alpha privative

Fetched 2026-10-26 (cache).

Datamuse reports no synonyms or antonyms for this word.

Noun

1. {{lb|en|grammar}} The [[prefix]] ''[[a-#English:_not-aka-without-aka-opposite|a-]]'' (or ''[[an-#Etymology_2|an-]]'' when prefixing a root which begins with a vowel) found in some [[English]] [[word]]s of [[Greek]] [[derivation]]. It expresses [[negation]] or [[absence]]. The prefix has cognates in other [[Indo-European]] languages, including {{m|la|in-}} in [[Latin]] and {{m|en|un-}} in [[English]], all traceable back to Proto-Indo-European {{l|ine-pro|*n̥-}}.
2. {{lb|en|grammar}} Either the aforementioned [[privative a]] or the Greek {{l|grc|ἀ-}} itself (from which the English descendant derives).
3. {{lb|en|grammar}} A word formed using such prefixes.

Source: Wiktionary · CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wiktionary dump) · cached copy, not a rewrite.