| The American Heritage® Book of English Usage. |
A Practical and Authoritative Guide to Contemporary English. 1996.
|
8. Word Formation: Plurals, Possessives, Affixes, and Compounds
|
| § 8. com- |
| Like the element ad-, com- does not create new words in English, but it appears in many familiar words under a variety of spellings. The basic meaning of the prefix com- is “together, with.” It comes from the Latin prefix com-. Before the consonants l and r, Latin com- became col- and cor-, respectively, as we see in our words collaborate and correspond. Before all other consonants except p, b, or m, com- became con-, as in confirm, constitution, and contribute. | 1 |
|
|
|
| The American Heritage® Book of English Usage. Copyright © 1996 by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
|
|
