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ROOTS

In the exercises that follow each answer must be made up of a word that contains the ‘root’ given at the head:

1. ‘annus’ - year

The yearly return of a special date. ann...

Coming or happening once a year. ann...

Plants that live but one year. ann...

To compute interest for one year. ann...

A person who receives an annuity. ann...

A sum of money paid regularly to one at the end of each year. ann...

A year of great unhappiness or misfortune. annu… horribilis

Occurring twice a year. bia...

Happening at the end of every two years. bie...

Related to or completing a period of 100 years. cen...

2. ‘aster’ - star

An annual plant of the daisy family, grown for its flowers. ast...

A star-shaped mark used in typing and printing. ast...

Relating to or consisting of stars. ast...

To navigate in a spacecraft. ast...

The genesis or origin of the stars. ast...

The study of stars to reveal their influence on people. ast...

A pilot or member of the crew of a spacecraft. ast...

The science of the stars. ast...

Study of the physical characteristics of stars. ast...

An event that causes much suffering, loss and death. dis...

3. ‘cedo’ - yield or go

To yield or give in. acc...

Something that happened or existed before something else. ant...

To surrender or give up something. ced...

To admit or acknowledge something grudgingly. con...

To plead with somebody in authority on behalf of somebody else. int...

To happen before somebody or something else in time, position,

etc. sup...

To go back or down from a certain point or level. rec...

A period during which there is a decline in economic trade. rec...

To give something such as land or a territory back to somebody. ret...

To withdraw formally from an organisation. sec...

4. ‘cord’ - heart

To be in agreement or come to an agreement. acc...

To achieve a state of agreement, friendly relations, or peace. con...

A similarity or agreement between two or more things . con...

An adjective used to describe a leaf that is heart-shaped . cor...

An adjective used to describe friendly and affectionate relationship. cor..

The ability to face danger or pain without being overcome by fear. cou...

Disagreement or strife between people. dis...

An adjective used to describe disagreement. dis...

An animal or bird that is hunted by something or somebody. qua...

An account of something, preserved in a lasting form. rec...

5. ‘gress’ - walk

To make the final attack; to begin a quarrel. agg...

A nation which starts a war. agg...

A conference or convention. con...

To turn aside from the main subject in talking etc. dig...

A way out. egr...

The act of going in or entering. ing...

An advance, growth, development. pro...

To go back. reg...

To return to an earlier and usually worse condition. reg...

To break a law or command. tra...

6. ‘mot’ to move

Bustle or stir. com...

The act of reducing a rank or position. dem...

Strong feeling of any kind. emo...

The quality of being able to move by itself. mot...Change of position or place. mot...

The act of furnishing an incentive. mot...

Thought or feeling that makes a person act. mot...

A person who drives in a car. mot...

An advance in rank or position. pro...

Situated a long way away. rem...

7. ‘port’

To behave in a certain manner. com...

To banish from a country. dep...

To send products out of a country. exp...

To bring products into a country. imp...

Capable of being carried. por...

Carrying boats overland. por...

Man employed to carry baggage. por

Portable case for loose papers or drawings. por...

Stiff, oblong bag with two compartments. por...

Giving an account of something done, seen or heard. rep...

8. ‘scrib’ - write

To think of as caused by something. asc...

To draw a line around, to restrict. cir...

To tell in words how something looks. des...

Something beyond description. ind...

To engrave in stone, metal etc. ins...

To lay down as a rule to be followed. pre...

To condemn or to prohibit as dangerous. pro...

To write carelessly or hastily. scr...

To sign one’s name to a document etc. sub...

To copy something exactly as it was written. tra...

9. ‘sentio’ - feel

A feeling that something evil is about to happen. pre...

A feeling that one experiences after an injury or insult. res...

The action of the senses. sen...

The power of the mind to know what happens outside itself. sen…

One who is easily affected by something good or bad. sen...

Capacity to respond to stimuli. sen...ze

Appealing to the body senses rather than to the mind or soul. sen...

Capacity for feeling. sen...t

A mixture of thought and feeling as of patriotism sen...

Having or showing much tender feeling. sen...

10. ‘traho’ - I draw

To expressing something that can only be appreciated

intellectually. abs...

To draw objects or persons nearer. att...

A formal or legally binding agreement. con...

To reduce the value of something by taking something away. det...

To take somebody’s attention away from what he or

she is doing. dis

To pull something out. ext...

