Biology Prefixes

What is a Prefix?

A prefix is a letter or series of letters attached to the beginning of a word, word base, or suffix to produce a derivative word with a new meaning. There are many prefixes used by biologists in constructing scientific names and terminology. In general, they are either of Latin or Greek derivation. For example, in the word telophase, the prefix telo-, indicating end or conclusion, is attached to the beginning of the word phase. So telophase is the name of the last phase of meiosis and mitosis. As another example, the prefix bry- refers to moss, so bryology is the study of mosses.

Proper Names Used as Prefixes

It is also common for scientists to use geographic and personal names as prefixes. Examples of geographic prefixes are altaicus (= residing in the Altai Mountains of Central Asia), europaeus (= European), anatoliensis (= occurring in Anatolia). An example of a personal name used as a prefix is rogersii (= of Rogers). It would be pointless to include in this dictionary all of the proper names used as prefixes in the construction of scientific names, but users should consider this possibility when they fail to find a prefix in the dictionary.

Two Spelling Rules:

When a suffix beginning with a consonant is added to a stem or prefix ending with a consonant, a vowel, usually -o-, is added as a connector.

Biological and medical terms of Greek or Latin origin ending in -a regularly drop the -a before a suffix beginning with a vowel:

pleura + -al = pleural
urea + -ic = ureic
lamina + -ectomy = laminectomy


In constructing their terminology, scientists have traditionally used components with the same derivation. That is, there has been a strong tendency to avoid mixing Latin and Greek elements in a single word or name. However, this rule has been relaxed a good bit in recent years.