Prefixes Examples and Meaning | Vocabulary

A prefix is a type of affix—a linguistic element that is added to a base word to create a modified version of that word. Unlike suffixes, which are attached to the end of a word, prefixes are affixed to the beginning. Prefixes can dramatically alter the meaning of a word, either by negating it, intensifying it, or indicating time, location, or direction. Understanding common prefixes can provide insights into the meanings of unfamiliar words and allow for better comprehension of complex texts.

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Define Prefixes.

A prefix is a group of letters that are added to the beginning of a stem word. Prefixes allow a single root word to have several meanings without the need to know a large number of vocabulary terms. Prefixes are letters that are added to the beginning of a word to modify its meaning. Prefixes aid in the addition of meaning to words and the creation of new words that are universally understood.

Prefixes with Examples and Meaning

Prefixes	Meaning	Examples
A (an)	without	atheist, anarchy
Eu	well	eulogy, eugenics
Epi	upon	epitaph
Hypo	under	hypocrite
Di	twice	dilemma
Con (col, com, cor)	together, with	contend, combine, correct
Ad (af, al, ag, as, a)	to	affect, allege, appoint, assign, avail
Dia	through	diameter
Mono	single, alone	monoplane, monopoly
Auto	self	Autocrat, autograph
Peri, round	Perimeter, period	periscope
Ex (ef, e)	out of	extract, effect
Ex (ec)	out of	eccentric
Bis, (bi, bin)	on both sides, twice	biscuit, binoculars
Amphi	on both sides, around	amphitheatre
Non	not	nonsense
In (il, im, ir)	not	insecure, imprudent
Philo (Phil)	love	philanthropy
Homo (hom)	like	homonym
In (il, im, ir, en, em)	Into, in	invade, immerse, enact, embrace
En (em)	in	emblem
Meta (met)	implying change	metaphor, metonymy
Hemi	half	hemisphere
Demi	half	demigod
Apo (ap)	from	apology
De,	down	descend, depose
Cata	down	cataract, catalogue
Arch (archi)	chief	archangel, architect
Para	by the side of, beside	parallel, parasite
Hyper	beyond, over	hypercritical
Extra	beyond, of, outside	extraordinary, extravagant
Ante (anti, an)	before	antedate, ancestor
Male (mal)	badly, ill	malevolent
Dys	badly	dysentery
Ana	back, up	anachronism
Ab, (a, abs)	away, from	abuse, abstract
Ambi (amb, am)	Around, on both sides	ambiguous, amputate
Circum (circu)	around	circumnavigate, circuit
Dis, (dif, di)	apart	Disjoin, divide
Inter (intro, enter)	among	intervene, entertain
Pan	all	panorama, pantheism
Contra (counter)	against	contradict, counterfeit
Anti (ant)	against	antagonist

Prefixes | Images

Prefixes with Meaning and Examples

Prefixes	Meaning	Examples
Im-	İn	Imbalance
con	with, jointly	concur
ex-	former, out of	ex-boyfriend
deca	ten	decathlon
en	to cause, provide	enable
hyper-	over, above	hyperactive
Em-	Cause to	Embrace
Fore-	Before	Forecast
ad	to, toward, near	Adjacent
a	not, without	abyss
ambi	both	Ambidextrous
ante	before	Antecedent
ante-	before	antenatal
counter	opposite	counterclockwise
co	with, together	coexist
anti-	against, opposing	antidepressant
arch	chief, most important	Archangel
co-	with	co-pilot
bene	good	benevolent
circum-	around	circumvent
a	at, in, on, to	asleep
bi	two, twice	Biannual
equi	equal	equidistant
ethno	race, nation	ethnography
En-	Cause to	Encode
di	two	divert
Prefix	Meaning	Example
dia	through, across	diameter
de-	off, down, away from	defrost
contra	against	contradict
ab	from, away	Abnormal
be	about, become	befriend
il-, im-, in-, ir-	not	illegal
auto	self	automobile
dys	bad, abnormal	dysfunction
homo-	same	homonuclear
demi	half	Demigod
em-, en-	cause to, put into	encode
extra-	beyond, more than	extraordinary
at	to, toward	attend
endo	internal	endocrine

Prefixes Examples | Images

 

What are the 20 examples of prefixes?

• In

Meaning: Not

Example: When Will Injustice End?

• Inter

Meaning: Between

Examples: What do I do after Intermediate?

• Over-

Meaning: Over

Example: we can overlook the sea from here.

• pre-

Meaning: before

Example: Un- is a productive prefix.

• therm-

Meaning: heat

Example: This thermometer is inaccurate.

• non-

Meaning: not, without

Example: They ask what nonsense this is.

• Sub-

Meaning: Under

Example: The subeditors prepare the reporters.

• semi-

Meaning: half

Example: The semi-final replay will be on Monday.

• mid-

Meaning: Middle

Example: The city is midway between London and Edinburgh.

• In-

Meaning: In

Example: Sprinkle the infield there.

• para-

Meaning: beside

Example: She is a qualified paramedic.

• macro-

Meaning: large

Example: Macroeconomics in Global Environment.

• sub-

Meaning: under

Example: It’s a huge submarine.

• mis-

Meaning: wrongly

Example: It is not easy to misinterpret these findings.

• post-

Meaning: after

Example: Is there a hyphen in post-mortem?

• im-, in-

Meaning: into

Example: Insert Image From File.

• Under–

Meaning: Under

Example: I understand what you mean.

• omni-

Meaning: all, every

Example: I am a failed omnivore.

• Un-

Meaning: Not

Example: Her tone is rather unfriendly.

• tri-

Meaning: three

Example: He drew a right triangle.

• re-

Meaning: again

Example: He didn’t return home.

• infra-

Meaning: beneath, below

Example: Go to infrared, people.

Must Try:

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Suffix & Prefix Examples

List of Verbs with Suffixes

List of Noun Suffixes

Prefixes Examples with Sentence| Images

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