From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Numeral or number prefixes are prefixes derived from numerals or occasionally other numbers. In English and many other languages, they are used to coin numerous series of words. For example:
- unicycle, bicycle, tricycle (1-cycle, 2-cycle, 3-cycle)
- dyad, triad (2 parts, 3 parts)
- biped, quadruped (2 legs, 4 legs)
- September, October, November, December (month 7, month 8, month 9, month 10)[A]
- decimal, hexadecimal (base-10, base-16)
- septuagenarian, octogenarian (70-79 years old, 80-89 years old)
- centipede, millipede (around 100 legs, around 1000 legs)
In many European languages there are two principal systems, taken from Latin and Greek, each with several subsystems; in addition, Sanskrit occupies a marginal position.[B] There is also an international set of metric prefixes, which are used in the metric system and which for the most part are either distorted from the forms below or not based on actual number words.
Table of number prefixes in English[edit]
In the following prefixes, a final vowel is normally dropped before a root that begins with a vowel, with the exceptions of bi-, which is bis- before a vowel, and of the other monosyllables, du-, di-, dvi-, tri-, which are invariable.
The cardinal series are derived from cardinal numbers, such as the English one, two, three. The multiple series are based on adverbial numbers like the English once, twice, thrice. The distributive series originally meant one each, two each or one by one, two by two, etc., though that meaning is now frequently lost. The ordinal series are based on ordinal numbers such as the English first, second, third (for numbers higher than 2, the ordinal forms are also used for fractions; only the fraction 1⁄2 has special forms).
For the hundreds, there are competing forms: those in -gent-, from the original Latin, and those in -cent-, derived from centi-, etc. plus the prefixes for 1–9.
The same suffix may be used with more than one series:
-
primary secondary tertiary quartary quintary sextary — — nonary — singulary binary ternary, trinary quaternary quinary senary septenary octonary novenary denary
Number | Latin prefixes | Greek prefixes[C] | Sanskrit[B] prefixes |
|||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cardinal | Multiple | Distributive | Ordinal | Cardinal | Multiple, proportional, or quantitative |
Ordinal | ||
0 | nulli- | nullesim- | meden-, ouden- | — | medeproto-, oudeproto- | shūnya- | ||
1⁄12 | unci-[1] | – | For fractions, Greek uses ordinals (i.e. dodecato-) | – | ||||
1⁄8 | octant- | – | – | – | As above; ogdoö– | – | ||
1⁄6 | sextant- | – | – | – | As above; hecto- | – | ||
1⁄5 | quintant- | – | – | – | As above; Pempto– | – | ||
1⁄4 | quadrant- | – | – | – | As above; tetarto– | – | ||
1⁄3 | trient- | – | – | – | As above; trito– | – | ||
1⁄2 | semi- | – | demi-[D] | – | hemi- («half»)[a] | – | – | – |
3⁄4 | dodrant- | – | – | – | – | – | ||
1 | uni-[b] sol-[E][c] |
sim-[F] | singul- | prim- | mono- («one», «alone»)[d] holo- («entire», «full»)[e] hen-[G] rare |
mono- («one, alone») hapax- («once») haplo-[G] («single») monad- («one of a kind», «unique», «unit») |
prot-[2][f]
protaio- («[every] first day») |
eka- [3] |
1+1⁄4 | – | quasqui-[g] | – | – | – | – | – | – |
1+1⁄2 | – | sesqui-[h] | – | – | – | – | – | – |
2 | du- | bi-, bis-[i] | bin- | second- | di-, dy-,[4] duo-, dyo- | dis-[5] («twice») common dyakis- («twice») rare diplo- («double») dyad- («two of a kind») |
deuter-[6][j] deuteraio- («[every] second day») |
dvi-[7] |
3 | tri-[k] | ter- | tern-, trin- | terti- | tri-[l] | tris-[8] («thrice») common triakis- («thrice») rare triplo- («triple») triad- («three of a kind») |
trit-[9] («third»)[m] tritaio- («[every] third day») |
tri-[10] |
4 | quadri-, quadru-[H] | quater-[11] | quatern-[12] | quart-[13] | tetra-, tessara- | tetrakis- («four times») tetraplo- («quadruple») tetrad- («four of a kind»)[n] |
tetarto- («fourth») tetartaio- («[every] fourth day») |
catur-[14] |
5 | quinque-[15] | – | quin-[16] | quint-[17] | penta- | pentakis- pentaplo- pentad-[o] |
pempt-[18] pemptaio- |
pañca-[19] |
6 | sexa-[I] | – | sen-[20] | sext-[21] | hexa-[22] | hexakis- hexaplo- hexad-[p] |
hect-[23] hectaio- |
ṣaṭ-[24] |
7 | septem-, septi-[q] | septen-[25] | septim- | hepta-[26][r] | heptakis- heptaplo- heptad- |
hebdomo- («seventh») hebdomaio- («seventh day»)[s] |
sapta-[27] | |
8 | octo-[t] | – | octon-[28] | octav-[29] | octo-[u] | octakis- octaplo- octad-[v] |
ogdoö- ogdoaio- |
aṣṭa- |
9 | novem-[w] | noven- | nona- | ennea-[30] | enneakis- enneaplo- ennead- |
enat-[31] enataio- |
nava- | |
10 | decem-, dec-[x] | den-[32] | decim-[33] | deca-[34][y] | decakis- decaplo- decad- |
decat-[35] decataio- |
dasha- | |
11 | undec- | unden-[36] | undecim-[37] | hendeca-[38] | hendeca/kis/plo/d- | hendecat-[39]/o/aio- | ekadasha- | |
12 | duodec- | duoden-[z] | duodecim- | dodeca-[40][aa] | dodeca/kis/plo/d- | dodecat-[41]/o/aio- | dvadasha- | |
13 | tredec- | treden- | tredecim- | tria(kai)deca-, decatria-[ab] | tris(kai)decakis-, decatria/kis/plo/d- |
decatotrito- etc. |
trayodasha- | |
14 | quattuordec- | quattuorden- | quattuordecim- | tessara(kai)deca-, decatettara-, decatessara- | tetra(kai)decakis-, decatetra/kis/plo/d-[ac] |
decatotetarto- | chaturdasha- | |
15 | quinquadec-, quindec-[42] | quinden-[43] | quindecim-[44] | pente(kai)deca-, decapente- | penta(kai)decakis-, decapentakis- etc. |
decatopempto- | panchadasha- | |
16 | sedec-,[45] sexdec-
(but hybrid hexadecimal) |
seden- | sedecim- | hexa(kai)deca-, hekkaideca-, decahex- |
hexa(kai)decakis-, decahexakis- etc. |
decatohecto- | shodasha- | |
17 | septendec- | septenden- | septendecim- | hepta(kai)deca-, decahepta- |
hepta(kai)decakis-, decaheptakis- etc. |
decatohebdomo- | saptadasha- | |
18 | octodec- | octoden- | octodecim- | octo(kai)deca-, decaocto- |
octa(kai)decakis-, decaoctakis- etc. |
decatoogdoö- | ashtadasha- | |
19 | novemdec-, novendec- | novemden- | novemdecim- | ennea(kai)deca-, decaennea- | ennea(kai)decakis-, decaenneakis- etc. |
decatoenato- | navadasha- | |
20[J] | viginti- | vicen-, vigen- | vigesim- | (e)icosi- | eicosa/kis/plo/d-[ad] | eicosto- | vimshati- | |
22 | duovigint- | (e)icosidyo-, dyo(e)icosi- rare[ae] | (e)icosidyakis- (e)icosidiplo- (e)icosidyad- |
eicostodeutero- | – | |||
24 | quattuorvigint- | (e)icositettara-, (e)icosikaitettara- rare |
(e)icositetrakis- (e)icositetraplo- (e)icositetrad-[af] |
eicostotetarto- | chaturvimshati- | |||
25 | quinvigint- | (e)icosipente-[ag] | (e)icosipentakis- (e)icosipentaplo- (e)icosipentad- |
eicostopempto- | – | |||
30 | triginti- | tricen- | trigesim- | triaconta- | triacontakis- etc.[ah] | triacosto- | trimshat- | |
31 | untriginti- | triacontahen- | triacontahenakis- triacontahenaplo- triacontahenad- |
triacostoproto- triacostoprotaio- |
– | |||
40 | quadraginti- | quadragen- | quadragesim- | tettaraconta-, tessaraconta- |
tettaracontakis-, tessaracontakis- etc. |
tessaracosto- | chatvarimshat- | |
50 | quinquaginti-[46] | quinquagen-[47] | quinquagesim-[48] | penteconta-[ai] | pentecontakis- etc. | pentecosto-[aj] | panchashat- | |
60 | sexaginti- | sexagen- | sexagesim- | hexeconta- | hexecontakis- etc. | hexecosto- | shasti- | |
70 | septuaginti-[ak] | septuagen- | septuagesim-[49] | hebdomeconta- | hebdomecontakis- etc. | hebdomecosto- | saptati- | |
80 | octogint- | octogen- | octogesim- | ogdoëconta- | ogdoëcontakis- etc. | ogdoëcosto- | ashiti- | |
90 | nonagint- | nonagen- | nonagesim- | eneneconta- | enenecontakis- etc. | enenecosto- | navati- | |
100 | centi- | centen- | centesim- | hecato(n)- | hecatontakis- hundred times hecatontaplo- hundred-multiple hecatontad- hundred of a kind also abbreviated in hec[aton]tad- |
hecatosto- hundredth hecatostaio- the hundredth day |
shata– | |
120 | viginticenti- | – | – | hecaton(e)icosi- | hecaton(e)icosakis- etc. | hecatostoeicosto- | – | |
200 | ducenti- | ducen-, bicenten- | ducentesim- | diacosia- | diacosakis- etc. | diacosiosto- | – | |
300 | trecenti- | trecen-, tercenten-, tricenten- | trecentesim- | triacosia- etc. | triacosakis- triacosaplo- triacosad- |
triacosiosto- | – | |
400 | quadringenti- | quadringen-, quatercenten-, quadricenten- | quadringentesim- | tetracosia- | tetracosakis- etc. | tetracosiosto- | – | |
500 | quingent-,[50] quincent-[51] | quingen-,[52] quingenten-, quincenten- | quingentesim-[53] | pentacosia- | pentacosakis- etc. | pentacosiosto- | – | |
600 | sescenti-, sexcenti- | sescen-, sexcenten- | sescentesim- | hexacosia- | hexacosakis- etc. | hexacosiosto- | – | |
700 | septingenti- | septingen-, septingenten-, septcenten- | septingentesim- | heptacosia- | heptacosakis- etc. | heptacosiosto- | – | |
800 | octingenti- | octingen-, octingenten-, octocenten- | octingentesim- | octacosia- | octacosakis- etc. | octacosiosto- | – | |
900 | nongenti- | nongen- | nongentesim- | ennacosi-[54] derived from en(n)iacosia-, a pejoration of enneacosia- |
enneacosakis- etc. | enacosiost-,[55] alt. spelling en(n)iacosiost(o)- a pejoration of enneacosiosto- |
– | |
1000 | milli- | millen- | millesim- | chili-,[56] kilo- | chiliakis- chiliaplo- chiliad- |
chiliost-[57] | sahasra– | |
2000 | duomilli | – | – | dischili-[58] | dischiliakis- etc. | dischiliosto- | – | |
3000 | tremilli- | trischili-[59] | – | trischiliost-[60] | – | |||
5000 | quinmilli– | pentacischili-[61] | – | – | – | |||
10000 | decamilli– | myria-,[62][al] decakischilia- | myriakis- myriaplo- myriad- decakischiliakis- etc. |
myriast-,[63] decakischiliosto- |
ayuta– | |||
80000 | octogintmilli– | octacismyri-[64] | – | – | – | |||
105 | centimilli– | decakismyria-, hecatontakischilia- | decakismyriakis-, hecatontakischiliakis- |
etc. | laksha– | |||
106 | million- | – | hecatommyria- (see also Mega-) |
hecatommyriakis- («a million times») hecatommyriaplo- (million-multiple) hecatommyriad- (a million of a kind) |
hecatommyriosto- (ranked millionth; also one piece of a million [fraction] see above in fractions) hecatommyriostaio- («the millionth day») |
– | ||
109 | billion- | – | dis hecatommyria- |
dis hecatommyriakis- |
etc. | – | ||
1012 | trillion- | – | tris hecatommyria- |
tris hecatommyriakis- |
etc. | – | ||
1015 | quadrillion- | – | tetrakis hecatommyria- |
tetrakis hecatommyriakis- |
etc. | – | ||
1018 | quintillion- | – | pentakis hecatommyria- |
pentakis hecatommyriakis- |
etc. | – | ||
1020 | vingtillion- | – | eicosakis hecatommyria- |
eicosakis hecatommyriakis- |
etc. | – | ||
1021 | sextillion- | – | hexakis hecatommyria- |
hexakis hecatommyriakis- |
etc. | – | ||
1024 | septillion- | – | heptakis hecatommyria- |
heptakis hecatommyriakis- |
etc. | – | ||
1027 | octillion- | – | octakis hecatommyria- |
octakis hecatommyriakis- |
etc. | – | ||
1030 | nonillion- | – | enneakis hecatommyria- |
enneakis hecatommyriakis- |
etc. | – | ||
1033 | decillion- | – | decakis hecatommyria- |
decakis hecatommyriakis- |
etc. | – | ||
1036 | undecillion- | – | hendecakis hecatommyria- |
hendecakis hecatommyriakis- |
etc. | – | ||
1039 | duodecillion- | – | dodecakis hecatommyria- |
dodecakis hecatommyriakis- |
etc. | – | ||
1042 | tredecillion- | – | triskaidecakis hecatommyria- |
triskaidecakis hecatommyriakis- |
etc. | – | ||
1045 | quattuordecillion- | – | tetrakaidecakis hecatommyria- |
tetrakaidecakis hecatommyriakis- |
etc. | – | ||
1048 | quindecillion- | – | pentakaidecakis hecatommyria- |
pentakaidecakis hecatommyriakis- |
etc. | – | ||
