Questions tagged [prefixes]
A prefix is an affix which is placed before the stem of a word
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What do we use ‘Ms.’ or ‘Mrs.’ when we write about a person whose marital status we don’t know? [duplicate]
Also, What if we have a general idea about the the marital status of a person. Especially, in the case of ‘Mrs.’, if we seem to have a good idea about the marital status of a woman, can we write ‘Mrs.’...
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What is similar to ex- pattern to refer to the future
A normal way to refer to the next president is to call him/her future/next president or president-elect (in case of selecting through an election). However, I'm looking for a pattern to refer to that ...
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Prefix for "above/beyond" when referring to scale
If I wanted to refer to a spatial scale relatively smaller than a kilometer, I might say "sub-kilometer" scale.
However, what is the proper prefix for describing a spatial scale relatively ...
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Origin of prefix "Mc" McDonalds or Monty Python?
The "Mc" prefix in the USA is used in, for "McMansion" to mean, I think, characterless and identical (as in McDonald's restaurants which I think were the first really big chain ...
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Why does the pronunciation of the prefix en- vary so much?
I want to know the reason for all the different pronunciations of the prefix en- in English words. For example, words like enable, enlarge and endure have the prefix pronounced as /ɪn/, at least ...
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Is the word subprocedure; sub-procedure; or sub procedure correct? [duplicate]
I want to use the single word variety, but my spellchecker is telling me the split two words is correct. This looks wrong to me, is there a standard for this type of word and "prefix"?
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Unlike in DISassemble, why doesn't the DIS- in 'DISsemble' mean 'undo or reverse'?
https://www.wordsmyth.net/blog/2020/01/dissemble-2 baffles me.
Dis*\assemble is a derivation of the verb “assemble.” The prefix “dis-” means “to undo or reverse” the action denoted by the base, that ...
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Is "inauthentic" inauthentic?
"Inauthentic" is more commonly used than "unauthentic", at least these days, but they are both valid. Several sources (World Wide Words for example) suggest what prefix the ...
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Opposite prefix for de-, with regard to the words despection, circumspection, and respect
I'm looking for the proper prefix for what kind of "spectating" would make an etymologically correct connotation towards "looking up", where despection and "despising" is ...
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If "in-" forms antonyms, why is "invaluable" not the opposite of "valuable"?
I'm not an native speaker. Most of the time when I hear a word that starts with "in-" I think of an opposite, a negation:
visible – invisible
valid – invalid
dependent – independent
But I ...
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How to know if the beginning of a word is a true prefix
In English, I think it is fairly obvious when some words have a prefix. For example,
recall, return, remove, superconductor, etc.
You can actually separate the prefix from the root word and have a ...
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Alternate formulations for "four-month anniversary" (one-third of a year)
Looking for alternate formulations to four-month anniversary, a formulation that would highlight the fact that one third of a year has gone by since a certain date.
For six months there is the word ...
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Can a stem be used with differing prefixes, such as in "pre- and suffixes"?
Does the English language allow for reusing a word stem in the context of multiple prefixes?
E.g.:
pre- and suffixes both need a stem
sur- and interfaces
The machine was dis- and reassembled
If so,...
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What are the capitalisation rules for prefixes in parentheses?
If you'd like to write (co)promotor at the beginning of a sentence, should both 'co' and 'promotor' be capitalised? For example, is it "(Co)Promotors are advised to ..."? Or is there another ...
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Are there any class-changing prefixes in English?
Whenever I do a Google search about affixes, I find information like 'Prefixes usually do not change the class of the base word, but suffixes usually do change the class of the word' (UEfAP).
As I ...
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Does the spelling of suffixes change in some cases like prefixes?
I know that prefixes never change the spelling of the stem. However, their spelling changes in some cases. For example:
well+come = welcome (not wellcome)
all+ways = always (not allways)
in+regular =...
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Why "monatomic" and not "monoatomic"?
"Mono" means singular, and "atomic" stands for the atom. So combining them will give a single atom - "monatomic".
But why is this so? Why can't it be "monoatomic&...
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What's a word for marrying someone of similar status?
Hypergamy is an action of marrying someone of a higher socio-economic class while hypogamy is doing the same for a person of lower socio-economic class. What is it called, if you marry someone of a ...
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Prefix in word 'elongation' [closed]
I just wondered if there is a e- prefix.
For example to form the word elongation having as root the word long .
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Prefixed words in English whose abbreviations skip the prefixes
I was writing an article about certain abbreviations in German. Two of the terms being abbreviated were Verschmelzungsfunktion and Vertauschungsfunktion. Abbreviating both of them as V would have ...
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Why do so many prefixes end with -o? (Visio, linguo) [closed]
At first I was wondering about “Deleuzoguattarian” but then I saw the Wiktionary list: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Category:English_prefixes which is quite striking.
The answers in Origin of ...
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Conference and difference opposites? [closed]
I am reading a book where diffidence and confidence were juxtaposed. In a later sentence, I noticed the word difference also has this same dif- prefix that diffidence does. Does it make sense to ...
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Is there a word category for a certain kind of words beginning with 'a-'? [duplicate]
A few words beginning with an a came up to my mind recently because their structure is similar in the way they convey their meaning.
Those words are like: atop, alight; afloat, afresh, anew, asleep, ...
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What's the Scottish equivalent of the prefix "Anglo-"?
Scotch gets misused and I don't want to join those ranks if it's incorrect.
Celtic seems to cover a wider area.
Pictish seems to be specific to the Northeast.
Gaelic I always assume to be Irish.
All ...
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Which of the two sounds more natural: corestrict or correstrict?
