Chrysti the Wordsmith > Radio Scripts

Behold the prefix. It may be small but it's mighty, like the tiny bit in a horse's mouth that subltly commands the direction of the whole beast. Consider how the prefix auto steers a whole corral of root words: automobile, autograph, autonomy, autocrat, autopsy, automatic, autobiography.

Auto is a Greek-based prefix that means "self." An automobile is a self-powered machine that is not reliant on animal traction.

An autograph is a signaure written by a celebrity for an admirer. At its heart, the word means "self-written," or "written by one's own hand."

An autobiography is a memoir of one's life, or "bio", "graphically" produced by the self. A self-taught person is an autodidact. Autonomy is the right of self-government -- "nomo" meaning law. An autocrat, etymologically, is a "self-ruler," or one who is guided by his own rules.

Autopsy and autism are also members of this linguistic family, guided as they are by the prefix auto. An autopsy is a post-mortem examination, but literally the word means "seeing for one's self." The o-p-s-y portion of this word, meaning "eye", is related to optical and optician.

Autism is the word for the mental disorder characterised by the experience of being imprisoned in one's interior world. Autism simply means "self-ism."

Radio Script > Auto- Prefix