1051 | sexdecillion- | – | hexakaidecakis hecatommyriakis- |
hexakaidecakis hecatommyriakis- |
etc. | – | ||
1054 | septendecillion- | – | heptakaidecakis hecatommyria- |
heptakaidecakis hecatommyriakis- |
etc. | – | ||
1057 | octodecillion- | – | octakaidecakis hecatommyria- |
octakaidecakis hecatommyriakis- |
etc. | – | ||
1060 | novemdecillion- | – | enneakaidecakis hecatommyria- |
enneakaidecakis hecatommyriakis- |
etc. | – | ||
1063 | Vigintillion- | — | Icosakis hectotommyria- |
Icosakis hectotommyriakis- |
etc. | — | ||
10303 | centillion- | – | hecatontakis hecatommyria- |
hecatontakis hecatommyriakis- |
etc. | – | ||
103003 | millinilion- | – | chiliakis hecatommyria- |
chiliakis hecatommyriakis- |
etc. | – | ||
1030003 | decillinillion / decmilliatillion | – | myriakis hecatommyria- |
myriakis hecatommyriakis- |
etc. | |||
10300003 | centillinillion / centimilliatillion | – | decakismyriakis hecatommyria- and so on — virtually endless |
decakismyriakis hecatommyriakis- |
etc. | |||
103000003 | Micrillion[65] | — | hectotomyriakis hectotommyria- | Hectotommyrakis hectatommyria- | ||||
Few (1–20) |
pauci-[am] | – | oligo-[an] | – | – | – | ||
Many (> 1) |
multi-, pluri-[ao] | – | poly-[ap] | pollakis- (many times) pollaplo- (multiple) plethos- (many of a kind)[aq] |
pollosto- (rank/order of many [manieth]) |
bahut– |
- Examples
- ^ e.g. hemisphere
- ^ e.g. universe, unilateral
- ^ e.g. solo, soliloquy
- ^ e.g. monogamy
- ^ e.g. holocaust, holography
- ^ e.g. proton, protozoa
- ^ e.g. quasquicentennial
- ^ e.g. sesquicentennial, sesquipedalian
- ^ e.g. bireme, bilingual, bipolar, bipartisan
- ^ e.g. Deuteron/ium, Deuteronomy
- ^ e.g. trireme
- ^ e.g. triathlon, Tripolis
- ^ e.g. Triton/ium
- ^ e.g. tetrahedron
- ^ e.g. pentahedron
- ^ e.g. hexahedron
- ^ e.g. September
- ^ e.g. heptathlon
- ^ e.g. hebdomas
- ^ e.g. October
- ^ e.g. octopus
- ^ e.g. octahedron
- ^ e.g. November
- ^ e.g. December
- ^ e.g. decathlon, decahedron, decagon
- ^ e.g. duodenum
- ^ e.g. dodecahedron
- ^ e.g. triskaidekaphobia
- ^ e.g. tetradecahedron/
decatetrahedron - ^ e.g. (e)icosahedron
- ^ e.g. docosa-hexaenoic acid (a pejoration of dyoicosa-hexanoic)
- ^ e.g. (e)icositetragon
- ^ e.g. eicosapenta-enoic acid
- ^ e.g. triacontahedron
- ^ e.g. penteconter
- ^ e.g. pentecost
- ^ e.g. Septuagint
- ^ e.g. myriapoda
- ^ e.g. pauciparous
- ^ e.g. oligomer, oligonucleotide, oligopeptide, oligosaccharide, oligopoly
- ^ e.g. multilingual, multiple, pluripotent, pluricentric
- ^ e.g. polyhedra, polygamy, polypod, polyglot, polymath
- ^ e.g. plethora
Occurrences[edit]
- Numerical prefixes occur in 19th-, 20th-, and 21st-century coinages, mainly the terms that are used in relation to or that are the names of technological innovations, such as hexadecimal and bicycle. Also used in medals that commemorate an anniversary, such as sesquicentennial (150 years), centennial (100 years), or bicentennial (200 years).
- They occur in constructed words such as systematic names. Systematic names use numerical prefixes derived from Greek, with one principal exception, nona-.
- They occur as prefixes to units of measure in the SI system. See SI prefix.
- They occur as prefixes to units of computer data. See binary prefixes.
- They occur in words in the same languages as the original number word, and their respective derivatives. (Strictly speaking, some of the common citations of these occurrences are not in fact occurrences of the prefixes. For example: millennium is not formed from milli-, but is in fact derived from the same shared Latin root – mille.)
Because of the common inheritance of Greek and Latin roots across the Romance languages, the import of much of that derived vocabulary into non-Romance languages (such as into English via Norman French), and the borrowing of 19th and 20th century coinages into many languages, the same numerical prefixes occur in many languages.
Numerical prefixes are not restricted to denoting integers. Some of the SI prefixes denote negative powers of 10, i.e. division by a multiple of 10 rather than multiplication by it. Several common-use numerical prefixes denote vulgar fractions.
Words containing non-technical numerical prefixes are usually not hyphenated. This is not an absolute rule, however, and there are exceptions (for example: quarter-deck occurs in addition to quarterdeck). There are no exceptions for words comprising technical numerical prefixes, though. Systematic names and words comprising SI prefixes and binary prefixes are not hyphenated, by definition.
Nonetheless, for clarity, dictionaries list numerical prefixes in hyphenated form, to distinguish the prefixes from words with the same spellings (such as duo- and duo).
Several technical numerical prefixes are not derived from words for numbers. (mega- is not derived from a number word, for example.) Similarly, some are only derived from words for numbers inasmuch as they are word play. (Peta- is word play on penta-, for example. See its etymology for details.)
The root language of a numerical prefix need not be related to the root language of the word that it prefixes. Some words comprising numerical prefixes are hybrid words.
In certain classes of systematic names, there are a few other exceptions to the rule of using Greek-derived numerical prefixes. The IUPAC nomenclature of organic chemistry, for example, uses the numerical prefixes derived from Greek, except for the prefix for 9 (as mentioned) and the prefixes from 1 to 4 (meth-, eth-, prop-, and but-), which are not derived from words for numbers. These prefixes were invented by the IUPAC, deriving them from the pre-existing names for several compounds that it was intended to preserve in the new system: methane (via methyl, which is in turn from the Greek word for wine), ethane (from ethyl coined by Justus von Liebig in 1834), propane (from propionic, which is in turn from pro- and the Greek word for fat), and butane (from butyl, which is in turn from butyric, which is in turn from the Latin word for butter).
Cardinal Latin series[edit]
- unicycle, bicycle, tricycle, quadricycle
- uniped, biped, triped, quadruped,[H] centipede, millipede
Distributive Latin series[edit]
- unary, binary, trinary, quaternary, quinary, senary, … vicenary … centenary …
- denarian, vicenarian, tricenarian, quadragenarian, quinquagenarian, sexagenarian, septuagenarian, octogenarian, nonagenarian, centenarian, … millenarian
Greek series[edit]
- monad, dyad, triad, tetrad, pentad, hexad, heptad, ogdoad, ennead, decad, … triacontad, … hecatontad, chiliad, myriad
- digon, trigon, tetragon, pentagon, hexagon, heptagon, octagon, enneagon, decagon, hendecagon, dodecagon, … enneadecagon, icosagon, triacontagon, … chiliagon, myriagon
- trilogy, tetralogy, pentalogy, hexalogy, heptalogy
- monopod, dipod, tripod, tetrapod, hexapod, octopod, decapod
Mixed language series[edit]
- pentane, hexane, heptane, octane, nonane,[K] decane, undecane, … icosane
- binary, ternary, quaternary, quinary, senary, septenary, octal, nonary, decimal, duodecimal, hexadecimal, vigesimal, quadrovigesimal, duotrigesimal, sexagesimal, octogesimal
See also[edit]
- IUPAC numerical multiplier
- List of numbers
- List of numeral systems
- List of commonly used taxonomic affixes
- Numerals in English and other languages
- Names for tuples of specific lengths
Notes[edit]
- ^ These months’ prefixes originated with the early Roman 10-month calendar. See Roman Calendar.
- ^ a b See Mendeleev’s predicted elements for the most common use of Sanskrit numerical prefixes.
- ^ The numbering adjectives in Greek are inflectional for grammatical gender (i.e. there is monos [masculine for single/alone], mone [feminine for single/alone] and monon [neuter for single/alone]), grammatical case (i.e. nominative, genitive, etc.) and grammatical number (singular/plural). The prefixes are produced from the default grammatical type (masculine/nominative/singular).
- ^ Demi- is French, from Latin dimidium.
- ^ sol (sōlus) is more appropriately a Latin root for («only», «oneself»).
- ^ sim- (sin-) is found in the words simplex, simple.
- ^ a b The Greek prefix for ‘one’ is normally mono- ‘alone’. Hen- ‘one’ is only used in compound numbers (hendeka- 11) and a few words like henad (= monad). Haplo- ‘single’ is found is a few technical words such as haploid.
- ^ a b The forms related to quattuor «four», like the previous three integers, are irregular in Latin and other Indo-European languages, and the details, while presumably a form of assimilation, are unclear. Andrew Sihler, New comparative grammar of Greek and Latin, p. 412, and Carl Darling Buck, Comparative grammar of Greek and Latin. In particular, quadri- has the alternate form quadru- before p in some Latin words, such as quadruple.
- ^ Sometimes Greek hexa- is used in Latin compounds, such as hexadecimal, due to taboo avoidance with the English word sex.
- ^ For Latinate 21, 22, etc., the pattern for the teens is followed: unvigint-, duovigint-, etc. For higher numbers, the reverse order may be found: 36 is trigintisex-. For Greek, the word kai («and») is used: icosikaihena-, icosikaidi-, pentacontakaipenta-, etc. In these and in the tens, the kai is frequently omitted, though not in triskaidekaphobia. (The inconsistency of triskaidekaphobia with the table above is explained by the fact that the Greek letter kappa can be transliterated either «c» or «k».) In chemical nomenclature, 11 is generally mixed Latin-Greek undeca-, and the 20s are based on -cos-, for example tricos- for 23.
- ^ In organic chemistry, most prefixes are Greek but the prefixes for 9 and 11 are Latin.
References[edit]
- ^ uncia. Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short. A Latin Dictionary on Perseus Project.
- ^ πρῶτος. Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; A Greek–English Lexicon at the Perseus Project
- ^ Monier-Williams, Monier (1899). «एक-«. A Sanskrit-English Dictionary: Etymologically and Philologically Arranged with Special Reference to Cognate Indo-European Languages. Oxford: Clarendon Press. OCLC 685239912.
- ^ δύο
- ^ δίς
- ^ δεύτερος
- ^ Monier-Williams, Monier (1899). «द्वि-«. A Sanskrit-English Dictionary: Etymologically and Philologically Arranged with Special Reference to Cognate Indo-European Languages. Oxford: Clarendon Press. OCLC 685239912.
- ^ τρίς
- ^ τρίτος
- ^ Monier-Williams, Monier (1899). «त्रि-«. A Sanskrit-English Dictionary: Etymologically and Philologically Arranged with Special Reference to Cognate Indo-European Languages. Oxford: Clarendon Press. OCLC 685239912.
- ^ «quăter». Archived from the original on 2012-10-14. Retrieved 2011-05-14.
- ^ «quăterni». Archived from the original on 2012-10-14. Retrieved 2011-05-14.
- ^ «quartus». Archived from the original on 2012-10-14. Retrieved 2011-05-14.
- ^ Monier-Williams, Monier (1899). «चतुर्-«. A Sanskrit-English Dictionary: Etymologically and Philologically Arranged with Special Reference to Cognate Indo-European Languages. Oxford: Clarendon Press. OCLC 685239912.
- ^ «quinque». Archived from the original on 2012-10-14. Retrieved 2011-05-14.
- ^ «quīni». Archived from the original on 2012-10-14. Retrieved 2011-05-14.
- ^ «quintus». Archived from the original on 2012-10-14. Retrieved 2011-05-14.
- ^ πέμπτος
- ^ Monier-Williams, Monier (1899). «पञ्च-«. A Sanskrit-English Dictionary: Etymologically and Philologically Arranged with Special Reference to Cognate Indo-European Languages. Oxford: Clarendon Press. OCLC 685239912.