To make something last longer. pro

To draw something in from an extended position. ret...

To deduct one number or quantity from another. sub...

A motor vehicle used for ploughing and pulling heavy

loads on farms. tra...

11. ‘verto’ - turn

To give public notice in the media regarding a product. adv...

To keep or stop from happening. ave...

To change in form, character, or function. con...

Something kept from sight, or something which is hidden. cov...

To turn aside; amuse; entertain. div...

A sociable, outgoing person. ext...

One who is shy and interested in his own thoughts. int...

Allowing something to go back—to return. rev...

To overthrow, ruin or destroy. sub...

Highest point. ver...

[Some other words: controvert; evert; invert; obvert; vertical; verticil; vertigo]

12. ‘visio’ —to see

Something that is easy to see or understand.

A word indicating a reference to something stated elsewhere.

Used in the transmission or reception of images in television.

Something which can be seen.

A person who has visions of unknown or future things.

To go to see someone.

The movable front part of a helmet permitting vision.

View seen through a narrow opening or passage,

Call up distinct mental pictures.

Of, concerned with, or used in, seeing.

13. ‘aqua’ —water

A display of swimming before an audience.

The raising of plants or animals in or under the sea or lake.

An under water breathing device used in skin diving.

Skidding because of a loss of contact between tyres and a wet road.

A person who keeps an aquarium.

growing or living in water.

A stratum of earth or porous rock that contains water.

Conveying or containing water.

14. ‘specio’ - I see

One side or part of a subject.

Watchful on all sides.

To scrutinize something carefully.

To look within.

Mental vision of a future possibility.

Appreciation of the fundamental worth of someone.

A contemporary survey of past events.

An impressive or unusual sight.

Visible spirit of a dead person.

To have an inkling.

15. ‘voco’ - I call

A lawyer who is called to the bar.

Interests that one has in addition to a regular occupation.

Capable of being interpreted in more than one way.

To express oneself in terms that have more than one meaning.

To call upon in prayer for aid or protection.

To anger or enrage.

To cancel or invalidate.

A word considered as a sequence of letters or sounds.

Grammatical case to indicate the person addressed by the speaker.

16. What is the root for each of the following pairs of words:

announce renounce ...

appeal repeal ...

approve reprove ...

commit remit …

compel repel ...

complete replete ...

contract retract ...

incline recline ...

induce reduce ...

inspire respire ...

accede precede ...

announce pronounce ...

conspire perspire ...

dissuade persuade ...

exclaim proclaim ...

exclude preclude ...

recreate procreate ...

repel propel ...

report purport ...

17. The words below come from the Latin word ‘jacere’ (to throw). First try to guess the meaning of each word and then check with a dictionary:-

abject abjectly
adjectival adjective
conjecture deject

dejected dejectedly
eject ejected
ejecting ejection
ejectment ejector
inject injection
injector interject

interjection object

objection objectionable
objective objectiveness
objectives objectivism
objectivity objector
objects project
projectile projection
projector projects
reject rejection

rejects subject
subjection trajectory

18. The words below come from the Latin word ‘dicere’ (to say). First try to guess the meaning of each word and then check with a dictionary:-

addiction benediction
contradiction dicta
dictation dictator

dictatorship diction
dictionary dictum
edict indictment

interdict jurisdiction

malediction prediction

unpredictable ness valediction

verdict vindictiveness

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1.

docere - ‘to teach’

docile, doctrine, doctor, doctrinaire, document, documentary, indoctrinate

2.

ducere - ‘to lead’

abduct, adduce, conduce, conduct, conduit, deduce, deduct, duct, duke, educate, educe, induce, induct, produce, reduce, seduce, subdue, traduce

3.

emere - ‘to buy’

example, exempt, exemption, pre-empt, pre-emption, redeem, redemption

4.

errare - to go astray’

aberration, aberrant, err, errant, errata, erratic, erratum, erroneous

5.

facare - ‘to do’

affect, affectation, affection, confect, confectionery, defect, fact, faction, factor, fetish, infect, manufacture, perfect

6.

fidere - ‘to trust’

confide, confidence, diffident, diffidence, faith, faithful, federal, fealty, fidelity, fiduciary.