In mathematics, one uses the prefix co- to denote something that's dual to an already known object, for instance: limit -> colimit, basis -> cobasis, cycle -> cocycle, tangent -> cotagent, ...
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Prefixes hyphenated or spaced
As a professional typographer and proofreader (I know; rare and disappearing breeds, especially for being both at the same time! And yes, I’m also a graphic designer), I tend to follow what are called ...
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Use of "a-" before words, not the indefinite article [duplicate]
Sometimes I've found some words that start with an "a-" prefix, not the indefinite article. I think it's used to make the phrasing more euphonic and more "melodic", at least this ...
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If 'pre' is previous, 'post' is after, and 'peri' is current, what is "initiation"?
In chronology: pre-event, ?-event, peri-event, post-event
Maybe "ini-event" from Latin "initium"?
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what does to word 'crete' mean in English? [closed]
In my native language, words are created using 'Root Words' + 'Prefixes/suffixes'.
Also the root words make sense for us.
Is English the same?
For example I think the word 'crete' is the root and 'dis,...
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Is it ever acceptable to write slashes between multiple but separate prefixes?
For example, can I get away with writing bio/technological advances
have made?
Even if this is orthographically acceptable in one or another kind of
written English, would it better for ...
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meaning of prefix "a" [duplicate]
While searching for an alternative synonym for the adjective starving, I found the word ahungered and I was intrigued by the use of the prefix a in this case.
I looked up the etymology of the prefix a-...
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Difference between the prefixes "pre" and "ante"?
Thinking of the words "precedent" and "antecedent" led me to this question. They seem to mean almost exactly the same thing in their more general usages, but "antecedent" ...
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Why do some words containing a form of “philia” have it at the beginning and some have it at the end?
There are words like “philosophy”, “philology”, “philanthropy”; these have a form of “philia” at the beginning. Why don't these words have it at the end?
Also, there are words like “haemophilia”, “...
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How far can one go in creating new words?
Apparently the word disturbingly exists, but undisturbingly doesn't. However, I felt it better served to convey my meaning and was sure that any reader would understand what I mean. I also put it ...
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palatization of y- from *ga-
Premises
The common Proto-Germanic prefix
*ga‑
affixed to past participles was reduced in Modern English, obscuring its
historical participial morphology now beyond modern recognition, as seen
for ...
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Hyphen between 2 words when prefix is in front of the 2 words
What's the correct way to put a prefix in front of something that's 2 or more words?
Pre-Neolithic Revolution or pre-Neolithic-Revolution
Pro-affirmative action or pro-affirmative-action
Post-Civil ...
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Should we include the prefix Mrs. when we tell others our real name? [closed]
My question is so simple. We call a man with the prefix Mr. and a married woman with the prefix Mrs., followed by her husband's surname, right? Now, is it grammatically okay to include these prefixes ...
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Nuancing the prefixes "meta-", "hyper-", and "super-". Any insight that'd help? [closed]
When detailing the definition of these prefixes, I'm usually faced with a deadlock as to which would fit the proper usage. Though, in general, I'd still like to understand each prefix's nuance to each ...
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"beginning" is to "prefix" as "end" is to "suffix" as "middle" is to... what?
The word "prefix" describes something affixed to the beginning of a word and the word "suffix" describes something affixed to the end of a word. What is the analog of these for ...
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Why is the "r" doubled in "arrhythmia"? [duplicate]
Why is the "r" doubled in "arrhythmia" relative to "rhythmia"?
I'm guessing it's because English resists hyphenation of prefixes and suffixes ("a-rhythmia"), ...
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Why is the prefix "Trans" shortened to "X"? [duplicate]
In technical literature as well as aircraft user interfaces where there is not enough space to write the whole word, the prefix "trans" is shortened to "x".
Transmit -> Xmit
...
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Do all "prefixes" can be use as "combining forms" or just some of them can be?
I wonder if all English prefixes can be used as "combining forms" or just some of them can be play role as "prefix" and combine with other words or affixes to form "compound forms". e.g "Chron-" ...
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Determing the lexical category of a word based on the affixes attached
I am currently taking a Linguistics course and am learning about affixes. Through reading the textbook and following the lectures, I have realized that certain prefixes and suffixes are attached to ...
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What prefix should I use to address individuals younger that 18 yrs?
Many summer programs/university applications require me to provide a prefix I would prefer to be called by. I always type "Mr.", but as I'm younger than 18, is this appropriate usage? Should I just ...
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What is the proper prefix meaning "bone" or "skeleton"?
There are many borrowed words from Greek and Latin that are used as prefixes in English.
Examples: pyro- relating to fire, hydro- relating to water, geo- relating to the earth etc.
What is the ...
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Opposite prefix for 'ethno-'
Is there one? A cursory Google search yielded none. My best guess would be something close to exic-; not that I can think of any relevant words in this context using that.
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Numeral prefixes of tidal constituents [closed]
If tidal constituents with frequencies of one, two, three, and four cycles per day (respectively, periods of one, a half, a third, and a fourth of a day) were to be termed systematically based on ...
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Why is the 'anti' in 'anti-semitism'?
If 'ageism' is the prejudice or discrimination against aged persons, 'sexism' discrimination against a person's sex and 'racism' discrimination against someone's race, then why is not Semitism the ...
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Is "aggr-" a prefix and what does it mean? [closed]
I'm not sure if "aggr-" is a prefix but I can see some words starting with it. like:
Aggregate
Aggressive
Aggravate
Aggrieve
Aggrandize
I'm here to ask if it has some meanings or they are all ...
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Distinction between prefixes 'super-' and 'extra-' in similar contexts
From my understanding, both the prefixes super- and extra- can mean above or beyond, though a possible distinction could be as follows (from the answer to this question):
...using super-something ...
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