prefix
/ˈpɹiːfɪks/
prefix noun: 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.
Noun
prefix (plural prefixes)
- 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.
- The chosen prefixes won the vote in part because they start with the only two letters left in the alphabet that are not already used in measurement. The b for “bronto” is already used for bytes and h for “hella” is used for hecto, the prefix for 100.2022 November 18, Ian Sample, “Earth weighs in at six ronnagrams as new prefixes picked for big and small”, in The Guardian
- Antonyms:
- suffix
- 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
- A title added to a person's name, such as Mr. or Dr.
- An initial segment of a string of characters.
- The string "abra" is both a prefix and a suffix of the string "abracadabra".
Verb
prefix (third-person singular simple present prefixes, present participle prefixing, simple past and past participle prefixed)
- To determine beforehand; to set in advance.
- They duly arrived at the prefixed hour.
- But the danger was, that a man can hardly prefix any certaine limits unto his desire[…].1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 40, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book I, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC
- To put or fix before, or at the beginning of something; to place at the start.
- His requests for money were usually prefixed by an apology.
- You must prefix the number with the area code.
prefix meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
prefix in Hindi
- morpheme at the beginning of a word
- उपसर्ग upsarg
prefix in Tamil
- morpheme at the beginning of a word
- முன்னொட்டு muṉṉoṭṭu
prefix in Marathi
- prefix
- उपसर्ग upsarga
- a prefix
- अति ati
prefix in Urdu
- morpheme at the beginning of a word
- سابِقَہ sābiqa
More languagesFewer languages
- prefix in Bengali
- উপসর্গ upośorgo
- prefix in Telugu
- ఉపసర్గ, పూర్వపదము, పూర్వపదార్ధం
- prefix in Malayalam
- ഉപസർഗം upasaṟgaṁ
- prefix in Kannada
- ಮುನ್ನೊಟ್ಟು
- prefix in Punjabi
- ਅਗੇਤਰ, ਪੂਰਵ-ਅੱਖਰ
- prefix in Gujarati
- ઉપસર્ગ, પ્રીફિક્સ, ઉપસર્ગ કરવા માટે
- prefix in Odia
- ଉପସର୍ଗ, ପ୍ରିଫିକ୍ସ, ପ୍ରିଫିକ୍ସ୍
- prefix in Sanskrit
- उपसर्ग upasarga
- prefix in Nepali
- उपसर्ग, प्रिफिक्स, पूर्वपद
- prefix in Pashto
- سرينه sariná, مختاړی mǝxtãṛay
- prefix in Tagalog
- unlapi
- prefix in Arabic
- سَابِقَة sābiqa, بَادِئَة bādiʔa
- prefix in Malay
- awalan
- prefix in Indonesian
- awalan
- prefix in Thai
- อุปสรรค ùp-bpà-sàk
- prefix in Vietnamese
- tiền tố
- prefix in Myanmar
- ရှေ့ဆက် hre.hcak
- Kashmiri
- گۄڈٕ لۆگ gọḍụ log
Examples of prefix in a sentence
- The string "abra" is both a prefix and a suffix of the string "abracadabra".
- It is a commonly known fact that formal marks of perfective aspect in Slavic are prefixes.
- The prefix pre- denotes "before", as in preview.
Synonyms of prefix
Antonyms
Forms of prefix
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | prefixes |
| alternative form (obsolete) | præfix |
| alternative form (obsolete) | prefixe |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | prefixes |
| present participle | prefixing |
| past participle | prefixed |
| past | prefixed |
Origin of prefix
Borrowed from Late Latin praefīxum, from Latin praefīxus, past participle of praefīgō (“to (fix, fasten, set up) in front”, “to fix on the (end, extremity)”) (from prae- (“before”) + fīgō (“to fix”, “to fasten”, “to affix”)), equivalent to pre- + -fix. Doublet of the archaic synonym prefixum.
From Middle English prefixen, from Middle French prefixer, from Latin praefīxus, past participle of praefīgō (“to (fix, fasten, set up) in front”, “to fix on the (end, extremity)”) (from prae- (“before”) + fīgō (“to fix”, “to fasten”, “to affix”)), equivalent to pre- + -fix.
Words formed from prefix
- international call prefix
- metric prefix
- null prefix
- prefix code
- prefix coding
- prefix notation
- prefix tree
- separable prefix
- ship prefix
- SI prefix
- zero prefix
- prefixal
- prefixhood
- prefixing
- prefixive
- prefixless
- ~ness
- prefixlike
- prefixness
- prefixoid
- pseudoprefix
- prefixable
- prefixation
- prefixed
- unprefixed
- prefixer
- auto~
Phrases with prefix
Words that rhyme with prefix
Questions about prefix
- What does prefix mean?
- Prefix means 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.
- What is prefix in Hindi?
- Prefix in Hindi is उपसर्ग (upsarg). See Prefix meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is prefix?
- Prefix can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce prefix?
- Prefix is pronounced /ˈpɹiːfɪks/.
- What is the plural of prefix?
- The plural of prefix is prefixes.
Words near prefix in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: prefix (page history and authors); अति (Marathi) (page history and authors); prefix (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); prefix (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); prefix (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); prefix (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); prefix (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); prefix (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-prefix (noun).wav, en-us-prefix.ogg.
Cite this entry: “prefix.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/prefix. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.