PREFIXES AND SUFFIXES

Prefixes and suffixes

1. Prefixes

A prefix is a group of letters at the beginning of a word which changes the word’s meaning. Here is a list of the most common prefixes and examples of how those prefixes are used.

Anglo- relating to the UK or England an Anglophile

(= someone who loves England)

ante- before or in front of antedate • antenatal

anti- 1 opposed to or against anti-racist laws

2 preventing or destroying an anti-aircraft missile

auto- 1 operating without being controlled by humans autopilot (= a computer that directs an aircraft)

2 self an autobiography (= a book that someone writes about their own life)

bi- two bilingual (= speaking two languages)

• bimonthly (= happening twice in a month or once every two months)

centi-, cent- hundred a centimetre • a century

co- with or together a co-author • to coexist

contra- against or opposite to contradict (= say the opposite) • contraception (= something that is used

to prevent pregnancy)

counter- opposing or as a reaction to a counter-attack (= an attack on someone who has attacked you)

cross- 1 across cross-border 2 including different groups or subjects a cross-party committee (= one formed from many political parties) • cross-cultural

cyber- involving, using or relating to computers, especially the Internet cybercrime • cyberculture

de- to take something away deforestation (= when the trees in an area are cut down)

dis- not or the opposite of dishonest • to disagree

e- electronic, usually relating to the Internet email

• e-commerce. Note: ‘e-’ is usally joined onto a word with a hyphen (as in e-commerce) but email is usually written without a hyphen

eco- relating to the environment eco-friendly tourism

(= tourism that does not damage the environment)

en- 1 used to form verbs that mean to put into or onto something encase • encircle 2 used to form verbs that mean to cause to be something enable • endear

Euro- relating to Europe Europop (= modern, young people’s music from Europe)

ex- from before an ex-boyfriend • an ex-boss

extra- outside of or in addition to extracurricular activities (= activities that are in addition to the usual school work)

geo- of or relating to the Earth geophysics • geology

hyper- having a lot of or too much of a quality hyperactive • hypersensitive (= more than normally sensitive)

ill- in a way that is bad or not suitable ill-prepared

• an ill-judged remark

in-, il-, im-, ir- not incorrect • illegal • impossible

• irregular

inter- between or among international

• an interdepartmental meeting

intra- within an intranet

kilo- a thousand a kilometre • a kilogram

mega- 1 informal extremely megarich

(= extremely rich) 2 one million 40 megabytes

micro- very small a microchip • microscopic

(= extremely small)

mid- in the middle of mid-July. • a man in his

mid-forties • mid-afternoon/-morning

milli- a thousandth a millisecond

mini- small a miniskirt (= very short skirt) • a minibus

mis- not or badly mistrust • to misbehave

mono- one or single monolingual • a monologue

multi- many a multi-millionaire • a multi-storey car park

neo- new neo-fascists

non- not, or the opposite of non-alcoholic drinks

• non-smokers

omni- everywhere or everything omnipresent

• omniscient

out- more than or better than to outgrow • to outnumber • to outdo someone (= to show that you are better than someone)

over- too much to overeat • overpopulated

photo- connected with or produced by light photosensitive • photosynthesis

poly- many polygamy (= having more than one husband or wife at the same time) • a polygon (= shape with a lot of sides)

post- after or later than postwar • a postgraduate

pre- before or earlier than pre-tax profits • pre-school

pro- supporting pro-democracy demonstrations

pseudo- false a pseudonym (= false name used especially by a writer) • pseudo-academic

psycho- of the mind or mental processes psychology

quasi- partly quasi-religious ideas

re- again to remarry • a reusable container

retro- looking at or copying the past retrograde

• retrospective

self- of or by yourself or itself self-doubt • self-critical

semi- half or partly a semicircle • semi-frozen

socio- relating to society socio-economic

sub- 1 under or below subzero temperatures

2 less important or a smaller part of a larger whole

a subsection

super- extremely or more than usual a supermodel

• super-rich

tele- over a long distance, done by phone, or on or for television the telecommunications industry

thermo- relating to heat or temperature a thermostat

(= piece of equipment that controls temperature)

• a thermometer

trans- 1 across transatlantic flights 2 showing

a change to transform • to translate

tri- three a triangle • a tripod

ultra- extremely ultra-modern architecture

• ultra-careful

un- not or the opposite of unhappy • unfair

under- 1 not enough undercooked potatoes

• underprivileged children 2 below underpass

Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary, 3rd edition

2. Suffixes

A suffix is a group of letters at the end of a word which changes the word’s meaning and often its part of speech. Here is a list of the most common suffixes and examples of how those suffixes are used.

