Anti- - Definitions from Dictionary.com

6 results for: Anti-

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

anti-

a prefix meaning “against,” “opposite of,” “antiparticle of,” used in the formation of compound words (anticline); used freely in combination with elements of any origin (antibody; antifreeze; antiknock; antilepton).

Also, before a vowel, ant-.

[Origin: ME < L < Gk, prefixal use of antí; akin to Skt ánti opposite, L ante, MD ende (> D en and), E an- in answer. Cf. ante-, and

]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Anti-

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

anti- or ant-
pref.

1. Opposite: antimere.
2. Opposing; against: antiapartheid.
3. Counteracting; neutralizing: antacid.
4. Destroying: antiaircraft.
5. Inverse: antilogarithm.
6. Displaying opposite characteristics: antihero.
1. Inverse: antilogarithm.
2. Displaying opposite characteristics: antihero.

[Greek, from anti, opposite; see ant- in Indo-European roots.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
anti-

L. anti- from Gk. anti "against, opposite, instead of," from PIE *anti (see ante). Antisocial is from 1797. Anti-aircraft (adj.) first attested 1914; first record of anti-freeze is 1913 (adj.), 1935 as a noun; anti-matter first attested 1953. Antihistamine first attested 1933. Anti-American first recorded 1793, in ref. to parliamentary policies.

The American Heritage Science Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

anti-
A prefix whose basic meaning is "against." It is used to form adjectives that mean "counteracting" (such as antiseptic, preventing infection). It is also used to form nouns referring to substances that counteract other substances (such as antihistamine, a substance counteracting histamine), and nouns meaning "something that displays opposite, reverse, or inverse characteristics of something else" (such as anticyclone, a storm that circulates in the opposite direction from a cyclone). Before a vowel it becomes ant-, as in antacid.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

American Heritage Stedman's Medical Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

anti- or ant-
pref.