prefijo
/pɾeˈfixo/masculine
The Spanish word for 'prefix' is prefijo.
A prefijo is a morpheme placed at the beginning of a word. For example, Sub- is a common prefix in Spanish meaning 'under' or 'below' and Des- is used to express the reversal or negation of an action. Additionally, extra- is frequently used in the construction of compound words.
Meaning: morpheme at the beginning of a word (noun)
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
The plural form of the noun prefijo is prefijos. If you wish to describe the action of adding a prefix, use the verb prefijar.
How do you pronounce it?
/pɾeˈfixo/
Did you know?
- In informal Spanish, the prefijo re- acts as an intensifier to mean 'extremely' or 'very', such as saying rebueno instead of 'very good'.
- Beyond linguistics, the verb prefijar is commonly used in daily life to describe the act of setting a price or a date in advance.
- While English prefixes rarely affect the grammatical gender of a word, some Spanish prefijos can actually change the gender of the base noun they are attached to.
Examples in context
- En alemán hay más de noventa verbos con el prefijo "ent-".In German, there are over ninety verbs with the prefix "ent-".This sentence shows how to use the word prefijo when discussing linguistic components.Tatoeba #7951518 by Seael, translation #7951516 by AlanF_US
- desaparecerTo disappear
- extraordinarioExtraordinary
- extraterrestreExtraterrestrial
- El prefijo "des-" indica negación.The prefix "des-" indicates negation.
- No entiendo el significado de este prefijo.I do not understand the meaning of this prefix.
Example conversation
Two students are studying grammar in the library.
- SofíaMateo, no entiendo este prefijo.Mateo, I don't understand this prefix.
- MateoEs sencillo, indica que algo es opuesto.It's simple, it indicates that something is opposite.
- SofíaAh, entonces es como el prefijo "des-".Ah, so it's like the prefix "des-".
- MateoExactamente, Sofía, lo has entendido.Exactly, Sofía, you've got it.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “prefix” translations and entries prefijo, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
