A Practical and Authoritative Guide to Contemporary English. 1996.
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suffix has been added only to nouns and usually indicates a state or condition authorship, kinship, partnership, relationship), the qualities belonging to a class of human beings (craftsmanship, horsemanship, sportsmanship), or rank or office (ambassadorship).
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sub-
The prefix sub- can be traced back to the Latin preposition sub, meaning “under.” Some words beginning with sub- that came into English from Latin include submerge, suburb, and subvert. When sub- is used to form words in English, it can mean “under” (submarine, subsoil, subway), “subordinate” (subcommittee, subplot, subset), or “less than completely” (subhuman, substandard). Sub- can form compounds by combining with verbs as well as with adjectives and nouns, as in subdivide, sublease, and sublet.
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thermo-
The prefix thermo- comes from Greek thermos, meaning “warm, hot.” When used to form words in English, thermo- generally refers to heat, as in thermodynamic, or sometimes to thermoelectricity, as in thermocouple. Most of the words that begin with thermo-, such as thermodynamics, thermoelectricity, thermostat, and thermosphere, have only come into being in the 19th and 20th centuries. Sometimes before a vowel thermo- becomes therm-, as in thermanesthesia, which means “inability to feel hot or cold.”
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trans-
The prefix trans- goes back to the Latin prefix trans-, from the Latin preposition trans, meaning “across, beyond, through.” Many of the most common English words beginning with trans- are derived from Latin words or elements, as in transfer, transfuse, translate, transmit, transpire, and transport. Another large group of words has trans- in combination with English adjectives, as in transatlantic, transcontinental, transoceanic, transpacific, and transpolar, with the meaning “across” or “through” a particular geographic element.
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-ty
The suffix -ty forms nouns from adjectives. The word subtlety, for example, means “the quality or state of being subtle.” Subtlety comes from the Latin noun subtilitas, from the adjective subtilis ("subtle") plus -tas, the ancestor of our suffixes -ty and -ity. Some other words that end in -ty are certainty, cruelty, frailty, loyalty, and royalty. In English the suffix -ity is now more common, as in eccentricity, electricity, technicality, peculiarity, and similarity. The suffixes -ty and -ity can be compared in meaning to the suffix -ness. Whereas -ty and -ity come from Latin, however, -ness comes from Old English.
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un-
There are two prefixes spelled un- in English. Both go back to Old English. One has the basic meaning “not.” Thus unhappy means “not happy.” This un- chiefly attaches to adjectives, as in unable, unclean, unequal, uneven, unripe, and unsafe. It also attaches to adjectives made of participles, as in unfeeling, unflinching, unfinished, and unsaid. Less frequently, this same prefix attaches to nouns: unbelief, unconcern, unrest.
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The other un- is not related, despite its origin in Old English. It forms verbs and expresses removal, reversal, or deprivation: undress, unravel, unnerve.
