alpha privative

alpha privative

n.

The prefix a- or an- before vowels, used in Greek and in English words borrowed from Greek to express absence or negation.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

alpha privative

n

(Linguistics) (in Greek grammar) the letter alpha (or an- before vowels) used as a negative or privative prefix. It appears in English words derived from Greek, as in atheist, anaesthetic

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

al′pha priv′ative

n.

the prefix a- or, before a vowel, an-, used in Greek and English to express negation or absence.

[1580–90]

Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

alpha privative - the negative prefix a- or un- prefix - an affix that is added in front of the word

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