Anti-

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /æntiː/
• US IPA: /æntiː/, /æntaɪ/

Origin

From Ancient Greek ἀντί (anti, "against").

Full definition of anti-

Prefix

1. Against, hostile to.antiabortion
2. Opposite of, reverse.anticlockwise
3. Counteracting, neutralizing.antibacterial
4. Related to antiparticles.antimatter, antiatom

Usage notes

Anti- should not be confused with ante-, which is a prefix of Latin origin meaning before. (However, anti- does exist as a variant spelling of ante- in some borrowed words, such as anticipate and antipasto, but this spelling cannot be used to coin English words.)

Anti- sometimes becomes ant- before words beginning in a vowel.

antacid

Antonyms

• (against, hostile to): pro-

Derived terms