PREFIXES
Prefix	Meaning	Example
a, ab	from, without, away	avert, absent
ac, ad, af, al	to, toward	acclimate, advance,
		affix, allure
alti	high, height	altitude
ambi	both, about	ambidextrous,
		ambivalent
amphi	around	amphitheatre
ante	before, in front of	antedate
anti	against, opposed	antisocial
auto	of oneself, self	automatic, automobile
be	.thoroughly, make	bespatter, belittle
bi	two, double	bicycle, bicuspid
biblio	book	bibliography
bon	good	bonfire, bon voyage
centre	center	centralize
circum	around	circumference
co	with	cooperate, cohesive
col, com,	together, with	colleague, complete,
con, cor		concurrent, correspond
contra, counter	against	contradict, counteract
de	down from	decrease, descend
demi	half	demigod
dia	through, across	diameter
dif, dis	apart from, from	diffuse, disjoint
dis	not, opposite of	dislike
duo	two	duodecimal
dyna	power	dynamo, dyn:1mic
dys	ill, difficult	dyspeptic
e, ex	out, from, away	egress, exit, export
Em, en, ento	in. into	embroil, engross
epi	upon, on the outside	epidermis
eu	well, good	eulogy
ex tra	beyond	extraordinary
for	away, not	forbid
fore	in front of	forecast, foretell
hemi	half	hemisphere
hetero	different	heterogeneous
holo	whole, all	holocaust
hyper	above, too much	hypersensitive

Prefix	Meaning	Example
idio	one’s own	idiom
il, im, ir	not	illegal, impossible,
		irresponsible
in.	in, into, not	inside, inaccurate
inter	between	interstate
intra	within'	intramural
iso	equal, same	isometric, isocracy
kilo	one thousand	kilocycle
macro	large, long	macrocosm, macroscopic
magni	great	magnify
mal	bad, wrong	malpractice
micro	small	Microphone,
		microscopic
mis	wrongly	misquote
mono	single, alone	monoplane, monologue
multi	many	multiply, multitude
non	not	nonsense
nov	nine	November
octo	eight	octopus, octave
oligo	few	oligarchy
orni	bird	ornithology
ortho	straight, right	orthodox
pan	whole	panorama, Pan-American
pedi	foot	pedicure
penta	five	pentagon
per	through	perceive
peri	around, round	perimeter, periphery
phono	voice, tone	phonograph
poly	many	polygamy
post	after	postscript
pre	before	predate, prefix
pro	forward	progress, proceed
pseudo	false	pseudonym
quadri	four	quadruped, quadruplicate
quint	five	quintuplet, quintet
re	back, again	regain, recount
retro	backward	retrospect, retroactive
se	aside, apart	separate
semi	half	semicircle
sext	six	sextet
sub, sup, sus	under, below	subway, support,
		sustain

Prefix	Meaning	Example
super	above	superimpose,
		superintendent
syl, sym, syn	with, together	syllable, sympathy,
		synchronize
tele	far	telephone
tetra	four	tetrameter
theo	God	theology
to	this, the	today
trans	across	transfer, transcontinental
tri	three	tripod, triangle
ultra	excessive	ultraconservative
un	not, opposite
un		unhappy, unwilling
uni	one	united
vice	in place of	vice-president
with	back, ,away	withheld

SUFFIXES
Suffix	Meaning	Example
able	possible to	likable, manageable
acity	quality of	audacity
acious	given to	audacious
acy	state of being	privacy
age	act of, state of,	homage, hermitage
	place
al	referring to, like	natural, homicidal
an	of, having to do	American, African
	with
ance	act, fact of	guidance
ancy	act of	constancy
ant	being, one who	assistant
ar	like, one who	liar, circular
arium	place for	aquarium, planetarium
ary	. having to do with	revolutionary
		stationary
ate	one who, to make	mandate, dictate
ation ative	of, state of tending to	admiration, explanation talkative

