Prefix has meanings in linguistics, mathematics and computer science, and telecommunications.
Linguistics
In linguistics, a prefix is a type of affix that precedes the morphemes to which it can attach. Prefixes are bound morphemes (they cannot occur as independent words).
While most languages employ both prefixes and suffixes, prefixes are crosslinguistically less common. Some languages employ mostly suffixes and almost no prefixes at all.
The use of prefixes has been found to correlate statistically with other linguistic features, such as a verb-object word order and the use of prepositions.
In the Indo-European languages, prefixes are mostly derivational morphemes (inflection is most often marked with suffixes).
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Mathematics and computer science
In the syntax of notations used in mathematics and computer science, prefix is used to describe an operator such as the usual addition sign + that is taken to bind to the variables succeeding them. See operator for more on the placement of operators.
Telephone Prefixes
A telephone prefix is the first three digits of a seven-digit telephone number. It shows which exchange the remaining numbers refer to. For example: abc-defg (with actual numbers) might refer to Anytown while cab-defg could refer to Anycity.
Some places restrict certain prefixes to only fax numbers or for cell phones while in other places the prefixes are all jumbled up.
555 (at least in North America) is an impossible prefix. For this reason, it is often used for phone numbers in television and movies. Failure to do so in the film Bruce Almighty resulted in someone's real phone number being used, eventually leading to a lawsuit.
See also: area code
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