latin roots.doc
TRANSCRIPT
7/18/2019 Latin Roots.doc
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/latin-rootsdoc 1/4
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
7/18/2019 Latin Roots.doc
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/latin-rootsdoc 2/4
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
7/18/2019 Latin Roots.doc
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/latin-rootsdoc 3/4
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
7/18/2019 Latin Roots.doc
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/latin-rootsdoc 4/4
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