latin roots.doc

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Latin Roots, Prefixes, and SuffixesLatin was the language spoken by the ancient Romans. As the Romans conquered most of urope, the

Latin language spread throughout the region. !"er time, the Latin spoken in different areas de"eloped

into separate languages, including #talian, $rench, Spanish, and Portuguese. %hese languages are

considered &sisters,' as they all descended from Latin, their &mother' language.

#n ()** ngland was conquered by +illiam, duke of ormandy, which is in northern $rance. $or se"eral

hundred years after the orman in"asion, $rench was the language of court and polite society in ngland.

#t was during this period that many $rench words were borrowed into nglish. Linguists estimate that

some *)- of our common e"eryday "ocabulary today comes from $rench. %hus many Latin words came

into nglish indirectly through $rench.

any Latin words came into nglish directly, though, too. onks from Rome brought religious "ocabulary

as well as /hristianity to ngland beginning in the *th century. $rom the iddle Ages onward many

scientific, scholarly, and legal terms were borrowed from Latin.

0uring the (1th and (2th centuries, dictionary writers and grammarians generally felt that nglish was an

imperfect language whereas Latin was perfect. #n order to impro"e the language, they deliberately made

up a lot of nglish words from Latin words. $or example, fraternity, from Latin fraternitas, was thought tobe better than the nati"e nglish word brotherhood.

any nglish words and word parts can be traced back to Latin and 3reek. %he following table lists some

common Latin roots.

Latin root Basic meaning Example words

4dict4 to say contradict, dictate, diction, edict, predict

4duc4to lead, bring,

takededuce, produce, reduce

4gress4 to walk digress, progress, transgress

45ect4 to throw e5ect, in5ect, inter5ect, pro5ect, re5ect, sub5ect

4pel4 to dri"e compel, dispel, impel, repel

4pend4 to hang append, depend, impend, pendant, pendulum

4port4 to carry comport, deport, export, import, report, support

4scrib4,

4script4to write

describe, description, prescribe, prescription, subscribe, subscription,

transcribe, transcription

4tract4 to pull, drag, drawattract, contract, detract, extract, protract, retract, traction

4"ert4 to turn con"ert, di"ert, in"ert, re"ert

$rom the example words in the abo"e table, it is easy to see how roots combine with prefixes to form new

words. $or example, the root -tract-, meaning &to pull,' can combine with a number of prefixes,

including de- and re-. 0etract means literally &to pull away' 6de-, &away, off'7 and retract means literally &to

pull back' 6re-, &again, back'7. %he following table gi"es a list of Latin prefixes and their basic meanings.

Latin

prefix Basic meaning Example words

co4 together coauthor, coedit, coheir

de4 away, off8 generally indicates re"ersal or deacti"ate, debone, defrost, decompress, deplane



remo"al in nglish

dis4 not, not any disbelief, discomfort, discredit, disrepair, disrespect

inter4 between, amonginternational, interfaith, intertwine, intercellular,

inter5ect

non4 notnonessential, nonmetallic, nonresident,

non"iolence, nonskid, nonstop

post4 after postdate, postwar, postnasal, postnatal

pre4 beforepreconcei"e, preexist, premeditate, predispose,

prepossess, prepay

re4 again8 back, backward rearrange, rebuild, recall, remake, rerun, rewrite

sub4 under submarine, subsoil, subway, subhuman,

substandard

trans4 across, beyond, through transatlantic, transpolar

+ords and word roots may also combine with suffixes. 9ere are examples of some important nglish

suffixes that come from Latin:

Latin

suffix Basic meaning Example words

4able,

4ible

forms ad5ecti"es and means

&capable or worthy of'likable, flexible

4ation forms nouns from "erbs creation, ci"ili;ation, automation, speculation, information

4fy, 4ifyforms "erbs and means &to make

or cause to become'purify, acidify, humidify

4ment forms nouns from "erbs entertainment, ama;ement, statement, banishment

4ty, 4ity forms nouns from ad5ecti"essubtlety, certainty, cruelty, frailty, loyalty, royalty8 eccentricity,

electricity, peculiarity, similarity, technicality

#t<s All 3reek

%he following table lists some common 3reek roots, rrefixes, and suffixes.

Greek root Basic meaning Example words

4anthrop4 human misanthrope, philanthropy, anthropomorphic

4chron4 time anachronism, chronic, chronicle, synchroni;e, chronometer

4dem4 people democracy, demography, demagogue, endemic, pandemic

4morph4 form amorphous, metamorphic, morphology

4path4 feeling, suffering empathy, sympathy, apathy, apathetic, psychopathic

4pedo4, child, children pediatrician, pedagogue



4ped4

4philo4, 4phil4 ha"ing a strong affinity or lo"e for philanthropy, philharmonic, philosophy

4phon4 sound polyphonic, cacophony, phonetics

%he following table gi"es a list of 3reek prefixes and their basic meanings.

Greek prefix Basic meaning Example words

a4, an4 without achromatic, amoral, atypical, anaerobic

anti4, ant4 opposite8 opposing anticrime, antipollution, antacid

auto4 self, same autobiography, automatic, autopilot

bio4, bi4 life, li"ing organism biology, biophysics, biotechnology, biopsy

geo4 arth8 geography geography, geomagnetism, geophysics, geopolitics

hyper4 excessi"e, excessi"ely hyperacti"e, hypercritical, hypersensiti"e

micro4 small microcosm, micronucleus, microscope

mono4 one, single, alone monochrome, monosyllable, monoxide

neo4 new, recent neonatal, neophyte, neoconser"atism, neofascism, neodymium

pan4 all panorama, panchromatic, pandemic, pantheism

thermo4, therm4 heat thermal, thermometer, thermostat

+ords and word roots may also combine with suffixes. 9ere are examples of some important nglish

suffixes that come from 3reek:

Greeksuffix Basic meaning Example words

4ismforms nouns and means &the act, state, or

theory of'criticism, optimism, capitalism

4istforms agent nouns from "erbs ending in 4i;e

or nouns ending in 4ism and is used like 4er conformist, copyist, cyclist

4i;e forms "erbs from nouns and ad5ecti"es

formali;e, 5eopardi;e, legali;e, moderni;e,

emphasi;e, hospitali;e, industriali;e,

computeri;e

4gram something written or drawn, a record cardiogram, telegram

4graphsomething written or drawn8 an instrument for

writing, drawing, or recordingmonograph, phonograph, seismograph

4logue,

4logspeech, discourse8 to speak monologue, dialogue, tra"elogue

4logy discourse, expression8 science, theory, study phraseology, biology, dermatology

4meter,

4metrymeasuring de"ice8 measure

spectrometer, geometry, kilometer, parameter,

perimeter

4oid forms ad5ecti"es and nouns and means &like, humanoid, spheroid, trape;oid



resembling' or &shape, form'

4phileone that lo"es or has a strong affinity for8

lo"ingaudiophile, $rancophile

4phobe,

4phobia

one that fears a specified thing8 an intense

fear of a specified thing

agoraphobe, agoraphobia, xenophobe,

xenophobia

4phonesound8 de"ice that recei"es or emits sound8

speaker of a languagehomophone, geophone, tel

Read more: 3reek Roots http:==www.infoplease.com=ipa=A)>)1)(?.html@ix;;?5lffBw

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0907013.html#ixzz3QjlfMf5w





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