Latin Prefixes to Enrich Your Vocabulary

English, as any other modern language of Europe hasintercept, intervention.intra, intro (within, inside of, Latin) =
assimilated many Latin words which has enriched itsintrospection, intravenous.multi, multus (many, much,
vocabulary. Researchers in the field of EtymologyLatin) = multifaceted, multitudinous, multistory.omni (all,
have estimated that about 60% of English words haveeverywhere, Latin) = omnipotent, omnivorous,
come to us through Latin. These include prefixes,omniscient.post (after, behind, Latin) = postdated,
suffixes and root words. Now a question naturallyposthumous, postmeridian ( P.M).pre (before, Latin) =
arises that is it essential to master Latin to have anprecedent, precept, preposition.re (back, again, Latin) =
impressive English vocabulary? Not at all. You will berejuvenate, recreate, regeneration, renaissanceretro
surprised as I will show you shortly that even a(back, backward, Latin) = retrospect, retro running,
knowledge of a few words of Latin can do wondersretrograde.se (apart, aside, Latin ) = seclusion, selection,
and can boost your vocabulary to the limit you cannotseparation.sub (under, less than, inferior, Latin) =
imagine. In this article I am introducing just a few ofsubordinate, subterranean, submarine.super, supra
prefixes and we shall see how it increases our ability(above, superior, Latin) = superfluous, superintendent,
to understand the words in English which at first sightsoprano.trans (across, through, Latin ) = translation,
seem very difficult. For instance we take a fewtranscontinental, transient, transit.ultra (beyond, on other
important prefixes and observe the result.ab, a (from,side of ) = ultramodern, ultra orthodox, ultrasound.
down, away, Latin) = abstract, aversion, abject,The above list contains only 20 prefixes out of
abnormal.ante (before, Latin) = antecedent,hundreds in use in contemporary English. You must
antebellum,antemeridian(A.M).bi (two, Latin) = bicycle,have observed that in no time you can decipher the
bifurcate, bicarbonate.circum, circa ( around, about,meanings of hundreds of words which you hitherto
Latin) = circa 1900, circumambulate,have believed to be a very tedious activity. This is the
circumference.contra, counter (against, Latin) =magic of knowing Latin. Even a cursory knowledge of
contraindication, contradict, counterbalancedi, dis, difthis language can do wonders for you and you can be
(away, from, apart, Latin) = disinfectant, disperse,much more confident next time you have an interview,
different.extra ( beyond, Latin) = extraordinary,a meeting or just a chit chat with your friends.
extraneous.inter (among, between, Latin) = international,