Acquaintance with prefixes and suffixes

from foreign languages in English to

form derivatives; Synonyms, antonyms,
and standard abbreviations

Word Parts- Prefixes, Roots,

and Suffixes
 Purpose
• If you can learn the meanings of various
word parts, you will be able to unlock a
world of new vocabulary.
 Origins of the English Language
• Most words in the English language are based
on Latin and Greek words.
• Other words come from a wide variety of
other languages, including German, Spanish,
and Italian.
• Therefore, prefixes, roots, and suffixes, the
parts that make up our words, come from
those sources as well.
 Prefixes
• The prefix “pre” means before. A prefix is a
word part that comes before the root.

• A prefix can change the meaning of the root

slightly or even totally.
• For example, if you add the prefix “ab”
(meaning not) to the root normal, the
resulting word is abnormal (meaning not
normal).
 Roots
• The main part of a word is the root.
• Many roots are complete words. Adding a prefix
or a suffix to a root will change its meaning.
• Some roots need a prefix or a suffix to make
them complete words.
• Some examples of roots and their meanings are:
audio (sound), bio (life), chrono (time), derma
(skin), geo (earth), micro (small), and psycho
(mind).
 Suffixes
• A suffix is a word part added to the end of a root.
• A suffix can change the meaning of a word and it can
change the part of speech that word plays in a
sentence.
• For example, if you add the suffix “ly” to an adjective,
it will change the adjective to an adverb (soft—
adjective; softly—adverb).
• Some common suffixes and their meanings are:
“er”—used to compare two people or objects;
“est”—the most or best of three or more people or
objects; “ment”—a condition; “nes”—a state of
being; “ous”—full of.
 Conclusion
• Therefore, you can rapidly increase your
reading vocabulary simply by memorizing the
means of word prefixes, roots, and suffixes.
• By using this technique in combination with
context clues, your reading vocabulary will
grow tremendously.
Prefix (Root) Word Meaning
ANTE (Latin) Antecedent Preceding
Meaning : before Antediluvian Before the flood, ancient
Antenatal Of care before birth
Anterior To the front, before
Ante-Meridiem Before noon
DIA ( Greek) Diagonal Connecting line
Meaning: across Diaspora The breaking up and
scattering of people; people
settled far from their ancestral
homelands
Dialectic Art of arguing
Dialect Local variety of language
Diameter Straight line from side to side
of figure
ULTRA-(Latin) Ultramarine Very deep in blue
Meaning: beyond Ultra-modern Very modern
Ultra violet Beyond violet: at the violet
end of spectrum
Ultra sonic Sound waves beyond the
range of human ear
TRANS-( Latin) Transcend Go beyond
Meaning- Over, across Transverse Eyeing across: at right angles
Transgress Break(law)
Transient Fleeting; not permanent

SUPER-(Latin) Superior Of greater rank

Meaning-Over, Beyond Supercilious Displaying arrogant side
Supernumerary In excess of normal number
Supersede Take in place of; set aside
Supervise Oversee; direct; inspect
Superlative In/of highest degree or
quantity
EPI-( Greek) Epiderm Outer skin layer
Meaning-over, on, of Epiphany Festival of the announcement
of christ’s coming
Epigraph Inscription
Epicentre Focus of earthquake
AMBI-(Latin) Ambient On all sides
Meaning- both sides Ambiguity Obscure
Ambivalent Simultaneous existence
of two different opinions
ambidextrous Able to use both hands
PERI-( Greek) Peripatetic Walking around
Meaning-around, Periphery Circumference
about
Perimeter Outer boundary
perihelion Point in orbit of planet or
comet nearest to sun
RE/ RETRO Return Go back
( Latin) Retrospect Took back
Meaning- back
Retroflex Curved backwards
Retrograde Going backwards
CIRCUM-( Latin) Circumpolar Circles around the polar region
Meaning-path, orbit
Circumsolar Circles around the sun
Circumspect Circles around the fences
circumlocution Round about or evasive speech

A/AN-( Greek) Anaemia Blood deficiency

Meaning-without Amoral Not moral
Anaesthetic Causing loss of sensation
Achromatic Without colour
anachronism Mistake of time
ANTI-( Greek) Antidote Remedy
Meaning-against Antipathy Dislike, aversion
Antipyretic Effective against fever
Antiseptic Preventing infection
Antigen Substance stimulating production
of antibodies
COUNTER,CONTRA- Counterfeiter Forger
(Latin) Contrary Opposite
Meaning-against Constrain Force ,compel
contraband Illegal, smuggled goods
Suffix Word Meaning

AGE-(Latin) Parsonage Minister’s house

Meaning-Place
Steerage Cheapest
/collection
accommodation on a
ship
Peerage Bodies or groups of
peer
ARIUM/ARY-( Latin) Aquarium Place for keeping live
Meaning-Place fish
Library Place for keeping
books
Sanatorium Hospital for
chronically ill
Seminary College for priests