- ^ «sēni». Archived from the original on 2012-10-14. Retrieved 2011-05-14.
- ^ «sextus». Archived from the original on 2012-10-14. Retrieved 2011-05-14.
- ^ «Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, ἕξ». www.perseus.tufts.edu. Archived from the original on 23 December 2021. Retrieved 2022-02-24.
- ^ ἕκτος[dead link]
- ^ Monier-Williams, Monier (1899). «षट्-«. A Sanskrit-English Dictionary: Etymologically and Philologically Arranged with Special Reference to Cognate Indo-European Languages. Oxford: Clarendon Press. OCLC 685239912.
- ^ «septēni». Archived from the original on 2012-10-14. Retrieved 2011-05-14.
- ^ ἑπτά
- ^ Monier-Williams, Monier (1899). «सप्त-«. A Sanskrit-English Dictionary: Etymologically and Philologically Arranged with Special Reference to Cognate Indo-European Languages. Oxford: Clarendon Press. OCLC 685239912.
- ^ «octōni». Archived from the original on 2012-10-14. Retrieved 2011-05-14.
- ^ «octāvus». Archived from the original on 2012-10-14. Retrieved 2011-05-14.
- ^ ἐννέα
- ^ ἔνατος
- ^ «dēni». Archived from the original on 2012-10-14. Retrieved 2011-05-14.
- ^ «dĕcĭmus». Archived from the original on 2012-10-14. Retrieved 2011-05-14.
- ^ δέκα
- ^ δέκατος
- ^ «undēni». Archived from the original on 2012-10-14. Retrieved 2011-05-14.
- ^ «undĕcĭmus». Archived from the original on 2012-10-14. Retrieved 2011-05-14.
- ^ ἕνδεκα
- ^ ἑνδέκατος
- ^ δώδεκα
- ^ δωδέκατος
- ^ «quindĕcim». Archived from the original on 2012-10-14. Retrieved 2011-05-14.
- ^ «quindēni». Archived from the original on 2012-10-14. Retrieved 2011-05-14.
- ^ «quindĕcĭmus». Archived from the original on 2012-10-14. Retrieved 2011-05-14.
- ^ «sēdĕcim». Archived from the original on 2012-10-14. Retrieved 2011-05-14.
- ^ «quinquāginta». Archived from the original on 2012-10-14. Retrieved 2011-05-14.
- ^ «quinquāgēni». Archived from the original on 2012-10-14. Retrieved 2011-05-14.
- ^ «quinquāgēsĭmus». Archived from the original on 2012-10-14. Retrieved 2011-05-14.
- ^ «Charlton T. Lewis, Charles Short, A Latin Dictionary, S , septĭfārĭam , septŭāgēsimus». www.perseus.tufts.edu. Archived from the original on 26 July 2020. Retrieved 26 February 2019.
- ^ «quingenti». Archived from the original on 2012-10-14. Retrieved 2011-05-14.
- ^ «quincenti». Archived from the original on 2012-10-14. Retrieved 2011-05-14.
- ^ «quingēni». Archived from the original on 2012-10-14. Retrieved 2011-05-14.
- ^ «quingentēsĭmus». Archived from the original on 2012-10-14. Retrieved 2011-05-14.
- ^ ἐννακόσιοι
- ^ ἐνακοσιοστός
- ^ χίλιοι
- ^ χιλιοστός
- ^ δισχίλιοι
- ^ τρισχίλιοι
- ^ τρισχιλιοστός
- ^ πεντακισχίλιοι
- ^ μυρίος
- ^ μυριαστός
- ^ ὀκτακισμύριοι
- ^ Wallard, Andrew. «Micrillion». BIPM. Retrieved January 13, 2010.
Bibliography[edit]
- Bauer-Ramazani, Christine (April 2008). «Prefixes—Amount, Relationship, Judgment, Other Prefixes». Archived from the original on 2021-04-30. Retrieved 2022-02-24.
- Buck, Carl Darling. Comparative Grammar of Greek and Latin.
- Chrisomalis, Stephen. «Numerical Adjectives, Greek and Latin Number Prefixes». The Phrontistery. Archived from the original on 2022-01-29. Retrieved 2022-02-24.
- Sihler, Andrew L. (1995). New Comparative Grammar of Greek and Latin. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195083458.
- Oxford English Dictionary (2 ed.).
Number Prefixes! Following is a list of commonly used number prefixes in English you should notice to master your English skills.
Greek : Mono-
Latin: uni-
Meaning: 1
Examples: monograph, monomial, universe, uniform, unicorn, monotone
Greek : Di-
Latin: bi–; du–
Meaning: 2
Examples: biology, bilingual, binary, bimonthly, binoculars, duo, düet
Greek : Tri-
Latin: –tri
Meaning: 3
Examples: tricycle, triad, triathlon, triangle, tripod, triumvirate, triple
Greek : Tetra-
Latin: quadri–; quart–
Meaning: 4
Examples: tetrameter, quadriplegic, quadrangle, quadruple, quarter
Greek : Penta-
Latin: quin–
Meaning: 5
Examples: pentameter, pentagon, quintet, quintuplet
Greek : Hexa-
Latin: sext–
Meaning: 6
Examples: hexagon, hexameter, sextuplet, sextet
Greek : Hepta-
Latin: septem–; septi–
Meaning: 7
Examples: heptagon, heptameter, heptagon, septuagenarian
Greek : Octo-
Latin: octa–; oct–
Meaning: 8
Examples: octagon, octogenarian, octopus, octahedron
Greek : Ennea-
Latin: novem–
Meaning: 9
Examples: novena
Greek : Deca-
Latin: deci–; decem–
Meaning: 10
Examples: decade, decagon, decahedron, decimal
Greek : Hemi-
Latin: semi-
Meaning: Half
Examples: hemisphere, semicircle, semicolon, semifinal, semiannual
Greek : Poly-
Latin: multi–
Meaning: Many
Examples: polygon, polygamy, polyester, polymer, polynomial
Greek : Hecto-
Latin: cent–; cente–
Meaning: 100
Examples: cent, centennial, centurion, centenary, cent
Greek : Kilo-
Latin: milli- ; mille-
Meaning: 1000
Examples: kilogram, kilometer, kilobyte, milligram
Common Number Prefixes | Image
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Numeral or number prefixes are prefixes derived from numerals or occasionally other numbers. In English and other European languages, they are used to coin numerous series of words, such as unicycle – bicycle – tricycle, dyad – triad – decade, biped – quadruped, September – October – November – December, decimal – hexadecimal, sexagenarian – octogenarian, centipede – millipede, etc. There are two principal systems, taken from Latin and Greek, each with several subsystems; in addition, Sanskrit occupies a marginal position.[1]
There is also an international set of Metric prefixes, which are used in the metric system, and which for the most part are either distorted from the forms below or not based on actual number words.
Table of number prefixes in English[]
In the following prefixes, a final vowel is normally dropped before a root that begins with a vowel, with the exceptions of bi-, which is bis- before a vowel, and of the other monosyllables, du-, di-, dvi-, tri-, which are invariable.
The cardinal series are derived from cardinal numbers, such as English one, two, three. The multiple series are based on adverbial numbers like English once, twice, thrice. The distributives originally meant one each, two each or one by one, two by two, etc., though that meaning is now frequently lost. The ordinal series is based on ordinal numbers such as English first, second, third. For numbers higher than 2, the ordinal forms are also used for fractions; only the fraction ½ has special forms.
For the hundreds, there are competing forms: those in -gent-, from the original Latin, and those in -cent-, derived from centi- etc. plus the prefixes for 1–9.
Number | Latin prefixes | Greek prefixes | Sanskrit[1] | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cardinal | Multiple | Distributive | Ordinal | Cardinal | Multiple | ||
1/12 | unci- | – | – | – | |||
1/6 | sextant- | – | – | – | – | – | |
1/4 | quadrant- | – | – | – | – | – | |
1/3 | trient- | – | – | – | – | – | |
1/2 | semi- | – | demi-[2] | – | hemi- | – | – |
3/4 | dodrant- | – | – | – | – | – | |
1 | uni- | sim-[3] | singul- | prim- | hen-[4] | mono-, haplo-[4] | eka- |
11/4 | quasqui- | ||||||
11/2 | sesqui- | ||||||
2 | du- | bi-, bis- | bin- | second- | di-, dy-, duo- | dis- | dvi- |
3 | tri- | ter- | tern-, trin- | terti- | tri- | tris- | tri- |
4 | quadri-, quadru-[5] |
quater-[6] | quatern-[7] | quart-[8] | tetra- | tetrakis- | chatur- |
5 | quinque-[9] | – | quin-[10] | quint-[11] | penta- | pentakis- | pancha- |
6 | sexa-[12] | – | sen-[13] | sext-[14] | hexa- | hexakis- | shat- |
7 | septem-, septi- |
septen-[15] | septim- | hepta- | heptakis- | sapta- | |
8 | octo- | – | octon-[16] | octav-[17] | ogdo-, octa-, octo- |
octakis- | ashta- |
9 | novem- | noven- | nona- | ennea- | enneakis- | navam- | |
10 | decem-, dec- | den-[18] | decim-[19] | deca- | decakis- | dasham- | |
11 | undec- | unden-[20] | undecim-[21] | hendeca- | undecakis- | ekadasham- | |
12 | duodec- | duoden- | duodecim- | dodeca- | dodecakis- | dvadasham- | |
13 | tredec-, etc. | triskaideca- | tridecakis- | trayodasham- | |||
14 | quattuordec- | tetrakaideca- | tetradecakis- | chaturdasham- | |||
15 | quinquadec-, quindec-[22] | quinden-[23] | quindecim-[24] | pentakaideca- | pentadecakis- | panchadasham- | |
16 | sedec-,[25] sexdec- (but hexadecimal[12]) |
hexakaideca-, hexadeca- |
hexadecakis- | ||||
17 | septendec- | heptakaideca- | |||||
18 | octodec- | octakaideca- | |||||
19 | novemdec-, novendec- |
enneakaideca- | |||||
20* | viginti- | vicen-, vigen- |
vigesim- | icosa-, icosi-, eicosa- |
eicosakis- | ||
30 | triginti- | tricen- | trigesim- | triaconta- | |||
40 | quadraginti- | quadragen- | quadragesim- | tetraconta- | |||
50 | quinquaginti-[26] | quinquagen-[27] | quinquagesim-[28] | pentaconta- | |||
60 | sexaginti- | sexagen- | sexagesim- | hexaconta- | |||
70 | septuaginti- | septuagen- | septuagesima- | heptaconta- | |||
80 | octogint- | octogen- | octogesim- | octaconta- | – | – | |
90 | nonagint- | nonagen- | nonagesim- | enneaconta- | – | – | |
100 | centi- | centen- | centesim- | hecato-, hecatont- |
– | – | |
200 | ducenti- | ducen-, bicenten- |
– | diacosioi- | – | – | |
300 | trecenti- | trecen-, tercenten-, tricenten- |
– | triacosioi- | – | – | |
400 | quadringenti- | quadringen-, quatercenten-, quadricenten- |
tetracosioi- | – | |||
500 | quingent-,[29] quincent-[30] |
quingen-,[31] quingenten-, quincenten- |
quingentesim-[32] | pentacosioi- | – | ||
600 | sescenti-, sexcenti- | sescen-, sexcenten- |
hexacosioi- | – | |||
700 | septingenti- | septingen-, septingenten-, septcenten- |
heptacosioi- | – | |||
800 | octingenti- | octingen-, octingenten-, octocenten- |
– | octacosioi- | – | – | |
900 | nongenti- | nongen- | enneacosioi- | – | – | ||
1000 | milli- | millen- | millesim- | chili- | – | – | |
10,000 | – | myria- | – | – | |||
Unspecified (more than one) | multi- | – | poly- | – |
Sesqui- is used in Latin combinations for 1½ (sesquicentennial) and quasqui- for 1¼; multi- and poly- are used in Latin and Greek combinations for ‘many’ (multilateral, polygon).
*For Latinate 21, 22, etc., the pattern for the teens is followed: unvigint-, duovigint-, etc. For higher numbers, the reverse order may be found: 36 trigintisex-. For Greek, the word kai (‘and’) is used: icosikaihena-, icosikaidi-, pentacontakaipenta-, etc. In these and in the tens, the kai is frequently omitted, though not in triskaidekaphobia. (The inconsistency of triskaidekaphobia with the table above is explained by the fact that the Greek letter kappa can be transliterated either «c» or «k».)
The same suffix may be used with more than one series:
-
primary secondary tertiary quartary quintary sextary — — nonary — singulary binary ternary, trinary quaternary quinary senary septenary octonary novenary denary
In chemical nomenclature, 11 is generally mixed Latin-Greek undeca-, and the 20s are based on -cos-, for example tricos- for 23. Similarly, numerical bases shift systems between binary, trinary, senary and octal, decimal, vigesimal.
Occurrences[]
- Numerical prefixes occur in 19th-, 20th-, and 21st-century coinages, mainly the terms that are used in relation to or that are the names of technological innovations, such as hexadecimal and bicycle. Also used in medals that commemorate an anniversary, such as sesquicentennial (150 years), centennial (100 years), or bicentennial (200 years).
