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Prefix vs Abbreviation - What's the difference?

prefix | abbreviation |

As nouns the difference between prefix and abbreviation

is that prefix is that which is prefixed; especially one or more letters or syllables added to the beginning of a word to modify its meaning; as, pre- in prefix, con- in conjure while abbreviation is the result of shortening or reducing; abridgment.

As a verb prefix

is to determine beforehand; to set in advance.

prefix

English

Alternative forms

* , prefixe (obsolete)

Noun

(prefixes)
  • That which is prefixed; especially one or more letters or syllables added to the beginning of a word to modify its meaning; as, pre-'' in prefix, ''con- in conjure.
  • Usage notes

    * Though much less common, a plural form prefices exists as well, apparently formed by analogy with , and so on.

    Synonyms

    * prefixum (archaic)

    Derived terms

    * prefixal * prefixation

    Verb

    (es)
  • (label) To determine beforehand; to set in advance.
  • *:
  • *:he took the Quene Gueneuer and sayd playnly that he wolde wedde hyr / whyche was his vnkyls wyf and his faders wyf / And soo he made redy for the feest / And a day prefyxt that they shold be wedded / wherfore quene Gweneuer was passyng huey / But she durst not dyscouer hyr herte
  • *, I.40:
  • *:But the danger was, that a man can hardly prefix any certaine limits unto his desire.
  • (label) To put or fix before, or at the beginning of something; to place at the start.
  • See also

    * * (wikipedia)

    References

    abbreviation

    Alternative forms

    *

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The result of shortening or reducing; abridgment.
  • (linguistics) A shortened or contracted form of a word or phrase, used to represent the whole, utilizing omission of letters, and sometimes substitution of letters, or duplication of initial letters to signify plurality, including signs such as, +, =, @.
  • The process of abbreviating.
  • (music) A notation used in music score to denote a direction, as pp or mf.
  • (music) One or more dashes through the stem of a note, dividing it respectively into quavers, semiquavers, demisemiquavers, or hemidemisemiquavers.
  • Any convenient short form used as a substitution for an understood or inferred whole.
  • the phrase "civil rights" is an abbreviation for a whole complex of relationships. - Pres. Truman's comittee on Civil Rights
  • (biology) Loss during evolution of the final stages of the ancestral ontogenetic pattern.
  • (mathematics) Reduction to lower terms, as a fraction.
  • See also

    *

    References

    * * *