What do 'instruction prefixes' mean in modern x86 : <p>To get an understanding on why Bulldozer was subpar I've been looking at Agner Fog's excellent microarchitecture book, in it on page 178 under bulldozer it has this paragraph.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Instructions with up to three prefixes can be decoded in one clock cycle. There is a very large penalty for instructions with more than three
  prefixes. Instructions with 4-7 prefixes take 14-15 clock cycles extra
  to decode. Instructions with 8-11 prefixes take 20-22 clock cycles
  extra, and instructions with 12-14 prefixes take 27 - 28 clock cycles
  extra. It is therefore not recommended to make NOP instructions longer
  with more than three prefixes. The prefix count for this rule includes
  operand size, address size, segment, repeat, lock, REX and XOP
  prefixes. A three-bytes VEX prefix counts as one, while a two-bytes
  VEX prefix does not count. Escape codes (0F, 0F38, 0F3A) do not count.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>When I searched for prefixes I was hit with very technical definitions far and away beyond my abilities. Or, suggested that they were limited to 4 per instruction which conflicts with the above extract.</p>

<p>So in simple terms, can someone explain what they are/do and why you might want to tack on up to 14+ onto an instruction instead of breaking it up?</p>
