vocab

Prefixes are added to the beginning of a root word and suffixes are added to the end of a root word.

Suffixes are added at the end of a word. There are grammatical or inflectional suffixes ("s", "ed", "ing" for example) that indicate number and tense, but do not change the core meaning of the word. The type of suffixes listed here are derivational suffixes. When added to a root word, they can create an entire new word and tell us how the word is to be used--noun, an adjective, or a verb; or the comparative degree of an adjective (as “er” for comparative and “est” for superlative). Two suffixes may be added to a root to create a word, as in “progressively”. Here are some common suffixes: Note that some have more than one meaning. This is because suffixes come from several different languages.

Suffix	Use	Meaning	Examples
-able, -ible	adjective	capable of, likely, apt	adaptable, divisible, pliable
-ac, -al, -ial	adjective	pertaining to	marital, partial, maniac
-acy	noun	pertaining to	democracy, theocracy
-age	noun	process, rank, state	leverage, passage
-al	adjective	relating to	maternal, fraternal, nocturnal
-ance, -ence	noun	state of being, the result of	preference, obedience, penance
-ant, -ent	noun	one who does	applicant, supplicant, dependent
-ard	noun	one that does (especially to excess)	dullard, drunkard
-arium	noun	place of	aquarium, planetarium
-ate	noun adjective verb	rank, office having, showing become, form, treat	doctorate, primate desperate, desolate activate, precipitate
-ation	noun	action, result, state	deliberation, starvation relation
-ceive	verb		receive, deceive
-cy	noun	state, condition	lunacy, accuracy
-dom	noun	quality/state	freedom, serfdom
-en	adjective verb	made of, like cause to be, become	frozen, waxen weaken, fatten
-er, -or -er	noun adjective	one who does in comparison too	banker, orator, shopper, robber colder, nicer
-esce	verb	become, grow, continue	acquiesce,
-esque	adjective	like, in the style of	picturesque
-ess	noun	feminine	tigress, poetess
-est	adjective	in comparison to	coldest, nicest
-fic	adjective	making, causing	horrific, terrific
-ful	adjective	full of, marked by	playful, sorrowful
-fy, -ify	verb	make, cause, cause to have	rectify, horrify
-ia	noun	disease	claustrophobia, hydrophobia
-iatry	noun	art of healing	psychiatry, podiatry
-ic	adjective	relating to	poetic, fanatic, frantic, pedantic
-ice	noun	act	malice
-ify	verb		horrify, clarify
-ile	adjective/noun	quality/state	juvenile, servile, infantile
-ing	noun ( as for gerunds for instance)	activity, result of activity material made for	driving, skating carpeting
-ion	noun	action, result, state of	demolition, retribution
-ish	adjective verb	the quality of, suggesting do, make, perform	coltish, foolish polish, furnish
-ism	noun	act, manner, doctrine	fanaticism, catholicism
-ist	noun	one who practices	biologist, dermatologist realist
-ite	noun	product or part	cordite, Kryptonite
-ition	noun	action, state, result	expedition, sedition
-ity	noun	the quality of, condition	lucidity, frivolity
-ive	noun/adjective	state of being	active, progressive
-ize	verb	make, cause to be	realize, sterilize
-less	adjective	without, lacking	motherless, jobless, homeless
-like	adjective	similar	waiflike, childlike
-ly	adjective/adverb	like , of the nature of	kindly, dimly
-ment	noun	means, result, action	concealment, arraignment
-ness	noun	state of	awareness, tenderness
-ology	noun	study of	geology, entomology
-ous	adjective	marked by, given to, quality/state	nebulous, curious
-ry	noun	state of	usury, penury
-ship	noun	status, condition	hardship, relationship
-some	adjective	apt to, showing	lonesome, wholesome
-th	noun	act, state, quality	width, length, warmth
-tion	noun	quality/state	preservation, restoration, renovation
-tude	noun	quality, state, result	servitude, fortitude
-ty	noun	quality, state	activity, gaiety
-ular	adjective	relating to	cellular, modular
-ur	noun	act, condition, process	closure, exposure
-ward	adjective	in the direction of	forward, sideward
-y	noun	state, condition, result of an activity	victory, sobriety

Prefixes are placed at the beginning of a word to modify or change its meaning. Look at your dictionary for a more detailed meaning of each prefix. Some things we think might be prefixes are not, and the surest way to know is again, your dictionary. This is a list of the most common prefixes in English, together with their basic meanings: Note that some have more than one meaning. This is because prefixes come from several different languages.

