# prefix
## English
### Alternative forms

* præfix (obsolete)
* prefixe (for the verb; obsolete)

### Etymology 1

Borrowed from Late Latin praefīxum, from Latin praefīxus, past participle of praefīgō (“I (fix, fasten, set up) in front”, “I fix on the (end, extremity)”) (from prae- (“before”) + fīgō (“I fix”, “I fasten”, “I affix”)), equivalent to pre- +‎ -fix. Doublet of the archaic synonym prefixum.

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈpɹiːfɪks/, /pɹɛˈfɪks/
** Audio (Southern England):(file)
** Audio (US):(file)
* Rhymes: -ɪks

#### Noun

prefix (plural prefixes)
* Something placed before another
** (grammar, linguistic morphology) A 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.
    Synonyms: (rare) foresyllable, (archaic) prefixum
    Antonym: suffix
    Hypernyms: (broad sense) affix, morpheme
** (telecommunications) A 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.)
    in the UK, a number with an 0800 prefix is a toll-free number.
    Add the prefix +34 to dial a Spanish number from abroad
** A title added to a person's name, such as Mr. or Dr.
** (computing) An initial segment of a string of characters.
    The string "abra" is both a prefix and a suffix of the string "abracadabra".

##### Usage notes

* Though much less common, a plural form prefices is seen as well, apparently formed by analogy with index–indices, appendix–appendices, and so on, but it is not a standard plural and has no basis in Latin.

##### Synonyms

* forefix (rare)

##### Coordinate terms

* adfix
* affix
* ambifix
* circumfix
* confix
* disfix
* duplifix
* infix
* interfix
* libfix
* postfix
* prefix
* prefixoid
* simulfix
* suffix
* suffixoid
* suprafix
* transfix

##### Derived terms

* metric prefix
* null prefix
* prefixal
* prefixhood
* prefixing (adj)
* prefixless, ~ness
* prefixlike
* prefixness
* prefixoid
* pseudoprefix
* SI prefix
* zero prefix
* international call prefix
* prefix code
* prefix coding
* prefix notation
* prefix tree
* separable prefix
* ship prefix

##### Translations
### Etymology 2

From Middle English prefixen, from Middle French prefixer, from Latin praefīxus, past participle of praefīgō (“I (fix, fasten, set up) in front”, “I fix on the (end, extremity)”) (from prae- (“before”) + fīgō (“I fix”, “I fasten”, “I affix”)), equivalent to pre- +‎ -fix.

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈpɹiːfɪks/, /pɹiːˈfɪks/, /pɹɛˈfɪks/
** Audio (Southern England):(file)
* Rhymes: -ɪks

#### Verb

prefix (third-person singular simple present prefixes, present participle prefixing, simple past and past participle prefixed)
* (transitive) To determine beforehand; to set in advance. [from 15thc.]
** 1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 40, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book I, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC:But the danger was, that a man can hardly prefix any certaine limits unto his desire […].
** 2002, Thomas R. West, Signs of Struggle, page 23:It 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.
* (transitive) To put or fix before, or at the beginning of something; to place at the start. [from 16thc.]

##### Derived terms

* prefixable
* prefixation
* prefixed, unprefixed
* prefixer, auto~

##### Related terms

* fix
* pre-
* prefixion (archaic)
* prepend

##### Translations
### See also

* Appendix:English nationality prefixes
* Category:English prefixes
* coverb

### References

* ↑ “prēfixen, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

### Further reading

* prefix on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
* “prefix”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
* “prefix”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

### Anagrams

* perfix

## Catalan
### Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin praefīxum, from Latin praefīxus.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: (Central, Balearic) [pɾəˈfiks]
* IPA: (Valencia) [pɾeˈfiks]

### Noun

prefix m (plural prefixos)
* prefix

## Czech
### Pronunciation

* IPA: [ˈprɛfɪks]
* Rhymes: -ɪks
* Hyphenation: pre‧fix

### Noun

prefix m inan
* prefix
    Synonym: předpona

#### Derived terms

* prefixový

### Further reading

* “prefix”, in Kartotéka Novočeského lexikálního archivu (in Czech)
* “prefix”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989

## Dutch
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈpreːfɪks/
* Audio:(file)

### Etymology 1

Borrowed from post-Classical Latin praefīxum, nominal use of the neuter form of Classical Latin praefīxus, past participle of praefīgō (“I (fix, fasten, set up) in front”, “I fix on the (end, extremity)”) — the noun directly thence, whereas the adjective via French préfixe.

#### Alternative forms

* praefix (archaic)

#### Noun

prefix n or m (plural prefixen, diminutive prefixje n)
* prefix
    Synonym: voorvoegsel
    Antonyms: suffix, achtervoegsel

### Etymology 2

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

#### Adjective

prefix (not comparable)
* (obsolete) fixed, predetermined

##### Declension
## Occitan
### Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin praefīxum, from Latin praefīxus.

### Noun

prefix m
* (grammar) prefix

#### Related terms

* sufix

## Romanian
### Etymology

Borrowed from French préfixe, from Latin praefīxus.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /pɾeˈfiks/

### Noun

prefix n (plural prefixe)
* prefix
    Antonym: sufix

#### Related terms

* afix
* infix

## Swedish
### Noun

prefix n
* (grammar) prefix