Prefixes: Definition with Examples

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Prefixes are the letter/s which sit before a stem to make new words. These letters are also called affixes.

Affixes generally have no meaning by their own but can form meaningful words by sitting before/after the stems. In the case of prefixed words, affixes sit before the stems of the words.

“A prefix is an affix which is placed before the stem of a word.” – Wilson (2011)

A prefix is “a letter or group of letters that is added at the beginning of a word to change its meaning.” – Merriam Webster.

Example:

Prefix = ‘fix’ is a stem and ‘pre’ is a prefix which changes the meaning of the stem and creates a new word.
Antibiotic
Awake
Symphony
Hemisphere

List of Common Prefixes:

Prefix	Meaning	Examples
a	on in from up not without	aboard (onboard) asleep (in sleep) arise (rise from) awake (wake up) atheist (not a theist) apathy (without pathy)
ab	bad not	abuse (bad use) abnormal (not normal)
ad	to	adjoin (to join)
ante	before	antedate (before date)
anti	against opposite of	antiseptic (against septic) anticlimax (opposite of climax)
auto	self	autobiography (self-biography)
bi	two	bilateral (two sides)
co	with	co-exist (exist with)
de	down reversal	detrain (down train) demerit
di	two	dioxide (two oxides)
dia	through	diameter
dis	not opposite	disallowed (not allowed) dishonor (opposite of honor)
en	on in	enact (on action) encage (in the cage)
ex	out of former	extract (out of anything) ex-student
il	opposite of	illegal (opposite of legal)
im	the opposite of	impossible (opposite of possible)
in	the opposite of	inability (opposite of ability)
ir	the opposite of	irrational (opposite of rational)
inter	within	interschool (within the school)
fore	before	foretell (telling before)
hemi	half	hemisphere (half sphere)
homo	like/same	homogeneous (same species)
hyper	beyond/over	hypersensitive (oversensitive)
hypo	under	hypothesis (under thesis)
mal	bad ill	malpractice (bad practice) malnutrition (ill nutrition)
mis	bad	misconduct (bad conduct)
mono	single	monologue (single logue)
non	not/opposite	nonsense (opposite of sense)
post	after	postmodern (after modern)
pre	before	pretext (before text)
peri	round	perimeter (round meter)
re	again	regain (again gain)
semi	half	semifinal (half final)
sub	backup/alternate	subway (alternate way)
super	over/beyond	supernatural (beyond natural)
to	this	today (this day)
trans	across	transform (across form)
ultra	beyond	ultramodern (beyond modern)
un	not/opposite	unable (not able)
vice	alternative of	vice-captain (alternative of captain)