
Affixes: the building blocks of English
Affixes: the building blocks of English



[Greek neos, new.]

The Neolithic period, literally ‘New Stone Age’ (Greek lithos, stone), is the later part of the Stone Age, when ground or polished stone weapons and implements prevailed; a neologism (Greek logos, word) is a newly coined word or expression; a neophyte is a person who is new to a subject, skill, or belief (in Greek, literally ‘newly planted’, from phuton, plant); neoteny (Greek teinein, extend, using neo- in the sense of youth) is the retention of juvenile features in the adult animal; in medicine a neonate (Latin nat-, born) is a newborn child.

An important secondary sense is that of a new or revised form of some movement in the arts, sciences, or politics: neoclassicism is the revival of a classical style or treatment; neo-Darwinism is the modern version of Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection, incorporating the findings of genetics; neo-liberal refers to a modified form of liberalism tending to favour free-market capitalism. Other examples are: neo-fascist, neo-Gothic, neo-Nazi, and neo-paganism.


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