Meanings
prefix1
plural prefixes · alternative obsolete præfix · alternative obsolete prefixe
- Something placed before another
- grammarA morpheme added to the beginning of a word to modify its meaning, for example as, pre- in prefix, con- in conjure, re- in reheat, etc.
The chosen prefixes won the vote in part because they start with the only two letters left in the alphabet that are not already used in measurement. The b for “bronto” is already used for bytes and h for “hella” is used for hecto, the prefix for 100.
2022 November 18, Ian Sample, “Earth weighs in at six ronnagrams as new prefixes picked for big and small”, in The Guardian - communicationsA set of digits placed before a telephone number, to indicate where the number is based, what type of phone number it is (landline, mobile, toll-free, premium rate etc.)
Add the prefix +34 to dial a Spanish number from abroad
1 more example
in the UK, a number with an 0800 prefix is a toll-free number.
prefix2
present singular third person prefixes · participle present prefixing · participle past prefixed · past prefixed · alternative obsolete præfix · alternative obsolete prefixe
- transitiveTo determine beforehand; to set in advance.First known use 15ᵗʰc.
They duly arrived at the prefixed hour.
2 more examples
But the danger was, that a man can hardly prefix any certaine limits unto his desire[…].
1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 40, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book I, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLCIt is important to realize that pregivenness or prefixing is a kind of anteriority that does its work in the present; subjects and meanings in part emerge in enuciative co-constitutive moments.
2002, Thomas R. West, Signs of Struggle, page 23 - transitiveTo put or fix before, or at the beginning of something; to place at the start.First known use 16ᵗʰc.
You must prefix the number with the area code.
2 more examples
His requests for money were usually prefixed by an apology.
For the classical ranks, he says, were taken from the nomenclature of the family system (indeed, they are kinship terms as well as political ones), and this arrangement was confused and inelegant. But the Taiping terms are all prefixed with 'T’ien' [translating 天 (Tiān)]—the capital is T’ien-ching [translating 天京 (Tiānjīng)], soldiers are T’ien-ping [translating 天兵], officials are T’ien-kuan [translating 天官]—for the T’ien-wang’s [translating 天王 (Tiānwáng)] authority derives from the T’ien-fu [translating 天父 (Tiānfù)].
1964, Joseph R. Levenson, “Taipings Storm the Confucian Heaven”, in Confucian China and Its Modern Fate, volume 2, University of California Press, →OCLC, page 104
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA morpheme added to the beginning of a word to modify its meaning, for example as, pre- in prefix, con- in conjure, re- in reheat, etc.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
prefix · noun
- Latinpraefīxus
- Late Latinpraefīxum
- Englishprefix
Borrowed from Late Latin praefīxum, from Latin praefīxus, past participle of praefīgō (“to (fix, fasten, set up) in front”, “to fix on the (end, extremity)”) (from prae- (“before”) + fīgō (“to fix”, “to fasten”, “to affix”)), equivalent to pre- + -fix. Doublet of the archaic synonym prefixum.
More words from Late Latin, Latin
Full word history & related roots →prefix · verb
- Latinpraefīxus
- Middle Frenchprefixer
- Middle Englishprefixen
- Englishprefix
From Middle English prefixen, from Middle French prefixer, from Latin praefīxus, past participle of praefīgō (“to (fix, fasten, set up) in front”, “to fix on the (end, extremity)”) (from prae- (“before”) + fīgō (“to fix”, “to fasten”, “to affix”)), equivalent to pre- + -fix.
