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English Dictionary: prefix by the DICT Development Group
4 results for prefix
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
prefix
n
  1. an affix that is added in front of the word
v
  1. attach a prefix to; "prefixed words"
    Antonym(s): suffix
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
   Prefix \Pre*fix"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Prefixed}; p. pr. & vb.
      n. {Prefixing}.] [L. praefixus, p. p. of praefigere to fix or
      fasten before; prae before + figere to fix: cf. F. pr[82]fix
      fixed beforehand, determined, pr[82]fixer to prefix. See
      Fix.]
      1. To put or fix before, or at the beginning of, another
            thing; as, to prefix a syllable to a word, or a condition
            to an agreement.
  
      2. To set or appoint beforehand; to settle or establish
            antecedently. [Obs.] [bd] Prefixed bounds. [b8] --Locke.
  
                     And now he hath to her prefixt a day. --Spenser.

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
   Prefix \Pre"fix\, n. [Cf. F. pr[82]fixe.]
      That which is prefixed; esp., one or more letters or
      syllables combined or united with the beginning of a word to
      modify its signification; as, pre- in prefix, con- in
      conjure.

From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (15Feb98) [foldoc]:
   prefix
  
      1. The standard metric prefixes used in the {Système
      International} (SI) conventions for scientific measurement.
  
      Here are the SI magnifying prefixes, along with the
      corresponding binary interpretations in common use:
  
         prefix abr decimal   binary
  
         yocto-      1000^-8
         zepto-      1000^-7
         atto-         1000^-6
         femto-   f   1000^-5
         pico-   p   1000^-4
         nano-   n   1000^-3
         micro-   *   1000^-2               * Abbreviation: Greek mu
         milli-   m   1000^-1
  
         kilo- k   1000^1   1024^1 = 2^10 = 1,024
         mega- M   1000^2   1024^2 = 2^20 = 1,048,576
         giga- G   1000^3   1024^3 = 2^30 = 1,073,741,824
         tera- T   1000^4   1024^4 = 2^40 = 1,099,511,627,776
         peta-       1000^5   1024^5 = 2^50 = 1,125,899,906,842,624
         exa-         1000^6   1024^6 = 2^60 = 1,152,921,504,606,846,976
         zetta-      1000^7   1024^7 = 2^70 = 1,180,591,620,717,411,303,424
         yotta-      1000^8   1024^8 = 2^80 = 1,208,925,819,614,629,174,706,176
  
      "Femto" and "atto" derive not from Greek but from Danish.
  
      The abbreviated forms of these prefixes are common in
      electronics and physics.
  
      When used with bytes of storage, these prefixes usually denote
      multiplication by powers of 1024 = 2^10 (K, M, and G are
      common in computing).   Thus "MB" stands for megabytes (2^20
      bytes).   This common practice goes against the edicts of the
      {BIPM} who deprecate the use of these prefixes for powers of
      two.   The formal SI prefix for 1000 is lower case "k"; some,
      including this dictionary, use this strictly, reserving upper
      case "K" for multiplication by 1024 (KB is thus "kilobytes").
  
      Also, in data transfer rates the prefixes stand for powers of
      ten so, for example, 28.8 kb/s means 28,800 bits per second.
  
      In speech, the unit is often dropped so one may talk of "a 40K
      salary" (40000 dollars) or "2M of disk space" (2*2^20 bytes).
  
      The accepted pronunciation of the initial G of "giga-" was
      once soft, /ji'ga/ (like "gigantic"), but now the hard
      pronunciation, /gi'ga/, is probably more common.   [Is this
      true of Commonwealth countries?]
  
      Confusing 1000 and 1024 (or other powers of 2 and 10 close in
      magnitude) - for example, describing a memory in units of 500K
      or 524K instead of 512K - is a sure sign of the {marketroid}.
      For example, 3.5" {microfloppies} are often described as
      storing "1.44 MB".   In fact, this is completely specious.   The
      correct size is 1440 KB = 1440 * 1024 = 1474560 bytes.   Alas,
      this point is probably lost on the world forever.
  
      In 1993, hacker Morgan Burke proposed, to general approval on
      {Usenet}, the following additional prefixes: groucho (10^-30),
      harpo (10^-27), harpi (10^27), grouchi (10^30).   This would
      leave the prefixes zeppo-, gummo-, and chico- available for
      future expansion.   Sadly, there is little immediate prospect
      that Mr. Burke's eminently sensible proposal will be ratified.
  
      2. Related to the {prefix notation}.
  
      (2003-05-06)
  
  
No guarantee of accuracy or completeness!
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