Numeral prefix

Numeral or number prefixes are prefixes derived from numerals or occasionally other numbers. In English and many other languages, they are used to coin numerous series of words. For example:

• unicycle, bicycle, tricycle (1-cycle, 2-cycle, 3-cycle)
• dyad, triad (2 parts, 3 parts)
• biped, quadruped (2 legs, 4 legs)
• September, October, November, December (month 7, month 8, month 9, month 10)
• decimal, hexadecimal (base-10, base-16)
• septuagenarian, octogenarian (70–79 years old, 80–89 years old)
• centipede, millipede (around 100 legs, around 1000 legs)

In many European languages there are two principal systems, taken from Latin and Greek, each with several subsystems; in addition, Sanskrit occupies a marginal position. There is also an international set of metric prefixes, which are used in the metric system and which for the most part are either distorted from the forms below or not based on actual number words.