The Grammar of English Grammars Part 260

9. OUT, prefixed to a verb, generally denotes excess; as in _out-do, out-leap, out-poise_: prefixed to a noun, it is an adjective, and signifies _exterior_; as in _out-side, out-parish_.

10. SELF generally signifies one's own person, or belonging to one's own person; but, in _self-same_, it means _very_. We have many words beginning with _Self_, but most of them seem to be compounds rather than derivatives; as, _self-love, self-abas.e.m.e.nt, self-abuse, self-affairs, self-willed, self-accusing_.

11. UN denotes negation or contrariety; as in _un-kind, un-load, un-truth, un-coif_.

12. UNDER denotes inferiority; as in _under-value, under-clerk, under-growth_.

13. UP denotes motion upwards; as in _up-lift_: sometimes subversion; as in _up-set_.

14. WITH, as a prefix, unlike the common preposition _With_, signifies _against, from_, or _back_; as in _with-stand, with-hold, with-draw, with-stander, with-holdment, with-drawal_.

CLa.s.s II.--THE LATIN PREFIXES.

The primitives or radicals to which these are prefixed, are not many of them employed separately in English. The final letter of the prefix _Ad, Con, Ex, In, Ob_, or _Sub_, is often changed before certain consonants; not capriciously, but with uniformity, to adapt or a.s.similate it to the sound which follows.

1. A, AB, or ABS, means From, or Away: as, _a-vert_, to turn from, or away; _ab-duce_, to lead from; _ab-duction_, a carrying-away; _ab-stract_, to draw from, or away.

2. AD,--forming _ac, af, al, an, ap, as, at_,--means To, or At: as, _ad-vert_, to turn to; _ac-cord_, to yield to; _af-flux_, a flowing-to; _al-ly_, to bind to; _an-nex_, to link to; _ap-ply_, to put to; _as-sume_, to take to; _at-test_, to witness to; _ad-mire_, to wonder at.

3. ANTE means Fore, or Before: as, _ante-past_, a fore-taste; _ante-cedent_, foregoing, or going before; _ante-mundane_, before the world; _ante-date_, to date before.

4. CIRc.u.m means Round, Around, or About: as _circ.u.m-volve_, to roll round; _circ.u.m-scribe_, to write round; _circ.u.m-vent_, to come round; _circ.u.m-spect_, looking about one's self.

5. CON,--which forms _com, co, col, cor_,--means Together: as, _con-tract_, to draw together; _compel_, to drive together; _co-erce_, to force together; _col-lect_, to gather together; _cor-rade_, to rub or sc.r.a.pe together; _con-junction_, a joining-together.

6. CONTRA, or CONTRO, means Against, or Counter: as, _contra-dict_, to speak against; _contra-vene_, to come against; _contra-mure_, countermure; _contro-vert_, to turn against.

7. DE means Of, From, or Down: as, _de-note_, to be a sign of; _de-tract_, to draw from; _de-pend_, to hang down; _de-press_, to press down; _de-crease_, to grow down, to grow less.

8. DIS, or DI, means Away, or Apart: as, _dis-pel_, to drive away; _dis-sect_, to cut apart; _di-vert_, to turn away.

9. E, or Ex,--making also _ec, ef_,--means Out: as, _e-ject_, to cast out; _e-lect_, to choose out; _ex-clude_, to shut out; _ex-cite_, to summon out; _ec-stacy_, a raising out; _ef-face_, to blot out.

10. EXTRA means Beyond, or Out of: as, _extra-vagant_, syllabled _ex-trav'a-gant_, roving be-yond; _extra-vasate, ex-trav'a-sate_, to flow out of the vessels; _extra-territorial_, being out of the territory.

11. IN,--which makes also _il, im, ir_,--means In, Into, or Upon: as, _in-spire_, to breathe in; _il-lude_, to draw in by deceit; _im-mure_, to wall in; _ir-ruption_, a rus.h.i.+ng in; _in-spect_, to look into; _in-scribe_, to write upon; _in-sult_, to jump upon. These syllables, prefixed, to English nouns or adjectives, generally reverse their meaning; as in _in-justice, il-legality, im-partiality, ir-religion, ir-rational, in-secure, in-sane_.

12. INTER means Between, or In between: as, _inter-sperse_, to scatter in between; _inter-jection_, something thrown in between; _inter-jacent_, lying between; _inter-communication_, communication between.

13. INTRO means In, Inwards, or Within: as, _intro-duce_, to lead in; _intro-vert_, to turn inwards; _intro-spect_, to look within; _intro-mission_, a sending-in.

