Morphemes in “afternoon”
“afternoon” has 2 morphemes: after- + noon.
after
prefix
+
noon
root
Spelling changes when the parts join: the boxes show the letters as written; the morphemes themselves are after- + noon.
Each morpheme explained
| Morpheme | Type | Free / bound | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| after- | derivational prefix | bound | later, behind (particle used as a prefix) |
| noon | free root | free | the middle of the day |
How the word is built
noon → afternoon
Each step adds one affix to the word before it; the root “noon” is where the chain starts.
Break any word into morphemes
Prefixes, roots and suffixes with glosses, free and in your browser.
Open the morphological analyzer →Segmentation derived from MorphyNet (Batsuren, Bella & Giunchiglia, 2021; CC BY-SA 3.0, built from Wiktionary), with hand-written affix glosses and root meanings from WordNet. Reviewed for classroom use; tell us if you spot an error.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many morphemes are in "afternoon"?
"afternoon" has two morphemes: after- + noon.
How do you break "afternoon" into morphemes?
after- + noon. The root is "noon"; after- is a derivational prefix.
What is the root word of "afternoon"?
The root of "afternoon" is "noon", built up as noon → afternoon.
Is this morphology tool free?
Yes. The Fixie morphological analyzer is free with no signup and runs in your browser.