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Neo-
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Neo- is a prefix, derived from Greek that connotes a "new" or recent form of something, or a revival in a modern form.
Neo- appears in its simplest sense of "new" in words such as the following:
- Neapolis, the original Greek name of the "new city" of Naples.
- neologism, meaning a newly-coined word.
- neon, a newly-discovered (1898) noble gas.
- neonate, a newborn child.
- neophyte, a "newly planted" novice in an established field.
- neoteny, retaining infantile characteristics.
In distinguishing between forms that are sections of a continuum, neo- is simply contrasted with palaeo-, thus:
- the neolithic, the "New" Stone Age, is contrasted with the Palaeolithic.
In the history of ideas, "neo-" connotes a conscious revival of a lapsed original, invariably with new characteristics or new emphases, which distinguish the idea or movement from its original. It is understood as an intrinsic element of the reformulation, that an identity or continuity with the older form that is being revived is asserted as an essential part of the new one:
- neo-evangelicalism
- neoliberalism
- Neo-Lutheranism
- Neoclassicism
- neoconservatism
- Neo Hasidism
- neo-Latin
- neo-Nazi
In contemporary culture, neo- may simply lay claim to novelty:
- Neopets
- NeoMail
- Neosapiens, derived from "neo" and "sapiens"