word-forming element forming nouns meaning "rule or government by," from French -cratie or directly from Medieval Latin -cratia, from Greek -kratia "power, might; rule, sway; power over; a power, authority," from kratos "strength," from PIE *kre-tes- "power, strength," suffixed form of root *kar- "hard." The connective -o- has come to be viewed as part of it. Productive in English from c. 1800.

word-forming element generally meaning "outside, external," before vowels ect-, from Latinized form of Greek adverb ektos "outside, out of; free from; exempt" (opposed to entos), used to form compounds in Greek (such as ektomē "a cutting out"); related to Greek ek, ex "out," from PIE *eghs "out" (see ex-).

prefix meaning "original, earliest, primitive," from German ur- "out of, original," from Proto-Germanic *uz- "out," from PIE *ud- "up, out" (see out (adv.)) At first only in words borrowed from German (such as ursprache "hypothetical primitive language"); since mid-20c. a living prefix in English. Compare also Urschleim under protoplasm and Urquell under Pilsner.

word-forming element, in English meaning usually "out of, from," but also "upwards, completely, deprive of, without," and "former;" from Latin ex "out of, from within; from which time, since; according to; in regard to," from PIE *eghs "out" (source also of Gaulish ex-, Old Irish ess-, Old Church Slavonic izu, Russian iz). In some cases also from Greek cognate ex, ek. PIE *eghs had comparative form *eks-tero and superlative *eks-t(e)r-emo-. Often reduced to e- before -b-, -d-, -g-, consonantal -i-, -l-, -m-, -n-, -v- (as in elude, emerge, evaporate, etc.).

word-forming element meaning "eating," from Greek phago- "eating, devouring," from PIE root *bhag- "to share out, apportion; to get a share." As in Phagiphany, the name of the Church festival celebrating the miracle of the fishes and loaves.

word-forming element meaning "not, opposite of, without" (also im-, il-, ir- by assimilation of -n- with following consonant, a tendency which began in later Latin), from Latin in- "not," cognate with Greek an-, Old English un-, all from PIE root *ne- "not."

In Old French and Middle English often en-, but most of these forms have not survived in Modern English, and the few that do (enemy, for instance) no longer are felt as negative. The rule of thumb in English has been to use in- with obviously Latin elements, un- with native or nativized ones.

before vowels log-, word-forming element meaning "speech, word," also "reason," from Greek logos "word, discourse; reason," from PIE root *leg- (1) "to collect, gather," with derivatives meaning "to speak (to 'pick out words')."

word-forming element in words of Greek origin meaning "outer, outside, outer part," used from mid-19c. in scientific words (such as exoskeleton), from Greek exō (adv.) "outside," related to ex (prep.) "out of" (see ex-).

word-forming element meaning "put in or into, bring to a certain state," sometimes intensive, from French assimilation of en- "in, into" (see en- (1)) to following labial stop (-b-, -p-, and often -m-), or from the same development in later Latin in- (to im-). "This rule was not fully established in spelling before the 17th c." [OED], but it is likely the pronunciation shift was in Old French and Middle English and spelling was slow to conform. Also a living prefix in English used to form verbs from adjectives and nouns (embitter, embody). In words such as emancipate, emerge, emit, emotion the e- is a reduced form of Latin ex- (see ex-) before -m-.

word-forming element meaning "highest, topmost, at the extremities," before vowels acr-, from Latinized form of Greek akro- "pertaining to an end, extreme," from akros "at the end, at the top, outermost; consummate, excellent" (from PIE *akri-, from root *ak- "be sharp, rise (out) to a point, pierce").