Questions tagged [prefixes]
A prefix is an affix which is placed before the stem of a word
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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?
Is ...
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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.
• ...
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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?
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"Biweekly", "bimonthly", "biannual", and "bicentennial": dual usage and rationale
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 ...
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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 doesn't do ...
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Are there any patterns to observe in choosing the correct negative prefix to use?
Are there any patterns to observe in choosing the correct negative prefix to use, as in unbelievable, disproportionate, asymmetric, and intolerable? (There are other negative prefixes as well, but ...
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How to form this tag question – as a positive tag question, or a negative one?
We always use a positive tag question after a negative sentence:
You shouldn't take this medicine, should you?
We use a negative tag question after a positive sentence:
She must leave early, mustn'...
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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?
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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 ...
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How productive is the verb 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 ...
user16142
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The pronunciation of words which begins 'con' and 'com'
I know there is no strict rule on pronunciation of words in English but here my question is about the words which begin with 'con' and 'com', more than asking general rule.
When I look at the words ...
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Etymology for “Mc‑” and “O’‑” prefix in surnames
There is clearly a prefix in names like McDonald, McChrystal, O’Brian, O’Neal.
What does this Mc- and O- prefix signify? It looks like Donald, Chrystal, Brian, Neal are perfectly fine names on their ...
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How does the "be-" prefix change the words to which it is applied? How did it come about?
What does the be- prefix change when applied to adjectives and verbs? There are many such words that seemed to be coined of this process, for example:
behold, beget, befallen, beridden, bedazzled, ...
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Is there any rule for pronouncing words beginning with “re-”?
It’s hard for me to guess how to pronounce words beginning with re- correctly.
Sometimes it is /rɛ/ as in reference, but sometimes it is /ri/ as in report.
Is there any rule about this?
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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” ...
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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 ...
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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"?
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Should the prefix "re" be added 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 ...
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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-?
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Adding "re" prefix
Can all verbs have "re" attached to the front of the word? I play Scrabble with a friend who feels that in the English language you can put "re" in front on any verb, and not just the ones listed in ...
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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 prefix ...
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Which is higher — "hyper-", "ultra-" or "super-"?
According to OED,
hyper-:
over, beyond, over much, above measure
ultra-:
beyond
super-:
over, above, higher than
They all have the meaning "higher than", but what is the order of them?...
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What is a good replacement for "ununderstandable"?
I want to tell a colleague of mine I'm doing something that will prevent her from getting "ununderstandable" errors. I have:
...so that you will not get unnecessary, [ununderstandable] errors.
...
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Is "dispreferred" a mainstream word in English?
I just recently came across the word dispreferred in a linguistic document. I have never heard the word used before, rather I generally hear something like "preferred something else" in everyday ...
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Dust vs. Undust?
The entry for "dust" from LDOCE says:
dust1 (n.)
[uncountable] → HOUSEHOLD dry powder consisting of extremely small bits of dirt that is in buildings on furniture, floors, etc. if they are ...
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Is the prefix "pre-" meaningless in the terms "pre-heated" and "pre-board"?
This question poses a paradox of meaning. The general question is whether, if two sentences (x and y) can be used in the same situation, with the same literal meaning, and x and y only differ in that ...
user190075
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Hyphens in words with prefixes like neo-Nazism
I have a question regarding the use of hyphens in words with certain prefixes. For example,
Neo-Nazism
Neo-Confucianism
Neo-liberal
are words with a hyphen, but
Neoplatonism
...
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Prefixes for the opposite of "perishable": unperishable, non-perishable, imperishable [closed]
Unperishable, non-perishable or imperishable? I'm quite confused about which prefix is used for the opposite of perishable. If more than one is used, what are the differences between them? Searching ...
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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 ...
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"Instable" or "unstable"?
From my experience, it seems that although unstable is more commonly used, instable is often preferred in engineering and scientific contexts, e.g. "aircraft instability", "instable algorithm".
Are ...
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A word that means 'most important'?
I tried to find a single word that means "most important", but I couldn't. I want it to be able to express what's missing below:
If you get hurt, the _ thing to do is to stay calm.
It would need ...
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Logical meaning of the word "understand"
To understand something means to be aquainted with it, to know it very well, know how it "ticks". This is one of the basic words that has a direct "meaning" in mind.
However, if we "dissect" it, is ...
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Adam lay ybounden. Any ys around these days?
Thanks for pointing out the similar question. Great, but note that I'm trying to find ...
• is there any SPECIFIC examples/evidence around of yword yusage TODAY?
• other than jokey usage, is there ...
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Why does "unisex" mean both sexes?
There are some places where men and women are segregated — for example public toilets and public swimming pool changing areas.
By this I mean, for example, that there are "Men's toilets" and "Ladies' ...
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Proper term for knowing four or more languages?
If bilingual means you know two languages, and trilingual means you know three, what would be the proper term for knowing four, five or even six languages?
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"The service is temporarily unavailable" vs. "...not available"
Is there a difference? Both versions are common.
If there is a difference, which do I use when, and why?
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Is there a prefix that indicates that an event recurs four times a year?
"Semi-annually" describes an event that recurs every 6 months. Is there a similar term for an event that recurs every 3 months? (I'm guessing that "semi-semi-annually" isn't the correct answer.)
More ...
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Prefix or adjective meaning "one and a half"
Is there a prefix or adjective that means "one and a half", as "tri-" or "triple" is for "three"?
The exact usage I have is to describe "18" in terms of a dozen. Where I live they've started making ...
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Why are there two Rs in "arrhythmic"?
It seems to me combining "a-"and "rhythmic" would intuitively be spelled "arhythmic".
Is there a rule or some other practical reason that it's spelled arrhythmic?
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What is the correct spelling 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 ...
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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 ...
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"Inter-", "multi-", "cross-", "trans-" in relation to disciplines
In academia the words inter-discipline, multi-discipline, trans-discipline, or cross-discipline are used to describe a type of combination between different disciplines or the uniqueness of a field.
...
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Any other words that use “dis-” as an amplifying prefix?
I remember hearing once about the etymology of disgruntled, probably based around a joke about how people can not be gruntled. The explanation given was that there was never a word gruntled, rather ...
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Why can "trans" be replaced with an x?
I can't think of an example, so I may be wrong about this, but I think I've seen people replace the prefix "trans" as in transport with an x. "Cross" makes sense, as in "railroad crossing", and I ...
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Word for a person who knows two or three languages
A polyglot is a person who is fluent in many languages, but what do we call a person who is fluent in only two or three languages?
Is bi-glot a proper term for this?
I don't think the words ...
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Change of form of some (Latin) prefixes like ex-, ad- into ef-, a-: are there rules or conditions?
There are many cases of prefixes changing their forms. For example
ex- can change to ef- in front of f, e.g. effusion.
ad- becomes a- in front of b, e.g. abate.
Are there some more general rules or ...
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"Not able to" vs. "unable to"
Which phrase is more suitable to convey one's inability to do something — "not able to" or "unable to"? For example,
not able to join the meeting
unable to join the meeting
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Should "pseudo" words be hyphenated?
While this question talks about the meaning of the word "pseudo", I'm wondering what the rules are for hyphenating words that start with this prefix.
For example, would it be correct to call ...
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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) ...
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Is "unpeeling an orange" grammatically correct?
I found this unsourced reference. Which made me wonder if it is correct or not?
Could this be considered an "auto-antonym" like ravel and unravel?
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