Unit 4 Prefixes
As you can see from this table, we’ve covered most of the common prefixes in Medical English. So even though there are 33 prefixes used in Unit 4, only 11 are new. The previously used prefixes, as always, are shown in gray in this table.
| Prefix | Definition |
|---|---|
| a– | not |
| ab– | off, from, away |
| allo– | other, different; different member of the same species |
| an– | not |
| anti– | against (an action) |
| auto– | self |
| bi– | two, double |
| cata– | down, downward |
| chemo– | using chemicals |
| cryo– | using cold |
| de– | from, down, out |
| dys– | bad |
| e– ec– ex– |
out, off, from, beyond |
| epi– | on top of |
| eu– | good; well- |
| hetero– | other, different |
| homo– | same |
| hyper– | too much |
| hypo– | too little |
| in– | in, into (if derived from im–, can also mean "not") |
| intra– | inside |
| neo– | new |
| par– para– |
beside; near |
| per– | through; by means of |
| pro– | in front of; in favor of |
| sub– | an underlayer; support |
| tel– telo– |
an end; complete |
| trans– | through |
| tri– | three |
| xeno– | stranger; a different species |
| xero– | dry |