Suffix	Meaning	Example
cle	little	particle
cracy	type of government-	democracy
	authority
cule	little	miniscule
dom	state, authority of	kingdom, freedom
ed	action completed, did	consented
en	made of	golden
ence, ency	state of, act of	confidence, emergency
ent, er	one who, that which	correspondent,
		teacher, rocker
er (adj.)	more than	greater
est	most	smartest
esque	like in manner	grotesque,
	or style	picturesque
fu1	full of	helpful, deceitful
fy	to make, to form	magnify, dignify
hood	state of	brotherhood
ial	on account of	official
ian	one who	physician
ible	capable of being, able	horrible
ic	like, having to do with	historic
icity	quality of	domesticity
		electricity
ify	to make, to form	falsify, clarify
ile	capable of, suited to	infantile, senile
ing	action going on,	acting, living
	result of action
ion	act of doing	confession
ish	resembling, like	boyish, stylish
ism	quality or doctrine of	capitalism, socialism
ist	one who	scientist
itis	inflammation of	bronchitis
ity	quality or state of	creativity
ive	inclined to, that which	detective, reflective
ize	to make, practice	theorize, eulogize
kin	little	lambkin
less	without	witless, harmless
let	small, little	drop1et, starlet
like	resembling	homelike
ly	manner of acting,	quickly, quietly
	like

