A Dictionary of Prefixes, Suffixes, and Combining Forms from Websters Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged 2002 Websters Third New International Dictionary is now online visit www.Merriam-WebsterUnabridged.com for a 14-day free trial www.merriam-webster.com www.wordcentral.com Abbreviations in This Work The abbreviations in this list are regularized to one style without periods, although they may appear with periods in context, depending on whether printed in roman type or italics. abl ablative MD Middle Dutch acc accusative ME Middle English act active med medicine adj adjective MF Middle French adv adverb MGk Middle Greek AF Anglo-French MHG Middle High German Alb Albanian MIr Middle Irish alter alteration ML Medieval Latin anat anatomy modif modification aor aorist n noun Arm Armenian neut neuter Av Avestan NL New Latin biol biology nom nominative bot botany n pl noun plural cgs centimeter-gram-second obs obsolete chem chemistry OE Old English comb. form combining form OF Old French conj conjunction OFris Old Frisian contr contraction OHG Old High German crystallog crystallography OIr Old Irish D Dutch OL Old Latin Dan Danish ON Old Norse dat dative OPer Old Persian dial dialect OProv Ool Proven3al dim diminutive OPruss Old Prussian E English orig originally esp especially OS Old Saxon F French OScan Old Scandinavian fem feminine OSlav Old Slavic fr from OW Old Welsh freq frequentative part participle fut future perh perhaps G German pers person gen genitive Pg Portuguese geol geology pl plural Gk Greek prep preposition Gmc Germanic pres present Goth Gothic prob probably Hitt Hittite pron pronoun IE Indo-European Russ Russian imit imitative Sc Scots indic indicative sing singular interj interjection Skt Sanskrit IrGael Irish Gaelic Sp Spanish irreg irregular specif specifically ISV International Scientific Vocabulary superl superlative It Italian Sw Swedish ital italic Toch A Tocharian A L Latin Turk Turkish LGk Late Greek usu usually lit literally var variant Lith Lithuanian vb verb LL Late Latin VL Vulgar Latin masc masculine W Welsh Prefixes, Suffixes, and Combining Forms from Websters Third New International Dictionary a- prefix 7ME, fr. OE a-, an, on8 1:on : in : at 9abed: 9afoot: -aceae n pl suffix 7NL, fr. L, fem. pl. of -aceus -aceous8 : plants 9asunder: ; sometimes used in dialect speech in locutions of the nature of 9Acanthaceae: 9Rosaceae: ; in names of not found in standard 9he did it a-purpose: 2:in <such= a families of plants@ formerly in names of orders of plants state or condition 9afire: 9asleep: ; often used with with -acean adj suffix 7NL -acea, -aceae + E -an8 : - 9acrawl with ants: 3:in <such= a manner 9aloud: 4:in the 9rosacean: act of : in the process of 9daddy>s gone a-hunting: 9months -acean n suffix - : organism characterized by : organism of later the ship was still a-building: the nature of 9crustacean: 9rosacean: ; in singular corre- a- or an- prefix 7L ? Gk@ L a-, an-, fr. Gk ; more at -8 : not sponding to plurals in -acea, -aceae : without 9achromatic: 9asexual: ; used chiefly with words acenaphth- or acenaphtho- combining form 7ISV, fr. acenaph- of Gk or L origin@ a- before consonants other than h and thene8 : acenaphthene : acenaphthylene 9acenaphthophen- sometimes even before h, an- before vowels and usu. before h anthrene: 9ahistorical: 9anesthesia: 9anhydrous: -acene