Morphemes in “discouragement”
“discouragement” has 3 morphemes: dis- + courage + -ment.
dis
prefix
+
courage
root
+
ment
suffix
Spelling changes when the parts join: the boxes show the letters as written; the morphemes themselves are dis- + courage + -ment.
Each morpheme explained
| Morpheme | Type | Free / bound | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| dis- | derivational prefix | bound | not, apart, away; reverse the action |
| courage | free root | free | a quality of spirit that enables you to face danger or pain without showing fear |
| -ment | derivational suffix | bound | action, result or means of |
How the word is built
courage → discourage → discouragement
Each step adds one affix to the word before it; the root “courage” is where the chain starts.
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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 "discouragement"?
"discouragement" has three morphemes: dis- + courage + -ment.
How do you break "discouragement" into morphemes?
dis- + courage + -ment. The root is "courage"; dis- is a derivational prefix, -ment is a derivational suffix.
What is the root word of "discouragement"?
The root of "discouragement" is "courage", built up as courage → discourage → discouragement.
Is this morphology tool free?
Yes. The Fixie morphological analyzer is free with no signup and runs in your browser.