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in-¹

Where it comes from

PIE word

*h₁én

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₁én

Proto-Germanic *in

Proto-West Germanic *in

Old English in

Old English in-

Middle English in-

English in-

From Middle English in-, from Old English in- (“in, into”, prefix), from Proto-Germanic *in, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁én. More at in.

prefix i- · im- · en-

  1. morpheme in, into, towards, within. inhold, inmove, intake, inthrill
  2. morpheme Inward (direction) inbeat
  3. morpheme Within (position) inbreed

    Similar: intra-, en-, em-, im-, end-, endo-, ento-

Opposite: out-, ex-, exo-, ecto-

in-²

Where it comes from

From Middle English in-, borrowed (in words of Latinate origin) from Latin in-, from Latin in, from Proto-Indo-European *en (cognate to Germanic in-, above). Often borrowed from French in- (e.g. incise, incite, incline, indication), or as French en-, originally from Latin in.

prefix

  1. morpheme in, into il- before l, e.g. illusion im- before b, m, or p, e.g. imperil ir- before r, e.g. irrigate
  2. morpheme Into imband
  3. morpheme Doing; forming verbs. inblind
  4. morpheme Having, possessing imbannered

Opposite: out-, ex-, exo-, ecto-

in-³

Where it comes from

PIE word

*né

From Middle English in-, borrowed (in words of latinate origin) from Latin in- (“not”). Sometimes the Latin word has passed through French before reaching English (e.g. incapable, incertainty, inclement, incompatible). Doublet of un-.

prefix

  1. idiomatic, morpheme Used with certain words to reverse their meaning. ig- before n, e.g. ignoble il- before l, e.g. illegal im- before b, m, or p, e.g. improper ir- before r, e.g. irresistible
  2. idiomatic, morpheme Added to adjectives to mean not. inedible

    Similar: a-, an-, dys-, i-, il-, im-, ir-, mal-, non-, un-

  3. idiomatic, morpheme Added to nouns to mean lacking or without. incredulity
  4. idiomatic, morpheme Cannot, unable. inannihilable

Thesaurus

prefix

Opposite: out-, ex-, exo-, ecto-

prefix

Opposite: out-, ex-, exo-, ecto-

Translations

Every language

prefix in, into, towards

Españolendo-, en-, em-, in-, im-, i-
Portuguêsem-, in-
Françaisin- en-
Italianoin-
Ελληνικάεισ- eis-, εν- en-

prefix reversal of meaning

Españolin-
日本語不 fu
Portuguêsin-
Françaisin-
Italianoin-
Ελληνικάα- a-, αν- an-
Русскийне ne
עבריתאִי i, בִּלְתִּי bílti

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Cite this
MLA

"in-." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/in-. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

in-. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/in-

Chicago

"in-." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/in-.

BibTeX
@misc{in_2026,
  title = {in-},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/in-},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}