a-

From Ancient Greek ἀ- (a-, “not, without”), from Proto-Hellenic *ə- (“un-, not; without, lacking”), from Proto-Indo-European *n̥- (“not, un-”). Doublet of u-.
Compare an- (ἀν- (an-) immediately preceding a vowel).


femto-

Created in 1962, by the Danish physicist Henning Højgaard Jensen (1918–2001), from the number femten (“fifteen”).


in-

Borrowed from Latin in-. Related to Ancient Greek ἐν- (en-).


in-

Borrowed from Latin in-. Related to Ancient Greek ἀ- (a-).


auto-

autobiografi, autofiktion

autozoom, autopilot

autoskade, autoværksted


tri-

From Latin tri- (“three”) and Ancient Greek τρι- (tri-, “three”).


mega-

From Ancient Greek μέγας (mégas, “great, large, mighty”).

Mia var jo megasød.

2014, Thomas Halling, Mia & Marcus, Lindhardt og Ringhof, →ISBN:

Netop derfor, sagde Wolf, – netop fordi det er så stort, så fandens megastort.

2015, Kjell Eriksson, Natravnen, Klim, →ISBN:

Precisely for that reason, Wolf said, - precisely because it is so large, so damn huge.


hemi-

hemi- + sfære → hemisfære


mono-

From Ancient Greek μόνος (mónos, “alone, singular”).


poly-

From Ancient Greek πολύς (polús, “many, much”), from Proto-Indo-European *polh₁ús (“much, many”).


bio-

bio- (concerning or associated with life)


hetero-

heterosexisme, heteronormativ


homo-

Second sense abstracted from homoseksualitet or homoseksuel.

ægteskab (“marriage”) + homo- → homoægteskab (“same-sex marriage”)

-fobi (“-phobia”) + homo- → homofobi (“homophobia”)


an-

From Ancient Greek ἀ- (a-) (ἀν- (an-) immediately preceding a vowel).


dia-

From Ancient Greek δια- (dia-), from διά (diá, “through, across, by, over”).


for-

From Old Norse for-, from Proto-Germanic *fra-.

for- + skøn (“beautiful”) + -e (infinitive suffix) → forskønne (“beautify”)

for- + sød (“sweet”) + -e → forsøde (“sweeten”)

for- + uren (“unclean”) + -e → forurene (“pollute”)

Makes verbs from adjectives meaning "to cause to be [adjective]".

for- + bore (“drill”) → forbore (“drill a hole for screwing”)

for- + arbejde (“work”) → forarbejde (“preparatory work”)

Denotes initial or preparatory action; pre-.


fore-

Essentially the same word as the adverb/prefix for-. from Old Danish for-, from Old Norse for-, fyrir-, from Middle Low German vor-.

fore- + læse (“to read”) → forelæse (“to lecture”)

fore- + spørge (“to ask”) → forespørge (“to inquire”)

used to indicate that 'something' is being brought forward, presented, or directed at someone

fore- + bygge (“to build”) → forebygge (“to prevent”)

before or ahead in time, meaning, or context


e-

From English e-, abbreviation of electronic.


hyper-

[ˈhyːˀb̥ɐˌ-]

[ˈhyːˀb̥ɐˈ-]

From Ancient Greek ὑπέρ (hupér, “over”).


proto-

From Ancient Greek πρωτο- (prōto-), from πρῶτος (prôtos).


super-

Det er superfint, når hele branchen er samlet på ét sted, selv om jeg ikke kan fordrage Berlin.

2012, C.J. Box, Tre uger endnu, Klim, →ISBN:

It is really nice that the entire trade is gathered in one place, although I despise Berlin.

En supersød pige på alder med mig, som klarer sig godt på holdet.