- They occur in constructed words such as systematic names. Systematic names use numerical prefixes derived from Greek, with one principal exception, nona-.
- They occur as prefixes to units of measure in the SI system. See SI prefix.
- They occur as prefixes to units of computer data. See binary prefixes.
- They occur in words in the same languages as the original number word, and their respective derivatives. (Strictly speaking, some of the common citations of these occurrences are not in fact occurrences of the prefixes. For example: millennium is not formed from milli-, but is in fact derived from the same shared Latin root – mille.)
Because of the common inheritance of Greek and Latin roots across the Romance languages, the import of much of that derived vocabulary into non-Romance languages (such as into English via Norman French), and the borrowing of 19th and 20th century coinages into many languages, the same numerical prefixes occur in many languages.
Numerical prefixes are not restricted to denoting integers. Some of the SI prefixes denote negative powers of 10, i.e. division by a multiple of 10 rather than multiplication by it. Several common-use numerical prefixes denote vulgar fractions.
Words comprising non-technical numerical prefixes are usually not hyphenated. This is not an absolute rule, however, and there are exceptions (for example: quarter-deck occurs in addition to quarterdeck). There are no exceptions for words comprising technical numerical prefixes, though. Systematic names and words comprising SI prefixes and binary prefixes are not hyphenated, by definition.
Nonetheless, for clarity, dictionaries list numerical prefixes in hyphenated form, to distinguish the prefixes from words with the same spellings (such as duo- and duo).
Several technical numerical prefixes are not derived from words for numbers. (mega- is not derived from a number word, for example.) Similarly, some are only derived from words for numbers inasmuch as they are word play. (Peta- is word play on penta-, for example. See its etymology for details.)
The root language of a numerical prefix need not be related to the root language of the word that it prefixes. Some words comprising numerical prefixes are hybrid words.
In certain classes of systematic names, there are a few other exceptions to the rule of using Greek-derived numerical prefixes. The IUPAC nomenclature of organic chemistry, for example, uses the numerical prefixes derived from Greek, except for the prefix for 9 (as mentioned) and the prefixes from 1 to 4 (meth-, eth-, prop-, and but-), which are not derived from words for numbers. These prefixes were invented by the IUPAC, deriving them from the pre-existing names for several compounds that it was intended to preserve in the new system: methane (via methyl which is in turn from the Greek word for wine), ethane (from ethyl coined by Justus von Liebig in 1834), propane (from propionic which is in turn from pro- and the Greek word for fat), and butane (from butyl which is in turn from butyric which is in turn from the Latin word for butter).
Cardinal Latin series[]
- unicycle, bicycle, tricycle, quadricycle
- uniped, biped, triped, quadruped,[5] centipede, millipede
Distributive Latin series[]
- unary, binary, trinary, quaternary, quinary, senary, … vicenary … centenary …
- quinquagenarian, sexagenarian, septuagenarian, octogenarian, nonagenarian, centenarian, … millenarian
Greek series[]
- pentane, hexane, heptane, octane, nonane,[33] decane, … icosane
- monopod, bipod, tripod, tetrapod, hexapod, octopod, decapod
- monad, dyad, triad, tetrad, pentad, hexad, heptad, ogdoad, ennead, decad(e), … triacontad, … hecatontad, chiliad, myriad
- trilogy, tetralogy, pentalogy, hexalogy, heptalogy
See also[]
- List of numeral systems
- List of numbers in various languages
Notes[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 See Mendeleev’s predicted elements for the most common use of Sanskrit numerical prefixes.
- ↑ Demi- is actually French, from Latin dimidium.
- ↑ Sim- (sin-) is found in the words simplex, simple.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 The Greek prefix for ‘one’ is normally mono- ‘alone’. Hen- ‘one’ is only used in compound numbers (hendeka- 11) and a few words like henad (= monad). Haplo- ‘single’ is found is a few technical words such as haploid.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 The forms related to quattuor «four», like the previous three integers, are irregular in Latin and other Indo-European languages, and the details, while presumably a form of assimilation, are unclear. Andrew Sihler, New comparative grammar of Greek and Latin, p. 412, and Carl Darling Buck, Comparative grammar of Greek and Latin. In particular, quadri- has the alternate form quadru- before p in some Latin words, such as quadruple.
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- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Sometimes Greek hexa- is used in Latin compounds, such as hexadecimal, due to taboo avoidance with the English word sex.
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- ↑ In organic chemistry, the prefix for 9 is Latin rather than Greek
References[]
- Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition
- Buck, Carl Darling, Comparative Grammar of Greek and Latin
- Sihler, Andrew Littleton, A New Comparative Grammar of Greek and Latin, Oxford University Press 1995 ISBN 0195083458
Further reading[]
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December 12, 2019
Prefixes
Numerical Prefixes, Number Prefixes in English
Greek | Latin | Meaning | Examples |
Mono- | uni– | 1 | monograph, monomial, monotheism, universe, uniform, unicorn, monotone |
Di– | bi– du– |
2 | biology, bilingual, binary, bimonthly, binoculars, duo, duet |
Tri– | –tri | 3 | tricycle, triad, triathlon, triangle, tripod, triumvirate, triple |
Tetra– | quadri–quart– | 4 | tetrameter, quadrilateral, quadriplegic, quadrangle, quadruple, quarter |
Penta– | quin– | 5 | pentameter, pentagon, quintet, quintuplet |
Hexa– | sext– | 6 | hexagon, hexameter, sextuplet, sextet |
Hepta– | septem–septi– | 7 | heptagon, heptameter, heptagon, septuagenarian |
Octo– | octa– oct– |
8 | octagon, octogenarian, octopus, octahedron |
Ennea– | novem– | 9 | novena |
Deca– | deci– decem– | 10 | decade, decagon, decahedron, decimal |
Hemi– | semi- | Half | hemisphere, semicircle, semicolon, semifinal, semiannual |
Poly– | multi– | Many | polygon, polygamy, polyester, polymer, polynomial |
Hecto– | cent–cente– | 100 | cent, centennial, centurion, centenary, cent |
Kilo- | milli- mille- | 1000 | kilogram, kilometer, kilobyte, milligram |
About The Author
lessonsenglish
Оглавление —> Словообразование —> Структура производных слов —> Структура составных слов —> Префиксы
В английском языке есть немало заимствованных слов. Но помимо слов есть также и заимствованные префиксы и суффиксы. Некоторые латинские и греческие префиксы образуют слова с числами.
1. ОДИН, ЕДИНСТВЕННЫЙ = “MONO-”, “UNI-”;
В русском языке есть много слов с приставкой “МОНО”, которые указывают на единичность и в английском языке такие слова имеют похожее звучание.
Например: монокль, монополия, монотонный, монолог, монолит.
Напишу несколько самых распространенных слов с префиксом “MONO-”.
MONOCHROME = одноцветный, однокрасочный;
MONOCLE = монокль;
MONOCRACY = единовластие, единодержавие;
MONOGAMY = единобрачие;
MONOLOGUE = монолог;
MONOPOLIST = монополист, сторонник системы монополий;
MONOPOLY = монополия;
MONORAIL = монорельсовая железная дорога;
MONOTONE = монотонное чтение, повторение;
MONOTONOUS = монотонный, однообразный, скучный;
В русском языке есть слова с приставкой “УНИ”, которая указывает на единичность.
Например: унификация, универсал, униформа, уникальный, унисон.
Напишу несколько английских слов с префиксом “UNI-”.
UNICORN = единорог;
UNIFICATION = объединение, унификация;
UNIFORM = форменная одежда, униформа;
UNIFORMITY = единообразие;
to UNIFY = объединять, унифицировать;
UNIQUE = единственный в своем роде, уникальный; уникум;
UNISON = унисон, согласие;
UNIT = единица, целое; единица измерения;
UNITY = единство;
UNIVERSE = мир, вселенная, космос;
2. ДВА, ДВАЖДЫ = “BI-”, “DI-”, “DU-”;
В русском языке есть слова с приставкой “БИ-”, которая указывает на число два.
Например: бином, биплан, бифуркация, бицепс, бинокль, биполярный, биссектриса;
Напишу несколько английских слов с префиксом “BI-”.
BICENTENARY = двухсотлетняя годовщина; двухсотлетие;
BICYCLE = велосипед;
BIENNIAL =двухлетний, двухгодичный;
BIFID = разделенный надвое; расщепленный;
to BIFURCATE = раздваиваться, разветвляться;
BIFURCATION = раздвоение, расщепление;
BILATERAL = двусторонний;
BILINGUAL = двуязычный, говорящий на двух языках;
BINARY = двойной, сдвоенный;
BINOCULARS = бинокль;
BIPLAN = биплан;
BISECTION = деление пополам;
В русском языке есть слова с приставкой “ДИ-”, которая указывает на число два.
Например: диптих, диагональ, диалог, диграф;
Напишу несколько английских слов с префиксом “DI-”.
DIAGONAL = диагональ;
DIALOGUE = диалог;
DIAMETER = диаметр, поперечник;
DIARCHY = двоевластие;
DICHROMATIC = двухцветный;
DIGAMY = второй брак;
DIGAMIST = человек, вступивший во второй брак;
DIGRAPH = диграф, две буквы, изображающие один звук;
to DIMIDIATE = делить пополам;
DIMORPHIC = диморфный, могущий существовать в двух формах;
В русском языке есть слова с приставкой “ДУ-”, которая указывает на число два.
Например: дуэль, дуэт, дубликат, диптих, дуализм.
Напишу несколько английских слов с префиксом “DU-”.
DUAL = двойственный;
DUALITY = двойственность;
to DUALIZE = раздваивать;
DUET = дуэт;
DUEL = дуэль; состязание, борьба;
DUPLEX = двухсторонний, двойной;
DUPLICATE = дубликат, копия;
DUPLICITY = двойственность, двуличность;
3. ТРИ = “TRI- ”;
В русском языке есть слова с приставкой “ТРИ-”, которая указывает на число три.
Например: трио, трилогия, триада, триптих, триплекс.
Напишу несколько английских слов с префиксом “TRI-”.
TRIAD = что-то состоящее из трех частей, предметов; группа из трех человек;
TRIANGLE = треугольник;
TRICHORD = трехструнный музыкальный инструмент;
TRICHOTOMY = деление на три части , на три элемента;
TRICOLOUR = трехцветный флаг;
TRIDENT = трезубец;
TRIENNIAL = трехлетняя годовщина; то, что продолжается три года или случается раз в три года;
TRILATERAL = трехсторонний;
TRILOGY = трилогия;
TRINE = тройной;
TRINITY = святая троица;
TRIO = трио;
TRIPLE = тройной, утроенный;
TRIPLEX = тройной, состоящий из трех частей;
TRIPTYCH = триптих;
to TRISECT = делить на три части;
TRIUNE = триединый;
4. ЧЕТЫРЕ = “QUAD –”, “TETRA-”;
В русском языке есть слова с приставкой “КВАД”, которая указывает на число четыре.
Например: квадрат, квадратный, квадрант.
Напишу несколько английских слов с префиксом “QUAD-”.
QUADRAGENARIAN = сорокалетний;
QUADRAGESIMAL = сорокадневный, длящийся сорок дней 9 особенно о посте);
QUADRANGLE = четырехугольный;
QUADRANT = квадрант, четверть круга; сектор в 90 градусов;
QUADRATE = квадрат, квадратный;
QUADRENNIAL = длящийся четыре года; происходящий раз в четыре года;
QUADRILATERAL = четырехсторонний; четырехугольник;
QUADRIPARTITE = состоящий из четырех частей; разделенный на четыре части;
QUADRUPLE = учетверенное количество;
QUADRUPLICATE = в четырех экземплярах;
Префикс “TETRA-” тоже указывает на число четыре.
Например:
TETRAGON четырехугольник; квадрат;
TETRAGONAL = четырехугольный;
TETRAHEDRON = четырехгранник; тетраэдр;
TETRALOGY = тетралогия;
TETRASTICH = стихотворение из четырех строк;
5. ПЯТЬ = “QUIN-”;
Префикс “QUIN” указывает на число пять.
Например:
QUINARY = пятеричный, состоящий из пяти;
QUINCENTENARY = 500-летний юбилей; 500-летие;
QUINQUAGENARIAN = пятидесятилетний;
QUINQUENNIAL = пятилетний, пятилетие;
QUINT = квинта;
QUINTAN = пятидневный;
QUINTET — квинтет;
QUINTUPLET = пятикратный, состоящий из пяти предметов, частей;
6. ШЕСТЬ = “HEXA”, “SEX-”;
Напишу несколько английских слов с префиксами “HEXA-” и “SEX-”.
HEXAGON = шестиугольник;
HEXAGONAL = шестиугольный;
HEXAHEDRON = шестигранник;
SEXAGENARIAN = шестидесятилетний; человек в возрасте между 59 и 70 годами;
SEXAGENARY = относящийся к шестидесяти, образующий шестьдесят;
SEXAGESIMAL = шестидесятый, шестидесятая часть;
SEXENNIAL = шестилетний, происходящий каждые шесть лет;
SEXTAN = шестидневный, происходящий на шестой день;
SEXTANT = секстант, шестая часть окружности;
SEXTUPLE = шестикратный;
7. СЕМЬ = “SEPT-”;
Напишу английские слова с префиксом “SEPT-”.
