List of English prefixes - Definition and Overview

Prefix	Meaning	Examples (http://wiktionary.org/wiki/Example)
a(n)-	not, without	atonality, asexuality, amoral , anarchy
ab-	away	abduction, absolutism, ablution
ac-
acr(o)-	high, up	Acropolis
aden(o)-
aer(o)-	air	aeronautics, aerodrome, aeroplane, aerodynamics
agr(o)-	relating to farming	agriculture
an-
an(a)-	out of	anachronism
an(o)-
andr-	man	androgyny, androcentrism, android, androgen
anem-
Anglo-	English or British	Anglo-Irish relations
ante-	before	antebellum
anthrop(o)-	relating to human beings	anthropology, anthropocentrism, anthropomorphic
ant(i)-	against	antidote, antibody, anticlockwise
aut(o)-	self	autonomy, autobiography, automobile, autopilot
bar(o)-	atmosphere
bathy-	deep	Bathyscaphe, Bathysphere
be-	completely, thoroughly; excessively; on; around; about; used to form transitive verbs
bi-	two	bicycle, bijection, bilingual, bicameralism, bisexuality
bi(o)-	life	biology, biography, biosphere, biotechnology
bibli(o)-	relating to books	bibliophilia, bibliography
blast(o)-
brady-	slow	bradycardia
brom(o)-
bronch(o)-	relating to breathing	bronchitis
cac(o)-
cardi(o)-	heart	cardiovascular
cent-, centi-	hundred or hundredth	centenarian, centimeter, centipede
cephal(o)-
chrom(o)-, chromat(o)-
chron(o)-	time	chronology
circum-	around	circumcision, circumnavigation, circumlocution, circumference
cion(o)-
co-	together	cooperative, co-belligerence
colpo-
com-, con-, col-, cor-	with, together	conference, connotation, context, Congress, congregation
contr(a)-, contr(o)	against, opposite	contradiction, contraception, controversy
cosm(o)-		cosmology, cosmopolitan, cosmotheism
counter-	against, opposite	counterpoint, counterweight, Counter-Reformation
crin(o)-
cry(o)-	frost, icy cold	cryogenics, cryoelectronics, cryostorage
crypt(o)-	hidden	cryptography, cryptozoology
cyt(o)-	hollow, receptacle, cell	cytoplasm, cytology
dactyl(o)-
de-	taking something away, the opposite	decentralisation, deforestation, dehydration, Denazification
dec(a)-, dek(a)-	ten	decamerous
deci-	one tenth	deciliter
dem(o)-	people, nation	demographics, democracy
derm(o)-, derm(a)-, dermat-	skin	dermatology, dermatitis
di-	two, double
didact(o)-	apt at teaching
dynam(o)-	power, force	dynamic, dynamite, dynamo
dis-	reverse, opposite	dissent, discovery, disambiguation
dox(o)-	Doxology
dys-	bad, deformed, abnormal	dyspepsia, dystrophy, dysarthria
ec(o)-	house	economy, ecology, ecosystem, ecotourism, ecotage
ect(o)-
edaph(o)-
electr(o)-		electrocution, electroencephalogram
embry(o)-
encephal(o)-	brain	encephalitis
end(o)-, ent(o)-
enne(a)-	nine	enneastyle
enter(o)-
eo-	dawn, early	eobacterium
ep(i)-, eph-	above	epitaxy
erg(o)-		ergonomics
erythr(o)-
erot(o)-
stom(o)-, stomat(o)-
ethn(o)-		ethnology, ethnolinguistics, ethnocentrism
eu-	good	eulogy, euthanasia, eugenics, euphemism
Euro-	European	Euro-MP (Member of the European Parliament)
ex-	former	ex-wife, ex-president
ex(o)-	outside	exoskeleton
extra-	very, more than usual, outside, beyond	extra-thin, extra-special extraordinary, extraterrestrial
flor(i)-	relating to flowers	florist
fore-	before, in advance	foreskin, foreshadowing
gyn-	female	gynaecology, gynoid
