PREFIX

MEANING

EXAMPLES

A-

not, without

amoral, atheist

AB-

from, away from

absent, abstain  

AD-

to, towards

advance, adverse

AMBI-

both, double, two

ambiguous, ambivalent

ANTE-

before, in front of

antedate, anteroom

ANTI-

opposed to, against

antibiotic, antifreeze

BENE-

good, well

beneficial, benevolence

BI-

two, twice

bilingual, bicycle

CENT- (CENTI-)

a hundred

centimetre, century

CIRCUM-

around

circumnavigate, circumscribe

CO-

together with

coordinate, combine

CONTRA- (COUNTER-

against

contradict, counter-claim

DIS-

opposite of, not

disagree, disorder

EN-

make into, cause to be

endanger, encourage

EX-

out, out of, from

exclaim, exclude

at one time, former

ex-husband, ex-president

FORE-

before, in front of

foretell, forewarn

HYPER-

to a large or

extreme degree

hypersensitive, hypertension

IN- (IL-, IM-, IR-)

in, on, into

intake, inject

IN- (IL-, IM-, IR-)

not

immoral, irrelevant

INTER-

between, among

international, intercontinental

MID-

middle

midnight, midland

MIS-

wrong, not

mislead, misunderstand

MONO-

one, single

monochrome, monotone

MULTI-

many

multi-coloured, multiply

NON-

not

nonsense, non-stop

POST-

after

post-war, postcolonial

PRE-

before

premature, pre-war

RE-

again

rewrite, regain

SELF-

one's self, alone

self-service, self-taught

SEMI-

half, midway

semi-circle, semi-detached

SUB-

under

subsoil, subway

lower in rank

sub-committee, substandard

SUPER-

above, over

supermarket, superstructure

superior to, more than

superpower, superhuman

TRANS-

across

trans-atlantic, trans-continental

to a changed state

transform, transfer

UN-

not, opposite of

unable, unlock

UNI-

one, the same

union, unisex

UP-

to a higher or

upgrade, upstairs

better state