60+ Greek & Latin Prefixes

Understanding the most common Greek and Latin prefixes will help you recognize the meaning of a
large number of English words. (Besides, that, it's fun to see where different words came from!)

For examples and a list of the most common of these prefixes in alphabetical order (plus a few tips
on understanding their use), you might want to see List of Prefixes.

The list on this page is arranged according to the meaning of the prefixes in English, followed by the
Latin Greek prefixes for each meaning. The prefixes on the alphabetical list that aren’t included here
(and others that are obvious, like over- and under-) are English, except non- and counter-, which
come to English from French.

The list below also includes some Greek (and a few Latin) prefixes that were not included on the main
List of Prefixes because they are not used as commonly in English.

Greek vs. Latin

Many Greek and Latin prefixes are closely related.

They may be cognates (ambi-/amphi-, extra-/ exo-) or directly borrowed terms like macro-.

(The Romans, like the English, expanded their vocabulary with terms and ideas from the peoples
they contacted or conquered.)

Latin prefixes are used more frequently than most Greek ones in common English words, but both
are important. Most medical and mathematical terminology comes from Greek.

PREFIX MEANING LATIN PREFIX GREEK PREFIX

above, excess super-, ultra- hyper-
across, beyond,
trans- dia-
through
after post-
again, back re-
against contra-, (in-, ob-) anti-
all omni- pan
around circum- peri-
away or from ab- (or de-) apo-, ap-
bad, difficult, wrong mal- dys-
before ante-, pre- pro-
between, among inter- epi-
both ambi- amphi-
completely or very de-, ob-
down de-, ob-
 four quad- tetra-
good ben-, bene- eu-
half, partially semi- hemi-
in, into il-, im-, in-, ir- en-
in front of pro- pro-
inside intra- endo-
large (macro-, from Greek) macro-
many multi- poly-
not* de-, dis-, in-, ob- a-, an-
on epi-
one uni- mono-
out of ex-, e- ek-
outside extra-, extro- ecto-, exo-
over ob- (sometimes)
self ego- auto-, aut-,auth-
small micro-
three tri- tri-
through trans- dia-
to or toward ad-, a-, ac-, as- epi-
two bi- di-
under, insufficient sub- hypo-
with co-. com-, con- sym-, syn-
within, inside intra- endo-
without dis- (sometimes) a-, an-

* These negative prefixes mean 'not' or something similar, or reverse the action or meaning of the
word they attach to. For more information, see Negative Prefix List. (The most common negative
prefix of all in English is 'un-'. We have two others that are also not from Latin or Greek: 'mis-' and
'non-'.)

To practice these prefixes, see Greek Roots (some of which also can be used as prefixes: bio-,
cardio-, tele-, etc.), 50 Word Roots from Latin and Match Words from Latin Roots, Important Latin
Roots, and others given in Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes below.