What do you call the other bit of a word with a prefix

Question

Let's say I have a word like unhappy.

The "un" is called the prefix. What is the other bit called?

Obviously it's the "fix" ... prefix means before the fix right? Right?! I'll show myself out. — aslum, Jul 05 '16 at 16:33
J E Littlewood noted in his Miscellany that the longest word in English, antidisestablishmentarianism, is all 'form' except for the content 'sto' — Henry, Jul 05 '16 at 21:11

score 52 · Accepted Answer · edited Jun 15 '20 at 07:40

52

Root noun [C] (of a word):

The root of a word is its most basic form, to which other parts, such as affixes, can be added: The root of the word "sitting" is "sit".

Cambridge Dictionary

edited Jun 15 '20 at 07:40

Community

answered Jul 05 '16 at 11:17

1

I'm not sure that's exactly answering the question. What is the root of "disintegrating"? (Probably "disintegrat" or "integrat", but not "integrating," right?) – Christopher Creutzig Jul 05 '16 at 19:02
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@ChristopherCreutzig The root word for "disintegrating" is "integrate". Then you add the "dis" prefix and "ing" suffix, apply the rule in English for when you add an "ing" to a word with a silent "e" and you get "disintegrating" – Kevin Jul 05 '16 at 20:57
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@ChristopherCreutzig -teg- (meaning touch, as in the game of tag) – Henry Jul 05 '16 at 21:15
@Henry: -teg- doesn't stand as a word in its own right, so it isn't the root in the sense of the OP's question. The OP isn't asking about the etymological root. Kevin Wells is correct in giving the root of disintegrating as integrate. – Scott Severance Jul 06 '16 at 04:20
@KevinWells: Exactly my point. The question here was, if I read it literally, what to call "integrating," which is what you get after removing the "dis" prefix. – Christopher Creutzig Jul 06 '16 at 05:25

RJFalconer · Answer 2 · 2016-07-06T09:31:56.923

23

Stem noun:

the part of a word that is left after you take off the ending

Although I'd disagree with that and allow "taking off the prefix" too, as per word stem:

a stem is a form to which affixes can be attached

edited Jul 06 '16 at 09:31

answered Jul 05 '16 at 14:02

RJFalconer

score 2 · Answer 3 · edited Jun 15 '20 at 07:40

This may be the math talking, but the word 'base' is commonly used to describe the word that a prefix or suffix can be added to.

the root or stem of a word or a derivative.

the uninflected form of a verb.

-Oxford [2010]

I would like to note that (take this maths) that derivative would not quite work, as it means

a word derived from another or from a root in the same or another language.

3 Answers3