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Adding a prefix to the beginning of an English word changes it to a different word. For example, when the prefix un-is added to the word happy, it creates the word unhappy. 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.
Thus, the word do, consisting of a single morpheme, is a verb, as is the word redo, which consists of the prefix re-and the base root do. However, there are a few prefixes in English that are class-changing in that the word resulting after prefixation belongs to a lexical category that is different from the lexical category of the base.
Example(s) -iasis: condition, formation, or presence of Latin -iasis, pathological condition or process; from Greek ἴασις (íasis), cure, repair, mend mydriasis: iatr(o)-of or pertaining to medicine or a physician (uncommon as a prefix but common as a suffix; see -iatry) Greek ἰατρός (iatrós), healer, physician iatrochemistry ...
The English language uses many Greek and Latin roots, stems, and prefixes. These roots are listed alphabetically on three pages: Greek and Latin roots from A to G; Greek and Latin roots from H to O; Greek and Latin roots from P to Z. Some of those used in medicine and medical technology are listed in the List of medical roots, suffixes and ...
For example, the negating prefix un-is more productive in English than the alternative in-; both of them occur in established words (such as unusual and inaccessible), but faced with a new word which does not have an established negation, a native speaker is more likely to create a novel form with un-than with in-. The same thing happens with ...
The following is an alphabetical list of Greek and Latin roots, stems, and prefixes commonly used in the English language from P to Z. See also the lists from A to G and from H to O . Some of those used in medicine and medical technology are not listed here but instead in the entry for List of medical roots, suffixes and prefixes .
Meaning: a prefix used to make words with a sense opposite to that of the root word; in this case, meaning "without" or "-less". This is usually used to describe organisms without a certain characteristic, as well as organisms in which that characteristic may not be immediately obvious.
Root Meaning in English Origin language Etymology (root origin) English examples cac-, kak-[1]bad: Greek: κακός (kakós), κάκιστος (kákistos): cachexia ...