1027: Re- (remote) Oct 1, 2017

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Though often affixes are used to indicate certain meanings fairly regularly, for a few different reasons, certain ones can often have multiple meanings. Sometimes, as with the prefix 'a-', an affix can become a homograph; in this case, it came from different origins and only appears the same coincidentally. Other times, as with the prefix 're-' it is only due to chance that an affix can take on more than one meaning over time. Here, the prefix can function as an intensifier in words like 'remember' historically, but also can show distance in words like 'remote', or even indicate repetition in words like 'replay', though it should be noted that the latter group includes many newly-formed verbs. Still, it is because of this that 'remove' does not mean 'move again', but indicates movement to somewhere distance. As a side note 'emote' and 'remote' both relate to motion etymologically, but the former is more metaphorical.

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