§133. Exploring Greek Prefixes
Summaries of the type just presented are always a little overwhelming. Let us look for some short-cuts and strategies for learning the list.
Tackle first those prefixes that are obvious. In addition to the five we encountered in §131, you can deal easily with amphi- (“on both sides”) and peri- (“around”), which are quite uncomplicated. For the one, think of amphitheatre and amphibious; for the other, perimeter, periscope, periphery, peripatetic, and periphrasis. The prefix dia– is also fairly straightforward: diameter (“measure across”), diagonal (“through the angle”), diatonic (“through the tones”), diaphragm (“fence across”), and diaphanous (“showing through”). Like its Latin cognate, Greek pro- can mean “before” or “forward”: prophet (“before speaker”), prophecy, prophesy, proscenium, prostate, prophylactic, program, problem (see §137). Though they look much alike, hyper- (“over”) and hypo- (“under”) are easy opposites. English has the hybrids hyperactive (“That kid is hyper!”) and hypertension, plus hyperbole, hyperbola, and hyperthermia (a hot-tub ailment). In contrast, hypo- yields hypodermic, hypothesis, hypochondria, and hypothermia.
In some usages, ana- and cata- are also opposites, meaning “up” and “down.” An anabasis (“going up”) is the opposite of a catabasis (“going down”), but those words are rare and exotic. More common are analysis and catalysis, where -lysis is a “loosening.” Anatomy makes sense as “cutting up.” The force of cata- is apparent in catastrophe (“turning down”), cataclysm (“flooding down”), cataract (“breaking down”), and catalepsy (“seizing down”), but it is less clear in catalogue. Don’t be surprised or discouraged if you have trouble making the semantic connection between certain Greek prefixes and some of their English derivatives.
The Greek prefixes apo- and ec- (ex-) correspond quite closely to their Latin cognates ab- and ex-. The meaning “away from” is clear in apostle or apostolic (verb base “send”), apogee (ἀπο-γη), and apostrophe (originally a rhetorical “turning away”). What is an apotheosis? Something eccentric (ἐκ + κεντρον + -ικος) is “out of centre.” Can you work out the etymological meanings of eclectic, exodus, and ecdysis? The last is the action of the snake slipping out of its skin, or the larva shedding its cocoon. It was H.L. Mencken who used that notion to coin the impeccable Greek form ecdysiast, to describe a strip-tease dancer.
The difference between en- and epi- is basically the difference between in and on (or upon). A condition that is endemic (< δημος) is more ingrained than one that is epidemic—though the latter may be more alarming. Relatively few English words are derived from en-: energy, enema, enthusiasm—originally, a feeling that one had a god (θεος) inside one’s body. There are many more from epi-: epigram, epitaph, epidermis, epiglottis, eponym, eponymous, ephemeral (< ἡμερα, “day”). An eponym is a famous or notorious proper name that has been plac