Prefixes and Suffixes Flashcards
counter-
against (the baseword)
“counteract”
L. semi- / Gr. hemi-
L8 = partly
“semisweet”
L10 = half
“semicircle” “hemisphere”
L. multi- / Gr. poly-
L8 = multi = more than one
“multifamily”
L10 = many
“multiply” “polygon”
para-
L7 = similar to / assistant to
“paramedic”
-ette
L9 = small (French)
“towlette”
-ess
L9 = female (French)
“lioness”
Spelling Rule: if baseword ends with vowel-R, change to R then add -ess (waiter –> waitress)
L. uni- / Gr. mono-
one
“universe”
“monopoly”
L. bi- / Gr. di-
two
“bicycle”
“digraph”
L. quad- / Gr. tetra-
four
“quadriceps”
“tetrahedron”
L. quin- / Gr. penta-
five
“quintuplets”
“pentagon”
L. sex- / Gr. hexa-
six
“sextuplets”
“hexagon”
L. sept- / Gr. hepta-
seven
“septuplets”
“heptagon”
L. oct- / Gr. octo-
eight
“octuplets”
“octopus”
Note: sometimes octo- becomes octa- as in “octagon”
L. nov- / Gr. enne-
nine
“November”
“ennead”
L. dec-, deci- / Gr. deca-
ten
“December” “decimal”
“decathlon”
Note: ‘deci’ means 10 individual pieces
L. cent-, centi- / Gr. hecto-
a hundred
“century” “centipede”
“hectometer”
Note: ‘centi’ means 100 individual pieces
L. mill-, milli- / Gr. kilo-
a thousand
“millennium” “millimeter”
“kilogram”
Note: ‘milli’ means 1,000 individual pieces
Gr. mega-
a million or really big
“megabyte” “megamall”
dis-
not
“disagree”
in-
into/not
“infrequent”
im-
into/not
(use when baseword starts with m, p, b)
“impractical”
ir-
into/not
(use when baseword starts with r)
“irresponsible”
non-
not
“nonfat”
mis-
wrong
“misspell”
sub-
smaller or below
“subway”
re-
again
“refill”
inter-
between
“intersection”
mid
middle
“midweek”
over
over the top or too much
“overflow”
up
direction or move behind the baseword
“upkeep”
trans
across
“transatlantic”
co-
with
“cohost”
micro-
very small
“microscope”
macro-
big
“macroeconomics”
anti-
stop or against
“antiwar”
self- (with hyphen)
self
“self-esteem”
auto-
self
“autopilot”
