Prefixes: a- and an- of English words,
Part 3 of 4.
“anopia” to “asemasia”
a-, an- (Greek: a prefix meaning: no, absence of, without, lack of, not).
These prefixes are normally used with elements of Greek origin, a- is used before consonants and an- is used before vowels. It affects the meanings of hundreds of words.
There are too many words that use these prefix elements to list all of them on this site; however, there are some significant examples listed in this and the other groups provided.
anopia:
Absence of sight; especially, when due to a structured defect in or absence of an eye (or eyes).
anorchism:
Absence of the testes.
anorexia, anorexic:
A lack or loss of appetite for food; no appetite (also, a shortened term for anorexia nervosa).
anorgasmy:
1. Lack of sexual pleasure; inability to achieve orgasm.
2. Failure or lack of experiencing an orgasm.
anorthopia:
Distorted vision in which straight lines appear as curves or angles, and symmetry is incorrectly perceived; without correct vision.
anorthosis:
Sexual impotence.
anosmia, anosphresia:
Loss or absence of the sense of smell.
anosognosia:
Ignorance of the presence of disease.
anotia:
Congenital absence of one or both auricles of the ears.
anoxemia:
Absence of oxygen in arterial blood.
anoxia:
1. Absence or almost complete absence of oxygen from inspired gases, arterial blood, or tissues.
2. Absence or deficiency of oxygen in body tissues.
anuran:
A reference to frogs and toads, all of which have no tail (an- [without] + Greek oura [tail]) and are highly specialized for jumping.
anuria, anuric:
Absence of urine formation.
anypnia:
Sleeplessness.
apancreatic:
Without a pancreas.
aparalytic:
Without paralysis; not causing paralysis.
apathy, apathetic:
1. Lack of emotion.
2. Lack of interest; listless condition; unconcern; indifference.
apellous:
Without skin.
aphagia:
The inability to swallow; failure to eat or swallow because it causes pain.
aphasia:
A defect or loss of expression by speech, writing, or signs, or of comprehending spoken or written language, due to injury or disease of the brain centers.
aphilanthropy:
Lacking any concern or love for mankind.
aphobic:
Without fear; fearless.
aphonia:
A loss of voice due to an organic or functional disorder; voiceless, muteness.
aphosphorosis:
A deficiency of dietary phosphorus in animals, particularly grazing cattle.
aphotesthesia:
Decreased sensitivity of the retina to light caused by excessive exposure to sunlight.
aphotic:
Without light; a reference to an environment or habitat having no sunlight of biologically significant intensity.
aphototaxis, aphototactic:
The absence of a directed response to a light stimulus in a motile organism.
aphototropism, aphototropic:
The absence of an orientation response to light.
aphrasia:
1. The inability to utter or understand words connected in the form of phrases while the ability to understand, single words may be unimpaired; whereas groups of words forming phrases may baffle him/her completely as far as using or understanding them is concerned.
2. Inability to speak, from any cause.
aphydrotaxis, aphydrotactic:
The directed reaction of a motile organism away from moisture.
aphyllous:
No leaves; lacking leaves, as most cacti.
aplacental:
Without a placenta.
aplasia:
1. Complete or partial failure of tissue to grow or develop; arrested development.
2. Defective development or congenital absence of an organ or tissue.
aplastic:
Without the power to grow toward normal, healthy tissue.
apleuria:
Congenital absence of one or more ribs.
apnea, apnoea:
1. Temporary stopping of breathing that occurs in some newborns and in some adults during sleep.
2. Asphyxia.
3. In zoology, a temporary suspension of breathing in hibernating animals.
apneumia:
Congenital absence of the lungs.
apodal, apodia:
Congenital absence of feet.
apraxia:
A loss of the ability to carry out familiar, purposeful movement in the absence of paralysis or other motor or sensory impairments.
aproctia:
Congenital absence or imperformation of the anus.
aprosexia:
The inability to maintain attention.
aprosodia:
The inability to inflect one’s speech with affect or to recognize emotional elements of another’s speech.
aprosody:
Absence, in speech, of the normal pitch, rhythm, and variations in stress.
apsychia:
Loss of consciousness.
apsychognosia:
A lack of awareness of one’s own personality or mental state; used particularly to refer to the alcoholic’s typical lack of awareness of the outside world’s reaction to his drinking.
apsychosis:
Absence of mental functioning and particularly of thinking, as when in a stupor.
apterous:
1. Zoology, having no wings.
2. Botany, having no winglike parts or extensions.
apteryx:
Having no wings, wingless; the kiwi.
aptyalism, aptyalia:
Deficiency or absence of saliva.
apulmonism:
Absence of lungs.
apyrexia, afebrile:
The absence or intermission of fever.
apyrogenic:
Not caused by pus.
arhinia, arrhina:
Congenital absence of the nose.
arrhythmia:
Loss or abnormality of rhythm especially an irregularity of the heartbeat.
aseism, aseismic:
No earthquake; without shaking (as exists with an earthquake).
asemasia, asemia, asymbolia:
Aphasia with the inability to employ or to understand either speech or signs.
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