7.

haerere - ‘to stick’

adhere, adherence, adherent, adhesion, adhesive, cohere, coherence, coherent, cohesion, cohesive, hesitate, hesitant, hesitation, incoherent, inhere, inherent

8.

halare - ‘to breathe’

exhale, inhalant, inhalation, inhalator, inhale

9.

horrere - ‘to shudder’

abhor, horrid, horrible, horrify, horrendous, hirsute

10.

illuminare - ‘to light up’

illuminance, illuminate, illuminati, limn, lumen, luminary, luminescent, luminous

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11.

inferre, literally, ‘to bring in’, from ferre ‘to carry’

confer, conferee, conference, defer, deference, fertile, fertility, fertiliser, infer, inference, prefer, preference, preferment, refer, reference, transfer, transference, transferor

12.

jacere - ‘to throw’

eject, ejaculate, injection, jetsam, jetty, object, project, reject, subadjacent, subject, trajectory

13.

jungere - ‘to join’

disjoin, disjoint, disjunction, enjoin, join, joint, junction, juncture, junta, rejoin, rejoinder

14.

lavare - ‘to wash’

deluge, ablution, diluent, dilute, lavage, lavation, lavatory

15.

legare - ‘to send as an envoy, bequeath’

allege, alloy, colleague, college, delegate, legacy, legate, legator, relegate

16.

legere - ‘to gather, read’

coil, collect, collectable, collection, collectivism, cull, diligent, elect, elegant, eligible, inlelible, intellect, intelligence, intellegentsia, intelligible, lectern, lecture, legend, legible, legion, legume, neglect, negligence, predilection, recollect, recollection, select, selection

17.

levare - ‘to rise or raise’

alleviate, elevate, elevation, leaven, levant, levator, levee, levitate, levitation, levity, levy, relevance, relevant, relief, relieve

18.

liberare - ‘to free’

deliver, liberal, liberality, liberalize, liberate, liberation, liberator, libertarian, libertine, liberty, livery

19.

ligare - ‘to bind’

ally, league, liable, liability, liaise, liaison, lien, ligament, ligate, ligation, ligature, oblige, obligation, rally, religion, reliable, rely

20.

locare - ‘to place’

allocate, allow, collocate, collocation, couch, dislocate, local, localise, locality, location, locator, localism, locative, locomotion, locus, relocate

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EXERCISE

Place three words from list B under each of the root words, that they were derived from, in List A.

LIST A

amo duco laus mors

aqua facilis locus nascor

signum ars gravis magnus

pareo tango cedo homo

medius patior voco credo

humus mitto pello volo

LIST B.

accede admission advocate aggrieve

allocate amorous apparent apparition

applause aquarium aquatic aquifer

article artificial artisan aspire

assume benevolence commit compel

complement complete consume contagious

convert credibility credulous creed

design disappear ductile educate

enamoured equivocate evidence exhume

facile facilitate facility grave

gravity homage humane humanity

humble humility immortalize impassive

impel induction inscribe inspire

intermediate laudable locality location

magnificent magnify magnitude median

medium mortal mortify nascent

natal nativity paramour passion

patient peri-urban plaudits precede

recede remit repel respire

resume revert revive scribble

scripture signal signify suburb

supplement survive tangent tangible

urban versatile vision visit

Place three words from list B under each of the root words, that they were derived from, in List A.

LIST A agon - struggle anthrop - (human)

arch - chief archaeo - ancient

aster - star biblio - book

chrono - time cosmo - world

demos - people derma - skin

gamos - marriage glot - language

gon - geometrical figure logos - study

lysis - to loosen morph - form

naus - sailor opsis - vision

path - feeling pathos - suffering

pedo - child phainein – be visible

philo - love for phon - sound

politeia - city pyro - fire

tele - far away thesis - position

LIST B

agony amorphous anachronism analysis

antagonism antagonist anthropomorphize antipathy

antithesis apathy apologize archangel

archeologist archeology archeozoic archipelago

aster asterisk astrology bibliography

bigamy cacophony cardiology chronic

chronicle cosmonaut cosmopolitan democracy

demography dermatitis dermatology dialysis

disaster empathy empathy emphasis

endemic endodermis fantasy glossary

hexagon hydrolysis metamorphic microcosm

misanthrope monarch monogamy monoglot

morphology optic paedophile panoptic

pathogen pedagogue pediatrician pentagon

phantom philanthropy philharmonic philosophy

phonetics police politics polity

polygamy polyglot polygon polyphonic

pyre pyrography pyromania sympathy

synchronize synchronous synoptic synthesis

telepathy telescope television thesis

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Last modified: October 14, 2007