SEPTAN = семидневный;
SEPTANGLE = семиугольный;
SEPTENNIAL = семилетний;
SEPTET = септет;
SEPTILATERAL = семисторонний;
SEPTUAGENARIAN = семидесятилетний; в возрасте между 69 и 80 годами;
SEPTUPLE = семикратный;
8. ВОСЕМЬ = “OCT-”;
Напишу несколько английских слов с префиксом “OCT”.
OCTAGON = восьмиугольник;
OCTAGONAL = восьмиугольный4
OCTAHEDRAL = восьмигранный;
OCTANT = октант (угломерный инструмент); восьмая часть круга; дуга в 45 градусов;
OCTARCHY = правление, осуществляемое восьмью лицами;
OCTAVE = октава;
OCTENIAL = восьмилетний, повторяющийся каждые восемь лет;
OCTOGENARIAN = восьмидесятилетний старик или старуха;
OCTOPUS = осьминог;
OCTUPLE = восьмикратный, восьмеричный;
9. ДЕВЯТЬ = “NONA-”;
Например:
NONAGENARIAN = девяностолетний старик или старуха; человек в возрасте между 89 и 100 годами;
NONARY = группа из девяти;
10. ДЕСЯТЬ = “DEC-”, “DECI-”;
Напишу английские слова с префиксом “DEC-”.
DECADAL = десятилетний;
DECADE = группа из десяти, десяток; десять лет;
DECAGON = десятиугольник;
DECANONAL = десятиугольный;
DECAHEDRAL = десятигранный;
DECALITRE = декалитр;
DECAMETRE = декаметр;
DECANGULAR = десятиугольный;
DECENNARY = десятилетие;
DECENNIAL = десятилетний, повторяющийся каждые десять лет;
Префикс “DECI-” обозначает десятую часть, особенно в метрической системе.
Например:
DECILITRE = децилитр;
DECIMAL = десятичный; десятичная дробь;
DECIMALISM = применение десятичной системы;
to DECIMATE = взимать десятину; казнить каждого десятого;
DECIMETRE = дециметр;
100. СТО = “CENT-”;
Напишу несколько английских слов с префиксом “CENT-”
CENTENARIAN = столетний;
CENTENARY = столетие, столетняя годовщина;
CENTESIMAL = сотый, разделенный на сто частей;
CENTIGRADE = стоградусный, разделенный на сто градусов;
CENTIMETRE = сантиметр;
CENTNER = центнер;
CENTURY = век, столетие;
CENTUPLE = стократный;
1000. ТЫСЯЧА = “KILO-”, “MIL-”;
Напишу английские слова с префиксом “KILO-” .
KILOGRAM = килограмм;
KILOMETRE = километр;
KILOWATT = киловатт;
Префикс “MIL- ” означает одну тысячную или в тысячу раз больше. В русском языке тоже есть слова с приставкой «МИЛЛИ».
Например: миллиметр, миллисекунда, миллионер, миллиард, миллиграмм.
Напишу несколько английских слов с префиксом “MIL-”.
MILLENARY = тысячелетняя годовщина;
MILLENNIAL = тысячелетний;
MILLENNIUM = тысячелетие;
MILLESIMAL = тысячный, тысячная часть;
MILLION = миллион;
MILLIARD = миллиард;
MILLIGRAM = миллиграмм;
MILLIMETRE = миллиметр;
MILLIONAIRE = миллионер;
MILLIONOCRACY = правление, власть миллионеров.
Prefixes of number
-
outnumber
- verb be larger in number
- More ‘outnumber’ Meaning
- outnumber Associated Words
- outnumber Prefix/Suffix Words
- outnumber Related Words
Suffixes of number
-
numbers
- noun an illegal daily lottery
numbers racket; numbers game; numbers pool. - noun the fourth book of the Old Testament; contains a record of the number of Israelites who followed Moses out of Egypt
Book of Numbers.
- More ‘numbers’ Meaning
- numbers Associated Words
- numbers Prefix/Suffix Words
- numbers Related Words
- noun an illegal daily lottery
-
number
- noun the property possessed by a sum or total or indefinite quantity of units or individuals
figure.- he had a number of chores to do
- the number of parameters is small
- the figure was about a thousand
- noun a concept of quantity involving zero and units
- every number has a unique position in the sequence
- More ‘number’ Meaning
- numbered Associated Words
- numbered Prefix/Suffix Words
- numbered Related Words
- noun the property possessed by a sum or total or indefinite quantity of units or individuals
-
numbering
- noun a numbered list
enumeration. - verb add up in number or quantity
amount; total; come; number; add up.- The bills amounted to $2,000
- The bill came to $2,000
- More ‘numbering’ Meaning
- numbering Associated Words
- numbering Prefix/Suffix Words
- numbering Related Words
- noun a numbered list
-
numberless
- adjective satellite too numerous to be counted
unnumbered; unnumerable; innumerable; unnumberable; uncounted; myriad; multitudinous; infinite; innumerous; countless.- incalculable riches
- countless hours
- an infinite number of reasons
- innumerable difficulties
- the multitudinous seas
- myriad stars
- untold thousands
- More ‘numberless’ Meaning
- numberless Associated Words
- numberless Related Words
- adjective satellite too numerous to be counted
-
numbering
- noun a numbered list
enumeration. - verb add up in number or quantity
amount; total; come; number; add up.- The bills amounted to $2,000
- The bill came to $2,000
- More ‘numbering’ Meaning
- numberings Associated Words
- numberings Related Words
- noun a numbered list
Derived words of number
-
outnumber
- verb be larger in number
- More ‘outnumber’ Meaning
- outnumbered Associated Words
- outnumbered Related Words
-
outnumber
- verb be larger in number
- More ‘outnumber’ Meaning
- outnumbering Associated Words
- outnumbering Related Words
-
unnumbered
- adjective satellite too numerous to be counted
numberless; unnumerable; innumerable; unnumberable; uncounted; myriad; multitudinous; infinite; innumerous; countless.- incalculable riches
- countless hours
- an infinite number of reasons
- innumerable difficulties
- the multitudinous seas
- myriad stars
- untold thousands
- More ‘unnumbered’ Meaning
- unnumbered Associated Words
- unnumbered Related Words
- adjective satellite too numerous to be counted
-
outnumber
- verb be larger in number
- More ‘outnumber’ Meaning
- outnumbers Associated Words
- outnumbers Related Words
About Prefix and Suffix Words
This page lists all the words created by adding prefixes, suffixes to the word `number`. For each word, youwill notice a blue bar below the word. The longer the blue bar below a word, the more common/popular the word. Very short blue bars indicate rare usage.
While some of the words are direct derivations of the word `number`, some are not.
You can click on each word to see it’s meaning.
About Prefix and Suffix Words
This page lists all the words created by adding prefixes, suffixes to the word `number`. For each word, youwill notice a blue bar below the word. The longer the blue bar below a word, the more common/popular the word. Very short blue bars indicate rare usage.
While some of the words are direct derivations of the word `number`, some are not.
You can click on each word to see it’s meaning.
: Prefix derived from numerals or other numbers
Numeral or number prefixes are prefixes derived from numerals or occasionally other numbers. In English and many other languages, they are used to coin numerous series of words. For example:
- unicycle, bicycle, tricycle (1-cycle, 2-cycle, 3-cycle)
- dyad, triad (2 parts, 3 parts)
- biped, quadruped (2 legs, 4 legs)
- September, October, November, December (month 7, month 8, month 9, month 10)[upper-alpha 1]
- decimal, hexadecimal (base-10, base-16)
- septuagenarian, octogenarian (70-79 years old, 80-89 years old)
- centipede, millipede (around 100 legs, around 1000 legs)
In many European languages there are two principal systems, taken from Latin and Greek, each with several subsystems; in addition, Sanskrit occupies a marginal position.[upper-alpha 2] There is also an international set of metric prefixes, which are used in the metric system and which for the most part are either distorted from the forms below or not based on actual number words.
Table of number prefixes in English
In the following prefixes, a final vowel is normally dropped before a root that begins with a vowel, with the exceptions of bi-, which is bis- before a vowel, and of the other monosyllables, du-, di-, dvi-, tri-, which are invariable.
The cardinal series are derived from cardinal numbers, such as the English one, two, three. The multiple series are based on adverbial numbers like the English once, twice, thrice. The distributive series originally meant one each, two each or one by one, two by two, etc., though that meaning is now frequently lost. The ordinal series are based on ordinal numbers such as the English first, second, third (for numbers higher than 2, the ordinal forms are also used for fractions; only the fraction 1⁄2 has special forms).
For the hundreds, there are competing forms: those in -gent-, from the original Latin, and those in -cent-, derived from centi-, etc. plus the prefixes for 1–9.
The same suffix may be used with more than one series:
-
primary secondary tertiary quartary quintary sextary — — nonary — singulary binary ternary, trinary quaternary quinary senary septenary octonary novenary denary
Number | Latin prefixes | Greek prefixes[upper-alpha 3] | Sanskrit[upper-alpha 2] prefixes |
|||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cardinal | Multiple | Distributive | Ordinal | Cardinal | Multiple, proportional, or quantitative |
Ordinal | ||
0 | nulli- | nullesim- | meden-, ouden- | — | medeproto-, oudeproto- | shūnya- | ||
1⁄12 | unci-[1] | – | For fractions, Greek uses ordinals (i.e. dodecato-) | – | ||||
1⁄8 | octant- | – | – | – | As above; ogdoö– | – | ||
1⁄6 | sextant- | – | – | – | As above; hecto- | – | ||
1⁄5 | quintant- | – | – | – | As above; Pempto– | – | ||
1⁄4 | quadrant- | – | – | – | As above; tetarto– | – | ||
1⁄3 | trient- | – | – | – | As above; trito– | – | ||
1⁄2 | semi- | – | demi-[upper-alpha 4] | – | hemi- («half»)[lower-alpha 1] | – | – | – |
3⁄4 | dodrant- | – | – | – | – | – | ||
1 | uni-[lower-alpha 2] sol-[upper-alpha 5][lower-alpha 3] |
sim-[upper-alpha 6] | singul- | prim- | mono- («one», «alone»)[lower-alpha 4] holo- («entire», «full»)[lower-alpha 5] hen-[upper-alpha 7] rare |
mono- («one, alone») hapax- («once») haplo-[upper-alpha 7] («single») monad- («one of a kind», «unique», «unit») |
prot-[2][lower-alpha 6]
protaio- («[every] first day») |
eka- [3] |
1 1⁄4 | – | quasqui-[lower-alpha 7] | – | – | – | – | – | – |
1 1⁄2 | – | sesqui-[lower-alpha 8] | – | – | – | – | – | – |
2 | du- | bi-, bis-[lower-alpha 9] | bin- | second- | di-, dy-,[4] duo-, dyo- | dis-[5] («twice») common dyakis- («twice») rare diplo- («double») dyad- («two of a kind») |
deuter-[6][lower-alpha 10] deuteraio- («[every] second day») |
dvi-[7] |
3 | tri-[lower-alpha 11] | ter- | tern-, trin- | terti- | tri-[lower-alpha 12] | tris-[8] («thrice») common triakis- («thrice») rare triplo- («triple») triad- («three of a kind») |
trit-[9] («third»)[lower-alpha 13] tritaio- («[every] third day») |
tri-[10] |
4 | quadri-, quadru-[upper-alpha 8] | quater-[11] | quatern-[12] | quart-[13] | tetra-, tessara- | tetrakis- («four times») tetraplo- («quadruple») tetrad- («four of a kind»)[lower-alpha 14] |
tetarto- («fourth») tetartaio- («[every] fourth day») |
catur-[14] |
5 | quinque-[15] | – | quin-[16] | quint-[17] | penta- | pentakis- pentaplo- pentad-[lower-alpha 15] |
pempt-[18] pemptaio- |
pañca-[19] |
