Prefixes are the letter/s which sit before a stem to make new words. These letters are also called affixes.
Affixes generally have no meaning by their own but can form meaningful words by sitting before/after the stems. In the case of prefixed words, affixes sit before the stems of the words.
“A prefix is an affix which is placed before the stem of a word.”– Wilson (2011)
A prefix is “a letter or group of letters that is added at the beginning of a word to change its meaning.”– .
Example:
- Prefix = ‘fix’ is a stem and ‘pre’ is a prefix which changes the meaning of the stem and creates a new word.
- Antibiotic
- Awake
- Symphony
- Hemisphere
List of Common Prefixes:
| Prefix | Meaning | Examples |
| a | on in from up not without | aboard (onboard) asleep (in sleep) arise (rise from) awake (wake up) atheist (not a theist) apathy (without pathy) |
| ab | bad not | abuse (bad use) abnormal (not normal) |
| ad | to | adjoin (to join) |
| ante | before | antedate (before date) |
| anti | against opposite of | antiseptic (against septic) anticlimax (opposite of climax) |
| auto | self | autobiography (self-biography) |
| bi | two | bilateral (two sides) |
| co | with | co-exist (exist with) |
| de | down reversal | detrain (down train) demerit |
| di | two | dioxide (two oxides) |
| dia | through | diameter |
| dis | not opposite | disallowed (not allowed) dishonor (opposite of honor) |
| en | on in | enact (on action) encage (in the cage) |
| ex | out of former | extract (out of anything) ex-student |
| il | opposite of | illegal (opposite of legal) |
| im | the opposite of | impossible (opposite of possible) |
| in | the opposite of | inability (opposite of ability) |
| ir | the opposite of | irrational (opposite of rational) |
| inter | within | interschool (within the school) |
| fore | before | foretell (telling before) |
| hemi | half | hemisphere (half sphere) |
| homo | like/same | homogeneous (same species) |
| hyper | beyond/over | hypersensitive (oversensitive) |
| hypo | under | hypothesis (under thesis) |
| mal | bad ill | malpractice (bad practice) malnutrition (ill nutrition) |
| mis | bad | misconduct (bad conduct) |
| mono | single | monologue (single logue) |
| non | not/opposite | nonsense (opposite of sense) |
| post | after | postmodern (after modern) |
| pre | before | pretext (before text) |
| peri | round | perimeter (round meter) |
| re | again | regain (again gain) |
| semi | half | semifinal (half final) |
| sub | backup/alternate | subway (alternate way) |
| super | over/beyond | supernatural (beyond natural) |
| to | this | today (this day) |
| trans | across | transform (across form) |
| ultra | beyond | ultramodern (beyond modern) |
| un | not/opposite | unable (not able) |
| vice | alternative of | vice-captain (alternative of captain) |
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