9th Grade List of Prefixes, Suffixes, and Roots LIST ONE Prefixes 1 mono bi, di tri deci centi milli multi poly pan, omnis semi, hemi, demi
one, single two, twice, apart three ten hundred thousand much, many many all half
Suffixes 1 an, ian (adj.) al (adj.) ar, ary (adj.) ial, ical (adj.) eer (n.) ist (n.)
monotone bicycle, dialogue triplets, tripod decade, decimation century, centimeter millennium, millimeter multitude, multicolored polygamy, Polynesia pantheistic, omnidirectional semifinal, hemisphere, demigod
pertaining to, belonging to pertaining to pertaining to pertaining to one who deals with one who
urban, Christian, Martian spherical, floral, primal molecular, notary, granary official, comical, medical auctioneer, conventioneer communist, violinist
tude (n.) ous, ious, eous (adj.)
the quality of having the quality of
servitude, gratitude, attitude joyous, courteous, poisonous
Roots 1 unus duo
one two
unity, unicycle dual, duality
corpus manus ped/pod derma lingua
body hand foot skin tongue
corporal, corporation, corpse manuscript, manual, manicure pedestrian, centipede, biped hypodermic, pachyderm bilingual, linguistics
luna
moon
lunar, lunatic
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terra, geos astro, stella helio, sol ______________
earth, land star sun
terrestrial, territory, geography astrology, constellation, stellar heliotropism, solar
decimation—when Roman platoons (called “centuries”—90 soldiers, plus 10 support personnel) showed cowardice in combat, they were punished by “decimation,” in which every tenth (deca) man was executed. Since then, this has meant a horrible and total destruction. corporal—this refers to the adjective, as in “corporal punishment.” The military rank, “corporal,” however, has a different root; it is a diminutive form of “capo,” which means head. lunatic—refers to the folk belief that exposure to the moon drove people to madness
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LIST TWO Prefixes 2 ab, a anti contra de non
not, away from against against do the opposite of, remove from not
absent, atypical, avert antislavery, antisocial contradict, contraband deflate, dethrone, denote nonreligious, nonconformity
be
by, thoroughly, make
beguile, belittle, betrothed
mega mini
great, large small, brief
megaphone, megabyte miniature, minimalism
hypo hyper
less, under over, above
hypothermia, hypodermic hyperactive, hyperacidity
Suffixes 2 dom (n.) ia (n.) mony (n.) sis (n.)
fact of being, state, condition state or condition of state or condition of state or condition of
kingdom, wisdom suburbia, minutia, hysteria harmony, matrimony paralysis, analysis, peristalsis
able, ible, ble (adj.) ation (n.) escence (n.), esce (v.) escent (adj.)
capable of, worthy the act of state of beginning to be (n.) beginning to be (v., or adj.)
durable, credible, detachable creation, notation, libation adolescence, luminsesce, effervescent
Roots 2 bios (G), vita, viva (L) life mort (L), necro (G) death
biology, vitality, vivacious immortality, necromancy
physis psyche pathos logos
nature [body] mind, life, spirit feeling, suffering [disease] study of, word, thought
physics, physiology, physical psychology, psychopath sympathy, pathology, empathy geology, biology, logical
chronos tempus annus
time time year
chronological, chronometer temporary, contemporary annual, bicentennial
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mensis
month
menstruation, semester
ethnos, natio genus
nation birth, race, type
ethnic, ethnology, native genetic, geneology, gender
__________ semester—this originally meant “six months.” Thus, two semesters make one school year.
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LIST THREE Prefixes 3 fore pro re pre post ante tele meta
in front, before in front of back, again before behind, after before far change
forearm, foreground progress, projection regress, replay, reanimate predict, prefer, pregame postscript, posterior antechamber, anterior television, telepathy metabolism, metamorphosis
extra trans inter, enter, intro intra in, en, im, em ex, e, ef, es
beyond across between within in, into out of
extraordinary transcend, transport interchangeable, interpose intramural, intravenous immigrant, enclose, embrace emigrant, exterior, efface
the killing of
homicide, insecticide,
full of like inflammation of without in a way that is of or belonging to (adj.) place of (n.)
graceful, beautiful, merciful foolish, greenish bronchitis, tendonitis motionless, graceless slowly, lastly auditory, sensory, laboratory, crematory
hear sound, tone, voice sight
audible, audiometer, audience telephone, phonic videotape, vision, visor
phobia fortis val
fear brave, strong strength, worth
hydrophobia, arachnophobia fortitude, fortress, fortify valor, valiant, value
cyber dominus
computer lord, master
cyberspace, cyborg dominate, domineer
Suffixes 3 cide (n.) genocide ful (adj.) ish (adj.) itis (n.) less (adj.) ly (adv.) ory (adj. or n.) Roots 3 audire phone vidi, visi
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facere fides, credo libero morphos
make or do faith, trust set free shape, structure
factory, facility confide, incredible liberate, liberty, liberal metamorphosis, ectomorph
__________ immigrant, emigrant—this distinction is often lost in everyday usage. A person who moves from China to the U.S. is a Chinese emigrant, and an American immigrant, not a Chinese immigrant. Even wellrespected magazines and newspapers make this error. cyber—this has come to refer to anything computerrelated, but it comes from the Greek word, “kybernan,” meaning to pilot or steer. The brain is thought to pilot the body, and the computer is similar to a brain.