Grab the word by its roots

or
How to learn words by understanding their roots

Languages have origins too

People, cultures, civilizations Thousands of years Constantly evolving
Words are the fundamental units of a language. Sounds that carry meaning. Wrappers for concepts! Etymology is the study of origins of words.

Where did English Words come from?

From ancestral languages:
Germanic tribes: camp, cheese, cook, fork, inch, kettle, kitchen, linen, mile, mill, noon, pillow, pin, pound, street and wall Romans: anchor, butter, chest, dish, sack and wine Old Norse (spoken by Vikings): anger, bag, both, hit, law, leg, same, skill, sky, take

Names of people, places, etc

sandwich, sadist, algorithm, America,

Onomatopoeia = sounds like

Buzz, cuckoo, hiss, puff, gargle,

loan words from other languages

guru, mango, amigo, chi, glitch,

Today: GRE words with Greek and Latin roots

Word = Prefix + Root(s) + Suffix

Prefix Roots Suffix
The best way to learn the words is to familiarize yourself with common prefixes, roots and suffixes Handouts Game

-cracy, -archy
monarchy democracy

theocracy

anarchy

meritocracy

oligarchy

aristocracy

bureaucracy

-theo
apotheosis theosophy

theology

Even names Teddy (Theodore)

-phil
philology philosophy philanthropy

bibliophile

philately

-anthropos, -morpho
anthropomorphic misanthrope

anthropology

amorphous
morphology

-loqui, eugrandiloquent

colloquial

euphoria
euphony
monologue loquacious soliloquy

eulogy

eugenics

euphemism

and many more!

cacophony, cacography somnambulism, somnolent, insomnolent ambulatory perambulator circumspect, circumlocution, circumnavigation dexterous, ambidextrous, ambivalent agrarian terrain, terrestrial, arboreal pyromania, pyre asterism autotrophy

And how can we leave out

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Latin and Greek Root Words

et cetera
etc.

What does this term mean?

et cetera
etc. is a Latin term that means and so forth

Greek and Latin Words from Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling

arma weapons, armour dens a tooth dormio I sleep lumen light ludo I play nox night, darkness nunquam (or numquam) never patronus a protector or sponsor

Sirius Black
Sirius is the Latin name for the bright dog star

Draco Malfoy
Draco is the Latin word for dragon.

Greek letters are still used in math and science today.

th, ph, ch, and ps stand for Greek letters not in our alphabet.

The Greek Alphabet

th, ph, ch, and ps stand for Greek letters not in our alphabet.

Roots are word parts.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

photo graph tele meter tropic

Build more words with root words.

photos

Draw a green border around the word on this card. Green stands for a Greek root word.

photos
Definition: light
Examples: photograph, photosynthesis

graph

graph
Definition: to write or draw

Examples: autograph, hologram

tele

tele
Definition: far away, distant

Examples: telephone, telescope

metron

metron
Definition: measure

Examples: thermometer, meter stick,

geometry

tropos

tropos
Definition: turning toward something such as the sun Examples: Tropic of Cancer, Tropic of Capricorn, Tropics

Draw a word tree. Select a root. Grow words.

Write words that contain your root on the branches of the tree. Include definitions.
television: box to see distant things telethon: long fundraising event telephone: sound from far away telekinesis: making things move from a distance telescope: device for seeing distant objects

Write the root word on the bottom near the roots of the tree.

What is a derivation?
(pronounced: dir-ah-va-tion)

Derivation means drawing off water from a main stream From Latin
de: down from, away from + rivus: brook, stream
English words may be derived or drawn off of mainstream Greek or Latin roots. Roots may not be spelled the same way all the time.

philia
Philadelphia -- city of brotherly love Rocky actor Sylvester Stallone at the Philadelphia Museum of Art

Philia (feel-ya)
Definition: love, friendship

Examples: Philadelphia, philosopher, Philip, philharmonic, philanthropist

phobos

phobos
Definition: unusual fear
Examples: claustrophobia: fear of closed places acrophobia: fear of heights arachnophobia: fear of spiders myctophobia: fear of darkness suriphobia- fear of mice testophobia- fear of taking tests

Syn (or sym)

syn
Definition: with, together
Examples: synonyms: words that go together symphony: sounds that go together synchronize: do things at the same time synagogue: to bring people together for Jewish worship

thesis

Thesis (3 Ps)
Definition: put, place, position

Examples: thesis: position taken in a persuasive argument parentheses: symbols grouping words placed inside a sentence synthesizer: instrument that puts sounds together

kinesis

kinesis
Definition: movement
Examples: kinetic: movement of bodies cinema: motion pictures (movies) telekinesis: moving things without physical contact

Kinetic art: a sculpture with moving parts.

References
Greek and Latin roots in English:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_and_Latin_roots_in_English

The Online Etymology Dictionary:

http://www.etymonline.com/