A prefix is a word particle, an affix to be precise, that is placed before the stem of a word changing the meaning of the latter.
The prefix “dis” would most correctly be defined as having a negative meaning, closer to: remove. However, if one stretches the meaning of this latter word, the prefix in question could be said to mean, also, “apart”. An example would be: “disambiguation”, which means to set apart in meaning two or more things; remove their ambiguity.
