Greek Prefixes

Question 1

a-, or an- before vowels and “h”

Prefix.

Answer 1

“not”, “without”, “un-“,
Amnesia – “mnes-“ => remember: not remembering.
Anosmia – “osm-“ => smell: without (a sense of) smell.

Question 2

amphi-

Prefix.

Answer 2

“both”, “on both sides”, “around”,

Amphibious – “bi-“ => life: lives on both sides (i.e., land and sea).

Question 3

ana-

Prefix.

Answer 3

“up”, “back”, “again”,

Anachronism – “chron-“ => time: lit. time-again, back-time.

Question 4

anti-, or ant- before vowels and “h”

Prefix.

Answer 4

“instead of”, “against”, “in opposition to”, “opposite”,
Antipathy – “path” => feeling: feeling in opposition.
Antagonism – “agon” => struggle: struggle against.

Question 5

apo-

Prefix.

Answer 5

“from”, “out of”, “away (from)”, “off”, “utterly”, “completely”,
Apology – “log-“ => speech: speak away from (a misdeed).

Question 6

cata-, or cat- before vowels and “h”

Prefix.

Answer 6

“down”, “against”, “completely”, “wrongly”,
Catastrophe – “stroph-“ => turn: downturn or wrong turn.
Catholic – “hol-“ => whole: completely whole.

Question 7

dia-, or di- before vowels and “h”

Prefix.

Answer 7

“through”, “across”, “over”, “apart”,
Diachronic – “chron-“ => time: over time.
Diorama – “ora-“ => see: see through?

Question 8

ec-, or ex- before vowels and “h”

Prefix.

Answer 8

“out”, “from”, “off”,
Ecstasy – “stas-“ => cause to stand: to stand outside yourself.
Exodus – “od-“ => road: road from? road out?

Question 9

en-, or em- before “m”, “p”, and “b”,

Prefix.

Answer 9

“in”,
Endemic – “dem-“ => people: in people, in the population.
Empathy – “path-“ => feeling: in (a state of?) feeling.

Question 10

epi-, or ep- before vowels and “h”

Prefix.

Answer 10

“on”, “upon”, “above”, “over”, “at”, “near”, “in addition”,
Epitaph – “taph-“ => tomb: (a statement) on a tomb.
Ephemeral – “hemer-“ => day: over, on, or near the day (something ephemeral doesn’t last).

Question 11

exo-, or ecto- before vowels and “h”

Prefix.

Answer 11

“outside”,
Exogamy – “gam-“ => marriage: marriage outside (of one’s own community).
Ectoplasm – “plasm-“ => mould: (does this mean as in clay or as in fungus?)

Question 12

hyper-

Prefix.

Answer 12

“over”, “above”, “beyond”, “excessive”,

Hyperthermia – “therm-“ => heat: excessive heat, heat beyond what the body can tolerate.

Question 13

hypo-, or hyp- before vowels and “h”

Prefix.

Answer 13

“under”, “below”, “insufficient”,
Hypodermic – “derm-“ => skin: below the skin.
Hyphen – “hen-“ => one: under one?

Question 14

meta-, or met- before vowels and “h”

Prefix.

Answer 14

“behind”, “beyond”, often indicates change,
Metamorphosis – “morph-“ => form: change of form.
Method – “hod-“ => way: the way beyond?

Question 15

para-, or par- before vowels and “h”

Prefix.

Answer 15

“beside”, “beyond”, “near”, “incorrectly”,
Paradox – “dox-“ => think or seem: incorrect thinking or seeming.
Parallel – “all-“ => other: beside (the or an) other.

Question 16

peri-

Prefix.

Answer 16

“around”, “about”,

Periphery – “pher-“ => carry: (that which is) carried about?

Question 17

pro-

Prefix.

Answer 17

“earlier”, “in front of”, “instead of”,

Prognosis – “gno-“ => know: (what we) know up front.

Question 18

syn-, 
or sym- before "s", 
or syl- before "l", 
or sy- before "m", "p", and "b"
Prefix.

Answer 18

“together”, “with”,
Synchronic – “chron-“ => time: together in time, at the same time.
System – “stem-“ => cause to stand: stands together?
Syllogism – “log-“ => word, reckoning: reckoned together, a conclusion drawn from the comparison of two propositions.
Sympathy – “path-“ => feeling: feeling with (another person).