Apiary Place where bees are

DOM-(German) Freedom Liberty
Meaning-state/Quality Kingdom State ruled by king
Officialdom State ruled by officials
dukedom State ruled by duke

ARD-(German) Dullard Stupid person

Meaning-one Pollard Hornless animal
who/Characteristic of
HOOD-(German) Brotherhood Alliance
Meaning-State/Quality Widowhood State of being a widow
Ling-( German) Yearling Year old animal
Meaning-having the Fingerling Baby fish
characteristic of/minor
NESS-(German) Goodness Decency
Meaning-Condition/ Populousness State of large
State population
Business Occupation
FULL-(German) Healthful Promoting health
Meaning-full Plentiful Having plenty
of/providing
Earful Lot of information

FOLD-(German) Tenfold Multiplied by ten

Meaning- increased by Manifold Many times
ISH-(German) Childish Child like
Meaning-somewhat Churlish Ill bred, rustic
like
Impish Imp like, naughty
WISE-(German) Dollarwise With respect to dollars
Meaning-in the manner Weatherwise With regard to weather
of/with regard to
Moneywise With respect to money
Healthwise With respect to health
 SYNONYMS,
ANTONYMS AND
ABBREVIATIONS

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 Session Outcomes
You will be able to:

• understand and know the difference between

synonyms, antonyms and standard abbreviations

• increase own range of vocabulary and use of

alternative words

• improve dictionary and thesaurus skills

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 What are synonyms?
• They are different words with similar
meanings

• …and can be any part of speech (e.g. nouns,

verbs, adjectives, adverbs).

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 Synonym Examples:

• Confused – muddled – puzzled – addled

• Love – affection – desire

• Run – sprint – jog – trot – hurry

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 Why learn synonyms?

…because, by giving us numerous

ways to say the same thing, they
make our language and writing more
interesting and skilful.

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 Activity
replace the highlighted words with appropriate synonyms.

He went up the noisy stairs to the attic. The key to

the old door was muddy: he had dug it up from the
garden earlier that day. The lock made a clunk as
he turned the key and the door creaked as he
slowly pushed it open. It was cold and dark in the
attic. He could not believe what he saw between
the flashes of thunder from the angry storm.

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 What are antonyms?
An antonym is the opposite meaning of a word.
For example:

• Narrow - wide broad open

• Hard - soft supple limp

• Strong - weak fragile shaky

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 Types of Antonyms
• Graded Antonyms: These express relationships
along a continuum.
For example:
Good - bad
Intelligent – stupid
Beautiful- ugly
Young- old
Hard- soft
• Complementary Antonyms/ Absolute:
represent the only two opposite possibilities and
there is no middle ground or scale that is involved
between the two words.
Such antonyms include:
true – false
dead – alive
day – night
pass – fail
right- wrong
• Relational Antonyms: Pairs of relational antonyms
are often considered as a third type. However, they
are really a subcategory of complementary antonyms.
• In this type of antonyms, there is a relationship in
which the two opposites must both exist.
• For example, if someone is selling, there must be
someone buying.
husband – wife
Servant – master
come- go
give- receive
• Auto-antonyms :
These are the words that mean the opposite in
different contexts such as
• "Story" can either specifically mean an untrue
account of events (i.e., saying "It was just a story"
implies something is not true) or a factual one (i.e., a
news story)
• "Dust" can mean to remove dust (cleaning a house)
or to add dust (e.g. to dust a cake with powdered
sugar).
Write 3 antonyms for each of the following
words :
• Large –

• Noisy –

• Easy –

• Young –

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Write 3 antonyms for each of the following
words :
• Large – small, tiny, little

• Noisy – Quiet, calm, silent

• Easy – difficult, hard, complex

• Young – old, aged, elderly

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 What are Standard
Abbreviations:
Abbreviations
an abbreviation is a shortened or contracted
form of a word or phrase, used to represent
the whole, as 
Dr. for Doctor, U.S. for United States
Initialisms and acronyms are two types of
abbreviations that are used to shorten
phrases.

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• Initialisms - an abbreviation consisting of
initial letters pronounced separately 
Examples:

– HTML (Hypertext Markup Language )

– IBM (International Business Machines)
– DVD (Digital Versatile Disc/Video Disc)
– BTW (by the way)
• Acronyms-  an abbreviation formed from the
initial letters of other words and pronounced as a
word 
Examples:
– NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)
– AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome)
– OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting
Countries)
– SPA (Society of Professional Accountants)
– WASP (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant)
– ASAP (as soon as possible)
– Radar (radio detecting and ranging)
– Scuba (self-contained underwater breathing
apparatus)
 Activity : What do the following
Abbreviations stand for?
P.S.-
D.I.Y.-
E.T.A.-
TY-
AM-
PM-
Etc-

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 Activity : What do the following
Abbreviations stand for?
P.S.- post script
D.I.Y.- do it yourself
E.T.A.- estimated time of arrival
TY- Thank You
AM- ante meridiem
PM- post meridiem
Etc- etcetera

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