Common Prefix Terms and Definitions

A complete list of common vocabulary prefixes, their definitions, and linguistic usage extracted from the lecture handout.

a, ab

Away from

a, ad

To, towards

a, an

without

ambi

Both sides, or around

amphi

Both sides, or around

ana

Up, towards, apart

ante

Before, in front of

anti

Against, opposed to

auto

self

bi, bis

Two, twice, double

circum

around

contra

Against, opposed to

de

Away, take away

di, dis

Two, twice, double

dia

Through, across

dys

Difficult, bad

ecto

Outer, outside

en

In, inside, within

endo

In, inside, within

ento

In, inside, within

epi

Upon, on, over

e, ex

Out of, outside of

extra

Outside, beyond

hemi

Half

homo

The same

hydro

water

hyper

Above, over

hypo

Below, under

In (meaning not)

not

In, intra (meaning location)

In, inside, within

Infra

Below, under

inter

Between or among

leuko

white

macro

large

mal

Bad, faulty, poor

meta

Beyond, after

micro

small

ortho

straight

pan

all

para

beside

per

Through, across

peri

around

Poly

Much, many

post

after

pre

Before, in front of

pro

Before, in front of

pseudo

false

re

Again, back

retro

Behind, backwards

semi

Half, partial

sub

Below, under

super

Above, over

supra

Above, over

sym

Together, with

syn

Together, with

telo

End, fulfillment, complete

trans

Across, through

ultra

Beyond, after, excess

un

not

uni

One, single, one form