entry
prefix
/ˈpriːfɪks/An element placed before a word or stem
From Latin prae- (before) + Latin fīgō (to fix).
from Late Latin praefīxum
from Middle French prefixer
from Middle English prefixen
Word Ancestry
from Late Latin praefīxum
from Middle French prefixer
from Middle English prefixen
Picture a Roman grammarian physically fastening a little piece of language to the front of a word: that is essentially what Latin praefīgō meant, “fix in front.” Its two parts were prae-, “before,” and fīgō, “I fasten,” a family that still peeks out in fix, affix, suffix, and infix. By the 1640s, English speakers were using prefix as a grammatical noun for the bit attached before a word, while Middle English prefixen had already supplied the verb. So a prefix is not merely “before” something—it is a linguistic thumbtack, stuck onto the front and changing what follows.
The Story
Picture a Roman grammarian physically fastening a little piece of language to the front of a word: that is essentially what Latin praefīgō meant, “fix in front.” Its two parts were prae-, “before,” and fīgō, “I fasten,” a family that still peeks out in fix, affix, suffix, and infix. By the 1640s, English speakers were using prefix as a grammatical noun for the bit attached before a word, while Middle English prefixen had already supplied the verb. So a prefix is not merely “before” something—it is a linguistic thumbtack, stuck onto the front and changing what follows.
Kin & Kindred
From 'prae-'·before, in front of
Derived Terms
English words from this root
From 'fīgō'·to fix, fasten, or attach
Derived Terms
English words from this root
Sources
Urban Dictionary
Wikipedia
Wiktionary