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prefix

 
(prē'fĭks') pronunciation
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.

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In grammar, a prefix is a word or element added at the beginning of another word to adjust or qualify its meaning, such as ex- (ex-husband), non- (non-smoking), and super- (supermodel).

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TechEncyclopedia:

prefix

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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.

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

Word Tutor:

prefix

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pronunciation

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

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

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Random House Word Menu:

categories related to 'prefix'

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Random House Word Menu by Stephen Glazier
For a list of words related to prefix, see:

  See crossword solutions for the clue Prefix.

A prefix is an affix which is placed before the root of a word. Particularly in the study of languages,a prefix is also called a preformative, because it alters the form of the words to which it is affixed.

Examples of prefixes:

  • unhappy : un is a negative or antonymic prefix.
  • prefix, preview : pre is a prefix, with the sense of before
  • redo, review. : re is a prefix meaning again.

The word prefix is itself made up of the stem fix (meaning attach, in this case), and the prefix pre- (meaning "before"), both of which are derived from Latin roots.

See also


Translations:

Prefix

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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


 
 
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in-
centi

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American Heritage Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
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