr	tetra, tetr	Four
Quart		Fourth
quin, quint	penta, pent	Five
sex, ses	hexa, hex	Six
sept, septi	Hepta	Seven
octa, octo, oct	octa, octo, oct	Eight
non, nona, nove	Ennea	Nine
dec, deci	deca, dec	Ten
cent, centi	hecto, hect	Hundred
Centi		one hundredth part
mil, mill	Kilo	Thousand
Milli		one thousandth part

Latin	Greek	Meanings
	Myria	ten thousand
	Mega	large, great; million
	Micro	small; one millionth part
	Macro	large, long
	Giga	giant; billion
nano, nan	nano, nan	dwarf; one billionth part
	Tera	Trillion
Pico		one trillionth part
Femto		one quadrillionth part

 

Latin	Greek	Meanings
Ambi	Amphi	both, two
Equi	İso	Equal
Multi	Poly	Many
	oligo, olig	few, little, not many
nihil, nil		nothing, zero
Nulli		not any, none
Omni		All
semi, demi	Hemi	Half