Prefix · origin · foreign
Means "foreign" or "strange": xenophobia, xenon, xenophile, xenograft, xenobiotic.
Written by Bryan López, English teacher · Updated
Xeno- comes from Greek "xenos" (foreign, strange, unknown) and appears in scientific and social vocabulary. Xenophobia = fear of foreigners; xenophile = someone who loves foreign things; xenon = the "strange" noble gas (difficult to identify when discovered in 1898); xenograft = tissue transplant from another species. Spanish uses the same prefix: xenofobia, xenofilia.
In social science: xenophobia (fear of foreigners), xenophile (love of foreign things). In medicine and biology: xenograft (cross-species transplant), xenobiotic (chemical foreign to the body). In chemistry: xenon (noble gas named for being "strange"). In geology: xenolith (a foreign rock embedded in another). The prefix appears wherever something comes from outside or belongs to another group.
Combines with Greek roots in scientific and social vocabulary:
Pronunciation: /ˈzen.oʊ/ — the x is /z/ at the start of a word in English, not /ks/. Spanish cognates: xenofobia (xenophobia), xenofilia (xenophilia), xenofóbico (xenophobic), xenón (xenon).
xeno-/ˈzen.oʊ/
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Unlike "extra" or "example" where x is /ks/ or /ɡz/, the x in xeno- is /z/ at the start of a word. "Xenon" = /ˈziː.nɒn/, "xenophobia" = /ˌzen.əˈfoʊ.bi.ə/. Predictable pattern: Greek-origin words starting with xen- always use /z/ in English.
A trick to remember it
Xeno- = foreign, strange. Key words: xenophobia (fear of foreigners), xenophile (love of foreign things), xenon (the "strange" noble gas). The x sounds like /z/. Spanish cognates: xenofobia, xenofilia.
Exercise 1 · Form the word
Exercise 2 · Pick the right one
Why is the noble gas called "xenon"?
The prefix xeno- means "foreign" or "strange": xenophobia, xenon, xenophile, xenograft, xenobiotic. In Spanish it usually maps to xeno-.
The prefix xeno- is pronounced /ˈzen.oʊ/. For example, "xenophobia".
"phobia" becomes "xenophobia". It is a typical example of the xeno- prefix.
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