2012, Rikke Nielsen, Dorte Kvist, Til sidste fløjt, Art People, →ISBN, page 8:

A very nice girl my age, who is doing well on the team.


ortho-

ortodoks


neuro-

Borrowed from Ancient Greek νευρο- (neuro-), combing form of νεῦρον (neûron)


over-

From Proto-Germanic *ubar- (“over-”). Cognate with Dutch over-, German über-, English over-, Swedish över-. More at over.


elektro-

From Latin electrum, from Ancient Greek ἤλεκτρον (ḗlektron).


be-

From Middle Low German be-, from Old Saxon bi-.

hår ("hair") → behåret ("hairy")

hjerte ("heart") → behjertet ("hearty, brave")

Forms adjectives from nouns, with the sense "having noun".

svanger ("pregnant") → besvangre ("impregnate")

rolig ("calm") → berolige ("calm, soothe")

Forms verbs from adjectives, with the sense "making" (adjective); -ify.

tvivle → betvivle ("doubt")

kæmpe → bekæmpe ("fight")

Prepends to verbs, having no effect save making the verb transitive


ultra-

[ˈultˢʁ̥ɑˈ-]

[ˈultˢʁ̥ɑˌ-]

ultralyd, ultraviolet

ultra- (beyond, on the far side of; beyond, outside of)

ultralet, ultrakort, ultramoderne, ultratynd

(informal) ultra- (greater than normal quantity or importance, excessively, to an extreme)


af-

From Old Norse af-. Compare German ab-, Swedish av-.

tabuisere (“to taboo”) -> aftabuisere (“to detaboo”)

klassificere (“classify, make classified (secret)”) -> afklassificere (“declassify, make unclassified”)

militarisere (“militarize”) -> afmilitarisere (“demilitarize”)

mystificere (“mystify”) -> afmystificere (“demystify”)

rive (“rip”) -> afrive (“rip off”)

skrælle (“peel”) -> afskrælle


aller-

Det er det allersørgeligste, jeg nogensinde har hørt.

That is the very saddest thing I have ever heard.

Intensifying prefix for superlatives: very; of them all


van-

From Old Norse van-, from Proto-Germanic *wanaz (“lacking, deficient”). Compare Old Norse vanr (“lacking, wanting”).

der

giving the sense of wrong, bad; mis-, dys-, mal-


sam-

Inherited from Old Norse sam- (“together, con-”).


kontra-

kontra- + intuitiv → kontraintuitiv

kontra- + anke → kontraanke


ekstra-

[ˈɛɡ̊stˢʁ̥ɑ-]

[ɛɡ̊stˢʁ̥ɑˈ-]

From Latin extrā (“outside of, beyond”).


u-

From Old Norse ú-, ó-, from Proto-Germanic *un-, from Proto-Indo-European *n̥-, a prefix use of the particle *né (“not”). Doublet of a-.

in-, un-, non-; (prefix meaning not, reversing the meaning)


gen-

From the Old Norse preposition gegn; compare with igen (“again”) and Norwegian Bokmål gjen-.


tve-

From Old Norse tve-, tví-, from Proto-Germanic *twi-, *twī-.


om-

From Old Norse um (“about, concerning”).

om- + male (“paint”) → ommale (“repaint”)

om- + klassificere (“classify”) → omklassificere (“reclassify”)

om- + bestemme (sig) (“decide”) → ombestemme (sig) (“change one's mind”)


ny-

nygræsk (“Modern Greek”), nysvensk (“Modern Swedish”)

(linguistics) Denotes the modern, currently-spoken form of a periodized language.

nynazisme (“neo-Nazism”), nyaristotelisme (“neo-Aristoteleanism”)

(ideology) Denotes a revived or continued form of a movement.

vasket (“washed”) → nyvasket (“just washed, newly washed”)


kunst-

kunst- + læder (“leather”) → kunstlæder (“artificial leather”)


sviger-

Borrowed from German schwieger- (“-in-law”), extracted from Schwiegermutter (“mother-in-law”), older Schwieger, from Proto-Germanic *swegrō, cognate with Old English sweġer. The word goes back to Proto-Indo-European *sweḱrúh₂ (“mother-in-law”), hence Latin socrus), Ancient Greek ἑκύρα (hekúra), Sanskrit श्वश्रूः (śvaśrū́ḥ). It is further related to *swéḱuros (“father-in-law”) (German Schwäher, Latin socer) and Proto-Indo-European *swēḱurós (“husband's brother”) (German Schwager, hence Danish svoger).

cog

Sanskrit श्वश्रूः (śvaśrū́ḥ)


herre-

Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see herre.