6 | sexa-[upper-alpha 9] | – | sen-[20] | sext-[21] | hexa-[22] | hexakis- hexaplo- hexad-[lower-alpha 16] |
hect-[23] hectaio- |
ṣaṭ-[24] |
7 | septem-, septi-[lower-alpha 17] | septen-[25] | septim- | hepta-[26][lower-alpha 18] | heptakis- heptaplo- heptad- |
hebdomo- («seventh») hebdomaio- («seventh day»)[lower-alpha 19] |
sapta-[27] | |
8 | octo-[lower-alpha 20] | – | octon-[28] | octav-[29] | octo-[lower-alpha 21] | octakis- octaplo- octad-[lower-alpha 22] |
ogdoö- ogdoaio- |
aṣṭa- |
9 | novem-[lower-alpha 23] | noven- | nona- | ennea-[30] | enneakis- enneaplo- ennead- |
enat-[31] enataio- |
nava- | |
10 | decem-, dec-[lower-alpha 24] | den-[32] | decim-[33] | deca-[34][lower-alpha 25] | decakis- decaplo- decad- |
decat-[35] decataio- |
dasha- | |
11 | undec- | unden-[36] | undecim-[37] | hendeca-[38] | hendeca/kis/plo/d- | hendecat-[39]/o/aio- | ekadasha- | |
12 | duodec- | duoden-[lower-alpha 26] | duodecim- | dodeca-[40][lower-alpha 27] | dodeca/kis/plo/d- | dodecat-[41]/o/aio- | dvadasha- | |
13 | tredec- | treden- | tredecim- | tria(kai)deca-, decatria-[lower-alpha 28] | tris(kai)decakis-, decatria/kis/plo/d- |
decatotrito- etc. |
trayodasha- | |
14 | quattuordec- | quattuorden- | quattuordecim- | tessara(kai)deca-, decatettara-, decatessara- | tetra(kai)decakis-, decatetra/kis/plo/d-[lower-alpha 29] |
decatotetarto- | chaturdasha- | |
15 | quinquadec-, quindec-[42] | quinden-[43] | quindecim-[44] | pente(kai)deca-, decapente- | penta(kai)decakis-, decapentakis- etc. |
decatopempto- | panchadasha- | |
16 | sedec-,[45] sexdec-
(but hybrid hexadecimal) |
seden- | sedecim- | hexa(kai)deca-, hekkaideca-, decahex- |
hexa(kai)decakis-, decahexakis- etc. |
decatohecto- | shodasha- | |
17 | septendec- | septenden- | septendecim- | hepta(kai)deca-, decahepta- |
hepta(kai)decakis-, decaheptakis- etc. |
decatohebdomo- | saptadasha- | |
18 | octodec- | octoden- | octodecim- | octo(kai)deca-, decaocto- |
octa(kai)decakis-, decaoctakis- etc. |
decatoogdoö- | ashtadasha- | |
19 | novemdec-, novendec- | novemden- | novemdecim- | ennea(kai)deca-, decaennea- | ennea(kai)decakis-, decaenneakis- etc. |
decatoenato- | navadasha- | |
20[upper-alpha 10] | viginti- | vicen-, vigen- | vigesim- | (e)icosi- | eicosa/kis/plo/d-[lower-alpha 30] | eicosto- | vimshati- | |
22 | duovigint- | (e)icosidyo-, dyo(e)icosi- rare[lower-alpha 31] | (e)icosidyakis- (e)icosidiplo- (e)icosidyad- |
eicostodeutero- | – | |||
24 | quattuorvigint- | (e)icositettara-, (e)icosikaitettara- rare |
(e)icositetrakis- (e)icositetraplo- (e)icositetrad-[lower-alpha 32] |
eicostotetarto- | chaturvimshati- | |||
25 | quinvigint- | (e)icosipente-[lower-alpha 33] | (e)icosipentakis- (e)icosipentaplo- (e)icosipentad- |
eicostopempto- | – | |||
30 | triginti- | tricen- | trigesim- | triaconta- | triacontakis- etc.[lower-alpha 34] | triacosto- | trimshat- | |
31 | untriginti- | triacontahen- | triacontahenakis- triacontahenaplo- triacontahenad- |
triacostoproto- triacostoprotaio- |
– | |||
40 | quadraginti- | quadragen- | quadragesim- | tettaraconta-, tessaraconta- |
tettaracontakis-, tessaracontakis- etc. |
tessaracosto- | chatvarimshat- | |
50 | quinquaginti-[46] | quinquagen-[47] | quinquagesim-[48] | penteconta-[lower-alpha 35] | pentecontakis- etc. | pentecosto-[lower-alpha 36] | panchashat- | |
60 | sexaginti- | sexagen- | sexagesim- | hexeconta- | hexecontakis- etc. | hexecosto- | shasti- | |
70 | septuaginti-[lower-alpha 37] | septuagen- | septuagesim-[49] | hebdomeconta- | hebdomecontakis- etc. | hebdomecosto- | saptati- | |
80 | octogint- | octogen- | octogesim- | ogdoëconta- | ogdoëcontakis- etc. | ogdoëcosto- | ashiti- | |
90 | nonagint- | nonagen- | nonagesim- | eneneconta- | enenecontakis- etc. | enenecosto- | navati- | |
100 | centi- | centen- | centesim- | hecato(n)- | hecatontakis- hundred times hecatontaplo- hundred-multiple hecatontad- hundred of a kind also abbreviated in hec[aton]tad- |
hecatosto- hundredth hecatostaio- the hundredth day |
shata– | |
120 | viginticenti- | – | – | hecaton(e)icosi- | hecaton(e)icosakis- etc. | hecatostoeicosto- | – | |
200 | ducenti- | ducen-, bicenten- | ducentesim- | diacosia- | diacosakis- etc. | diacosiosto- | – | |
300 | trecenti- | trecen-, tercenten-, tricenten- | trecentesim- | triacosia- etc. | triacosakis- triacosaplo- triacosad- |
triacosiosto- | – | |
400 | quadringenti- | quadringen-, quatercenten-, quadricenten- | quadringentesim- | tetracosia- | tetracosakis- etc. | tetracosiosto- | – | |
500 | quingent-,[50] quincent-[51] | quingen-,[52] quingenten-, quincenten- | quingentesim-[53] | pentacosia- | pentacosakis- etc. | pentacosiosto- | – | |
600 | sescenti-, sexcenti- | sescen-, sexcenten- | sescentesim- | hexacosia- | hexacosakis- etc. | hexacosiosto- | – | |
700 | septingenti- | septingen-, septingenten-, septcenten- | septingentesim- | heptacosia- | heptacosakis- etc. | heptacosiosto- | – | |
800 | octingenti- | octingen-, octingenten-, octocenten- | octingentesim- | octacosia- | octacosakis- etc. | octacosiosto- | – | |
900 | nongenti- | nongen- | nongentesim- | ennacosi-[54] derived from en(n)iacosia-, a pejoration of enneacosia- |
enneacosakis- etc. | enacosiost-,[55] alt. spelling en(n)iacosiost(o)- a pejoration of enneacosiosto- |
– | |
1000 | milli- | millen- | millesim- | chili-,[56] kilo- | chiliakis- chiliaplo- chiliad- |
chiliost-[57] | sahasra– | |
2000 | duomilli | – | – | dischili-[58] | dischiliakis- etc. | dischiliosto- | – | |
3000 | tremilli- | trischili-[59] | – | trischiliost-[60] | – | |||
5000 | quinmilli– | pentacischili-[61] | – | – | – | |||
10000 | decamilli– | myria-,[62][lower-alpha 38] decakischilia- | myriakis- myriaplo- myriad- decakischiliakis- etc. |
myriast-,[63] decakischiliosto- |
ayuta– | |||
80000 | octogintmilli– | octacismyri-[64] | – | – | – | |||
105 | centimilli– | decakismyria-, hecatontakischilia- | decakismyriakis-, hecatontakischiliakis- |
etc. | laksha– | |||
106 | million- | – | hecatommyria- (see also Mega-) |
hecatommyriakis- («a million times») hecatommyriaplo- (million-multiple) hecatommyriad- (a million of a kind) |
hecatommyriosto- (ranked millionth; also one piece of a million [fraction] see above in fractions) hecatommyriostaio- («the millionth day») |
– | ||
109 | billion- | – | dis hecatommyria- |
dis hecatommyriakis- |
etc. | – | ||
1012 | trillion- | – | tris hecatommyria- |
tris hecatommyriakis- |
etc. | – | ||
1015 | quadrillion- | – | tetrakis hecatommyria- |
tetrakis hecatommyriakis- |
etc. | – | ||
1018 | quintillion- | – | pentakis hecatommyria- |
pentakis hecatommyriakis- |
etc. | – | ||
1020 | vingtillion- | – | eicosakis hecatommyria- |
eicosakis hecatommyriakis- |
etc. | – | ||
1021 | sextillion- | – | hexakis hecatommyria- |
hexakis hecatommyriakis- |
etc. | – | ||
1024 | septillion- | – | heptakis hecatommyria- |
heptakis hecatommyriakis- |
etc. | – | ||
1027 | octillion- | – | octakis hecatommyria- |
octakis hecatommyriakis- |
etc. | – | ||
1030 | nonillion- | – | enneakis hecatommyria- |
enneakis hecatommyriakis- |
etc. | – | ||
1033 | decillion- | – | decakis hecatommyria- |
decakis hecatommyriakis- |
etc. | – | ||
1036 | undecillion- | – | hendecakis hecatommyria- |
hendecakis hecatommyriakis- |
etc. | – | ||
1039 | duodecillion- | – | dodecakis hecatommyria- |
dodecakis hecatommyriakis- |
etc. | – | ||
1042 | tredecillion- | – | triskaidecakis hecatommyria- |
triskaidecakis hecatommyriakis- |
etc. | – | ||
1045 | quattuordecillion- | – | tetrakaidecakis hecatommyria- |
tetrakaidecakis hecatommyriakis- |
etc. | – | ||
1048 | quindecillion- | – | pentakaidecakis hecatommyria- |
pentakaidecakis hecatommyriakis- |
etc. | – | ||
1051 | sexdecillion- | – | hexakaidecakis hecatommyriakis- |
hexakaidecakis hecatommyriakis- |
etc. | – | ||
1054 | septendecillion- | – | heptakaidecakis hecatommyria- |
heptakaidecakis hecatommyriakis- |
etc. | – | ||
1057 | octodecillion- | – | octakaidecakis hecatommyria- |
octakaidecakis hecatommyriakis- |
etc. | – | ||
1060 | novemdecillion- | – | enneakaidecakis hecatommyria- |
enneakaidecakis hecatommyriakis- |
etc. | – | ||
1063 | Vigintillion- | — | Icosakis hectotommyria- |
Icosakis hectotommyriakis- |
etc. | — | ||
10303 | centillion- | – | hecatontakis hecatommyria- |
hecatontakis hecatommyriakis- |
etc. | – | ||
103003 | millinilion- | – | chiliakis hecatommyria- |
chiliakis hecatommyriakis- |
etc. | – | ||
1030003 | decillinillion/Decmilliatillion | – | myriakis hecatommyria- |
myriakis hecatommyriakis- |
etc. | – | ||
10300003 | centillinillion/centimilliatillion | – | decakismyriakis hecatommyria- and so on — virtually endless |
decakismyriakis hecatommyriakis- |
etc. | |||
103000003 | Micrillion[65] | — | hectotomyriakis hectotommyria- | Hectotommyrakis hectatommyria- | ||||
Few (1–20) |
pauci-[lower-alpha 39] | – | oligo-[lower-alpha 40] | – | – | – | ||
Many (> 1) |
multi-, pluri-[lower-alpha 41] | – | poly-[lower-alpha 42] | pollakis- (many times) pollaplo- (multiple) plethos- (many of a kind)[lower-alpha 43] |
pollosto- (rank/order of many [manieth]) |
bahut– |
- Examples
- ↑ e.g. hemisphere
- ↑ e.g. universe, unilateral
- ↑ e.g. solo, soliloquy
- ↑ e.g. monogamy
- ↑ e.g. holocaust, holography
- ↑ e.g. proton, protozoa
- ↑ e.g. quasquicentennial
- ↑ e.g. sesquicentennial, sesquipedalian
- ↑ e.g. bireme, bilingual, bipolar, bipartisan
- ↑ e.g. Deuteron/ium, Deuteronomy
- ↑ e.g. trireme
- ↑ e.g. triathlon, Tripolis
- ↑ e.g. Triton/ium
- ↑ e.g. tetrahedron
- ↑ e.g. pentahedron
- ↑ e.g. hexahedron
- ↑ e.g. September
- ↑ e.g. heptathlon
- ↑ e.g. hebdomas
- ↑ e.g. October
- ↑ e.g. octopus
- ↑ e.g. octahedron
- ↑ e.g. November
- ↑ e.g. December
- ↑ e.g. decathlon, decahedron, decagon
- ↑ e.g. duodenum
- ↑ e.g. dodecahedron
- ↑ e.g. triskaidekaphobia
- ↑ e.g. tetradecahedron/
decatetrahedron - ↑ e.g. (e)icosahedron
- ↑ e.g. docosa-hexaenoic acid (a pejoration of dyoicosa-hexanoic)
- ↑ e.g. (e)icositetragon
- ↑ e.g. eicosapenta-enoic acid
- ↑ e.g. triacontahedron
- ↑ e.g. penteconter
- ↑ e.g. pentecost
- ↑ e.g. Septuagint
- ↑ e.g. myriapoda
- ↑ e.g. pauciparous
- ↑ e.g. oligomer, oligonucleotide, oligopeptide, oligosaccharide, oligopoly
- ↑ e.g. multilingual, multiple, pluripotent, pluricentric
- ↑ e.g. polyhedra, polygamy, polypod, polyglot, polymath
- ↑ e.g. plethora
Occurrences
- Numerical prefixes occur in 19th-, 20th-, and 21st-century coinages, mainly the terms that are used in relation to or that are the names of technological innovations, such as hexadecimal and bicycle. Also used in medals that commemorate an anniversary, such as sesquicentennial (150 years), centennial (100 years), or bicentennial (200 years).
- They occur in constructed words such as systematic names. Systematic names use numerical prefixes derived from Greek, with one principal exception, nona-.
- They occur as prefixes to units of measure in the SI system. See SI prefix.
