Prefix-Suffix-Root List (Generally, prefixes and suffixes change the meanings of roots, but it is usually the suffix that denotes the part of speech.) Prefix Suffix Definition Examples -s,-es plural, more than one -ing action/ process -ed past tense hats, pigs, boxes, wishes helping, skipping, running, seeing, thinking jumped, helped Suffix Definition Examples unre- not/ opposite again/ back dis- -est not/ opposite of person connected with/ comparative degree superlative degree unlock, unsafe reread, rewrite, return dislike, distrust teacher, writer, baker, bigger, colder, taller biggest, coldest, tallest Suffix Definition Examples not/ opposite of not dislike, distrust inactive, insane, Prefix -er Prefix disin- 1 Origin Additional Information Anglo-Saxon Anglo-Saxon Present participle of verb Anglo-Saxon Past tense verb Origin Additional Information Anglo-Saxon Latin Latin Anglo-Saxon Anglo-Saxon Origin Latin Latin Usually an adjective Additional Information -ful -less -y -ly full of without characterized by/ like characteristic of inexpensive beautiful, painful careless, helpless cloudy, fishy badly, friendly, quickly Suffix Definition Examples under- too little/ below Anglo-Saxon overnonprebitriquad- too much/ above not before two three four oct-ion, –ation –sion, -tion eight act of/ state of/ result of underfed, underground overdone, overhead nonfat, nonsense preplan, pretest bicycle, binocular tricycle, triangle quadrilateral, quadrant octagon, octopus attention, vision, invitation -ness -ly condition/ state of characteristic of darkness, fairness badly, friendly, quickly act/ process Anglo-Saxon Anglo-Saxon Prefix -ment 2 Anglo-Saxon Anglo-Saxon Anglo-Saxon Anglo-Saxon Origin Usually an adjective Usually an adverb Additional Information Anglo-Saxon Latin Latin Latin Latin/ Greek Latin Latin/ Greek Anglo-Saxon enjoyment, replacement Noun (See 6th grade for explanation) Usually a noun Usually an adverb Latin -er, -or Prefix Suffix one who/ that which baker, boxer, conductor, survivor Latin Definition Examples semi- half Latin super- above/ on top of/ beyond multi- many/ much poly- many/ much tele- distant/far semicircle, semicolon superfine, superhuman, supersonic multicolor, multifamily polygon, polysyllable Television, telephone mis- mid- middle misbehave, misread, misspell intercept, interview, interstate midnight, midweek Latin inter- bad or badly/ wrong or wrongly between Root 3 Usually a noun Use –or with Latin roots for nouns (inventor, elevator) Use –er with Anglo-Saxon roots (heater, swimmer) Origin Latin Latin Greek Greek Latin Anglo-Saxon Additional Information sub- deca- deci- under, beneath, below/ secondary ten kilo- 1,000 milli- mille- 1,000 centi- 100 -able, -ible can be done -ian, -an one having a certain skill/ relating to/ belonging to condition of/ skill -ship -ist one who does a specific action 4 subway, subsoil, substitute Latin decathlon, decade, decimal, decimeter kilogram, kilowatt millennium, millimeter Latin/ Greek centimeter, centipede enjoyable, sensible, likable Latin electrician, magician, American, suburban championship, friendship, hardship, leadership artist, tourist Latin -able ending words have roots that can stand alone. enjoyable -ible ending words have roots that can not stand alone. sensible Usually a noun Anglo-Saxon Usually a noun Latin/ Greek Usually a noun Greek Latin Latin -logy, -ology science of/ study of act/ belief/ practice of biology, chronology patriotism, idealism, absenteeism, Greek Latin/ Greek Usually a noun -ence, -ance act/ condition of persistence, excellence, assistance, importance Latin -ess feminine actress, lioness Latin/ Greek Usually a noun ence and –ance sound alike because of the schwa. –ence is used somewhat more often than – ance. Usually a noun max(i) great Latin meter, metr measure photo light port to carry phobia, phobic, phobe irrational fear or hatred/ one who fears/ hates maximum, maximize diameter, odometer, metric, perimeter photograph, telephoto, photocopy portable, transport aquaphobia, claustrophobic technophobe -ism 5 Greek Greek Latin Greek There are names for more than 500 phobias, most of which come from the field of medicine. Prefix en-, em- forede- Suffix rupt break/ burst bankrupt, rupture, disruptive Latin scrib, script to write describe, manuscript Latin gram, graph written/ drawn Greek dict ject to say/ tell to throw autograph, paragraph, telegram diction, dictator