„Han er bare herresød,“ sagde Rikke efter et stykke tid.

2011, Christina Nordstrøm, Kirsten Nordstrøm Hansen, Firkløveret 2 - Rikke stikker af, Gyldendal A/S, →ISBN:

„He is just so sweet,“ Rikke said after some time.

Og fordi du lignede en mand, der kunne trænge til en herrestor bøf.

2014, Nora Roberts, Kates kaerlighed, Förlaget Harlequin AB, →ISBN:

And because you looked like a man who could use a really large steak.


sær-

sær- + aftale (“agreement”) → særaftale (“special agreement”)

sær- + behandling (“treatment”) → særbehandling (“special treatment”)

sær- + syn (“sight”) → særsyn (“rare sight”)

sær- + skrivning (“writing”) → særskrivning (“writing as two words”)


tip-

Formed from tip (“tip, protruding part”), related to English tip.

tipoldefar

great-great-grandfather

tiptipoldemor

great-great-great-grandmother


selv-

Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see selv.

happening automatically, not requiring outside manipulation, self-, auto-

Og de blev da enige med hinanden om at overfalde Gunnar. Thorgeir Starkadsen sagde da, at Gunnar om nogle få dage ville være ene hjemme, den anden skulle da møde ham selvtolvte, og han ville have lige så mange.

2016, Ukendt Ukendt, Islandske sagaer, Lindhardt og Ringhof, →ISBN:

And they then agreed to ambush Gunnar. Thorgeir Starkadsen then said that Gunnar would be home alone in a few days; the other one [Thorgeir Otkelsen] was then to meet him with eleven other men, and he himself would bring the same number.

“Da jeg styred' væk fra Værmlands kyst / og sad selvfemtende i min faders skib / og tænkte på den tur, der vented', / beslutted' jeg, at alt, I sagde, / det ville jeg gøre, smukke Vealtoav. / Dø om så det gælder!

2007, Vagn Lundbye, Det nordiske testamente, Lindhardt og Ringhof, →ISBN, page 46:

"As I steered away from the coast of Värmland / and sat as the fifteenth in my father's ship / and thought of the trip that awaited / I decided, that everything you said, / I would do, beautiful Vealtoav. / Die, if that should be the consequence thereof!

(archaic) forming adverbs from ordinal numbers, with the sense of heading a group of n persons, especially one convened for offensive purposes


hånd-

hånd- + skrive (“write”) → håndskrive (“handwrite”)

hånd- + tryk (“pressure”) → håndtryk (“handshake”)

expresses physical contact or presence of hands

hånd- + lavet (“made”) → håndlavet (“handmade”)

expresses personal or direct involvement


øko-

Both an abbreviation of økologisk and økonomisk.


drømme-

dream, ideal (as the first part of a compound word).


old-

From Middle Low German olt, old, from Proto-Germanic *aldaz. Cognate with English old, Dutch oud, and German alt. The adjective exists in the Scandinavian languages only in the comparative and superlative, cf. ældre, ældst.

oldtid, oldsag

oldengelsk, oldnordisk


sten-

Ultimately an intensifier related to sten (“stone”), as in calling someone "stone-deaf," with parallels in Icelandic such as stein óður (“stone mad”). Compare German sten-, Icelandic stein-.


hunde-

(informal) Intensifies adjectives denoting undesirable states.


skide-

Skidegodt, Egon!

Damn good, Egon! (catchphrase of the character Benny from Olsenbanden)


lorte-

Jeg gad ikke høre på hans lortesange.

