Greek prefix Amphi and words derived from it

The Prefix AMPHI is the root-word for many words. It means TWO & BOTH.

In the list below, you will find some words made by compounding Amphi with different letters.

There are certain genuine oddities, as No. 14, NO. 11 and No. 16 sounds rather terrible but they are not, as we ourselves have two nostrils and eat both flesh and vegetable foods. No. 13 and No. 15 are beautiful.

AMPHI is a prefix so it should not be used as a suffix.

Words derived from Amphi

1. Amphibians: AMPHI bians (am fib’ ee an) (noun)

A class of vertebrates having characteristics of both fish and reptiles; Ex: frogs, salamanders, etc.

2.Amphibious: AMPHI bious (am fib’ ee us) (adj.)

Capable of living on both land and water

3. Amphibiology : AMPHI biology (am fib i ol’ o ji) (noun).

That branch of zoology which is concerned with animals that live on both land and water.

4. Amphibiotic: AMPHI biotic (am fi bie ot’ ik) (adj.)

Living in water i.e. Aquatic in the early stage, and, on land i.e. terrestrial in adult life

5. Amphibology: AMPHI bology (am fi bol’ o jee) (noun).

Syntactic ambiguity, also called amphiboly or amphibology, is a situation where a sentence may be interpreted in more than one way due to ambiguous sentence structure.

Example: "John saw the man on the mountain with a telescope."

Who has the telescope? John, the man on the mountain, or the mountain?

6. Amphibolous: AMPHI bolous (am fib’ o lus) (adj.)

Amphiboly is a fallacy of relevance that relies on

An ambiguous word or grammatical structure to confuse or mislead an audience.

More broadly, amphiboly may refer to a fallacy that results from a faulty sentence structure of any kind.

Example: "Customers who think our waiters are rude should see the manager."

For complaining about the waiters OR for finding out that the manager is ruder?

7. Amphicarpic: AMPHI carpic (am fi kar’ pik) (adj.)

Producing fruit of two kinds, either in shape or time of ripening.

8. Amphicrania : AMPHI crania (am fi kray’ ni a) (noun).

Pain on both sides of the head

9. Amphibolic: AMPHI bolic (am fi bol’ ik) (adj.)

Uncertain; critical stages in disease

10. Amphilogism : AMPHI logism (am fil’ o jiz um) (noun).

Double talk; ambiguity of speech; equivocation.

11. Amphirhina : AMPHI rhina (am fi rie’ na) (noun).

Vertebrates with double nasal chambers.

12. Amphiscians : AMPHI scians (am fish’ i ans) (noun).

"Inhabitants of the tropics" literally meaning "throwing a shadow both ways" from 'amphi - on both sides' + 'skia – shadow'.

Inhabitants of torrid zones are so called because they are 'people whose shadow is sometimes to the North and sometimes to the South.'

13. Amphitheater: AMPHI theater (am fi thee’ at er) (noun).

Arena theater in which the audience sits around the stage

14. Amphisbaena: AMPHI sbaena (am fis bee’ na) (noun).

A mythological serpent with a head on each end

15. Amphora: AMPH ora (am’ for a) (noun).

A tall ancient Greek or Roman jar or jug with two handles and a narrow neck.

16. Amphivorous: AMPHI vorous (am fiv’ o rus) (adj.)

One who consumes both – animal flesh and vegetable foods.

Amphivorous = Carnivorous + Herbivorous

17. Amphisarca: AMPHI sacra (am fi sar’ ka) (noun).

Fruits that is pulpy on the inside but have a hard rind outside. Example – Melon.

Learn and understand a root word ANTI and plenty of English words derived from it.

This article has been shared by Priti Saraf. Though a CA by profession, teaching is her passion. She suggests this joyful way of building English Grammar and wherein one cam simultaneously learn their practical use as well.