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κατα-. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
κατα-, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
κατα- in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
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Ancient Greek
- κατ- (kat-) — before a vowel with smooth breathing
- καθ- (kath-) — before a vowel with rough breathing
Etymology
See κατά (katá).
Prefix
κᾰτᾰ- • (kata-)
- back
- downwards
- against
- fully, completely
Derived terms
Further reading
Greek
Etymology
From Ancient Greek κατα- (kata-), from Ancient Greek κατά (katá, “down, into, against”).
Pronunciation
Prefix
κατα- • (kata-), κατά- (katá-)
- added before a noun, adjective or verb to create words that indicates something that is down in a downward direction:
- κατα- (kata-) + βάση (vási, “basis, base”) → κατάβαση (katávasi, “descent”)
- κατα- (kata-) + βρόχθος (vróchthos, “throat (Ancient Greek)”) → καταβροχθίζω (katavrochthízo, “to gobble, to devour, to wolf down”)
- (intensifier) added before a noun, adjective or verb to create words that indicates something to a great degree or intensity:
- κατα- (kata-) + μαύρος (mávros, “black”) → κατάμαυρος (katámavros, “jet-black”)
- κατα- (kata-) + άσπρος (áspros, “white”) → κάτασπρος (kátaspros, “snow white, completely white”)
- κατα- (kata-) + φως (fos, “light”) → κατάφωτος (katáfotos, “ablaze”)
- κατα- (kata-) + πτύω (ptýo, “to spit (Ancient Greek)”) → κατάπτυστος (katáptystos, “foul, villainous, worthy of spitting on”)
- κατα- (kata-) + κλέβω (klévo, “to steal, to rob”) → κατακλέβω (kataklévo, “to rob blind”)
- added before a noun, adjective or verb to create words that indicates something is against a person to a great degree:
- κατα- (kata-) + γελώ (geló, “to laugh”) → καταγελώ (katageló, “to laugh at, to mock”)
- κατα- (kata-) + δικάζω (dikázo, “to judge”) → καταδικάζω (katadikázo, “to condemn, to convict”)
- κατα- (kata-) + αναγκάζω (anagkázo, “to compel, to necessitate”) → καταναγκάζω (katanagkázo, “to force someone”)
- (geology) added before a noun, adjective or verb to create words that indicates something that is under or before:
- κατα- (kata-) + αρχαιοζωικός (archaiozoïkós, “Archaean”) → καταρχαιοζωικός (katarchaiozoïkós, “Hadean, pre-Archaean”)
Antonyms
Derived terms
Further reading