Look up Appendix:Prefixes in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

A prefix is an affix which is placed before the stem of a word. Particularly in the study of Semitic languages, a prefix is called a preformative, as they can alter the form of the words to which they are fixed.

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.

[edit] See also

• English prefixes
• ITU prefix for identification in communications
• Numerical prefix
• Prefixes and suffixes in Hebrew

[edit] External links

• comprehensive reference for English prefixes and suffixes
• more about English language prefixes and affixes in general

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