kerato-

American  

especially before a vowel, kerat-, especially before a consonant, cerato-

1. a combining form meaning “horn,” “cornea,” used in the formation of compound words.

   keratogenous.

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kerato- British  

combining form

1. indicating horn or a horny substance

   keratin

   keratogenous

2. indicating the cornea

   keratoplasty

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Usage

What does kerato- mean? Kerato- is a combining form used like a prefix meaning “horn” or “cornea.” The cornea is the transparent front part of the eyeball. It is used in some scientific and medical terms, including in ophthalmology and dermatology. Kerato- comes from the Greek kéras, meaning “horn.” The Latin cousin to kéras is cornū, source of corneus, literally “horn-y.” The term cornea comes from the Latin phrase cornea tēla, meaning "horn-y web,” i.e., "hornlike tissue."Another word related to this Greek root is karat, or carat, which is a unit of weight for gemstones. It ultimately comes from the Greek word for "little horn."What are variants of kerato-?When combined with words or word elements that begin with a vowel, kerato- becomes kerat-, as in keratin. Kerato- and kerat- can also be spelled with an initial c-, becoming cerato- or cerat-, as in keratoid or ceratoid. Variants spelled with c- are pronounced with a soft c sound, e.g., [ ser-uh-toid ]. Learn more at our Words That Use articles for the forms.

Etymology

Origin of kerato-

From Greek kerāto-, combining form of kéras; akin to Latin cornū “horn”; see cornu, horn