LING150/University of Oregon

Prefixes

Based on English Vocabulary Elements, Keith Denning and William Leben, Oxford University Press 1995

a- / an-

'not, without'

ab- / abs-

'from, away'

ad-

'to, toward'

ambi- / amphi-

'both' (has the sense of 'on both sides')

ana-

'up, again,'

ante- / anti-

'old, before'

anti-

'against, opposite'

apo-

'away from, off'

cata-

'down, away, back, opposite'

circum-

'around'

con- / co-

'together, with'

contra- / counter-

'against, facing'

de-

'in reverse, away, down'

dia-

'through, apart'

dis- / di-

'apart, reversed'

dys-

'bad' (as in 'difficult' or 'impaired')

ecto-

'outside'

endo-

'inside'

epi-

'on, over'

ex- / e- / ec-

'out, away'

extra-

'outside'

hetero-

'other, different'

homo- / homeo-

'same'

hyper- / super-

'over, above'

hypo-

'under, below, partial' ('insufficient')

in-

'not'

in- / en-

'in, into'

infra-

'below, after'

inter-

'between, among'

intra-

'within'

iso-

'equal'

macro-

'long, large'

meso-

'middle'

meta-

'beyond'

micro-

'small'

ob-

'towards, against, down'

omni-

'all'

pan- / pant-

'all, overall'

para-

'beside, resembling'

per-

'through, bad'

peri-

'around, close'

post-

'after, behind'

pre- / pro-

'before, forward, for'
(pre- indicates 'before' in time or space;
pro- has sense of 'forward, to the front')

re- / red-

'again, back'

se- / sed-

'apart'

sub-

'under, down, secondary'

supra-

'above, greater'

syn-

'with, together'

telo- / teleo-

'end, complete'

trans- / tra-

'across, through'