-able/-ible changes a verb into an adjective meaning ‘able to be’ avoid V avoidable • admire V admirable

-age changes a verb into a noun meaning ‘the action described by the verb or the result of that action’ marry V marriage • break V breakage • spill V spillage

-aholic, -oholic makes a noun meaning ‘a person

who is unable to stop doing or taking something’

a workaholic • an alcoholic

-al 1 changes a noun into an adjective meaning ‘relating to’ culture V cultural • nation V national • nature V natural 2 changes a verb into a noun meaning ‘the action described by the verb’ approve V approval

• remove V removal

-an, -ian 1 makes a noun meaning ‘a person who does something’ historian • politician 2 makes an adjective meaning ‘belonging somewhere’ American

-ance, -ence, -ancy, -ency makes a noun meaning ‘an action, state, or quality’ performance • independence

-ation, -ion changes a verb into a noun meaning ‘the process of the action described by the verb, or the result of that action’ educate V education • explain

V explanation • connect V connection

-centric makes an adjective meaning ‘having the

stated thing as your main interest’ Eurocentric

-ed makes an adjective meaning, ‘having this thing

or quality’ bearded • coloured • surprised

-ee changes a verb into a noun meaning ‘someone that something is done to’ employ V employee • interview V interviewee • train V trainee

-en changes an adjective into a verb meaning ‘to become or make something become’ thick V thicken • fat V fatten

-ence, -ency See -ance

-er, -or changes a verb into a noun meaning ‘the person or thing that does the activity’ dance V dancer

• employ V employer • act V actor • cook V cooker (= a machine for cooking) • time V timer

-esque makes an adjective meaning ‘like or in the style of someone or their work’ a Dali-esque painting

-ful changes a noun into an adjective meaning,

‘having a particular quality’ beauty V beautiful

• power V powerful • use V useful

-hood makes a noun meaning ‘the state of being something and the time when someone is something’ childhood • motherhood

-ian See -an

-ible See -able

-ical changes a noun ending in -y or -ics into an adjective meaning ‘relating to’ history V historical

• politics V political

-ing makes an adjective meaning ‘making someone

feel something’ interest V interesting • surprise

V surprising • shock V shocking

-ion See -ation

-ise See -ize

-ish makes an adjective meaning 1 slightly a greyish colour • a smallish (= quite small) house 2 typical of or similar to a childish remark 3 approximately fiftyish

(= about fifty)

-ist 1 makes a noun meaning ‘a person who does a particular activity’ artist • novelist • scientist 2 makes a noun and an adjective meaning ‘someone with a particular set of beliefs’ communist • feminist

-ive changes a verb into an adjective meaning ‘having

a particular quality or effect’ attract V attractive

• create V creative • explode V explosive

-ize, -ise changes an adjective into a verb meaning

‘to make something become’ modern ‘ modernize

• commercial V commercialize

-less changes a noun into an adjective meaning ‘without’ homeless people • a meaningless statement

• a hopeless situation

-like changes a noun into an adjective meaning ‘typical of or similar to’ childlike trust • a cabbage-like vegetable

-ly 1 changes an adjective into an adverb describing the way that something is done She spoke slowly

• Drive safely. 2 makes an adjective and an adverb meaning ‘happening every day, night, week etc’ a daily newspaper • We hold the meeting weekly. 3 changes

a noun into an adjective meaning ‘like that person

or thing’ mother V motherly • coward V cowardly

-ment changes a verb into a noun meaning ‘ the action or process described by a verb, or its result’ develop V development • disappoint V disappointment

-monger makes a noun meaning ‘a person who encourages a particular activity, especially one that causes trouble’ a war-monger

-ness changes an adjective into a noun meaning ‘the quality or condition described by the adjective’ sweet V sweetness • happy V happiness • dark V darkness • ill V illness

-ology makes a noun meaning ‘the study of something’ psychology (= the study of the mind) • sociology

(= the study of society)

-or See -er

-ous changes a noun into an adjective meaning

‘having that quality’ danger V dangerous

• ambition V ambitious

-phile makes a noun meaning ‘enjoying or liking something’ a Francophile (= someone who loves France) • a bibliophile (= someone who loves books)

-proof makes an adjective meaning ‘protecting against, or not damaged by, a particular thing’ a bullet-proof vest • a waterproof jacket

-ridden makes an adjective meaning ‘full of something unpleasant or bad’ a guilt-ridden mother

-ship makes a noun showing involvement between people friendship • a relationship • partnership

-speak used to form nouns to mean the special language used in a particular subject area or business computerspeak • marketingspeak

-ward, -wards makes an adverb meaning ‘towards

a direction or place’ inward • forward • homeward

-wise changes a noun into an adverb meaning ‘relating to this subject’ Weather-wise, the holiday was great.

-y changes a noun into an adjective meaning ‘having a lot of something, often something bad’ noise V noisy • dirt V dirty • smell V smelly

Source:

Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary, 3rd edition

© Cambridge University Press 2008