I did not want to listen to his shitty songs.

Han boede i et lortehus i udkanten af byen.

He lived in a crappy house in the outskirts of the city.


pisse-

Han er pissesur.

Jeg er pisseligeglad.

De var alle sammen pissegrimme.


skabs-

Combining form of skab (“closet”). Probably abstracted from skabsbøsse (“closeted gay man”). Compare English in the closet.

skabsjøde (“closeted Jew”), skabssocialdemokrat (“closeted social democrat”)


stam-

stam- + celle (“cell”) → stamcelle (“stem cell”)

stam- + far (“father”) → stamfar (“male progenitor”)

stam- + opløsning (“solution (homogeneous mixture)”) → stamopløsning (“a solution that is used as an ingredient in more complex mixtures or which is diluted”)

something that other things come or are derived from

stam- + kunde (“customer”) → stamkunde (“regular customer”)

stam- + publikum (“audience”) → stampublikum (“constant audience, the set of people who attend regularly”)

denoting people that are always present; that are a firm element of a group etc.

stam- + hotel (“hotel”) → stamhotel (“a hotel that someone visits frequently”)

stam- + sofa (“sofa”) → stamsofa (“a sofa that someone ordinarily uses”)


små-

små- + sur (“angry”) → småsur (“peeved, slightly angry”)

små- + fuld (“drunk”) → småfuld (“tipsy”)

små- + spise (“eat”) → småspise (“snack”)

små- + snakke (“chat”) → smånakke (“smalltalk”)

små- + synge (“sing”) → småsynge


yder-

dør (“door”) -> yderdør (“door leading into and out of a building”)

punkt (“point”) -> yderpunkt (“extreme, point as far from the center as possible”)

side (“side”) -> yderside (“outside, outer side”)


bund-

bund- + uretfærdig (“unfair”) → bunduretfærdig (“completely unjust”)

bund- + rådden (“rotten”) → bundrådden (“completely rotten, rotten all the way through”)


oven-

above- (rare besides in fixed expressions)


bonus-

From bonus (“bonus, added benefit”). Introduced in the 1990s to replace the older prefixes sted-, pap-, plastic-, which have a negative sound to them.

(euphemistic) step- (a prefix indicating the individual being referred to is related through the marriage of a parent)


und-

Partly a loan from Middle Low German ent-, unt-, from Proto-Germanic *andi- (cf. German ent-), and partly an abbreviation of Old Norse undan, from Proto-Germanic *undanē (“down under”).

Inseparable verb prefix indicating removing something from the object, from, away from, off.


sted-

Older stif-, from Old Danish stiup-, styp-, stib-, from Old Norse stjúp-, from Proto-Germanic *steupa- (“bereft, step-”), cognate with Swedish styv-, English step-, German stief-. In modern Danish influenced by the noun sted (“place, stead”) (virtually = "instead").


pap-

From pap (“cardboard”), conceived as an artificial material of poor quality, in opposition to the genuine biological relationship. The prefix was introduced in the 1960s to replace the older sted-.

(informal) step- (a prefix indicating the individual being referred to is related through the marriage of a parent)


hammer-

hammerfed, hammerlækker


tvær-

From the adjective tvær in the original sense “transverse, cross”.


krydder-

From Middle Low German krǖder, a plural of krūt (“vegetables, spices”) (hence Danish krudt). Compare also German Kräuter, plural of Kraut, also used to form compounds.


alu-

A shortening of aluminium-, aluminiums-. See aluminium. Attested since 1959.

Indicates that the [noun] is made of aluminium


masse-

massemord, -fremstilling, -hysteri

being done by or to, or affecting, a large number of entities


gennem-

From the Old Norse preposition gegnum. See also gennem.


stor-

trives ("thrive") → stortrives ("thrive greatly)

(works as an intensifer) to a great extent; very much (with verb or adjective as the final part.)


ikke-

in-, un-, non-; (prefix meaning not, reversing the meaning)