Vocabulary Building through Root Words

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Vocabulary Building through Root Words

• English 208

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Why study roots?

• Words did not just happen. They grew. And if
  you learn how the grewwhat original roots they
  came fromyoull find it easier to recall its
  meaning or figure out what a word means without a
  dictionary or out of context.
• The book we will be using makes no distinction
  between Greek and Latin roots because the
  language source is not important applying the
  roots to vocabulary development is.
• Similarly, no distinction will be made between
  roots, prefixes and suffixes because all are
  equal sources of word meaning.

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Did you know . . .
Learning roots is not only the quickest way to
increase your vocabulary, but also the most
entertaining.

• that salary SAL salt originally was the money
  paid to Roman soldiers to buy salt
• that a companion COM with PAN bread was
  originally a person one shared ones bread with
• that malaria MAL bad AER air was so named
  because people thought it was caused by the bad
  air in the swamps
• that a terrier TERR earth was so named because
  it digs in the earth after small animals in
  burrows
• That escape ES out CAP cape originally meant
  to get out of ones cape, leaving it in the hands
  of the pursuer
• That an insect IN in SECT to cut was so named
  because its body is cut into three segments

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And a few more . . .

• that trivia TRI three VIA way in Roman times
  meant the crossroads where three ways met and
  where neighborhood gossips on their way to the
  market often stopped to chat about unimportant
  things
• that preposterous PRE before POST after
  originally meant having the before part where the
  after part should be, like a horse with its tail
  where its head should bein other words, absurd

Bored? Look up words in your dictionary to
uncover other interesting stories as you note the
word roots.
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Where to find word rootsin the dictionary
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(No Transcript)
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Introducing the Roots

• Lesson 1A, AN not, without At the beginning
  of a word, it gives the word a negative
  meaningas in atypical and asymmetrical
• Consider atheist A not THE god, one without a
  God agnostic A not GNOS to know, one who is
  not sure whether there is a God.

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Lesson 2

• AMBI, AMPHI around, bothas in ambiguous AMBI
  around AGERE to drive. Originally ambiguous
  meant to drive around in an uncertain manner
  because there were few roads now it means
  uncertain, orambidextrous AMBI both DEXTR
  right hand, literally means with both right
  hands or able to use both hands with equal ease

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Lesson 3

• ANN, ENN yearas in annuity, a fund that pays
  every year annual, happening every
  yearsemiannual, happening every half
  yearBEWARE of confusing biannual (twice a year)
  and biennial (every two years), which sound alike.

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Lesson 4

• ANTE, ANTI before (before in place or before in
  time)Anteroom before in placeAntedate before
  in timeAntiquity before in time (ancient
  times)Antediluvian ANTE before DILUVIUM
  flood originally meant before the flood (Noah
  and the Ark). Now it means very old.ANTI can
  also mean against or opposite (Lesson 6)

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Vocabulary Work

• Write ten sentences for each weeks lesson
• Usually, five of these sentences must use the
  sentence pattern and must be labeled.
• All must be about the theme of the week.
• It makes sense to write sentences using words
  that you know will be on your test, but this is
  not necessary.
• REMEMBER MANUSCRIPT FORM AND HEADING
• Additionally, visit your favorite dictionary and
  find one other word for two of the weeks root
  words. Show its derivation and definition.

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Lesson 5

• Anthrophuman
• as in anthropology (human ologystudy of), the
  study of humans
• or misanthrope (misto hate human), one who
  hates people
• or philanthropist (philto love human), one
  who loves people
• Notice that the root can appear at the beginning,
  middle, or end of a word.

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Lesson 6

• Antiagainst, opposite
• as in antibiotic or antagonist,
• anticlimax or antithesis
• Notice that antibiotics are substances that are
  against life (they kill germs), but anticlimax
  has nothing to do with being against a climax it
  means the opposite of the climax.

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Lesson 7

• Autoself
• as in automobile (selfmobto move), to move by
  itself
• or automation (selfmatto act), operating by
  itself

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Lesson 8

• Benewell, good
• as in benefit (wellfacto do), to promote well
  being
• or benefactor (wellfacto do), one who does
  something good
• or benediction (welldictto speak), the calling
  for divine blessing
• Notice that benefit, beneficial, beneficence,
  benefactor, and beneficiary are all combinations
  of (wellfacto do). The differences are in the
  suffixes. ial means adj. -or, noun etc

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Lesson 9

• Bi twoInteresting etymology Back in the days
  of sailing ships, according to one story, the
  bread taken on voyages would become moldy. Then
  someone discovered that by baking the bread
  twice, enough moisture could be removed so that
  it remained edible. This bread was called
  biscuit BI two COQUERE to cook.

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Lesson 10

• BIO lifeBIO (life) combined with SYM
  (together) forms SYMBIOSIS, the living together
  of two distinct organisms, usually for the
  benefit of both.

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Lesson 11

• CHRON timeAnachronism means anything out of
  its proper historical time.Shakespeare let
  several anachronisms slip into his playsin
  Julius Caesar, he speaks of a clock striking, but
  they were not invented at the time.

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Lesson 12

• CIRCUM aroundA circumstance CIRCUM around
  STA to stand is literally something standing
  around. Perhaps the circumstance that is
  standing around and keeping you from going to a
  movie is lack of money.

