AFFIXES

Kinds of Affixes

A. Prefixes
1. Prefixes That Mean “A Number”
No Kinds of Prefixes Meaning Examples
1 Demi- Half Demitasse
2 Hemi- Half Hemisphere
3 Semi- Half Semicircle
4 Uni- One Unicorn, Unit, Universe
5 Mon-, Mono- One Monarch, Monorail
6 Prim- First Primary
7 Du-, Bi-, Di- Two Dual, Binoculars, Dichotomy
8 Tri- Three Triangle, Trillion
9 Tetra- Four Tetrameter
10 Quad-, Quat- Four Quadrant, Quatrain
11 Penta-, Quint- Five Pentagon, Quintuplet
12 Hexa-, Sext- Six Sextet, Hexagon
13 Sept-, Hept- Seven September, Heptagon
14 Octa- Eight Octagon
15 Nona- Nine Nonagenarian
16 Dec-, Deci- Ten Decade, Decimal
17 Cent-, Hect- Hundred Century, Hectogram
18 Milli-, Kilo- Thousand Millimeter, Kilogram
19 Mega- Large Megaphone
20 Giga- Billion Gigabyte
21 Tera- Trillion Tetrameter
22 Micro-, Mini- Small Microscope, Minor
23 Nano- Billionth Nanosecond
24 Pico- Trillionth Picoseconds
25 Hypo- Too Little Hypoactive
26 Macro-, magni-, Maxi- Great Macrocosm, magnify, maximize
27 Multi-, Poly- Many Polytechnic, Multiple
28 Super- More Than Superfine
29 Ultra- Beyond Ultramodern
30 Under- Less Than Underage

2. Prefixes That Mean “Not”
No Kinds of Prefixes Meaning Examples
1 An-, a- Without, not Atypical, Anarchy
2 Anti- Against Antiwar
3 Contra-, Counter- Against, Opposite Contradict
4 Il-, im- Not Illegal, Immature
5 in-, ir- Not Inactive, Irregular
6 di-, dis-, dif- Not, Apart Divert, Different, Disorganize
7 De- Opposite, Away Deactivate, Descend
8 Mal- Poorly, Wrongly Malnourished
9 Mis- Wrongly Misdiagnose
10 Ne-, Neg-, Non- Not Never, Negative, Nonfictions

3. Relations Prefixes
No Kinds of Prefixes Meaning Examples
1 Ambi- Double, Two Ambiguous
2 Pre-, Fore-, Ante- Before Prerequisite, Forecast, Antecedent
3 Post- After Postwar
4 Inter- Between Imitational
5 Trans- Across Transplant
6 Intra-, Intro- Inside Extracurricular, Introspections
7 Sur- Over, Beyond Surface
8 Sub- Under Submarine
9 Peri- Around Perimeter
10 Sym-, Syn- Together Symbiosis, Synchronize
11 Co-, Con-, Com-, Cor- Together Copilot, Concord, Communicate, Correlate
12 Ex-, Extra-, Ultra- Out of, Beyond Extract, Extraordinary, Ultraviolet
13 Proto- First, Original Protoplasm

4. Prefixes That Mean “Where”
No Kinds of Prefixes Meaning Examples
1 A- On Ashore
2 Ab- From Abnormal
3 Ac-, ad-, Af-, Ag-, An-, As- To Acquire, Adhere, Affirm, Aggravate, Announce, Ascend
4 By- Near, Side Bypass, Bystander
5 Circu-, Peri- Around Circulate, Perimeter
6 De- From, Down Debate, Decay
7 Dia- Through, Across Diagnose, Diagonal
8 e- Out, Away Effort, Eject
9 En-, Em- In Embrace, Enclose
10 Enter- Among, Between Enterprise
11 Epi- Upon Epicenter
12 Ex- Out Exceed
13 Extra- Outside Extracurricular
14 Hypo- Under Hypothesis
15 Im-, In Into Immerse, Incision
16 Inter- Among, Between Interrupt
17 Intra- Within Intramural
18 Intro Inside Introvert
19 Mid- Middle Midyear
20 Sub- Under Submerge

5. Prefixes That Mean “When”
No Kinds of Prefixes Meaning Examples
1 After- After Afternoon
2 Ante- Before Antecedent
3 Epi- After Epilogue
4 Post- After Postscript
5 Pre- Before Preamble
6 Pro- Before Prologue

6. Prefixes That Mean “Together and Apart”
No Kinds of Prefixes Meaning Examples
1 Ab-, A-, Abs- Away, From Abduct, Absent, Apart
2 Co-, Syl-, Sym-, Syn- Together Coauthor, Syllabus, Symmetry, Synchronize
3 Col-, Com-, Con- With Colleague, Combine, Concur
4 Dys- Bad Dysfunctional
5 Ex-, Ec- Out, From Expel, Execute

B. Suffixes
1. Noun Suffixes
No Kinds of Suffixes Meaning Examples
1 -tion • Act of…
• State of… Celebration, Regulation
2 -sion • Act of…
• State of… Impression; Television
3 -ment • Act of…
• State of…
• Result of… Contentment, Government, Punishment
4 -ness • State of… Toughness, Weakness
5 -ity • Condition of…
• Quality of… Capability, Flexibility
6 -ence, - ance • Act of…
• State of… Assistance, Difference
7 -dom • State or condition
• Domain, position Kingdom, Freedom, Wisdom
8 -er, -or • One who…
• That which… Educator, Fighter
9 -ist • One who…
• That which… Violinist, Pianist, Dentist
10 -ism • Doctrine of… Marxism, Naturalism
11 -ship • State of being Friendship, Leadership
12 -hood • State of being Childhood, Motherhood
13 -ing • Act of… Jogging, Smoking



2. Verb Suffixes
No Kinds of Suffixes Meaning Examples
1 -fy, -ify • To cause…
• To become…
• To make… Simplify, Beautify, Solidify
2 -ise, -ize • To make… Publicize, Analyze
3 -ate • To have…
• Be characterized by… Activate, Differentiate
4 -en • To make… Brighten, Soften

3. Adjective Suffixes
No Kinds of Suffixes Meaning Examples
1 -ive • Tending toward doing some action Extensive, Selective
2 -en • Made of… Wooden, Golden
3 -ic • Characteristic of…
• Like… Heroic, Poetic
4 -al • Relating to… Financial, Manual
5 -able • Able…
• Can…
• Giving… Portable, Pleasurable
6 -y • Having… Hairy, Rainy