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Your Roots2Words Affix of the Week is NEO-:
NEO- is a prefix meaning new, recent, or modern.
(Prefixes appear at the beginning of words)
**EXAMPLES**
neologism (noun) – a newly coined word or phrase
BREAKDOWN: NEO- (new) + LOG- (word) + -ISM (practice or state)
neonatal (noun) – of or pertaining to the period of time immediately following birth
BREAKDOWN: NEO- (new) + NAT- (birth) + -AL (pertaining to)
— a neonate is a newborn child
neophilia (noun) – love of new things
BREAKDOWN: NEO- (new) + -PHILIA (love of)
neophyte (noun) – a beginner or novice; one who is new to a subject, skill, or belief
BREAKDOWN: NEO- (new) + -PHYTE (plant; that which grows)
neoteny (noun) – retention of juvenile characteristics in adult life
BREAKDOWN: NEO- (new) + TEN- (hold or extend) + -Y (act or state)
Neotropics (noun) – the warmer equatorial portions of North, Central and South America; the tropics of the New World.
BREAKDOWN: NEO- (new) + TROP- (turn or change) + -IC (pertaining to) + -S (plural)
**ROOT RELATIONSHIPS**
The prefix NEO– is related to the root NOV-, which also means new in words like innovate, novelty, and renovation.
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Mike Bergin