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Lesson 13

• COM, CON, COL, CORtogether, with
• as in companion (conpanbread), which used to
  mean someone to share bread with
• or compress (press together!)
• or composition (conpositto place), to put
  together
• or commiserate (conmiser wretched), to feel
  wretched with someone
• Continued on next slide

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Lesson 13 (continued)

• Did you know that continue comes from the Latin
  word continuare, meaning to join, to unite? That
  is because the root COM often changes the final
  letter to be like the first letter of the
  following root, like colloquial, connect,
  correlate, etc.
• Sometimes it changes just to be easier to
  pronounce, as in consensus (consensto feel), a
  feeling together, general agreement
• Sometimes the final letter is dropped altogether,
  as in coherent, coeducation,or cooperate.

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Lesson 13 (continued)

• This root, and its derivations, can sometimes
  just be used to add emphasis to the subsequent
  root (an intensive).
• As in condone (intensivedonto give), to
  forgive, pardon, overlook
• or compunction (intensivepunct to prick), a
  prick of conscience

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Lesson 13 (continued)

• QuizWhich of these words are intensive, and
  which mean together?
• conclude
• conduct
• confirm
• compassion
• commend
• complete

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Lesson 13 (concluded or completed)

• conclude (togetherclaudereto shut), to bring to
  a close, to come to a decision
• conduct (together ducereto lead), to lead, to
  manage
• confirm (togetherclaudereto shut), to verify,
  to establish, to make firm
• compassion (togetherpatito suffer), sorrow for
  the sufferings of others
• commend (intensivemandareto put in ones
  hands), to put in the care of another
• complete (intensiveplereto fill), to end,
  finish, conclude

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Lesson 14

• CREDto believe
• as in credible, believable
• or credulity, tendency to believe too quickly
• or creed, a formal statement of religious belief
• Notice that incredible (innotto believe) means
  unbelievable discredit (disnotto believe)
  means to not believe, to destroy belief in.

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Lesson 15

• CURto run
• as in precursor (prebeforecur), a forerunner
• or concur (contogethercur), to run together, to
  agree
• or discourse (disapartcur), to run about, a
  lengthy discussion
• Notice that cur changes to cor or cour.

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Lesson 16

• DEMpeople
• as in democracy (demcracto rule), government by
  representative of people
• or pandemic (panalldem), among all the people,
  widespread

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Lesson 17

• DICTto speak
• as in predict (prebeforedict), to speak before,
  to foretell
• or jurisdiction (jurislawdict), the right to
  interpret and apply (speak) the law
• or abdicate (abawaydict), to proclaim away, to
  renounce formally
• Notice again how abdicate has dropped the medial
  t for easier pronunciation

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Lesson 18

• DIS, DI, DIFnot, away, apart
• As in disaster (notasterstar), the stars not in
  a favorable position, a misfortune
• Or distract (aparttractto draw), to draw away
  the attention
• Or divorce (awayverseto turn), turning away in
  different directions, a dissolution of marriage
• Or difficulty (disfaciliseasy ), something not
  easily done, accomplished, comprehended, or
  solved
• Notice that the root most often negates the
  meaning of the rest of the word.

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Lesson 18 (continued)

• For example, disburse (awaybursapurse) means to
  take away from a purse. In Greek, bursa meant
  skin or wineskin, something that held wine. In
  Latin, the word came to mean a purse or pouch,
  something meant to hold valuables. So, disburse
  means to take away from the purse, no longer hold
  the valuables.

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Lesson 19

• EQUequal
• As in equalize, to make equal
• Or equation, a statement in mathematics in which
  two quantities are equal
• Or equate, to represent as equal
• Notice the ize and ate suffixes are used to
  change the function of the root to verbs the
  ion suffix makes it a noun.
• Or equilateral (equlaterside), having equal
  sides

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Lesson 20

• EUgood, well
• as in euphoria, a feeling of well-being
• or euthanasia, (euthandeath), a good death
  painless putting to death for merciful reasons
• or eulogy (eulogspeech), good speech spoken or
  written praise of someone or something

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Lesson 21

• EX,ES, Eout
• as in escape (escapcape), out of ones cape to
  break out of confinement (in Roman times it meant
  literally slipping out of ones cape, which was
  being held by a jailor, to avoid capture)
• or exclaim (exclamto shout), to shout out
• or efface (efacface), to remove the face of to
  wipe out

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Lesson 21 (cont.)

• Notice that out can indicate a direction, as in
  emit, to send out eject, to throw out exodus, a
  way out.
• It can also indicate an intensity (meaning
  completely or fully), as in excavate, to hollow
  out erase, to scrape out expurgate, to clean
  out.
• It might help to think of the latter as
  indicating away from completely.

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Lesson 22

• FIDfaith
• as in confide (conintensivefid), to show faith
  by sharing secrets
• or fidelity, faithfulness or infidelity,
  unfaithfulness
• or perfidious (perthroughfid), decieving
  through a pretense of faith

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Lesson 23

• GENrace, birth, kind
• GEN has several meanings birth, good birth or
  breeding, and race.
• Birth (of people, things, or ideas) progeny
  (proforthgen), children or descendants
• ingenious (iningen), having inborn talent
• hydrogen (hydrwatergen), a gas so called
  because it generates water

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Lesson 23 (continued)

• Good breeding, as in gentleman, a man of good
  birth gentry, people of good birth generous,
  willing to share as would a person of good birth