Ab-

Roots with similar meanings:

• ab-, a-, abs-, au- meaning “away from”
• ap-, apo- meaning “away from, separate, at the farthest point”
• de- meaning “down, away from, removing”

Roots with opposite meanings:

• ad-, a-, ac-, af-, ag-, al-, am-, an-, ap-, ar-, as-, at- meaning “movement to or toward; in addition to”
• pet- meaning “strive toward”

Roots that could be confused:

• ad- meaning “toward”
• a- meaning “away from” in front of stems that begin with “b”

Notes: ab- and ad- are easily confused. Either root can be shortened to a-, worsening the confusion.

Derived English Words

Commonly encountered words are in bold.

abduction – the act of forcibly taking someone away.

abduct – to forcibly take someone away.

abductor – a person or thing that abducts.

abducens – a cranial nerve involved in eye movement, related to abduction of the eye.

aberrant – deviating from the norm.

aberrancy – the state or condition of being aberrant.

aberration – a departure from what is normal or expected.

abhorrent – causing disgust or loathing.

abnormal – deviating from the normal or usual.

abrasion – the process of scraping or wearing something away.

abrade – to wear down or scrape away by friction.

abscess – a swollen area containing pus.

ablation – the removal of material, often by surgery or physical means.

abscission – the natural detachment of parts of a plant, like leaves or fruit.

abscond – to leave hurriedly and secretly to avoid detection.

abrupt – sudden or unexpected.

abapical – opposite to the apex or tip.

aboral – situated opposite to or away from the mouth.

abaxial – situated away from the axis of an organ or structure.

absolution – formal release from guilt or punishment.

abstraction – the process of considering something independently of its associations.

abstemious – characterized by moderation or self-restraint.

absurd – wildly unreasonable or illogical.

abjuration – a formal rejection of something.

abolition – the act of formally ending a system, practice, or institution.

abolish – to formally end or do away with.

abdication – the act of renouncing a throne or position.

abrogate – to repeal or do away with a law or agreement.

abort – to bring a premature end to something.

abject – extremely bad, unpleasant, or degrading.

aboriginal – relating to the original inhabitants of a place.

absorb – to take in a substance, information, or energy.

ablative – a grammatical case expressing removal or separation.

Other Uses

chromatic aberration – An optical phenomenon where a lens fails to focus all colors to the same convergence point. This causes a distortion where edges of objects may appear fringed with color, typically red, blue, or green, due to differences in light wavelength refraction.

abscission zone – A specialized region in plants, typically located at the base of leaves, flowers, or fruit, where cells weaken to allow natural detachment.

abruptio placenta (placental abruption) – a premature separation of a normally implanted placenta.

atrial ablation – a medical procedure used to treat irregular heart rhythms (arrhythmias), particularly atrial fibrillation. It involves using heat (radiofrequency energy) or cold (cryoablation) to destroy small areas of heart tissue causing the abnormal rhythm.

ab absurdo – From the absurd; used in logic to denote proof by absurdity.

ab aeterno – From eternity; meaning “since the beginning of time.”

ab antiquo – From ancient times.

ab extra – From outside; often used to indicate an external influence.

ab hinc – From this point; referring to time or place.

ab initio – From the beginning.

ab intra – From within.

ab origine – From the origin; meaning “from the very beginning.”

ab ovo – From the egg; referring to starting at the very beginning.

Links

List of Greek and Latin roots in English – Wikipedia

Words Derived from Roots

Greek Alphabet

Other Roots Used in These Words

Root	Meaning
axi-	axis
dic-, dict-	say, speak, proclaim
duc-, duct-	lead
err-	stray
jac-, -ject-	cast, throw
jus-, jur-	law, justice
or-	mouth
ov-	egg
rad-, ras-	scrape, shave
rog-	ask
rump-, rupt-	break
solv-, solut-	loosen, set free
sorb-, sorpt-	suck
surd-	deaf
trah-, tract-	draw, pull