More words from Middle English, Middle French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans voorvoegsel, prefiks
- voorvoegselmorpheme at the beginning of a word
- prefiksmorpheme at the beginning of a word
- kodetelecommunications: set of digits placed before a telephone number
- titeltitle added to a person's name
- prefikscomputing: initial segment of a string of characters
Arabic سَابِقَة, بَادِئَة
- سَابِقَة (sābiqa)morpheme at the beginning of a word
- بَادِئَة (bādiʔa)morpheme at the beginning of a word
Bengali উপসর্গ
- উপসর্গ (upośorgo)morpheme at the beginning of a word
Bulgarian предста́вка, префи́кс
- предста́вка (predstávka)morpheme at the beginning of a word
- префи́кс (prefíks)morpheme at the beginning of a word
- титла (titla)title added to a person's name
Chinese Mandarin 前綴 /前缀, 詞頭 /词头
- 前綴 /前缀 (qiánzhuì)morpheme at the beginning of a word
- 詞頭 /词头 (cítóu)morpheme at the beginning of a word
Czech předpona
- předponamorpheme at the beginning of a word
Danish præfiks
- præfiksmorpheme at the beginning of a word
Dutch voorvoegsel, op voorhand vastleggen
- voorvoegselmorpheme at the beginning of a word
- op voorhand vastleggenset or appoint beforehand
- arrangerenset or appoint beforehand
- regelenset or appoint beforehand
- voorvoegenput or fix before, or at the beginning of
Esperanto antaŭafikso, antaŭvortero
- antaŭafiksomorpheme at the beginning of a word
- antaŭvorteromorpheme at the beginning of a word
- prefiksomorpheme at the beginning of a word
- prefiksiput or fix before, or at the beginning of
Estonian prefiks
- prefiksmorpheme at the beginning of a word
Finnish etuliite, prefiksi
- etuliitemorpheme at the beginning of a word
- prefiksimorpheme at the beginning of a word
- suuntanumerotelecommunications: set of digits placed before a telephone number
- tittelititle added to a person's name
French préfixe, titre
- préfixemorpheme at the beginning of a word
- titretitle added to a person's name
- préfixecomputing: initial segment of a string of characters
- préfixerset or appoint beforehand
- préfixerput or fix before, or at the beginning of
German Präfix, Vorsilbe
- Präfixmorpheme at the beginning of a word
- Vorsilbemorpheme at the beginning of a word
- präfigierenput or fix before, or at the beginning of
- mit einem Präfix versehenput or fix before, or at the beginning of
- voranstellenput or fix before, or at the beginning of
Greek πρόθημα, προτάσσω
- πρόθημα (próthima)morpheme at the beginning of a word
- προτάσσω (protásso)set or appoint beforehand
- προτάσσω (protásso)put or fix before, or at the beginning of
Hebrew תְּחִלִּית
- תְּחִלִּית (tkhilít)morpheme at the beginning of a word
Hindi उपसर्ग
- उपसर्ग (upsarg)morpheme at the beginning of a word
Hungarian előtag
- előtagmorpheme at the beginning of a word
Icelandic forskeyti
- forskeytimorpheme at the beginning of a word
Indonesian awalan
- awalanmorpheme at the beginning of a word
Irish réimír
- réimírmorpheme at the beginning of a word
Italian prefisso, prefissare
- prefissomorpheme at the beginning of a word
- prefissareset or appoint beforehand
- prefissareput or fix before, or at the beginning of
Japanese 接頭辞, 接頭語
- 接頭辞 (settōji)morpheme at the beginning of a word
- 接頭語 (settōgo)morpheme at the beginning of a word
Korean 접두사, 접두어
- 접두사 (jeopdusa)morpheme at the beginning of a word
- 접두어 (jeopdueo)morpheme at the beginning of a word
Latin praeverbium, praefīxum
- praeverbiummorpheme at the beginning of a word
- praefīxummorpheme at the beginning of a word
Latvian priedēklis
- priedēklismorpheme at the beginning of a word
Lithuanian priešdėlis
- priešdėlismorpheme at the beginning of a word
Malay awalan
- awalanmorpheme at the beginning of a word
Māori pīmua, kūmua
- pīmuamorpheme at the beginning of a word
- kūmuamorpheme at the beginning of a word
Norwegian Bokmål prefiks, forstavelse
- prefiksmorpheme at the beginning of a word
- forstavelsemorpheme at the beginning of a word
- forstavingmorpheme at the beginning of a word
Polish przedrostek, prefiks
- przedrostekmorpheme at the beginning of a word
- prefiksmorpheme at the beginning of a word
- prefikscomputing: initial segment of a string of characters
Russian приста́вка, пре́фикс
- приста́вка (pristávka)morpheme at the beginning of a word
- пре́фикс (préfiks)morpheme at the beginning of a word
Scottish Gaelic ro-leasachan
- ro-leasachanmorpheme at the beginning of a word
Slovak predpona
- predponamorpheme at the beginning of a word
Spanish prefijo, prefijo
- prefijomorpheme at the beginning of a word
- prefijotelecommunications: set of digits placed before a telephone number
- prefijarput or fix before, or at the beginning of
Swahili kiambishi awali
- kiambishi awalimorpheme at the beginning of a word
Swedish förstavelse
- förstavelsemorpheme at the beginning of a word
Tagalog unlapi
- unlapimorpheme at the beginning of a word
Tamil முன்னொட்டு
- முன்னொட்டு (muṉṉoṭṭu)morpheme at the beginning of a word
Thai อุปสรรค
- อุปสรรค (ùp-bpà-sàk)morpheme at the beginning of a word
Turkish önek, ön ek
- önekmorpheme at the beginning of a word
- ön ekmorpheme at the beginning of a word
Ukrainian пре́фікс, при́росток
- пре́фікс (préfiks)morpheme at the beginning of a word
- при́росток (prýrostok)morpheme at the beginning of a word
- приста́вка (prystávka)morpheme at the beginning of a word
Urdu سابِقَہ
- سابِقَہ (sābiqa)morpheme at the beginning of a word
Vietnamese tiền tố
- tiền tốmorpheme at the beginning of a word
Welsh rhagddodiad
- rhagddodiadmorpheme at the beginning of a word
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with prefix
Anagrams
Cite this entry
prefix. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/prefix
“prefix.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/prefix. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “prefix,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/prefix.
Source: prefix on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.