I’m not sure if “aggr-” is a prefix but I can see some words starting with it. like: Aggregate Aggressive Aggravate Aggrieve Aggrandize I’m here to ask if it has some meanings or they are all started with “aggre-” by chance. Answer No, aggr- is not a prefix. Latin had a prepositional prefix ad- that … Read more
The verb prefix en- seems redundant to me. For example a book titled ‘Something’ a book entitled ‘Something’ Are these identical in meaning, or is there some nuance? Answer Sometimes en- is redundant, and sometimes not. Also, redundancy is not always a bad thing. There are fairly large differences in meaning between force(d) and enforce(d), … Read more
I just started to dig into suffixes and prefixes. But I couldn’t understand how do they exactly change the meaning of the word that they are appended. For example re- means again, retake means take again. Inter- means between, but interact means acting in a way that you have an effect on something. Interact has … Read more
Wagner is said to have described Mayerbeer’s operas as follows: (translated into English and originally written in German, probably.) “Meyerbeer … wanted a monstrous, piebald, historico-romantic, diabolico-religious, fanatica-libidinous, sacra-frivolous, mysterio-criminal, autolyco-sentimental dramatic hodgepodge …” I can never even guess what “autolyco-” means. I didn’t find any definition in any dictionary in any language. But this … Read more
Looking up this on English exchange I couldn’t seem to find a single source of truth: Instance 1 – "Prerequisite" in search: "Prerequisite for" vs. "prerequisite to" Instance 2 – "Pre-requisite" in search: Single word for "This task cannot proceed until these other tasks are completed first"? I suppose it’s a bit of a broader … Read more
Most words only have one correct negative prefix out of “in-“, “im-“, and “un-“. Why are both “imbalance” and “unbalance” both grammatically correct (but “inbalance” is not”)? What are differences in meaning and usage of these two opposites of “balance”? Can they be regarded as synonyms of each other? Are there any other examples of … Read more
What’s the correct transcription and pronunciation of the ‘un-‘ prefix in General American English? Cambridge Online dictionary provides the following transcription: /ʌn/ It’s the same in words with this prefix: /ʌnˈdu/. Why do they use the /ʌ/ and not the /ə/ (schwa)? It’s the /ə/ sound that typically occurs in unstressed syllables. Thank you. Answer … Read more
What is the generic name or collective adjective for things associated with wind and wind-generated electricity ? solar, hydro, anemoi? Answer So far as I know there is no term for wind power comparable to hydro for wind power in common use, all discussions I have encountered speak of wind power. However Aeolian (or Eolian … Read more
In his most recent monologue on The Late Show, the comedian host Stephen Colbert, gently mocked a New York Times reporter’s style of writing (watch the excerpt on YouTube) “500 words” she whispered, her silken robe sliding to the floor as the morning sun hit her bedude form. I think that’s how the word “bedude” … Read more
English has prefixes to denote opposition as well as absence. For example: ‘gnostic’ vs ‘agnostic’ (having knowledge vs absence of knowledge) ‘social’ vs ‘asocial’ vs ‘anti social’ (being social, not being social, being against society) However there is a subtle difference between the absence of something and being neutral towards it. For example let;s say … Read more
