'prefixation' originates from Latin, specifically the word 'praefixatio', where 'prae-' meant 'before' and 'figere' (from which 'fix-' is derived) meant 'to fasten, fix'.

'prefixation' changed from Latin 'praefixatio' (formed from 'prae-' + 'fixare'/'fixus') through Medieval/Neo-Latin use and was adopted into English formation patterns as 'prefix' + '-ation' to yield the modern English 'prefixation'.

Initially it meant 'the act of fastening or fixing before' in a literal Latin sense, but over time it evolved into the linguistic meaning 'the act of attaching a morpheme (a prefix) to the front of a word'.