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Information about Hepta

A numerical prefix is a prefix that denotes a number, which is usually a multiplier for the thing being prefixed. Numerical prefixes are usually derived from the words for numbers in various languages, most commonly Greek and Latin, although this is not necessarily the case.

Numerical prefixes occur in five contexts:
  • They occur in 19th, 20th and 21st century coinages, mainly the terms that are used in relation to or that are the names of technological innovations, such as hexadecimal and bicycle.
  • They occur in constructed words such as systematic names. Systematic names use numerical prefixes derived from Greek, with one principal exception, nona-.
  • They occur as prefixes to units of measure in the SI system. See SI prefixes.
  • They occur as prefixes to units of computer data. See binary prefixes.
  • They occur in words in the same languages as the original number word, and their respective derivatives. (Strictly speaking, some of the common citations of these occurrences are not in fact occurrences of the prefixes. For example: millennium is not formed from milli-, but is in fact derived from the same shared Latin root – mille.)
Because of the common inheritance of Greek and Latin roots across the Romance languages, the import of much of that derived vocabulary into non-Romance languages (such as into English via Norman French), and the borrowing of 19th and 20th century coinages into many languages, the same numerical prefixes occur in many languages.

Numerical prefixes are not restricted to denoting integers. Some of the SI prefixes denote negative powers of 10, i.e. division by a multiple of 10 rather than multiplication by it. Several common-use numerical prefixes denote vulgar fractions.

Words comprising non-technical numerical prefixes are usually not hyphenated. This is not an absolute rule, however, and there are exceptions. (For example: quarter-deck occurs in addition to quarterdeck.) There are no exceptions for words comprising technical numerical prefixes, though. Systematic names and words comprising SI prefixes and binary prefixes are not hyphenated, by definition.

Nonetheless, for clarity, dictionaries list numerical prefixes in hyphenated form, to distinguish the prefixes from words with the same spellings (such as duo- and duo).

Several technical numerical prefixes are not derived from words for numbers. (mega- is not derived from a number word, for example.) Similarly, some are only derived from words for numbers inasmuch as they are word play. (peta- is word play on penta-, for example. See its etymology for details.)

The root language of a numerical prefix need not be related to the root language of the word that it prefixes. Some words comprising numerical prefixes are hybrid words.

In certain classes of systematic names, there are a few other exceptions to the rule of using Greek-derived numerical prefixes. The IUPAC nomenclature of organic chemistry, for example, uses the numerical prefixes derived from Greek, except for the prefix for 9 (as mentioned) and the prefixes from 1 to 4 (meth-, eth-, prop-, and but-), which are not derived from words for numbers. These prefixes were invented by the IUPAC, deriving them from the pre-existing names for several compounds that it was intended to preserve in the new system: (via which is in turn from the Greek word for wine), (from coined by Justus von Liebig in 1834), (from which is in turn from and the Greek for word for fat), and (from which is in turn from which is in turn from the Latin word for butter).

Table of non-technical numeric prefixes

This also includes the technical numeric prefixes used for systematic names. For tables of other technical numeric prefixes, see SI prefixes and binary prefixes.
Number Derived from number words in[1] English[2]
Greek Latin Old English Sanskrit[3]
¼quarter-
½hemi-semi-/demi-half-
1mono-uni-eka-one-
1½sesqui-one and a half-
2di-duo-/bi-twi-dvi-
3tri-tre-/ter-tri-
4tetra-/tetr-quadri-/quadr-chatur-
5penta-/pent-quinque-/quinqu-panch-
6hexa-/hex-sexa-/sex-[4]shat-
7hepta-/hept-septua-sapta-
8octa-/octo-/oct-[5]ashta-
9ennea-nona-/non-navam-
10deka-/deca-deci-dasham-
11hendeca-undec-ekadasham-
12dodeca-duodec-dvadasham-
13triskaideka-trayodasham-
14chaturdasham-
15pent(a)deca-panchadasham-
16
20icosa-vigen-
100hecto-/hect-centi-
1000chilia-/kilo-milli-sahastram-
10000myria-dashsahastram-

Notes

  • ^  Sometimes the prefixes are cited as though they were the original words themselves. The prefixes derived from Greek are not only in the wrong alphabet, but also differ from the actual corresponding Greek words. See the individual word etymologies for the actual number words.
  • ^  The prefixes in this column are also unbound morphemes.
  • ^  See Mendeleev's predicted elements for the most common use of these numerical prefixes.
  • ^  Greek hexa-/hex- is often used for words for 6 even when Latin sexa-/sex- would be more etymologically appropriate because of the similarity to English “sex”.
  • ^  The distinction between Latin and Greek is blurred in the case of 8. Unlike the other numbers, there was little divergence between Latin and Greek in the words for 8. Whilst octa- is primarily of Greek derivation, octo- and oct- can be considered to be derived from both Greek and Latin.

