The Miller Analogies Test (MAT) is all about word analogies. Understanding a word’s definition is often critical to success on the MAT, so memorizing common prefixes can help tremendously.
Knowing your roots, prefixes, and suffixes isn’t a cure-all because the English language likes to break its own rules now and then, but it can help you through some tough questions when you just can’t recall the word’s dictionary definition. Here you’ll focus on learning common prefixes.
A prefix is letters attached to the front of a word that alter its definition. Some prefixes are so common and well known that they’ve actually become words in their own right. For example, the prefix ultra-, which means “beyond”, can be used as an adjective (she’s ultra-cool).The word prefix itself has a prefix, pre–, which means “comes before.”
An example of a prefix in action is found in the word anti-inflammatory. The prefix anti– often means “against,” and the word anti-inflammatory means “against inflammation.”
Just like word roots, prefixes don’t always make a word mean what their definitions below indicate, but they’re better than nothing when you don’t know the meaning of a word.
The following is a list of many common prefixes.
ANTE-: Before; antechamber: waiting room
ANTI-: Against; antifreeze: prevents water from freezing
BE-: Beset with; befogged: bewildered
BI-: Two; bipedal: walks on two legs
CIRCUM-: Around; circumvent: evade by going around
CONTRA-: Opposite; contradiction: deny a statement
DE-: Down; decelerate: to slow down
DI-: Two; diverge: branching off in two or more ways
DIS-: Separate; discontinue: stop
EPI-: Upon; epitaph: inscription on a tombstone
EX-: Former; ex-wife: one’s former, living wife
EXTRA-: Outside; extraneous: not needed
HYPER-: Over; hyperventilate: breathing faster than normal
HYPO-: Low; hypothermia: when body temperature drops below normal
IM-: Not; impossible: unachievable
IN-: Into; incarcerate: put in prison
INTER-: Between; intersection: where two roads meet
INTRA-: Within; intrados: the inside of an arch
META-: Beyond; metaphysics: abstract philosophy
MIS-: Wrong; misinformed: believing incorrect information
MONO-: One; monolith: one independent rock
MULTI-: Many; multipurpose: having many uses
NON-: Not; nonissue: irrelevant
PARA-: Beside; paragon: an example of excellence
PER-: Through; pervasive: reaching throughout all
POLY-: Many; polygraph: method of lie detection measuring several bodily reactions
POST-: After; postlude: song played after the main event
PRE-: Before; prelude: song played before the main event
PRO-: For; pro-equality: in favor of equal treatment for men and women
RE-: Again; reactivate: to start again
SEMI-: Half; semicircle: a half-circle
SUB-: Under; subway: trains below ground
SUPER-: Above; supervision: watching over
TELE-: From a distance; telephone: device used to talk from great distances
TRANS-: Across; translating: deciphering another language
ULTRA-: Beyond; ultrasound: sound wave with frequency higher than humans can hear
UN-: Not; unfair: not just
UNI-: One; unicycle: vehicle with one wheel
WITH-: Against; without: lacking