Prefix	Meaning	Examples
a-, an-	not, without to, towards, in, on, up, of in the process of, in a particular state	amoral, anemic aside, aback, astern aglow, amaze
ab-, abs	away, from	abdicate, absorb
ad-, a-, ac-, af-, ag- al-, an-, ap-, at- as-, at-	movement to, change into, addition or increase	advance, adulterate, ascend, affirm, aggravate, alleviate, annotate, append, arrive, assemble, attend
ambi, amphi	both	ambivalence, amphibian
ana-	reverse progress upwards according to	anachronism anaphase analogy
ante-	before, preceding	antebellum, antedate
anti-, ant-	opposing, the opposite	antacid, antibody, anticlimax,
auto-	self	automobile, automatic
be-	all over, all around, completely having, covered with affect with cause to be	besmear, beset, bewilder, bemuse bejeweled befog, befriend becalm, betray
cata-	down	cataract, cataclysm
circum-	around	circumnavigate
com-, co-, col-, con-, cor-	with, jointly, completely, similar	cooperate, collaborate, compact, comprehend, confide, corrode
con	with	concur
contra-	against, opposite	contraband
counter-	opposition, opposite direction	countercharge, counteract
de-	down, away completely removal, reversal	descend, despair, depend denude, declare deactivate, decamp, delouse
dia-, di-	through, across	diagonal
dis-, di-, dys-	negation, removal, expulsion, "bad"	disadvantage, digress, distrust dysfunctional
en-, em	put into or on bring into the condition of intensification	engulf, enmesh enlighten, embitter entangle, enrage
ex-, e-	out upward, completely previous	exit, exhume, expand exalt, extol execute, exasperate ex-president
extra-, exter-	outside, beyond	extracurricular
for-	away, off, from	forsake, forget
fore-	before, previous	forewarn, forefathers
hemi-	half	hemisphere
hetero	different	heterosexual
homo-	the same	homogenous
hyper-	beyond, more than, more than normal	hypercritical, hyperactive
hypo-	under	hypodermic, hypothermia
in-, il-, im-, ir-	not, without in, into, towards, inside	inappropriate, impossible, illogical, irreverent infect, imbibe
infra-	below	infrared, infrastructure
inter-, intro-	between, among	interact, international, introduce
intra-	inside, within	intramural, intravenous
macro-	large	macroeconomics
micro-	small	microchip
mis	bad	misanthrope
neo	new	neo-fascist
non-	absence, negation, not	non-smoker, nonaggression
ob-, oc-, of-, op-	blocking, against, concealing, in a certain direction, intensified action	obstruct, occult, offend, oppose, occasion, obtain
omni	all	omnipresent
out-	surpassing, exceeding external, away from	outperform, outspoken outbuilding, outside
over-	excessively, completely upper, outer, over, above	overconfident, overjoyed overcoat, overcast
pan	all	pantheist, pandemonium
para-	beside, beyond	paradox, paratrooper
per	throughout	pervasive
peri-	round, about	perimeter
poly	many	polyandry
post-	after in time or order	postpone
pre-	before in time, place, order or importance	pre-adolescent, prelude, precondition
pro-	favoring, in support of acting for motion forwards or away before in time, place or order	pro-African proconsul propulsion prologue
re-	again	repaint, reappraise, reawake
retro	back	retroactive
semi-	half, partly	semicircle, semi-conscious
sub-, suc-, suf-, sug-, sup-, sur-, sus-	at a lower position lower in rank nearly, approximately	submarine, subsoil sub-lieutenant sub-tropical
super, supra	more than, extra, above	superman, supersonics
sym-	with, together	symbiosis, sympathy
syn-, sym-	in union, acting together	synchronize, symmetry
trans-	across, beyond into a different state	transnational, transatlantic translate
ultra-	beyond extreme	ultraviolet, ultrasonic ultramicroscopic
un-	not reversal or cancellation of action or state	unacceptable, unreal, unhappy, unmanned unplug, unmask
under-	beneath, below lower in rank not enough	underarm, undercarriage undersecretary underdeveloped

Suffixes

Suffix

Use

Meaning

Examples

-able, -ible

adjective

capable of, likely, apt

adaptable, divisible, pliable

-ac, -al, -ial

adjective

pertaining to

marital, partial, maniac

-acy

noun

pertaining to

democracy, theocracy

Many words in English use “number” prefixes. Here is a list of the most common ones, and a few that are not so common: