Medical Terminology- terms with negative prefixes

GlobalRPh Medical Terminology Section

Negative Prefixes

---

a-

Without, not, no

apnea (without breathing) Note: When a is used as a prefix it means “without, not, no”; a can also be used as a suffix.

 

an-

Without, not, no

anesthesia (without feeling)

 

ana-

Not,

without anaplasia (without formation or development)

 

anti-

Against

antidote (a drug or other substance that opposes [works against] the action of a poison)

 

contra-

Against

contraceptive (any device or technique that prevents [works against] conception)

 

dis-

Free of, to undo

discharge (to release a substance or object [to free it from its location])

 

im-

Not

impotence (an adult male’s inability [not able] to achieve penile erection)

 

in-

In, inside, within, not

incompetent (not capable)

 

non-

Not

noninvasive (pertaining to a diagnostic or therapeutic technique that does not require the skin to be broken [not invaded] or a cavity or organ to be entered)

---