Anglo Saxon Prefixes and Suffixes

Words don’t always come to us in final form. They come in pieces Words don’t always come to us in final form. They come in pieces. Those pieces -- or word parts -- are called roots, prefixes and suffixes. If you understand the meaning of one part of a word, you can often understand the meaning of the whole thing. Greek, Latin and Anglo-Saxon roots, prefixes and suffixes are the foundation of the English language.

Although there are some exceptions, here is how it usually works: The part at the beginning of a word is called the prefix. The part at the end is called the suffix. And the part in between is called the root (which is the part that often gives you the biggest clue to what the word means).

Not all words contain all three word parts. Some roots stand alone Not all words contain all three word parts. Some roots stand alone. Some words have only roots and prefixes. Some have only roots and suffixes. Some have all three parts. And some are really just compound words made up of two or more other words.

Here are some common Greek and Latin word roots: cert (to trust) derm (skin) ego (I) aqua (water) mob (move) aud (hear) photo (light) bibl (book) bio (life) chron (time)

phon (sound) psych (mind) retro (backward) sol (sun) stell (star) thermo (heat)

Here are some common prefixes: ante (before) bi (two) ab (away from) ben (good, well) ad (towards or near) con (against) auto (self) deca (ten) aero (air) anti (against)

epi (on or upon) peri (around, about, near) infra (below) psuedo (false, counterfeit) macro (long, large) syn (with, together, joined) micro (small) pan (every, all) trans (across) para (along the side of)

Let’s see what happens when you put a prefix and a root together, for example the prefix “epi” with the root “derm.” You get the word “epidermis” which means the protective outer layer of your skin (“epi” means “on” and “derm” means “skin”). Or the word “infrastructure” which means “the structure below” or “the basic facilities needed for the functioning of a system.”

Suffixes Most words in English are made up of roots and suffixes. But suffixes are pretty complicated, since they can be used in four different ways: to make n ouns, to make adjectives, to make verbs or to make adverbs.

Strictly speaking, suffixes are word parts that cannot stand alone Strictly speaking, suffixes are word parts that cannot stand alone. But over time, some actual words have come to be used as suffixes. Two examples are the words “meter” (which means measure) and “graph” (which means write). Put at the end of the roots for “heat,” “ sound” and “light,” we get “thermometer” (heat meter), “phonograph” (sound writer) and “photograph” (light writer).

True suffixes, however, really can’t stand alone True suffixes, however, really can’t stand alone. They need to be combined with roots. A good example would be the suffix “logy” which means “the study of” and the suffix “ist” which means “one who studies.” Go back to the roots list and find the roots “bio” (life) and “psych” (mind). Put the roots and suffixes together and you’ll see that “biology” means “the study of life” while a “biologist” is “one who studies life.” “Psychology” means “the study of the mind” while a “psychologist” is “one who studies the mind.”

Another common suffix is “ous” which means “full of Another common suffix is “ous” which means “full of.” So the word “grievous” means “full of grief” and the word “nauseous” means “full of nausea.” You can probably think of some other examples of your own.