Prefix | Meaning and Examples |
A- | without, not (atypical) |
Ab- | away from, off (abnormal) |
Amyl- | starch (amylopsin) |
An- | not, without (anhydrous) |
Ana- | up, upon (anabolism) |
Angio- | vessel (angiocarditis) |
Ante- | before, in front of (anterior) |
Anti- | against, opposed to (antitoxin, anthelmintic) |
Apo- | off, from, away from ( apoplexy) |
Auto- | self (autosuggestion) |
Bi- | two, twice (biceps, bifocal) |
Bio- | life (biology) |
Brachy- | short (brachycardia) |
Chrom- | color (chromosome) |
-cyte, Cyto- | cell (cytoplasm) |
Di- | two, twice (dichromic) |
Dia- | through, between (diaphragm |
Dys- | bad, difficult (dyspepsia) |
Glyc- | glucose, sugar (glycosuria) |
-graph | to write (cardiograph) |
Hemo- | blood (hemorrhage |
Hetero- | different, other (heterozygous) |
Homo- | alike, same (homozygous) |
Hydro- | water (hydrolytic) |
Hyper- | over, more than (hypersecretion) |
Hypo- | under, less than (hyposecretion) |
Inter- | between, together (intercostal) |
Intra- | within (intrathoracic) |
Ir- | not (irregular) |
-lysin, -lysis, -lytic | dissolve, destroy (hemolysis) |
Macro- | large (macrophage) |
Micro- | small (microorganism) |
Mono- | one (monocyte, monosaccharide) |
Myo- | muscle (myosin, myoglobin) |
Nuer- | relating to nerves (neurilemma) |
Oo- | egg (oocyst) |
Ovi- | egg (oviducy, ovipositor) |
Para- | near, by, beside (parathyroid) |
Peri- | around, near (pericardium) |
Phago- | to eat (phagocyte) |
-phil- | loving (basophil, eosinophil) |
-plasm- | substance (cytoplasm, plasmolysis) |
-ped | foot (pseudoped) |
Poly- | many (polysaccharide) |
Post- | after, behind (postganglionic) |
Pro- | before, giving rise to (proenzyme) |
Pseudo- | false (pseudoped) |
-rrhea | flow (diarrhea) |
-tome,-tomy | to cut (tonsillectomy) |
-trophic | feeding (autotrophic) |