Standard Lemma guide

necro-

prefix · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • UK: /ˈnɛk.ɹəʊ/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

prefix

Meaning 1

Death or dead tissue.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: morpheme

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *neḱ-der. Ancient Greek νεκρός (nekrós)der. English necro- From Ancient Greek νεκρός (nekrós, “dead body”), from the Proto-Indo-European suffixed full-grade *nekro- of *neḱ- (“perish, disappear”); see also Middle Welsh angheu (“death”), Breton ankou, Old Irish éc, Latin noxius (“harmful”), nocēo (“to hurt, harm”), nex (“murder, violent death”) (as opposed to mors), Old Persian 𐎻𐎴𐎰𐎹𐎫𐎹 (vi-n-θ-y-t-y /⁠vi-nathayatiy⁠/, “he injures”), Avestan 𐬥𐬀𐬯𐬌𐬌𐬈𐬌𐬙𐬌 (nasiieiti, “disappears”), 𐬥𐬀𐬯𐬎- (nasu-, “corpse”), Sanskrit नश्यति (naśyati, “disappear, perish”). By surface analysis, necr- + -o-.

Across languages

Translations

11 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Finnish: nekro- — related to death
  • French: nécro- — related to death
  • Galician: necro- — related to death
  • German: nekro- — related to death
  • Italian: necro- — related to death
  • Japanese: 影霊 (kagerei) — related to death
  • Polish: nekro- — related to death
  • Portuguese: necro- — related to death
  • Russian: некро- (nekro-) — related to death
  • Spanish: necro- — related to death
  • Swedish: nekro- — related to death