I. in pronunciations below, | ̷ ̷(ˌ) ̷ ̷ . |anˌtī or |an_tē or |antə̇ (-tə̇ occurring chiefly before consonants ) or |aan- or |ain- prefix
or ant- or anth-
Etymology: anti- from Middle English, from Old French & Latin; Old French, from Latin, against, from Greek, from anti; ant- from Middle English, from Latin, against, from Greek, from anti; anth- from Latin, against, from Greek, from anti — more at ante-
1.
a. : one opposing the claims of : rival : spurious
anti christ
anti king
anti pope
b. : of the same kind but situated opposite, exerting energy in the opposite direction, or pursuing an opposite policy
ant apex
ant arctic
anti cline
anti school
anti volition
c. : one that is opposite in kind to
anti climax
anti hero
anti religion
— anti- before consonants other than h and sometimes ant- before vowels and anth- before h (which is not repeated), but more frequently anti- even before h or a vowel
2.
a. : opposing or hostile to in opinion, sympathy, or practice
anti capitalist
anti democratic
anti romantic
anti slavery
anti union
b. : opposing in effect or activity : inhibiting : preventing : counteracting
ant acid
anth elmintic
anti aging
anti -Comintern
anti enzyme
anti fat
anti fogging
anti -inflationary
anti slip
anti trust
3. : not
anti grammatical
anti logical
4. : serving to prevent, cure, or alleviate (a pathological condition)
anti arthritic
anti spasmodic
5.
a. : opposing or neutralizing another substance
anti body
anti serum
b. : substance that opposes or neutralizes (another substance) ; especially : substance that is an antibody to (a specified antigen)
anti toxin
6. : combating : destroying : defending against
anti aircraft
anti mine
anti tank
7. anti- : trans- 3 — especially in names of chemical structures in which the opposed atoms or groups are attached to carbon-to-nitrogen or nitrogen-to-nitrogen double bonds
sodium anti -benzene-diazoate
— opposed to syn- ; see benzaldoxime
II. prefix
Etymology: Middle French & Medieval Latin, from Latin ante-
: ante- — now little used because of possible confusion with 1 anti-