- They occur as prefixes to units of computer data. See binary prefixes.
- They occur in words in the same languages as the original number word, and their respective derivatives. (Strictly speaking, some of the common citations of these occurrences are not in fact occurrences of the prefixes. For example: millennium is not formed from milli-, but is in fact derived from the same shared Latin root – mille.)
Because of the common inheritance of Greek and Latin roots across the Romance languages, the import of much of that derived vocabulary into non-Romance languages (such as into English via Norman French), and the borrowing of 19th and 20th century coinages into many languages, the same numerical prefixes occur in many languages.
Numerical prefixes are not restricted to denoting integers. Some of the SI prefixes denote negative powers of 10, i.e. division by a multiple of 10 rather than multiplication by it. Several common-use numerical prefixes denote vulgar fractions.
Words containing non-technical numerical prefixes are usually not hyphenated. This is not an absolute rule, however, and there are exceptions (for example: quarter-deck occurs in addition to quarterdeck). There are no exceptions for words comprising technical numerical prefixes, though. Systematic names and words comprising SI prefixes and binary prefixes are not hyphenated, by definition.
Nonetheless, for clarity, dictionaries list numerical prefixes in hyphenated form, to distinguish the prefixes from words with the same spellings (such as duo- and duo).
Several technical numerical prefixes are not derived from words for numbers. (mega- is not derived from a number word, for example.) Similarly, some are only derived from words for numbers inasmuch as they are word play. (Peta- is word play on penta-, for example. See its etymology for details.)
The root language of a numerical prefix need not be related to the root language of the word that it prefixes. Some words comprising numerical prefixes are hybrid words.
In certain classes of systematic names, there are a few other exceptions to the rule of using Greek-derived numerical prefixes. The IUPAC nomenclature of organic chemistry, for example, uses the numerical prefixes derived from Greek, except for the prefix for 9 (as mentioned) and the prefixes from 1 to 4 (meth-, eth-, prop-, and but-), which are not derived from words for numbers. These prefixes were invented by the IUPAC, deriving them from the pre-existing names for several compounds that it was intended to preserve in the new system: methane (via methyl, which is in turn from the Greek word for wine), ethane (from ethyl coined by Justus von Liebig in 1834), propane (from propionic, which is in turn from pro- and the Greek word for fat), and butane (from butyl, which is in turn from butyric, which is in turn from the Latin word for butter).
Cardinal Latin series
- unicycle, bicycle, tricycle, quadricycle
- uniped, biped, triped, quadruped,[upper-alpha 8] centipede, millipede
Distributive Latin series
- unary, binary, trinary, quaternary, quinary, senary, … vicenary … centenary …
- denarian, vicenarian, tricenarian, quadragenarian, quinquagenarian, sexagenarian, septuagenarian, octogenarian, nonagenarian, centenarian, … millenarian
Greek series
- monad, dyad, triad, tetrad, pentad, hexad, heptad, ogdoad, ennead, decad, … triacontad, … hecatontad, chiliad, myriad
- digon, trigon, tetragon, pentagon, hexagon, heptagon, octagon, enneagon, decagon, hendecagon, dodecagon, … enneadecagon, icosagon, triacontagon, … chiliagon, myriagon
- trilogy, tetralogy, pentalogy, hexalogy, heptalogy
- monopod, dipod, tripod, tetrapod, hexapod, octopod, decapod
Mixed language series
- pentane, hexane, heptane, octane, nonane,[upper-alpha 11] decane, undecane, … icosane
- binary, ternary, quaternary, quinary, senary, septenary, octal, nonary, decimal, duodecimal, hexadecimal, vigesimal, quadrovigesimal, duotrigesimal, sexagesimal, octogesimal
See also
- IUPAC numerical multiplier
- List of numbers
- List of numeral systems
- List of commonly used taxonomic affixes
- Numerals in English and other languages
- Names for tuples of specific lengths
Notes
- ↑ These months’ prefixes originated with the early Roman 10-month calendar. See Roman Calendar.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 See Mendeleev’s predicted elements for the most common use of Sanskrit numerical prefixes.
- ↑ The numbering adjectives in Greek are inflectional for grammatical gender (i.e. there is monos [masculine for single/alone], mone [feminine for single/alone] and monon [neuter for single/alone]), grammatical case (i.e. nominative, genitive, etc.) and grammatical number (singular/plural). The prefixes are produced from the default grammatical type (masculine/nominative/singular).
- ↑ Demi- is French, from Latin dimidium.
- ↑ sol (sōlus) is more appropriately a Latin root for («only», «oneself»).
- ↑ sim- (sin-) is found in the words simplex, simple.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 The Greek prefix for ‘one’ is normally mono- ‘alone’. Hen- ‘one’ is only used in compound numbers (hendeka- 11) and a few words like henad (= monad). Haplo- ‘single’ is found is a few technical words such as haploid.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 The forms related to quattuor «four», like the previous three integers, are irregular in Latin and other Indo-European languages, and the details, while presumably a form of assimilation, are unclear. Andrew Sihler, New comparative grammar of Greek and Latin, p. 412, and Carl Darling Buck, Comparative grammar of Greek and Latin. In particular, quadri- has the alternate form quadru- before p in some Latin words, such as quadruple.
- ↑ Sometimes Greek hexa- is used in Latin compounds, such as hexadecimal, due to taboo avoidance with the English word sex.
- ↑ For Latinate 21, 22, etc., the pattern for the teens is followed: unvigint-, duovigint-, etc. For higher numbers, the reverse order may be found: 36 is trigintisex-. For Greek, the word kai («and») is used: icosikaihena-, icosikaidi-, pentacontakaipenta-, etc. In these and in the tens, the kai is frequently omitted, though not in triskaidekaphobia. (The inconsistency of triskaidekaphobia with the table above is explained by the fact that the Greek letter kappa can be transliterated either «c» or «k».) In chemical nomenclature, 11 is generally mixed Latin-Greek undeca-, and the 20s are based on -cos-, for example tricos- for 23.
- ↑ In organic chemistry, most prefixes are Greek but the prefixes for 9 and 11 are Latin.
References
- ↑ uncia. Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short. A Latin Dictionary on Perseus Project.
- ↑ πρῶτος. Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; A Greek–English Lexicon at the Perseus Project
- ↑ Template:MWSD
- ↑ δύο
- ↑ δίς
- ↑ δεύτερος
- ↑ Template:MWSD
- ↑ τρίς
- ↑ τρίτος
- ↑ Template:MWSD
- ↑ «quăter». https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DQ%3Aentry+group%3D5%3Aentry%3Dquater.
- ↑ «quăterni». https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DQ%3Aentry+group%3D5%3Aentry%3Dquaterni.
- ↑ «quartus». https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aentry%3Dquartus.
- ↑ Template:MWSD
- ↑ «quinque». https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DQ%3Aentry+group%3D7%3Aentry%3Dquinque1.
- ↑ «quīni». https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DQ%3Aentry+group%3D7%3Aentry%3Dquini.
- ↑ «quintus». https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aentry%3Dquintus1.
- ↑ πέμπτος
- ↑ Template:MWSD
- ↑ «sēni». https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aentry%3Dseni.
- ↑ «sextus». https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aentry%3Dsextus1.
- ↑ «Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, ἕξ». https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0057:entry=e(/c.
- ↑ ἕκτος
- ↑ Template:MWSD
- ↑ «septēni». https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aentry%3Dsepteni.
- ↑ ἑπτά
- ↑ Template:MWSD
- ↑ «octōni». https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aentry%3Doctoni.
- ↑ «octāvus». https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aentry%3Doctavus.
- ↑ ἐννέα
- ↑ ἔνατος
- ↑ «dēni». https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aentry%3Ddeni.
- ↑ «dĕcĭmus». https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aentry%3Ddecimus1.
- ↑ δέκα
- ↑ δέκατος
- ↑ «undēni». https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DU%3Aentry+group%3D4%3Aentry%3Dundeni.
- ↑ «undĕcĭmus». https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aentry%3Dundecimus.
- ↑ ἕνδεκα
- ↑ ἑνδέκατος
- ↑ δώδεκα
- ↑ δωδέκατος
- ↑ «quindĕcim». https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DQ%3Aentry+group%3D7%3Aentry%3Dquindecim.
- ↑ «quindēni». https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DQ%3Aentry+group%3D7%3Aentry%3Dquindeni.
- ↑ «quindĕcĭmus». https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DQ%3Aentry+group%3D7%3Aentry%3Dquindecimus.
- ↑ «sēdĕcim». https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aentry%3Dsedecim.
- ↑ «quinquāginta». https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DQ%3Aentry+group%3D7%3Aentry%3Dquinquaginta.
- ↑ «quinquāgēni». https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DQ%3Aentry+group%3D7%3Aentry%3Dquinquageni.
- ↑ «quinquāgēsĭmus». https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DQ%3Aentry+group%3D7%3Aentry%3Dquinquagesimus.
- ↑ «Charlton T. Lewis, Charles Short, A Latin Dictionary, S , septĭfārĭam , septŭāgēsimus». https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0059:alphabetic+letter=S:entry+group=34:entry=septuagesimus.
- ↑ «quingenti». https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DQ%3Aentry+group%3D7%3Aentry%3Dquingenti.
- ↑ «quincenti». https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DQ%3Aentry+group%3D7%3Aentry%3Dquincenti.
- ↑ «quingēni». https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DQ%3Aentry+group%3D7%3Aentry%3Dquingeni.
- ↑ «quingentēsĭmus». https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DQ%3Aentry+group%3D7%3Aentry%3Dquingentesimus.
- ↑ ἐννακόσιοι
- ↑ ἐνακοσιοστός
- ↑ χίλιοι
- ↑ χιλιοστός
- ↑ δισχίλιοι
- ↑ τρισχίλιοι
- ↑ τρισχιλιοστός
- ↑ πεντακισχίλιοι
- ↑ μυρίος
- ↑ μυριαστός
- ↑ ὀκτακισμύριοι
- ↑ Wallard, Andrew. «Micrillion». https://www.bipm.org/en.
Bibliography
- Bauer-Ramazani, Christine (April 2008). «Prefixes—Amount, Relationship, Judgment, Other Prefixes». https://toefl-prep.pbworks.com/w/page/22323657/Prefixes—Amount,%20Relationship,%20Judgment,%20Other%20Prefixes.
- Buck, Carl Darling. Comparative Grammar of Greek and Latin.
- Chrisomalis, Stephen. «Numerical Adjectives, Greek and Latin Number Prefixes». The Phrontistery. https://phrontistery.info/numbers.html.
- Sihler, Andrew L. (1995). New Comparative Grammar of Greek and Latin. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195083458.
- Oxford English Dictionary (2 ed.).
September 3, 2018
Prefixes
Greek numbers, latin numbers, meanings and examples. Common Number Prefixes;
Greek | Latin | Meaning | Examples |
Mono- | uni– | 1 | monograph, monomial, monotheism, universe, uniform, unicorn, monotone |
Di– | bi– du– | 2 | biology, bilingual, binary, bimonthly, binoculars, duo, düet |
Tri– | –tri | 3 | tricycle, triad, triathlon, triangle, tripod, triumvirate, triple |
Tetra– | quadri– quart– | 4 | tetrameter, quadrilateral, quadriplegic, quadrangle, quadruple, quarter |
Penta– | quin– | 5 | pentameter, pentagon, quintet, quintuplet |
Hexa– | sext– | 6 | hexagon, hexameter, sextuplet, sextet |
Hepta– | septem– septi– | 7 | heptagon, heptameter, heptagon, septuagenarian |
Octo– | octa– oct– | 8 | octagon, octogenarian, octopus, octahedron |
Ennea– | novem– | 9 | novena |
Deca– | deci– decem– | 10 | decade, decagon, decahedron, decimal |
Hemi– | semi- | Half | hemisphere, semicircle, semicolon, semifinal, semiannual |
Poly– | multi– | Many | polygon, polygamy, polyester, polymer, polynomial |
Hecto– | cent– cente– | 100 | cent, centennial, centurion, centenary, cent |
Kilo- | milli- mille- | 1000 | kilogram, kilometer, kilobyte, milligram |
About The Author
englishstudyhere
Number prefixes are prefixes derived from numbers or numerals. In English and other European languages, they are used to coin numerous series of words, such as unicycle – bicycle – tricycle, dyad – triad – decade, biped – quadruped, September – October – November – December, decimal – hexadecimal, sexagenarian – octogenarian, centipede – millipede, etc. There are two principal systems, taken from Latin and Greek, each with several subsystems; in addition, Sanskrit occupies a marginal position. There is also an international set of SI prefixes, which are used in the metric system, and which for the most part are either distorted from the forms below or not based on actual number words.
Contents
- 1 Table of number prefixes in English
- 2 Occurrences
- 3 Cardinal Latin series
- 4 Distributive Latin series
- 5 Greek series
- 6 Notes
- 7 References
- 8 Further reading
Table of number prefixes in English
In the following prefixes, a final vowel is normally dropped before a root that begins with a vowel, with the exceptions of bi-, which is bis- before a vowel, and of the other monosyllables, du-, di-, dvi-, tri-, which are invariable.
