prefix

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun

Something placed before another
A morpheme added to the beginning of a word to modify its meaning, for example as, pre- in prefix, con- in conjure, re- in reheat, etc.
A set of digits placed before a telephone number, to indicate where the number is based, what type of phone number it is (landline, mobile, toll-free, premium rate etc.)
A title added to a person's name, such as Mr. or Dr.
An initial segment of a string of characters.

verb

To determine beforehand; to set in advance.
To put or fix before, or at the beginning of something; to place at the start.

Pronunciation

/ˈpɹiːfɪks/ /pɹɛˈfɪks/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-prefix (noun).wav en-us-prefix.ogg /pɹiːˈfɪks/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-prefix2.wav

Word forms

prefix prefixes præfix prefixe prefixing prefixed

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin praefīxum, from Latin praefīxus, past participle of praefīgō (“to (fix, fasten, set up) in front”, “to fix on the (end, extremity)”) (from prae- (“before”) + fīgō (“to fix”, “to fasten”, “to affix”)), equivalent to pre- + -fix. Doublet of the archaic synonym prefixum.

Synonyms

forefix foresyllable prefixum

Antonyms

suffix

Related words

fix pre- prefixion prepend coverb

Derived words

metric prefix null prefix prefixal prefixhood prefixing prefixive prefixless ~ness prefixlike prefixness prefixoid pseudoprefix SI prefix zero prefix international call prefix prefix code prefix coding prefix notation prefix tree separable prefix ship prefix prefixable prefixation prefixed unprefixed prefixer auto~

This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.

Back to search All on P Russian dictionary Dahl dictionary