a-, an- +
(Greek: a prefix meaning: no, absence of, without, lack of, not)
These prefixes are normally used with elements of Greek origin, a- is used before consonants and an- is used before vowels.
It affects the meanings of hundreds of words.
There are too many words that use these prefix elements to list all of them on this site; however, there are significant examples listed in this and the other units where they exist.
asocial
1. Not social; indifferent to social values.
2. Without social meaning or significance.
asoma
Without a complete body; a fetus with only a rudimentary body.
asomatognosia
1. Lack of awareness of the condition of all or part of one’s body.
2. Lack of somatognosis which is a general feeling of the existence of one’s body and of the functioning of the organs.
asomatophyte
A plant in which there is no distinction between body and reproductive cells.
aspermia
Failure of the formation or the emission of semen.
asphyxia
A stopping of the pulse; pathological changes caused by lack of oxygen in respired air, resulting in hypoxia and hypercapnia.
asplenic
A description of the absence of a spleen.
asporous
Having no true spores; applied to microorganisms.
astasia, astatic
Motor incoordination with an inability to stand.
astereognosis: Tactile amnesia
Loss or lack of the ability to understand the form and nature of objects that are touched (stereognosis), a form of tactile agnosia.
asterixis
A lack of or a lapse of posture consisting of momentary loss of a fixed position of the hands or arms followed by a jerking recovery movement that restores the limb to its original position; also known as flapping tremor.
asthenia
Lack or loss of strength and energy; weakness; debility or diminution of the vital forces.
asthenopia
Eye weakness, or strain; often causing headache, ocular discomfort, dimness of vision, etc.
asthenosphere
A zone beneath the earth’s surface that lies beneath the lithosphere and consists of several hundred kilometers of weak material that readily yields to persistent stresses.
astomatous
Having no mouth, as certain ciliates.
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