prefix

English

Alternative forms

• præfix (obsolete)
• prefixe (for the verb; obsolete)

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French prefixer (verb) resp. Late Latin praefixum (noun), both from Latin praefixus, past participle of praefīgō (“I (fix, fasten, set up) in front”, “I fix on the (end, extremity)”) (from prae- (“before”) + fīgō (“I fix”, “I fasten”, “I affix”)), equivalent to pre- +‎ -fix.

Pronunciation

• (noun) IPA^(key): /ˈpɹiːfɪks/, /pɹɛˈfɪks/

  • Audio (Southern England)

    (file)

  • Audio (US)

    (file)

• (verb) IPA^(key): /ˈpɹiːfɪks/, /pɹiːˈfɪks/, /pɹɛˈfɪks/

  • Audio (Southern England)

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪks

Noun

prefix (plural prefixes)

1. Something placed before another
   1. (grammar, linguistic morphology) A morpheme added to the beginning of a word to modify its meaning, for example as, pre- in prefix, con- in conjure, re- in reheat, etc.

      Synonyms: (rare) foresyllable, (archaic) prefixum

      Antonym: suffix

      Hypernyms: (broad sense) affix, morpheme

   2. (telecommunications) A set of digits placed before a telephone number, to indicate where the number is based, what type of phone number it is (landline, mobile, toll-free, premium rate etc.)

      in the UK, a number with an 0800 prefix is a toll-free number.

      Add the prefix +34 to dial a Spanish number from abroad

   3. A title added to a person's name, such as Mr. or Dr.
   4. (computing) An initial segment of a string of characters.

      The string "abra" is both a prefix and a suffix of the string "abracadabra".

Usage notes

• Though much less common, a plural form prefices is seen as well, apparently formed by analogy with index–indices, appendix–appendices, and so on, but it is not a standard plural and has no basis in Latin.

Synonyms

• forefix (rare)

Coordinate terms

• (types of affixes): adfix, affix, ambifix, circumfix, confix, disfix, duplifix, infix, interfix, libfix, postfix, prefixoid, simulfix, suffix, suffixoid, suprafix, transfix

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

prefix (third-person singular simple present prefixes, present participle prefixing, simple past and past participle prefixed)

1. (transitive) To determine beforehand; to set in advance.
   • 1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 40, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes , book I, London: Val Simmes for Edward Blount , →OCLC:

     But the danger was, that a man can hardly prefix any certaine limits unto his desire […].

   • 2002, Thomas R. West, Signs of Struggle, page 23:

     It is important to realize that pregivenness or prefixing is a kind of anteriority that does its work in the present; subjects and meanings in part emerge in enuciative co-constitutive moments.

2. (transitive) To put or fix before, or at the beginning of something; to place at the start.

Related terms

Translations

See also

• Appendix:English nationality prefixes
• Category:English prefixes
• coverb

Further reading

• prefix on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “prefix”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “prefix”, in The Century Dictionary , New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• perfix

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin praefixum, from Latin praefixus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic)
• IPA^(key): (Valencian)

Noun

prefix m (plural prefixos)

1. prefix

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):
• Rhymes: -ɪks
• Hyphenation: pre‧fix

Noun

prefix m inan

1. prefix

   Synonym: předpona

Declension

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

Derived terms

Further reading

• prefix in Kartotéka Novočeského lexikálního archivu
• prefix in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého, 1960–1971, 1989

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpreːfɪks/

• Audio

  (file)

Etymology 1

Borrowed from post-Classical Latin praefixum, nominal use of the neuter form of Classical Latin praefixus, past participle of praefīgō (“I (fix, fasten, set up) in front”, “I fix on the (end, extremity)”) — the noun directly thence, whereas the adjective via French préfixe.

Alternative forms

• praefix (archaic)

Noun

prefix n or m (plural prefixen, diminutive prefixje n)

1. prefix

   Synonym: voorvoegsel

   Antonyms: suffix, achtervoegsel

Etymology 2

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Adjective

prefix (not comparable)

1. (obsolete) fixed, predetermined

Inflection

Occitan

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin praefixum, from Latin praefixus.

Noun

prefix m

1. (grammar) prefix

Related terms

• sufix

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French préfixe, from Latin praefixus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɾeˈfiks/

Noun

prefix n (plural prefixe)

1. prefix

   Antonym: sufix

Declension

Related terms

Swedish

Noun

prefix n

1. (grammar) prefix

Declension