caco-

— see cac-

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a combining form meaning "bad," occurring in loanwords from Greek (cacodemon); on this model, used in the formation of compound words (cacogenics).

[ < Gk, comb. form of kakós]

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caco- /ka-kō- or sometimes ka-ko-/

combining form

Denoting bad or incorrect

ORIGIN: Gr kakos bad

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caco-

representing Gr. κακο- combining form of κακός bad, evil, forming many compounds in Greek, some of which, like cacochymy, cacodæmon, cacoethes, cacophony, have reached English through Latin (and French); others have been adapted directly from Greek in modern times (as cacology, cacotrophy); others have been formed on Greek analogies from their elements. Compounds of Greek and Latin, as cacodorous = malodorous, and the medical cacosomnia (sleeping badly) are exceptional. Occasionally caco- is used in looser or casual combination with words of Greek derivation, which may have been modelled on cacodæmon, as in caco-magician, cacotype. It is very freely used in medical terminology to form names of bad states of bodily organs, but most of these are not English in form, e.g. cacogaˈlactia (a condition in which the milk is bad), cacoglossia (putrid state of the tongue), cacomorphia (malformation or deformity), caconychia (morbid state of the nails), cacopharyngia (a putrid condition of the pharynx), cacophthalmia (malignant inflammation of the eyes), cacoplasia (formation of diseased structures from a depraved condition of the system), cacopneumonia, cacorrhachitis (disease of the vertebral column), cacothymia (disordered state of mind), cacotrichia (disease of the hair), etc.