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LINGUISTIQUE

 

Débutants

Général

ANGLAIS

 

Glossaire

Nombre

Nombres en quatre langues

Nombres et quantités

LangueIndex

Numération en anglais

Expressions avec des nombres

Faux-amis 1

Numération autres langues

Expressions en maths

Faux-amis 2

Expressions idiomatiques

Expressions business

Préfixes des nombres

Dates, la semaine prochaine …

Expressions en économie

Divers

 

 

 

 

L'ANGLAIS

et les préfixes des nombres

 

*  Comme en français les préfixes sont très utilisés.

Mais plus éloignés du Latin que les français, les Anglo-saxons sont moins familiers avec ceux-ci.

*  Depuis une trentaine d'années se sont développés des ouvrages qui promettent d'améliorer son vocabulaire en anglais.

Ce sont des textes qui s'appuient sur les racines grecques et latines pour étoffer la palette du vocabulaire anglais.

Exemple: sedeo, être assis a donné sedentary, sediment, sedate, sedative, recede, supersede

*   Voici un florilège de mots se rapportant aux nombres:

 

 

 

PRÉFIXES

0,001

mill

a thousandth part of a dollar

0,001

millimetre

one thousandth of a meter

0,01

centimetre

one hundredth of a meter

percent

means one out of every hundred

(prononcez quelque chose comme: "pe sainte" et non père san)

0,125

octoroon

person with one eighth Negro blood

0,5

half-live

Interval of time required for one-half of the atomic nuclei of a radioactive sample to decay (change spontaneously into other nuclear species by emitting particles and energy), or the time required for the number of disintegrations per second of a radioactive material to decrease by one-half.

hemi-

half as in hemisphere

semi-

means one half  as in:

semiannual semiaquatic semiarid semiautomatic semiautonomous semicentennial semicircle semicircular semicolon semicomplete semiconscious semicylindrical  semiformal semiherbaceous semilethal semiliterate semilunar Half-moon shaped; crescentic. semimetamorphosis semimicro semiopaque semioviparous semipermeable  semiplume semirigid semiskilled semiterrestrial semitone semitransparent semitropical semiyearly

semiannual

to receive semiannual payments means be paid every sixth months

semibreve

a note, semibreve = ronde, ancient français: semi-brève.

semicolon

punctuation mark

semi-final

a match just before the final

semiquaver

a note (quaver = croche)

semitone

half a tone in music

Suite en Demi et Sesqui

 

1

annual

a yearbook for example

annuity

a yearly sum

unilateral

unilateral involves only one side

1,5

sesqui-

the Latin prefix means one and a half

sequialteral

One and a half times as great as another; having the ratio of one and a half to one

sesquiduplicate

Having the ratio of two and a half to one, or of five to two.

sesquihora

In medicine, every one and a half hours

sesquipedalian

a sesquipedalian word is 1 ½ feet long

sesquipedalian language uses long and obscure words

Is sesquipedalian itself a sesquipedalian word?

hippopoto-

monstro-

sesquipedalian

a very, very long word

Suite en Demi   et  Sesqui

 

2

bi-

"twoness" is indicated by bi-

biannual

a biannual publication comes out two times (twice) a year (see biennial)

bicuspid

a bicuspid has two points

bicycle

a bicycle has two wheels

biennial

means occurring once every two years (see biannual)

bifocal

with two focuses

bigamy

marriage to two wives, husbands

bikini

brief two-piece swimming costume for women

bilateral

bilateral is two-sided or involves two sides

bilingual

who speaks two language with the same fluency

bimonthly

is ambiguous in sense, meaning either twice a month or every two months; they are best avoided. Same for biweekly, biyearly

bimonthly

every two months

binary

consisting of two

binoculars

instrument with separate eyepiece for each eye

biped

a biped has two feet; human beings are bipeds

biplane

an aeroplane with two sets of wings, one above the other

bisect

to cut into two (usually equal) parts

bivalve

as oysters and clams

duo

a group of two

duplicate

repeated two times

trilingual

who speaks three language with the same fluency

twin

two children of the same mother, born from a single pregnancy

 