hemi-	half	hemimetabolous
hex(a)-	six	hexapod
hyper-	excessive, (least to greatest in order: hypo, sub, super, hyper)	hyperactive, hyperthyroidism
hyp(o)-	below, (least to greatest in order: hypo, sub, super, hyper)	hypodermic
in-	extremely	inflammable, invaluable
in-, il-, im-, ir-	not	infallibility, illiteracy, immoral, irrelevant
inter-	between, from one to another	intervention, international
intra-	within, interior	intramural, intravenous
kilo-	thousand	kilogram, kilowatt
Luso-	Portuguese	lusophone
Mac- or Mc-	"son of"	McCarthy, Kirsty MacColl
mal-	bad, badly	malpractice, malnutrition
maxi-	most, very, large	maxi-dress
Mc-	McDonalds like	McJob, McPaper
mega-, megal-	million, very large	megabyte, megaphone
meso-	middle	mesoamerica, mesoscale
meta-	after, beyond	metacarpal, metaphysics
micro-	one millionth, very small	microgram, microorganism, micronation
mid-	in the middle of	mid-term elections, Mid-Autumn Festival, Mid-Atlantic Ridge
milli-	thousandth	milligram, milliliter
mini-	small	miniskirt, miniseries
mis-	bad, wrong	miscarriage, misanthropy, misogyny
mon(o)-	one, single	monolith, monorail, monotony, monocle
multi-	many	multiculturalism, multilingual
non-	not	nonsense, non-denial denial
non-	nine	none, nonagon
O'-	(son) of
oct(o)-, oct(a)-	eight	octane, octopod, octagon
oo- ("oo-oh")	egg, ovum	oocyte
out-	more, to a greater degree	to outdo, to outrun
over-	more than normal, too much	overpopulation, over-consumption
pent(a)-	five	pentagon
post-	after	Post-Fordism, postpartum depression, postmodernity, postmodernism
pre-	before	prediction, preview, precedent, prenatal care
pro-	for, in favour of	pro-choice, pro-life
quadr-, quart-	four	quadrangle, quadruplet, quartic, quartile
quinqu(e)-	five, into five parts	quinquesection
quint(i)-	fifth, five	quintiped
re-	again, repeatedly	reduction, reflection, revolution
rect(i)-	proper, straight	rectify, rectangle
scler(o)-	hard	scleroderma atherosclerosis
semi-	half	semi-automatic, semi-detached
sept(a)-	seven	heptachord
sex(i)-	six	sexivalent
Sino-	Chinese	Sino-American relations
spasm(o)-
sperm(o)-, spermat(o)-
spher(o)-
sphygm(o)-	pulso	sphygmomanometer
splen(o)-
splanchn(o)-
schiz(o)-, schist(o)-	split	schizophrenia, schistocyte
staphyl(o)-
styl(o)-	pillar
sub-	below, less than, under,(least to greatest in order: hypo, sub, super, hyper)	subset, subsonic, subway, subtitles
super-	extremely, more than,(least to greatest in order: hypo, sub, super, hyper)	superhuman, Superego, supersonic
syn-	along with, together, at the same time	synergy, synchronicity
tach(y)-, tach(o)-	fast, speed	tachycardia, tachometer
tel(e)-, tel(o)-	far, over a long distance	telecommunications, television, telephoto lens, telodynamic
tel(o)-, tel(e)-	end, complete, mature	teloblast
trans-	across, beyond	transfer, transubstantiation, transatlantic, Trans-Siberian railway
tri-	three	triangle, tricolor, triptych
ultra-	extremely, beyond a certain limit	Ultramontanism, ultraviolet
un-	not, opposite, take something away	unconstitutional, undelete
uni-	one, single	uniform, unification
ur-	first, original	urtext
zoo- ("zoo-oh")	relating to animals	zoomorphic, zoology

List of English prefixes - Definition and Overview

See Also