anti-

views updated May 11 2018

anti-, before a vowel ant-, before h anth-, repr. Gr. antí, anti- opposite, against, instead of, rel. to OE. and - (as in ALONG, ANSWER), OS, and-, ant-, OHG. ant-, int-, ent-, ON. and-, Goth. and along, above, L. ante (ANTE-), Skr. ánti before, in the presence of, near. Used in many words adopted from Gr. comps. and in words modelled on these and, as a gen. living formative, very freely prefixed to (i) sbs., on the pattern of ANTICHRIST, antipope (xvi; medL. antipāpa), (ii) adjs., the prefix governing the sb. implied, as anti-national, anti-Semitic; (iii) sbs. in attrib. phr., as anti-aircraft (defences), anti-church (politics), anti-slavery (committee).

anti-

views updated May 29 2018

anti- The Greek word anti, meaning ‘against’, used as a prefix meaning ‘against’ (in the sense of opposed to), ‘opposite’, or ‘preventing’.

anti-

views updated May 08 2018

anti- From the Greek anti, meaning ‘against’, a prefix meaning ‘against’ (in the sense of opposed to), ‘opposite’, or ‘preventing’.

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