prefix

tr.v., -fixed, -fix·ing, -fix·es.

1. To put or attach before or in front of.
2. (prē-fĭks') To settle or arrange in advance.
3. Grammar.
   1. To add as a prefix.
   2. To add a prefix to.

n.

1. Grammar. An affix, such as dis- in disbelieve, attached to the front of a word to produce a derivative word or an inflected form.
2. A title placed before a person's name.

[Middle English prefixen, from Old French prefixer : pre-, before (from Latin prae-; see pre-) + fixer, to place (from Latin fīxus, past participle of fīgere, to fasten). N., from New Latin praefīxum, from neuter sing. of Latin praefīxus, past participle of praefīgere, to fix in front : prae-, pre- + fīgere, to fasten.]

prefixal pre'fix'al adj.
prefixally pre'fix'al·ly adv.
prefixation pre'fix·a'tion (-fĭk-sā'shən) or pre·fix'ion (-fĭk'shən) n.

The beginning or to add to the beginning. To prefix a header onto a packet means to place the header characters in front of the packet. "To prefix" at the beginning is the opposite of "to append" characters at the end. See prepend.

Download Computer Desktop Encyclopedia to your iPhone/iTouch

Letters placed in front of a word to form a new word: “trimonthly,” “semimonthly,” “bilingual,” “multilingual,” “address,” “redress,” “predate,” “postdate.” (Compare suffix.)

IN BRIEF: A word sound attached to the beginning of a word to change its meaning.

In the word "preview", "pre" is a prefix that means before.

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

Dansk (Danish)
n. - forstavelse
v. tr. - sætte foran

Nederlands (Dutch)
voorvoegsel, prefix, netnummer, van te voren vastleggen, vooraf laten gaan

Français (French)
n. - indicatif, (Ling) préfixe, (GB, Télécom) indicatif, (GB, Aut) première lettre d'une immatriculation automobile
v. tr. - préfixer, faire précéder

Deutsch (German)
n. - Präfix, Vorwahl, Namenszusatz
v. - voranstellen, als Präfix setzen

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - πρόθεμα
v. - προτάσσω

Italiano (Italian)
titolo premesse a un nome, prefisso, prefiggere, porre avanti, premettere, far precedere, porre come prefisso

Português (Portuguese)
n. - prefixo (m)
v. - prefixar

Русский (Russian)
приставка, первая буква номерного знака, присоединять

Español (Spanish)
n. - prefijo
v. tr. - prefijar

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - förstavelse, titel
v. - sätta som prefix

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
字首, 加...作为字首, 把...放在前头

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 字首
v. tr. - 加...作為字首, 把...放在前頭

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 접두사
v. tr. - 접두사를 붙이다

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 接頭辞, 敬称
v. - 接頭辞として付ける, 前に置く

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) بادئه, اداة تصدير (فعل) يحدد مقدما, يضع في المقدمه‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮תואר (כגון מר), קידומת, תחילית‬
v. tr. - ‮הוסיף תחילית, הוסיף כמבוא‬

If you are unable to view some languages clearly, click here.

To select your translation preferences click here.

prefix for cat