Further reading

An affix is a morpheme that is attached to a base morpheme such as a root or to a stem, to form a word. Affixes may be derivational, like English -ness and pre-, or inflectional, like English plural -s and past tense -ed.
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Greek}}} 
Writing system: Greek alphabet 
Official status
Official language of:  Greece
 Cyprus
 European Union
recognised as minority language in parts of:
 European Union
 Italy
 Turkey
Regulated by:
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Latin}}} 
Official status
Official language of: Vatican City
Used for official purposes, but not spoken in everyday speech
Regulated by: Opus Fundatum Latinitas
Roman Catholic Church
Language codes
ISO 639-1: la
ISO 639-2: lat
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For the periodical, see .
The 19th Century (also written XIX century) lasted from 1801 through 1900 in the Gregorian calendar. It is often referred to as the "1800s.
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twentieth century of the Common Era began on January 1, 1901 and ended on December 31, 2000, according to the Gregorian calendar. Some historians consider the era from about 1914 to 1991 to be the Short Twentieth Century.
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21st Century is the present century of the Common Era, in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. It began on January 1, 2001 and is due to end December 31, 2100. However, more modern methods of dating begin the century in the year 2000.
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systematic names have been created.

These can be as simple as assigning a prefix and a number to each object (in which case they are a type of numbering scheme), or as complex as encoding the complete structure of the object in the name.
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Si, si, or SI may refer to (all SI unless otherwise stated):

In language:
  • One of two Italian words:
  • sì (accented) for "yes"
  • si

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An SI prefix (also known as a metric prefix) is a name or associated symbol that precedes a unit of measure (or its symbol) to form a decimal multiple or submultiple.
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In computing, binary prefixes can be used to quantify large numbers where powers of two are more useful than powers of ten (such as computer memory sizes). Each successive prefix is multiplied by 1024 (210) rather than the 1000 (103
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Romance languages (sometimes referred to as Romanic languages) are a branch of the Indo-European language family that comprisies all the languages that descend from Latin, the language of the Roman Empire.
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English}}} 
Writing system: Latin (English variant) 
Official status
Official language of: 53 countries
Regulated by: no official regulation
Language codes
ISO 639-1: en
ISO 639-2: eng
ISO 639-3: eng  
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Norman}}} 
Writing system: Latin (French variant)
Language codes
ISO 639-1: none
ISO 639-2: roa
ISO 639-3: nrm  
Areas where the Norman language is strongest include Jersey, Guernsey, the Cotentin and the Pays de Caux.

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A loanword (or loan word) is a word directly taken into one language from another with little or no translation. By contrast, a calque or loan translation is a related concept whereby it is the meaning or idiom that is borrowed rather than the lexical item itself.
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systematic names have been created.

These can be as simple as assigning a prefix and a number to each object (in which case they are a type of numbering scheme), or as complex as encoding the complete structure of the object in the name.
..... Click the link for more information.
An SI prefix (also known as a metric prefix) is a name or associated symbol that precedes a unit of measure (or its symbol) to form a decimal multiple or submultiple.
..... Click the link for more information.
In computing, binary prefixes can be used to quantify large numbers where powers of two are more useful than powers of ten (such as computer memory sizes). Each successive prefix is multiplied by 1024 (210) rather than the 1000 (103
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Word play is a literary and narrative technique in which the nature of the words used themselves become part of the subject of the work. Puns, phonetic mixups such as spoonerisms, obscure words and meanings, clever rhetorical excursions, oddly formed sentences, and telling
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A hybrid word is a word which etymologically has one part derived from one language and another part derived from a different language.

Common hybrids

The most common form of hybrid word in English is one which combines etymologically Latin and Greek parts.
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The IUPAC nomenclature of organic chemistry is a systematic method of naming organic chemical compounds as recommended by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC).
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Justus von Liebig

Justus von Liebig-chemist
Born 12 May 1803(1803--)
Darmstadt, Grand Duchy of Hesse
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systematic names have been created.

These can be as simple as assigning a prefix and a number to each object (in which case they are a type of numbering scheme), or as complex as encoding the complete structure of the object in the name.
..... Click the link for more information.
An SI prefix (also known as a metric prefix) is a name or associated symbol that precedes a unit of measure (or its symbol) to form a decimal multiple or submultiple.
..... Click the link for more information.
In computing, binary prefixes can be used to quantify large numbers where powers of two are more useful than powers of ten (such as computer memory sizes). Each successive prefix is multiplied by 1024 (210) rather than the 1000 (103
..... Click the link for more information.
English}}} 
Writing system: Latin (English variant) 
Official status
Official language of: 53 countries
Regulated by: no official regulation
Language codes
ISO 639-1: en
ISO 639-2: eng
ISO 639-3: eng  
..... Click the link for more information.
Greek}}} 
Writing system: Greek alphabet 
Official status
Official language of:  Greece
 Cyprus
 European Union
recognised as minority language in parts of:
 European Union
 Italy
 Turkey
Regulated by:
..... Click the link for more information.
Latin}}} 
Official status
Official language of: Vatican City
Used for official purposes, but not spoken in everyday speech
Regulated by: Opus Fundatum Latinitas
Roman Catholic Church
Language codes
ISO 639-1: la
ISO 639-2: lat
..... Click the link for more information.
Old English/Anglo-Saxon}}}
Language codes
ISO 639-1: none
ISO 639-2: ang
ISO 639-3: ang Old English (also called Anglo-Saxon[1], Englisc
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Sanskrit}}}  | style="padding-left: 0.5em;" | Writing system: | colspan="2" style="padding-left: 0.5em;" | Devanāgarī and several other Brāhmī-based scripts  ! colspan="3" style="text-align: center; color: black; background-color: lawngreen;"|Official
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In morpheme-based morphology, a morpheme is the smallest linguistic unit that has semantic meaning. In spoken language, morphemes are composed of phonemes (the smallest linguistically distinctive units of sound), and in written language morphemes are composed of graphemes (the
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