n suffix - 7ISV, fr. anthracene8 : aromatic polycyclic -a- combining form 7ISV8 : replacing carbon esp. in a ring ; in hydrocarbon containing three or more fused benzene rings in initial combining forms as second constituent after a first straight linear sequence 9naphthacene: constituent designating a chemical element 9arsa-: 9aza-: -aceous adj suffix 7L -aceus8 : characterized by 9arenaceous: -a n suffix - 7NL, prob. fr. originally nonsignificant -a in mag- 9argillaceous: : of the nature of 9herbaceous: : belonging to nesia, fr. ML -a <in magnesia, alchemical substance=, fr. Gk or connected with a division of animals characterized by or of -a, - <in magn sia, magn si , alchemical substance, magnet=, the nature of 9cetaceous: 9crustaceous: : belonging to or fr. nom. sing. fem. adjectival ending corresponding to nom. connected with a family of plants of the nature of 9solana- sing. masc. -os and nom. sing. neut. -on8 : oxide 9ceria: 9lan- ceous: ; often in adjectives corresponding to biological clas- thana: 9thoria: sification names in -acea, -aceae ab- prefix 7ME, fr. OF ? L@ OF, fr. L, fr. ab from8 1:from acet- or aceto- combining form 7F ? L@ F acét-, fr. L acet-, fr. : departing from 9abnormal: 2:away : outside of 9aben- acetum vinegar8 : acetic acid : acetic : acetyl 9acetaldehyde: teric: 9acetamide: 9acetobenzoic: ab- prefix 7absolute8 ; used for a cgs electromagnetic unit achro- or achro- combining form 7Gk achroos, fr. a- Ca- + 9abampere: 9abhenry: -chroos colored ; more at - 8 : colorless 9achrodex- abdomin- or abdomino- combining form 7L abdomin-, trin: 9achro(cyst: abdomen8 : abdomen : abdominal 9abdominalgia: achromat- or achromato- combining form 7Gk achr*matos col- 9abdominoperineal: 9abdominocardiac: orless, fr. a- Ca- + -chr*matos colored, fr. chr*mat-, chr*ma -ability also -ibility n suffix - 7ME -ablete, -abilite, -iblete, color8 : achromatic 9achromaturia: : something achromatic -ibilite, fr. MF -ableté, -abilité, -ibleté, -ibilité, fr. L -abilitas, 9achromatolysis: -ibilitas, fr. -abilis, -ibilis + -tas -ty8 : capacity, fitness, or ten- acou- or acouo- combining form 7F acou-, fr. Gk akouein to dency to act or be acted on in a <specified= way 9ensilability: hear8 : hearing : listening 9acoumeter: 9acouophonia: 9washability: -acousia or -acusia n combining form, pl -acousiae or -acusiae abio- combining form 7#a- + bio-8 : whatever is lifeless 9abio- 7NL, fr. Gk akousis <fr. akouein to hear + -sis= + NL -ia8 : hear- genesis: ing 9presbyacousia: 9hyperacusia: -able also -ible adj suffix 7ME, fr. OF, fr. L -abilis, -ibilis, fr. -a-, acr- or acro- also akr- or akro- combining form 7MF or Gk@ MF -i- <thematic vowels of various conjugations of verbs= + -bilis acro-, fr. Gk akr-, akro-, fr. akros topmost, extreme@ akin to capable or worthy of <being acted upon=8 1:capable of, fit Gk akm point8 1:beginning : end : tip 9acrology: 2 a : top for, or worthy of <being so acted upon or toward= ; chiefly : peak : summit 9acropetal: 9acrocephaly: b:height 9acro- in adjectives derived from verbs 9breakable: 9connectible: phobia: c:extremity of the body, esp. the human body 9eatable: 9lovable: 2:tending to, given to, favoring, causing, 9acrocyanosis: able to, or liable to 9agreeable: 9changeable: 9knowledge- acromio- combining form 7NL, fr. acromion8 : acromial and able: 9peaceable: 9perishable: ; -ableness n suffix - ; 