Examples of Prefixes (with their meaning)

Prefixes

A prefix he is a grapheme that joins in initial position to a word or lexeme, thus adding to the latter a more meaning, without requiring another explanatory sentence.

Most languages ​​have structures of this type; In the case of Spanish, almost all current prefixes come from Latin, a few of the language Greek. Thus, the inclusion of the prefix gives rise to a word modification, which ultimately happens to be a new word.

Not all words admit the possibility of including a prefix: for example, prepositions or conjunctions do not support them. Typically prefixes join bases (that's what the word that receives it is called) with full semantic content, like nouns.

Characteristics of prefixes

Formerly, the prefixes they separated from the base word through a script, now they are attached to the base (with few exceptions). A word can have a prefix and at the same time a suffix, that is, a grapheme at the end of the word that incorporates one more meaning.

Prefixes are valuable functional resources that are used in different areas, these go from everyday colloquial communication to technical or specialized language of different areas.

A remarkable feature of prefixes is that sometimes they modify the category to which the word belongsFor example, sometimes the inclusion of the prefix transforms nouns into adjectives. This happens in the case of the prefix 'anti' (of opposition) or 'multi' (of plurality).

Regarding the orality, in general, the expressive force of the base word is maintained, in which the stressed syllable is found, assuming the prefix a minor role.

However, as the addition of the prefix gives rise to the birth of a new word, it must conform to the accentuation rules current and must be checked according to those. The same does not happen with some suffixes, such as the typical adverbs ending in ‘-mente’, which are accentuated in the same way as the base adjectives to which they are added and modified in content.

See also: Suffix Examples

Autonomous prefixes

The central axis of the prefix, then, is the fact that not being able to function autonomously and always be next to its base word to express its real meaning.

However, some widely used prefixes advance in their expressive value and in some cases acquire almost a total autonomy, that is, they are prefixes with meaning, as happens, for example, with the prefix ‘ex’: many women talk about ‘my ex’ referring to their ‘ex-husbands’, without ever having mentioned the word husband.

Or in the sentence: 'This would be on a micro scale', the prefix micro is behaving as an independent adjective; in those cases we speak of ‘lexicalized’ prefixes.

It can serve you: 100 Examples of Prefixes and Suffixes

Examples of prefixes (with their meaning)

The following list brings together several prefixes, clarifying in each case their meaning and giving a concrete example of the prefix in use:

1. Tetra (four): tetrahedron
2. Mini (very small): mini market
3. Pen (almost): Penultimate
4. Re (repetition): reopen
5. Former (previous): Ex minister
6. TV (from distance): TV
7. Infra (under): subhuman
8. Fungi (fungus): fungicide
9. In (denial): incognito
10. Against (opposition): contraattack
11. Car (oneself): autonomous
12. Bi (two): bivalve
13. Neo (new): neoliberal
14. Pos (later): postpone
15. Pre (predecessor): prelude
16. Vice (immediately below): vice president
17. Monkey (one): monosyllable
18. TO(denial): abnormal
19. Plus (beyond): past Perfect
20. Anti (contrary to): anticlerical

Can serve you