A prefix is an affix which is placed before the stem of a word
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Why are not “infamous” and “inflammable” the opposite of “famous” and “flammable”?
Why are not infamous and inflammable the opposite of famous and flammable, like incomplete, inactivity, inappropriate and so on?
11
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1answer
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Why “unequal” but “inequality”?
The opposite of "equal" is "unequal", yet there is no word "unequality". Why do we use "inequality" instead?
11
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4answers
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“Biweekly”, “bimonthly”, “biannual”, and “bicentennial”
What do lengths of time with the "bi" prefix mean"? I have understood bicentennial as once every two hundred years, but biannual as meaning twice a year. Do biweekly and bimonthly mean twice a week or ...
3
votes
3answers
940 views
Where did prefix exceptions originate?
Consider the following words:
inflammable
invaluable
Each of these has the unusual property that its meaning is identical to its counterpart lacking the prefix. In almost all other cases, the ...
6
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3answers
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Are there any patterns to observe in choosing the correct negation prefix to use?
Are there any patterns to observe in choosing the correct prefix to use? There are other prefixes as well, but these are usually the ones I mix up.
As in unbelievable, disproportionate, asymmetric, ...
14
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3answers
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Is there a general rule for the prefixation of “un-” and “de-” to words?
Given the different questions we have seen about the prefixes "de-" and "un-", I have grown curious if there is a overarching rule for terms that need undoing.
“Unselect” or “Deselect”?
“Unregister” ...
6
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3answers
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What is the story behind “a-” prefix / suffix?
For example,
If this van's a-rockin', don't come a-knockin'
Here We Come A-caroling (song title)
Come on-a My House (song title)
I have a few related questions:
What is the "a-" or "-a" called?
...
6
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4answers
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Origins of negative prefixes like in-, un-, il-, ir-, dis-, a-
I've read here about origins of in- and un- negative prefixes. Are there any known origins of other negative prefixes such as il-, ir-, dis-, a-?
32
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9answers
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“Unregister” vs “Deregister”
The concept of "undoing a registration" is widely used in my line of work. While most dictionaries define unregister as the proper verb for it, several widely used and highly considered sources also ...
13
votes
2answers
853 views
What is the history of adding the a- prefix to form words?
I have always found the a- prefix to words (as in anew, ajar, aside, awake, afoot, a-hunting, etc.) fascinating. The NOAD says on this topic:
a- 2. prefix
•to; toward : aside | ashore.
...
8
votes
3answers
513 views
Using “non-” to prefix a two-word phrase
Does "non-" prefixed to a two word phrase permit another hyphen before the second word?
If I want to refer to an entity which is defined as the negation of another entity by attaching "non-" it seems ...
5
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3answers
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adding a prefix “re” to a word, with or without a hyphen?
In science we often invent words, but that doesn't mean we know how to spell them. Most of the time words are invented by adding prefixes. In that case should there be a hyphen or not? Specifically, I ...
5
votes
2answers
642 views
Hyphens in verb construction containing prefix such as “re”
In semi-formal business writing in the United States, I often observe that writers tend to add a hyphen between a prefix and the root infinitive of verbs. In many of the cases, the resulting verb ...
5
votes
1answer
129 views
What are the correct spelling and regional distribution of “X, schmX” to indicate dismissiveness (e.g., “evidence, schmevidence”)?
There is a curious construct in American English in which a word is stated and then repeated with the prefix "schm-" or "shm-" in order to indicate the speaker's dismissive attitude toward a concern ...
4
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0answers
359 views
I was wondering why there are multiple prefixes for the same meaning [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Why “unequal” but “inequality”?
Origins of negative prefixes like in-, un-, il-, ir-, dis-, a-
There are a lot of prefixes for meaning ...
42
votes
5answers
3k views
What we've gelost — why doesn't English use the prefix “ge-”?
The Germanic languages that I'm familiar with all use a prefix similar to ge- on past participles:
German: Ich habe mir den Fuß gebrochen.
Dutch: Ik heb mijn voet gebroken.
But English ...
16
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4answers
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“Unselect” or “Deselect”?
If I want the user to revert their operation of selecting an item, should I say: "Unselect the option" or "Deselect the option"?
12
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4answers
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“pseudo-”, “quasi-” “semi-” and
I was wondering about the meaning of "pseudo-", "quasi-" "semi-" and possibly other related prefixes, in general cases.
Particularly, in engineering and science, there are quite a few terms named ...
15
votes
3answers
3k views
What is the opposite of “meta”?
A while back I was talking about it with friends.
Another question indicates a few meanings of the "meta-" prefix. Considering that "meta" means, in simple words, "about itself" (like how metadata is ...
4
votes
1answer
2k views
Prefix di- and bi-
I was wondering if there are differences between the cases of using di- and the cases of using bi-?
For example,
why carbon dioxide instead of carbon bioxide?
Why binoculars instead of dinoculars?
...
4
votes
2answers
329 views
Biweekly, bimonthly, semi-confused [closed]
There seems to be a fair amount of confusion surrounding the meaning of the prefix bi when used with units of time measurement. Biweekly, according to dictionary.com, can mean either "occurring twice ...
4
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4answers
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“Irregardless” vs. “irrespective”
Why is irrespective considered a proper word but irregardless is not?
14
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4answers
796 views
How productive is the prefix “un-”?
Is it possible to use un- with new words such as sit, sleep, sad? I'm currently seeing many words (in programming) which use "un-" in the meaning of undoing something.
For example, is it possible to ...
14
votes
5answers
2k views
What is the opposite of the “sub” prefix?
The term subcategories refers to lower level categories.
Which term should I use to refer to higher level categories?
Does supercategories sound right?
8
votes
4answers
954 views
What is it called when you add 'im' to 'possible'?
I took the ESL certification test and I was wondering: what is it called when you add 'im' to 'possible'?
6
votes
2answers
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'Irrealistic' or 'unrealistic'?
I basically learnt that words that start with a 'm' or 'p' get 'im' as a negative prefix, whilst words starting with 'r' get 'ir' in such a case (irreverent, irrelevant).
However, I stumbled upon ...
5
votes
2answers
708 views
Why does “pre-” change the meaning of “dominantly” to mean “for the most part; mainly”?
Consider the following two sentences:
People in North America are predominantly English speakers.
People in North America are dominantly English speakers.
Merriam-Webster defines ...
4
votes
4answers
504 views
What's the distinction between “nonessential” and “inessential”?
I'm revising a text that uses the word "nonessential", but my ear is telling me "inessential." Usually when there are two very similar words like this, there is some subtle (or not so subtle) ...
3
votes
6answers
552 views
Antonym of the verb “complete”
I have an action on a web form. It's a button whose action is to complete a case.
I need to name another button, and I want to use a verb that conveys the meaning of "undo the completion" of this ...
1
vote
2answers
132 views
How can you omit repetition of words with prefixes, e.g. “inputs and outputs”? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Use of hyphens when writing repeated compound words that has common parts
I am looking for a general way of shortening the repetition of words with prefixes like upwards ...
1
vote
2answers
9k views
Rule to determine when to use the prefix “im” vs. “un” to negate a word starting with “p”? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Negation prefixes: un-, dis-, a-, in-, …
The prefix un is commonly used to negate a word, but is is quite rare with words that start with the letter p; the prefix ...
