Prefix

Prefixes come before Suffixes, as a type of item affix. It's not yet known how item modifiers are arranged in Diablo III, so nothing more can yet be said about how prefixes, suffixes, and special modifiers are assigned to items.

Diablo II Affixes

In Diablo II there were various set rules for item modifiers.

• Diablo II Modifiers

Diablo III will not repeat Diablo II's system exactly, but there may be a continuation of some of the rules, as there was from Diablo I to Diablo II.

Diablo II item modifer rules:

• Magical items could have 1 prefix, 1 suffix, or both.
• Rare items could have up to 6 affixes -- 3 prefixes and 3 suffixes -- though most had just 2-4 total affixes.
• Crafted items had a few preset mods, and could roll up to additional 2 prefixes and 2 suffixes, though this varied slightly between recipes. Crafted items also had some Special Modifiers that were never found on magical or rare items.
• Set Items and Unique Items were entirely custom designed, and could have any number of modifiers that didn't necessarily correspond to any of the affixes.

Diablo III Affixes

Nothing has been revealed about the organizing principles of itemization in Diablo III.