inject, objection spect, spec to see/ watch/ observe prospect, respect, specimen Latin Root Definition Examples to cause to be/ to put into or onto/ to go into or onto before/ earlier encounter, enable, employ, embark, encircle forearm, foreword defeat, deform, decrease reduce down/ away from 6 FYI: Erupt means to explode. (The volcano erupted.) Irrupt means to rush or burst in. (The police irrupted into the hideout.) Verbs usually use scribe, as in prescribe; nouns usually use script, as in prescription. Latin Latin Origin Latin Anglo-Saxon Latin Additional Information trans- across/ change/ through anti- opposite/ against two/ through/ across di-, dia- exauto- out of/ away from self in- (il-, im-, ir-) not in- (il-, im-, ir-) in/ on/ toward bio- life mini- small micro- small/ minute 7 transformation, transportation, transfer antibiotic, antifreeze digraph, dialogue, diagonal extract, exhale, extend autograph, automatic inability, impatient, irregular, illegal Latin Greek Greek Latin/ Greek Greek Latin infer, illustrate, improve, irrigate biography, Greek biological miniature, Latin minimum microbiology, microscope Greek il- used before roots beginning with l illegible im- used before roots beginning with b, m, p immature, imbalance, impatient ir- used before roots beginning with r irregular Same prefix usage is applied as above From the Latin word miniature… Modern generations shortened miniature to mini-. uni- one/ single -en -dom -ity -al, -ial -ion, -ation –sion, -tion -ish -ent, -ant -ent, -ant unicorn, unicycle, uniform made of/ to wooden, make dampen, tighten condition of boredom, freedom, kingdom state of/ quality prosperity, of equality related to/ colonial, characterized biennial, dental, by betrayal act of/ state of/ tension, result of attention, elevation, union Latin relating to/ characteristic childish, foolish Anglo-Saxon student, contestant, immigrant Latin obedient, absorbent, abundant, elegant Latin of an action/ condition causing a specific action 8 Anglo-Saxon Anglo-Saxon Usually a noun Latin Usually a noun Latin Usually an adjective Anglo-Saxon The real suffix is – ion. Putting s or t in front of –ion is simply determined by the spelling of the root. Usually a noun Usually an adjective Often a noun The suffix –ant often indicates a person noun. Often an adjective -ent and –ant sound alike because of the schwa. –ent is used somewhat more often than –ant. -hood the state/ the condition/ the quality boyhood, likelihood Anglo-Saxon aqua water Latin act put in motion/ process of doing to send year aquarium, aquamarine action, react, transact emit, transmit anniversary, semiannual, millennium archenemy, matriarch induce, conduct geography, geology manicure, manually Latin Latin antonym, synonym telephone, symphony thermometer, thermostat toxic, toxicology Greek mit anni, annu, enni arch chief/ ruler duct, duc geo man lead earth/ ground/ soil hand nym, onym name/ word phon voice/ sound therm heat tox poison 9 Usually a noun History of the suffix –hood • Old English: -had • Middle English: hod • Modern English: -hood Latin Greek Latin Greek Latin Greek Greek Latin Usually a noun scope to watch/ see horoscope, microscope, telescope Definition Examples ante- in front of/ before antecedent, antebellum Latin ab- from/ away Latin a- on/ in/ to a- without/ not co-, con-, com- together/ with pro- forward/ before/ in support of absent, absorb, abnormal across, aboard, aside atypical, amoral, asocial cooperate, concede, combine proceed, pronoun, prohibit intra- within Prefix megapost- Suffix Root intranet, intramural great/ huge megabyte, megaphone after/ following postpone, postwar 10 Greek Origin Anglo-Saxon/ Latin Anglo-Saxon/ Latin Latin Latin/ Greek Latin Greek Latin Additional Information Fun information – antepenultimate means next to the next to the last…this word can usually be found on the SAT. Concrete – meaning to harden or to grow together Some words with pro- as a prefix are often hyphenated, so be sure to check the dictionary. -ous, -ious, -eous full of/ characterized by adventurous, nervous, mysterious, courteous Latin Usually an adjective -ive, -itive, -ative inclined/ tending toward an action festive, talkative, active, sensitive Latin -ic relating to/ characterized by to make/ to cause to become to make result of an action/ collection characterized by a specified quality, condition, or action time energetic, historic Latin/ Greek Words that end with –de (intrude) change the –de to s then add –ive (intrusive). Words that end with silent e (create) drop the e then add –ive (creative). Usually an adjective fertilize, criticize, apologize satisfy, magnify manage, drainage, acreage awesome, lonesome Latin/ Greek Usually a verb Latin Latin Usually a verb Anglo-Saxon Primarily used with Anglo-Saxon base words. chronology, Greek -ize -fy, -ify -age -some chron temp time aer, aero air synchronize temporary, Latin temperature aerial, aerospace Greek 11 cede, ceed to go/ yield/ surrender cept, ceive to take/ catch/ seize/ hold/ receive fract, frag to break gen race, kind, or species/ birth thanks/ pleasing free law/ to choose/ to pick/ to read/ to speak grat liber leg, lect, lig mater, matr, matri mother pater, patr mot, mob father to move opt eye/ to make a choice foot ped, pod proceed, secede, precede, concede accept, deceive Latin fracture, fraction, fragment gender, genetics, genesis congratulations, gratify liberty, liberate legend, legal, intelligent, elect, lecture Latin maternal, matrimony, matriarch paternal, patriot motivate, mobilize optometry, optic, optional pedal, Latin pedestrian, tripod 12 Latin Additional roots with same definition: cap (captive) ceit (conceit) cep (concept) cip (municipal) Latin Latin Latin Latin Latin Latin Latin Latin The roots lect, lect, and lig are related to the Greek combining form logos, meaning speech or word. ped urb child city pediatrician urban, suburban Greek Latin pop people Latin tract to draw/ pull form to shape pend to hang/ weigh population, popular attract, distract, retract conform, reform, transform suspend, pendulum Root Definition Examples omni- over/ above/ excessive below/ less than normal all homo- same hetero- different/ other hyperactive, hypercritical hypothermia, hypnosis omnipresent, omniscient homogeneous, homonym heterochromatic, heterogeneous Prefix hyperhypo-, hyp- Suffix 13 Exurb: a modern word meaning large cities that directly surround a major city (Arlington is an exurb of Dallas.) Latin Latin Latin Origin Additional Information Greek Greek Latin Latin Greek Heteronyms: words with the same spelling, but different meanings (dove – the bird; dove – did dive) ultra- beyond in degree/ extreme kill -cide -ery relating to/ quality/ place where relating to/ place where/ one who -ary -ium -tude aud cred archae, arche, archi belli claim, clam crat, cracy hemo, hema luna chemical element/ group condition/ state/ quality of to hear/ listen to believe ultramarine, ultraviolet Latin germicide, pesticide imagery, pottery, bakery Latin Usually a noun Anglo-Saxon Usually a noun dictionary, infirmary cautionary, dietary, missionary helium, aquarium altitude, gratitude Latin Noun/ adjective Greek Usually a noun Latin Usually a noun audible, audition credit, incredible primitive/ archaeologist, ancient archives, achetype war belligerent, bellicose to declare/ call exclaim, out/ cry out clamorous rule/ strength/ democrat, power aristocracy blood hematology, hemophilia moon lunar, lunatic 14 Latin Latin Greek Latin Latin Greek Greek Latin Prefix Suffix mar sea maritime, submarine Latin mort death Latin path pel struc, struct feeling/ suffering/ disease to drive/ push to build mortuary, mortality apathetic, pathology expel, propeller construct, instructor Latin Latin vis, vid voc, voke to see to call vision, evidence advocate, revoke Latin Latin cogn to know Latin loc, loqu to speak/ talk/ say cognition, recognize colloquial, ventriloquist, loquacious Root Definition Examples bene well/ good cardi heart ego self don, donat give/ gift benediction, beneficial cardiac, cardiology egocentric, egoism donate, donation 15 Greek See Affix Matrix for the root struct on final page of this document. Latin Origin Latin Latin Latin Latin Additional Information luc, lum light mania madness/ frenzy/ abnormal nate, nat neg neo nov phys desire/ obsession born no/ deny new new nature psych mind/ soul reg sci guide/ rule to know/ learn sol alone tact, tang terr vac ver, veri to touch land empty true/ genuine 16 translucent, illuminate maniac, kleptomania Latin native, innate negative, negate neonatal novice physics, physical psychic, psychopath regime, regent science, conscience solitary, soliloquy contact, tangible terrain, territory vacate, evacuate verdict, veritable Latin Latin Greek Latin Greek Greek Greek Latin Latin Latin Latin Latin Latin Latin