The World of Words: Vocabulary for College Success ... - eLibrary

Learning Strategy 273Learning StrategyWord Elements: Numbers and MeasuresThe word elements in this chapter carry meanings of number and measurement.A list of the prefixes for the first ten numbers follows. Althoughyou won’t be studying all of them in this chapter, you will find that thislist is a handy reference for textbooks and other reading. English usesthese number prefixes frequently; in fact, we are still making new wordsfrom them.Prefix Meaning Example Word*uni- one unidirectional (in one direction)*mono- one monologue (speech by one person)*bi- two bidirectional (in two directions)*di-, du- two diatomic (made up of two atoms)*tri- three trio (a group of three)quad-, quar- four quarter (a coin that is one-fourth of a dollar)quint-, quin- five quintuplets (five babies born together)sex- six sextet (a musical group of six)sept- seven septuagenarian (a person in his or her seventies)oct- eight octopus (a sea creature with eight arms)nov- nine novena (a prayer offered for nine days)*dec- ten decade (ten years)*You will study these word elements intensively in this chapter.Copyright © Cengage Learning. All Right Reserved.To test your understanding of these prefixes, fill in the blanks with the correctnumbers.a. A duplex is an apartment with __________ floors.b. A trilingual person speaks __________ languages.c. A quadruped is an animal that walks on __________ feet.d. When a mother has quintuplets, __________ children are born.e. Sextuple means to multiply by __________.f. A septennial occurs once every __________ years.Answers are on page 399.