3

triangle

a three-sided geometric figure

trifocal

with three focuses

trio

a group of three

triple

to multiply by three; three times as big …

tripled

folded into three layers

triplet

is one of three infants of a single birth

three children born from the same pregnancy

triplicate

repeated three times

tripod

a stand with three feet, three legs

you can place a astronomer's telescope securely on a tripod

trisect

to cut into three (usually equal) parts

 

4

quad

quadrangle

a four-side open space surrounded by buildings

quadr-

"fourness" is indicated by quadr-

quadraphonic

a quadraphonic system transmits sound through four loudspeakers

quadrennial

means occurring every four years

USA president election is a quadrennial event

quadrilateral

a four-sided geometric figure such as a square or rectangle

quadruped

an elephant is a quadruped; most mammals are quadrupeds

quadruple

to quadruple something is to multiply it by four

quadrupled

folded into four layers

quadruplet

is one of four offspring of a single birth

quadruplicate

repeated four times

quartet

a group of four

 

5

pentagon

geometric figure with five angles (grec gonia, angle), or five sides (see all x-gones)

Pentagon

building that houses of the US Department of Defence

pentathlon

competition: swimming, cross-country, riding and running, fencing and pistol-shooting

quintet

a group of five

quintuplicate

repeated five times

6

hexagon

geometric figure with six angles

sextet

a group of six (also sestet in music)

sextuplicate

repeated six times

7

heptagon

geometric figure with seven angles

September

seventh month in the early Roman calendar

septuplicate

repeated seven times

8

octagon

geometric figure with eight angles

octave

a series of eight notes

octet

eight musicians; lines in a poem; bits in data processing

October

eight month in the early Roman calendar

octopus

sea-creature with eight tentacles

octosyllable

a word or a line with eight syllables

octuplicate

repeated eight times

 

10

decade

period of ten years (attention: décennie en français)

decagon

geometric figure with ten angles

Decalogue

another word for Ten Commandments

Decameron

novel by Boccacio told by Florentines whiling away ten days during aplague

December

tenth month in the early Roman calendar

decimal

numbered by tens

deni-

ten folds

15

fornightly

twice a month or every two weeks

50

semicentennial

50th anniversary

70

septuagenarian

who have lived seven decades, who have passed the age of seventy

80

octogenarian

who have lived eight decades, who have passed the age of eighty

90

nonagenarian

who have lived nine decades, who have passed the age of ninety

 

100

cent

a hundredth part of a dollar

centenarian

who have lived hundred years

centennial

centenary

100th anniversary; this year , our city celebrates its centennial

centipede

a wormlike creature, but 100 feet is outrageously exaggerated

a pair of legs on each body segment (see millipede)

century

100 years

150

sesquicentennial

sesquicentenary

150th anniversary; a period of 150 years or occurring every 150 years

200

bicentennial

bicentenary

200th anniversary

300

tricentennial

tercentennial

300th anniversary

 

1000

millennium

a period of 1000 years

combines mille, meaning thousand, with enn-, from Latin annus, year

when the millennium comes is an expression meaning when all will be peace and happiness

it looks as if the millennium will never come

1000

millipede

a wormlike creature, but 1 000 feet is outrageously exaggerated

two pair of legs on each body segment (see centipede)

1500

sesquimellesimus

1500 th

 

last

penultimate

the last but one

infinite

chronic

time and time again

infinite

perennial

something that persists through many years

starvation is still perennial in India

poverty continues to be a perennial problem in the world

infinite

perennially

wife to her husband: why are you perennially angry?

 


 

 

Suite

*       Expressions, bonnes à savoir

*       Anglais pour parler des affaires, du commerce et de la technique

Voir

*       Chinois

*       Débutants

*       DicoCulture

*       DicoMot des maths

*       DicoNombre

*       Étymologie

*       Expressions avec des nombres

*       Expressions utilisées en maths

*       Faux-amis en anglais

*       Glossaire

*       Humour

*       Jeux de lettres et de mots

*       Langue et linguistiqueIndex

*       Lettres

*       Mots d'esprit

*       Murphy

*       Origine français

Site

*       Le dicomoche

Cette page

http://villemin.gerard.free.fr/Langue/Anglnbex.htm