14. OB,--which makes also _oc, of, op_,--means Against: as, _ob-trude_, to thrust against; _oc-cur_, to run against; _of-fer_, to bring against; _op-pose_, to place against; _ob-ject_, to cast against.

15. PER means Through or By: as, _per-vade_, to go through; _per-chance_, by chance; _per-cent_, by the hundred; _per-plex_, to tangle through, or to entangle thoroughly.

16. POST means After: as, _post-pone_, to place after; _post-date_, to date after.

17. PRae, or PRE, means Before: as, _pre-sume_, to take before; _pre-position_, a placing-before, or thing placed before; _prae-cognita_, things known before.

18. PRO means For, Forth, or Forwards: as, _pro-vide_, to take care for; _pro-duce_, to bring forth; _pro-trude_, to thrust forwards; _pro-ceed_, to go forward; _pro-noun_, for a noun.

19. PRETER means By, Past, or Beyond: as, _preter-it_, bygone, or gone by; _preter-imperfect_, past imperfect; _preter-natural_, beyond what is natural; _preter-mit_, to put by, to omit.

20. RE means Again or Back: as, _re-view_, to view again; _re-pel_, to drive back.

21. RETRO means Backwards, Backward, or Back: as, _retro-active_, acting backwards; _retro-grade_, going backward; _retro-cede_, to cede back again.

22. SE means Aside or Apart: as, _se-duce_, to lead aside; _se-cede_, to go apart.

23. SEMI means Half: as, _semi-colon_, half a colon; _semi-circle_, half a circle.

24. SUB,--which makes _suf, sug, sup, sur_, and _sus_,--means Under, and sometimes Up: as, _sub-scribe_, to write under; _suf-fossion_, an undermining; _sug-gest_, to convey under; _sup-ply_, to put under; _sur-reption_, a creeping-under; _sus-tain_, to hold up; _sub-ject_, cast under.

25. SUBTER means Beneath: as, _subter-fluous_, flowing beneath.

26. SUPER means Over or Above: as, _super-fluous_, flowing over; _super-natant_, swimming above; _super-lative_, carried over, or carrying over; _super-vise_, to overlook, to oversee.

27. TRANS,--whence TRAN and TRA,--means Beyond, Over, To another state or place: as, _trans-gress_, to pa.s.s beyond or over; _trans-cend_, to climb over; _trans-mit_ to send to an other place; _trans-form_, to change to an other shape; _tra-montane_, from beyond the mountains; i.e., _Trans-Alpine_, as opposed to _Cis-Alpine_.

CLa.s.s III.--THE GREEK PREFIXES.

1. A and AN, in Greek derivatives, denote privation: as, _a-nomalous_, wanting rules; _an-ony-mous_, wanting name; _an-archy_, want of government; _a-cephalous_, headless.

2. AMPHI means Two, Both, or Double: as, _amphi-bious_, living in two elements; _amphi-brach_, both [sides] short; _amphi-theatre_, a double theatre.

3. ANTI means Against: as, _anti-slavery_, against slavery; _anti-acid_, against acidity; _anti-febrile_, against fever; _anti-thesis_, a placing-against.

4. APO, APH,--From: as, _apo-strophe_, a turning-from; _aph-aeresis_, a taking from.

5. DIA,--Through: as, _dia-gonal_, through the corners; _dia-meter_, measure through.

6. EPI, EPH,--Upon: as, _epi-demic_, upon the people; _eph-emera_, upon a day.

7. HEMI means Half: as, _hemi-sphere_, half a sphere; _hemi-stich_, half a verse.

8. HYPER means Over: as, _hyper-critical_, over-critical; _hyper-meter_, over measure. 9. HYPO means Under: as, _hypo-stasis_, substance, or that which stands under; _hypo-thesis_, supposition, or a placing-under; _hypo-phyllous_, under the leaf.

10. META means Beyond, Over, To an other state or place: as, _meta-morphose_, to change to an other shape; _meta-physics_, mental science, as beyond or over physics.

11. PARA means Against: as, _para-dox_, something contrary to common opinion.

12. PERI means Around: as, _peri-phery_, the circ.u.mference, or measure round.

13. SYN,--whence _Sym, Syl_,--means Together: as, _syn-tax_, a putting-together; _sym-pathy_, a suffering-together; _syl-lable_, what we take together; _syn-thesis_ a placing-together.

CLa.s.s IV.--THE FRENCH PREFIXES.