pan-

views updated Jun 11 2018

pan- comb. form of Gr. pâs, n. pân all, used freely in Gr. with adjs. in the sense ‘wholly, completely, of all, by all’, and less freq. with sbs. meaning ‘all’, ‘complete’ (cf. PANACEA, PANCREAS, PANDECT, PANOPLY, etc.); extensively used in later XIX to express the notion of universality in political or religious activities, as Pan-African, Pan-Anglican, Panslavism.

pan-

views updated May 29 2018

pan- (pant(o)-) combining form denoting all; every: hence (in medicine) affecting all parts of an organ or the body; generalized.

pan-

views updated May 29 2018

pan- From the Greek pan, pas, meaning ‘all’, a prefix meaning ‘of universal application’.