Suffix Meaning Example

ment state of, act of employment, enjoyment

meter instrument for measuring speedometer, thermometer

ness state or quality of sharpness, helpfulness

or one who, that which sailor, instructor, resistor

ory serving for, place where conservatory, laboratory

ose abounding in, full of verbose, grandiose

osis illness of psychosis, cirrhosis

osity sate or quality of being generosity

ous full of dangerous, marvelous

ship quality or condition friendship

sion, tion state of, act of cooperation, transportation

some more, the same as quarrelsome

tude quality or degree of certitude, fortitude

ty state of, act of certainty

ure result of failure

ward in direction of, toward homeward

y marked by healthy, wealthy

ROOT WORDS

Suffix Meaning Example

acri sharp, bitter acrid, acrimony

acro highest point acropolis, acrobat

act rouse, doing acting, activate

aesth perceiving aesthetic

ag do, act agenda, agitate

ami friend amicable

ann year annual, anniversary

anthrop man anthropology

api bee apiary

aqua water aquatics

aster, astr star asterisk, asteroid, astronomy

audi, audio hear audiovisual, auditory

avi bird avian, aviary

bar weight, pressure barometer, isobar

bene well, good benefit, benign, benefactor

Root Word Meaning Example

bio life biology

cant sing cantata

cap to take capacity

capit head capital

carcer prison incarcerate

cardia heart cardiac

ceed, cede, cess go, move, yield recede, proceed, access

ceive take receive

celer quick accelerate

cent hundred centimeter, century, percent

chron time chronological, chronic

cide kill homicide, genocide

corp body corpse, corporation

cosm universe cosmology, cosmic

crat group member autocrat, democrat

cred belief credit, credible

crypt hidden, secret cryptic, encrypt

cur flow current

dec, deci ten decimal, decades

demo people demographic, democracy

dent tooth dental, dentist

derm skin dermatology, epidermis

dextr right hand dexterous, dexterity

dic, dict say, speak, tell dictate, diction, dictator

divid, divis separate divide, dividend, division

doc to teach doctrine, indoctrinate

dont teeth orthodontic

dome house domestic, domicile, dome

domin rule, master dominate

don give donate

duc, duct take, lead conduct, produce, air duct

dulc sweet dulcet

dupl to double duplicate

dur to last durable, endure, duration

ego I, self egotist, egomaniac

entom insect entomology

equ horse equine, equestrian

equa equal equality, equilateral

eros love erotic

err to go astray, errant, error, erratic

to do wrong

Root Word Meaning Example

fall to mistake, deceive fallacy

fel cat feline

fer carry transfer, refer, ferry

fin end finish, finite, final

flagr burn conflagration

fid faith confident

fort make strong comfort, fortify

frater brother fraternity, fraternal

gam marriage bigamy, monogamy

garrul chatter garrulous

gene race, sex genetic, genealogy

geo earth geography, geology

gloss, glot language, tongue glossary, polyglot

grad step gradually, graduate

graph a writing instrument epigraph, phonograph

for making records

grat that grateful, gratitude

hydr water hydrant, dehydrate, hydraulics

ichth fish ichthyology

icon image, idol iconoclast

ign fire ignite, ignition. igneous

ject throw inject, project, reject

junct join junction, injunction, conjunction

lat carry, bear relate

laud praise applaud, laudable

lect to choose elect, select

leg law legal, legislation

lith stone monolith, neolithic

loc place locate, location

locu, logue, loqu to speak elocution, monologue, eloquent

logy to study biology, geology, hydrology

luc to be light, clear lucid, lucent

lun moon lunacy, lunar

man, manu hand manual, manicure, manuscript

maxim largest maximum

medi middle mediocre, medium

memo to remember memorable, memorandum

ment act, way judgment, statement

meter, metr to measure metric, thermometer

mim imitation mimic, mime

Root Word Meaning Example

min smallest minimize

mis, mit to send mission, remit

morph form, on

characterized by morphic, amorphous

mort death mortal, postmortem

nasc, nat to be born nascent, native

neo new neophyte, neo-gothic

nephr kidney nephritis

neur nerve neurology

neutr neither neutral

nomen name nomenclature

nov new novel, novice, nova

omni all omnipotent

ophthal eye ophthalmology

osteo bone osteopath, osteoporosis

ov egg oval, ovum, ovulate

pac peace pacify

pater, patri father patriarch, paternal

pedia child pediatrician

ped foot pedal, biped, quadruped

patho suffering pathology, pathetic, pathos

pel drives propeller, compel

pend hang pendulum, depend, impending

penetr go through penetrate

petr rock petrify

photo, phos light photography, phosphorus

phob fear phobia, arachnophobia

pod foot tripod, podiatrist

port carry transport, portable

pos to place position, pose

pot power potent, despot

puls drive, force compulsive

pyro fire pyromaniac, pyroclastic

ques, quiro to ask question, inquire, inquiry

quie rest quiet, acquiesce

radi ray radiant, radiation

rect right, straight rectitude, erect, correct

regu rule, model regulation, irregular

rhino nose rhinitis

Root Word	Meaning	Example
rupt	to break	disrupt
sacr, sanct	holy. sacred	sacramental. sanctify
sal	salt	saline. salty
salut	health	salutary
salve	safe	salvation, salvage
sangui	blood	sanguine
sani	healthy. sound	sanitary, sanity
sarco	flesh	sarcoma
sati	gratify	satisfy, satisfaction
scend	to climb	ascend, descend
schizo	to split	schizophrenic
schol	school	scholastic
scien	knowledge, skill	scientific
scler, sclero	hard	sclerosis
scope	see. observe	microscope
scrib script	to write	scribble, inscription
sect	to cut, divide	bisect, vivisection
seism	earthquake	seismogram
sens, senti	feel, think. perceive	sensation. sentiment
sequ	to follow	sequel
sign	a symbol. mark	signify, signature
simil, simul	Same, same time	similar, simultaneous
spec, spect	look, behold	speculate, spectator
speci	particular sort, kind	specimen, species
spher	ball, globular	sphere, spherical
spir	breath	respiration
sta	stand	station, stationary
tend, tens	stretch	distend, tension
therm	heat	thermometer
tort	twist	distort
tract	draw	distract, detract
utili	useful	utility, utilize
vent	come, arrive	convene, convention
veri	truth	verify, veritable
vert, ver	turn	revert, invert
vid, vis	to see	video, visible
viv	to live	vivid, vivacious
voc	voice	vocalize
vor, vore	to eat	voracious, carnivore
zo	animal	zoology, zoography