9acromiodeltoid: 9acromiosternal: -ably also -ibly adv suffix -act adj combining form 7Gk aktis ray ; more at -8 -ac n suffix - 7Gk -akos of or relating to, var. of -ikos B-ic after : having <such or so many= rays 9polyact: 9tetract: ; in noun stems ending in i8 : one affected with 9hemophiliac: terms applied to sponge spicules 9nostalgiac: -act n combining form - : one having <such or so many= rays acanth- or acantho- combining form 7NL, fr. Gk akanth-, akan- 9hexact: 9triact: ; in names of sponge spicules tho-, fr. akantha' akin to ON (gn awn8 : thorn : spine 9acan- actin- or actini- or actino- combining form 7NL actin- ray, fr. thocarpous: 9Acanthophis: Gk aktin-, aktino-, fr. aktin-, aktis' akin to OE hte morning -acanthus n combining form 7NL, fr. Gk akantha thorn8 : ani- twilight, OHG hta, ON *tta, Goth htwo, Skt aktu light, mal having <such= a spine or <such or so many= spines night, L noct-, nox night8 1 a : having a radiated structure 9Cephalacanthus: 9Ctenacanthus: ; in generic names esp. of 9Actinopoda: 9Actinomyces: b:actinian 9actiniform: fishes 9Actinozoa: 2 a : actinic 9actinautography: b:of, relating acar- or acari- or acaro- combining form 7NL, fr. Acarus8 : mite to, or caused by actinic radiation <as X rays= 9actinotherapy: 9acaroid: 9acaricide: -actinal adj combining form 7Gk aktin-, aktis ray + E -al8 ace- combining form 7ISV, fr. acetic8 : acetic 9acenaphthene:@ : - specif : related to acenaphthene 9aceanthrene: -actine adj combining form 7Gk aktin-, aktis8 : having <such or -ace n combining form - 7LGk ak point8 : apex having <so so many= rays 9discoactine: 9pentactine: ; esp. in terms many= faces 9heptace: 9tessarace: applied to sponge spicules -acea n pl suffix 7NL, fr. L, neut. pl. of -aceus -aceous8 : animals actinio- combining form 7Actinia8 : actinian 9actiniochrome: characterized by : animals of the nature of 9Cetacea: 9actiniohematin: 9Crustacea: ; in names of zoological divisions larger than a acu- combining form 7ML, fr. L acu, abl. of acus needle@ akin genus, esp. orders and classes to L acies edge8 : with a needle 9acupuncture: acuti- 2 -alia acuti- combining form 7ML, fr. L acutus8 : sharp-pointed 9acu- agath- or agatho- combining form 7Gk, fr. agathos' perh. akin tifoliate: : sharply angled 9acutiplantar: to OE g*d good8 : good 9Agathosma: 9agathology: acuto- combining form 7acute8 : acute and 9acuto-grave: -age n suffix - 7ME, fr. OF, fr. L -aticum8 1:aggregate : collec- : acutely 9acuto-nodose: tion 9cellarage: 9surplusage: 9trackage: 9wordage: 2 a ad- or ac- or af- or ag- or al- or ap- or as- or at- prefix 7ad- fr. : action : process 9coverage: 9haulage: 9stoppage: b:cumu- ME, fr. L, fr. ad' ac- fr. ME, fr. OF, fr. L, fr. ad' af- fr. ME, lative result of 9breakage: 9shrinkage: c:rate of 9dosage: fr. OF, fr. L, fr. ad' ag- fr. ME, fr. MF, fr. L, fr. ad' al- fr. ME, 9leakage: 9outage: 9slippage: 3:house or place of 9orphan- fr. MF, fr. L, fr. ad' ap- fr. ME, fr. MF, fr. L, fr. ad' as- fr. age: 9parsonage: 4:state : rank 9bondage: 9peonage: 5 ME, fr. OF, fr. L, fr. ad' at- fr. ME, fr. OF, fr. L, fr. ad8 1:to : charge for <an act or service= 9postage: 9towage: 9wharfage: : toward ; usu. ac- before c, k, or q 9acculturation: and af- -agogue also -agog n combining form - 7F ? NL@ F -agogue, fr. before f 9afformative: and ag- before g 9aggradation: and al- LL -agogus promoting the expulsion of, fr.