What’s in a Word?

In many subjects, learning the meaning of new and sometimes complicated terms is
difficult. If you know the meaning of the word parts that make up a word, you will
have no problem defining the word. This assignment is designed to familiarize you
with the many prefixes and suffixes used in Biology. You will complete the three
column chart like the example below. This will be kept in your notebook to be used as
a reference throughout the year. Most of the meanings can be found in your textbook,
but there are some that you may have to look up online, in a dictionary, or from
another source. There will be quizzes on this material throughout the year.

1st column: Write the prefix or suffix

2 column:
nd
Define the prefix or suffix
3rd column: Provide a biological term that contains the word part AND its
definition. Note: If the word part can be a prefix and a suffix, give
an example of each.*

Prefix/ Suffix Meaning Example

bio- Life Biomass – The total mass of living matter within a
given
unit of environmental area.

*Note: Word parts with a hyphen at the end are prefixes. Word parts with a hyphen at the beginning
are suffixes. Word parts that have a hyphen at the beginning and end can serve as a prefix,
suffix or can be in the middle of a word. Also there are sometimes two variations of the word
part, but they have the same meaning

bio- aero- arthro-

a-, an- -gen-, -genesis chloro-
macro- ecto-; ex-, exo- eu-
micro- endo- -kary-
-logy -pod- -lysis
poly- semi- oo-, ov-
anti- auto- -cide
eco- cyt-, -cyto- co-, con-
hetero- meso- di-
homeo-, homo- phago- pseudo-
mono- sym-, syn-, -synthesis
tri- -troph-
uni- un-
amphi- archae-
bi- chromo-
hydro- hyper-
-path- hypo-
photo- iso-
-phyto-, -phyte- -sacchar-
-zoa-, zoo- -therm
Name: Block:
Example (put as much of the definition as you
Prefix/ Suffix Meaning
can)
bio- life; living Biomass – The total mass of living matter within a
given unit of environmental area.
Prefix/ Suffix Meaning Example