alternative education

Layers of Language:
Practice Reading and Spelling Long Content Area Words

Marcia K. Henry, Ph. D.
Professor Emerita,
San Jose State University


~ Module 13, Session 12~
Handout 1

Latin and Greek Number Prefixes

  1. uni- (Latin) unicorn, unicycle, uniform, universe
    mono- (Greek) monochrome, monocycle, monogram, monopoly, monologue

  2. bi- (Latin) biannual, biceps, bicycle, biennial, bifocals, bipolar
    duo- (Latin) dual, duet, duality, duologue, dualism
    di- (Greek) digraph, diode, dioxide, dipole, dichromatic

  3. tri- (Latin/Greek) triangle, tricycle, tripod, triplicate, triceratops
    ter- (Latin) tertiary, tercet, tercentennial, tercentenary

  4. quadr-, quar-
    (Latin) quadrangle, quart, quartile, quartet, quadruplets
    tetra- (Greek) tetragon, tetracycline, tetragonal, tetrahedron, tetrameter

  5. quint- (Latin) quintet, quintile, quintuple, quintuplets
    pent- (Greek) pentagon, pentadactyl, pentameter, pentarchy, pentathlon

  6. sex- (Latin) sextet, sextant, sextuple, sextuplets
    hex- (Greek) hexagon, hexagonal, hexagram, hexahedron, hexadecimal

  7. sept-(Latin) September, septet, septilateral, septuagenarian
    hept- (Greek) heptagon, heptagonal, heptameter, heptarchy

  8. octa-, octo-
    (Latin/Greek) octopus, octagon, octet, octogenarian, octagonal, October

  9. nona-, nove-
    (Latin) nonagon, nonagonal, nonagenarian, November, novena

  10. dec-, deca-, deci-
    (Latin/Greek) decade, decagon, decathlon, December, decigram,
    decimal, decimate, decimeter

100                cent- (Latin) century, centennial, centenary, centigram, centigrade, centipede
                      hect- (Greek) hectare, hectogram, hectometer

1000               mille- (Latin) millennial, millennium, million, millipede
                       kilo- (Greek) kilobyte, kiloliter, kilowatt, kilogram, kilometer

10,000            myria (Greek) myriad, myriameter

million              mega- (Greek, also means large) megabyte, megameter, megawatt
billion               giga- (Greek) gigabyte, gigacycle, gigahertz, gigameter
trillion               tera- (Greek) terahertz, teramet
quadrillion         peta- (Greek) pentameter
quintillion          exa- (Greek) exameter

Copyright©2004, San José State University