magni-

1. a combining form appearing in loanwords from Latin, where it meant “large,” “great”:

   magnify.

Word History and Origins

Origin of magni-¹

< Latin, combining form of magnus

Example Sentences

The Ineos Grenadiers cyclist had seemed poised to become the oldest Giro winner in history - beating the record of Fiorenzo Magni, who was 34 when he won in 1955.

From Washington Times

The oldest Giro winner is Fiorenzo Magni, who was 34 when he won in 1955.

From Washington Times

Fiorenzo Magni was 34 when he won the Giro in 1955.

From Washington Times

But evidence of the potential effects of PVA “are scarce,” said Magni, who co-authored a study that did not find toxic effects associated with the compound in fish embryos and a species of water flea.

From Washington Post

“It is now urgent for the scientific community to focus its attention on these new emerging pollutants,” said Stefano Magni, an assistant professor of ecology in the biosciences department at the University of Milan who has studied the compound’s possible toxicity but was not involved in the study commissioned by Blueland.

From Washington Post

More About Magni-

What does magni- mean?

Magni– is a combining form used like a prefix meaning “large” or “great.” It is occasionally used in a variety of technical and everyday terms.

Magni– comes from Latin magnus, meaning “large.” The Greek cognate of magnus is mégas, meaning “big, large, great,” which gives us the combining form mega–. However, in today’s English, mega– is often used to mean “million,” as in megabyte. To learn more, check out our Words That Use article on mega-.

What are variants of magni-?

When combined with words or word elements that begin with a vowel, magni- becomes magn-, as in magnate, which comes from the Latin equivalent of the form. Want to know more? Read our Words That Use article on magn-.

Examples of magni-

One example of a word you may be familiar with that features magni– is magnitude, which has a variety of meanings, including “great importance or consequence.” Magnitude comes from Latin magnitūdō, which uses the equivalent of magni– in that language.

The magni– part of the word means “large,” as we know, but what does –tude mean? The suffix –tude denotes an abstract noun. Magnitude literally translates to “largeness.”

What are some words that use the combining form magni– (using the equivalent form of magni– in Latin)?

• magnific
• magnificent
• magnify
• magniloquent
• magnisonant

What are some other forms that magni– may be commonly confused with?

• mega-
• megalo-

Break it down!

The suffix –fy means “to make” or “cause to be.” With this in mind, what does magnify literally mean?