The cardinal series are derived from cardinal numbers, such as English one, two, three. The multiple series are based on adverbial numbers like English once, twice, thrice. The distributives originally meant one each, two each or one by one, two by two, etc., though that meaning is now frequently lost. The ordinal series is based on ordinal numbers such as English first, second, third. For numbers higher than 2, the ordinal forms are also used for fractions; only the fraction ½ has special forms.
For the hundreds, there are competing forms: those in -gent-, from the original Latin, and those in -cent-, derived from centi- etc. plus the prefixes for 1–9.
Number | Latin prefixes | Greek prefixes | Sanskrit[1] | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cardinal | Multiple | Distributive | Ordinal | Cardinal | Multiple | ||
½ | semi- | demi-[2] | — | hemi- | |||
1 | uni- | sim-[3] | singul- | prim- | hen-[4] | mono-, haplo-[4] | eka- |
1¼ 1½ |
quasqui- sesqui- |
||||||
2 | du- | bi-, bis- | bin- | second- | di-, dy- | dis- | dvi- |
3 | tri- | ter- | tern- | terti- | tri- | tris- | tri- |
4 | quadri-, quadru-[5] |
quater-[6] | quatern-[7] | quart-[8] | tetra- | tetrakis- | chatur- |
5 | quinque-[9] | quin-[10] | quint-[11] | penta- | pentakis- | pancha- | |
6 | sexa-[12] | sen-[13] | sext-[14] | hexa- | hexakis- | shat- | |
7 | septem-, septi- | septen-[15] | septim- | hepta- | heptakis- | sapta- | |
8 | octo- | octon-[16] | octav-[17] | ogdo-, octa-, octo- |
octakis- | ashta- | |
9 | novem- | noven- | nona- | ennea- | enneakis- | navam- | |
10 | decem-, dec- | den-[18] | decim-[19] | deca- | decakis- | dasham- | |
11 | undec- | unden-[20] | undecim-[21] | hendeca- | undecakis- | ekadasham- | |
12 | duodec- | duoden- | duodecim- | dodeca- | dodecakis- | dvadasham- | |
13 | tredec-, etc. | triskaideca- | tridecakis- | trayodasham- | |||
14 | quattuordec- | tetrakaideca- | tetradecakis- | chaturdasham- | |||
15 | quinquadec-, quindec-[22] | quinden-[23] | quindecim-[24] | pentakaideca- | pentadecakis- | panchadasham- | |
16 | sedec-,[25] sexdec- (but hexadecimal[12]) |
hexakaideca-, hexadeca- |
hexadecakis- | ||||
17 | septendec- | heptakaideca- | |||||
18 | octodec- | octakaideca- | |||||
19 | novemdec-, novendec- |
enneakaideca- | |||||
20* | viginti- | vicen-, vigen- |
vigesim- | icosa-, icosi-, eicosa- |
eicosakis- | ||
30 | triginti- | tricen- | trigesim- | triaconta- | |||
40 | quadraginti- | quadragen- | quadragesim- | tetraconta- | |||
50 | quinquaginti-[26] | quinquagen-[27] | quinquagesim-[28] | pentaconta- | |||
60 | sexaginti- | sexagen- | sexagesim- | hexaconta- | |||
70 | septuaginti- | septuagen- | septuagesima- | heptaconta- | |||
80 | octogint- | octogen- | octogesim- | octaconta- | |||
90 | nonagint- | nonagen- | nonagesim- | enneaconta- | |||
100 | centi- | centen- | centesim- | hecato-, hecatont- |
|||
200 | ducenti- | ducen-, bicenten- |
diacosioi- | ||||
300 | trecenti- | trecen-, tercenten-, tricenten- |
triacosioi- | ||||
400 | quadringenti- | quadringen-, quatercenten-, quadricenten- |
tetracosioi- | ||||
500 | quingent-,[29] quincent-[30] |
quingen-,[31] quingenten-, quincenten- |
quingentesim-[32] | pentacosioi- | |||
600 | sescenti-, sexcenti- | sescen-, sexcenten- |
hexacosioi- | ||||
700 | septingenti- | septingen-, septingenten-, septcenten- |
heptacosioi- | ||||
800 | octingenti- | octingen-, octingenten-, octocenten- |
octacosioi- | ||||
900 | nongenti- | nongen- | enneacosioi- | ||||
1000 | milli- | millen- | millesim- | chili- | |||
10,000 | — | myria- |
For Latinate 21, 22, etc., the pattern for the teens is followed: unvigint-, duovigint-, etc. For higher numbers, the reverse order may be found: 36 trigintisex-. For Greek, the word kai ‘and’ is used: icosikaihena-, icosikaidi-, pentacontakaipenta-, etc. In these and in the tens, the kai is frequently omitted, though not in triskaidekaphobia. (The inconsistency of triskaidekaphobia with the table above is explained by the fact that the Greek letter kappa can be transliterated either «c» or «k».) Sesqui- is used in Latin combinations for 1½ (sesquicentennial) and quasqui- for 1¼; multi- and poly- are used in Latin and Greek combinations for ‘many’ (multilateral, polygon). In chemical nomenclature, 11 is generally mixed Latin-Greek undec-, and the 20s are based on -cos-, for example tricos- for 23.
Occurrences
- Numerical prefixes occur in 19th-, 20th-, and 21st-century coinages, mainly the terms that are used in relation to or that are the names of technological innovations, such as hexadecimal and bicycle. Also used in medals that commemorate an anniversary, such as sesquicentennial (150 years), centennial (100 years), or bicentennial (200 years).
- They occur in constructed words such as systematic names. Systematic names use numerical prefixes derived from Greek, with one principal exception, nona-.
- They occur as prefixes to units of measure in the SI system. See SI prefix.
- They occur as prefixes to units of computer data. See binary prefixes.
- They occur in words in the same languages as the original number word, and their respective derivatives. (Strictly speaking, some of the common citations of these occurrences are not in fact occurrences of the prefixes. For example: millennium is not formed from milli-, but is in fact derived from the same shared Latin root – mille.)
Because of the common inheritance of Greek and Latin roots across the Romance languages, the import of much of that derived vocabulary into non-Romance languages (such as into English via Norman French), and the borrowing of 19th and 20th century coinages into many languages, the same numerical prefixes occur in many languages.
Numerical prefixes are not restricted to denoting integers. Some of the SI prefixes denote negative powers of 10, i.e. division by a multiple of 10 rather than multiplication by it. Several common-use numerical prefixes denote vulgar fractions.
Words comprising non-technical numerical prefixes are usually not hyphenated. This is not an absolute rule, however, and there are exceptions. (For example: quarter-deck occurs in addition to quarterdeck.) There are no exceptions for words comprising technical numerical prefixes, though. Systematic names and words comprising SI prefixes and binary prefixes are not hyphenated, by definition.
Nonetheless, for clarity, dictionaries list numerical prefixes in hyphenated form, to distinguish the prefixes from words with the same spellings (such as duo- and duo).
Several technical numerical prefixes are not derived from words for numbers. (mega- is not derived from a number word, for example.) Similarly, some are only derived from words for numbers inasmuch as they are word play. (Peta- is word play on penta-, for example. See its etymology for details.)
The root language of a numerical prefix need not be related to the root language of the word that it prefixes. Some words comprising numerical prefixes are hybrid words.
In certain classes of systematic names, there are a few other exceptions to the rule of using Greek-derived numerical prefixes. The IUPAC nomenclature of organic chemistry, for example, uses the numerical prefixes derived from Greek, except for the prefix for 9 (as mentioned) and the prefixes from 1 to 4 (meth-, eth-, prop-, and but-), which are not derived from words for numbers. These prefixes were invented by the IUPAC, deriving them from the pre-existing names for several compounds that it was intended to preserve in the new system: methane (via methyl which is in turn from the Greek word for wine), ethane (from ethyl coined by Justus von Liebig in 1834), propane (from propionic which is in turn from pro- and the Greek word for fat), and butane (from butyl which is in turn from butyric which is in turn from the Latin word for butter).
Cardinal Latin series
- unicycle, bicycle, tricycle, quadricycle
- uniped, biped, triped, quadruped,[5] centipede, millipede
Distributive Latin series
- unary, binary, trinary, quaternary, quinary, senary, … vicenary … centenary …
- quinquagenarian, sexagenarian, septuagenarian, octogenarian, nonagenarian, centenarian, … millenarian
Greek series
- pentane, hexane, heptane, octane, nonane,[33] decane, … eicosane
- monopod, bipod, tripod, tetrapod, hexapod, octopod, decapod
- monad, dyad, triad, tetrad, pentad, hexad, heptad, ogdoad, ennead, decad(e), … triacontad, … hecatontad, chiliad, myriad
Notes
- ^ See Mendeleev’s predicted elements for the most common use of Sanskrit numerical prefixes.
- ^ Demi- is actually French, from Latin dimidium.
- ^ Sim- (sin-) is found in the words simplex, simple, and single, singular.
- ^ a b The Greek prefix for ‘one’ is normally mono- ‘alone’. Hen- ‘one’ is only used in compound numbers (hendeka- 11) and a few words like henad (= monad). Haplo- ‘single’ is found is a few technical words such as haploid.
- ^ a b The forms related to quattuor «four», like the previous three integers, are irregular in Latin and other Indo-European languages, and the details, while presumably a form of assimilation, are unclear. Andrew Sihler, New comparative grammar of Greek and Latin, p. 412, and Carl Darling Buck, Comparative grammar of Greek and Latin. In particular, quadri- has the alternate form quadru- before p in some Latin words, such as quadruple.
- ^ «quăter». http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DQ%3Aentry+group%3D5%3Aentry%3Dquater. Retrieved 2011-05-14.
- ^ «quăterni». http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DQ%3Aentry+group%3D5%3Aentry%3Dquaterni. Retrieved 2011-05-14.
- ^ «quartus». http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aentry%3Dquartus. Retrieved 2011-05-14.
- ^ «quinque». http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DQ%3Aentry+group%3D7%3Aentry%3Dquinque1. Retrieved 2011-05-14.
- ^ «quīni». http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DQ%3Aentry+group%3D7%3Aentry%3Dquini. Retrieved 2011-05-14.
- ^ «quintus». http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aentry%3Dquintus1. Retrieved 2011-05-14.
- ^ a b Sometimes Greek hexa- is used in Latin compounds, such as hexadecimal, due to taboo avoidance with the English word sex.
- ^ «sēni». http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aentry%3Dseni. Retrieved 2011-05-14.
- ^ «sextus». http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aentry%3Dsextus1. Retrieved 2011-05-14.
- ^ «septēni». http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aentry%3Dsepteni. Retrieved 2011-05-14.
- ^ «octōni». http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aentry%3Doctoni. Retrieved 2011-05-14.
- ^ «octāvus». http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aentry%3Doctavus. Retrieved 2011-05-14.
- ^ «dēni». http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aentry%3Ddeni. Retrieved 2011-05-14.
- ^ «dĕcĭmus». http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aentry%3Ddecimus1. Retrieved 2011-05-14.
- ^ «undēni». http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DU%3Aentry+group%3D4%3Aentry%3Dundeni. Retrieved 2011-05-14.
- ^ «undĕcĭmus». http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aentry%3Dundecimus. Retrieved 2011-05-14.
- ^ «quindĕcim». http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DQ%3Aentry+group%3D7%3Aentry%3Dquindecim. Retrieved 2011-05-14.
- ^ «quindēni». http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DQ%3Aentry+group%3D7%3Aentry%3Dquindeni. Retrieved 2011-05-14.
- ^ «quindĕcĭmus». http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DQ%3Aentry+group%3D7%3Aentry%3Dquindecimus. Retrieved 2011-05-14.
- ^ «sēdĕcim». http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aentry%3Dsedecim. Retrieved 2011-05-14.
- ^ «quinquāginta». http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DQ%3Aentry+group%3D7%3Aentry%3Dquinquaginta. Retrieved 2011-05-14.
- ^ «quinquāgēni». http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DQ%3Aentry+group%3D7%3Aentry%3Dquinquageni. Retrieved 2011-05-14.
- ^ «quinquāgēsĭmus». http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DQ%3Aentry+group%3D7%3Aentry%3Dquinquagesimus. Retrieved 2011-05-14.
- ^ «quingenti». http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DQ%3Aentry+group%3D7%3Aentry%3Dquingenti. Retrieved 2011-05-14.
- ^ «quincenti». http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DQ%3Aentry+group%3D7%3Aentry%3Dquincenti. Retrieved 2011-05-14.
- ^ «quingēni». http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DQ%3Aentry+group%3D7%3Aentry%3Dquingeni. Retrieved 2011-05-14.
- ^ «quingentēsĭmus». http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DQ%3Aentry+group%3D7%3Aentry%3Dquingentesimus. Retrieved 2011-05-14.
- ^ In organic chemistry, the prefix for 9 is Latin rather than Greek
References
- Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition
- Andrew L. Sihler, A new comparative grammar of Greek and Latin
- Carl Darling Buck, Comparative comparative grammar of Greek and Latin
Further reading
- Stephen Chrisomalis. «Numerical Adjectives, Greek and Latin Number Prefixes». The Phrontistery. http://phrontistery.info/numbers.html.