Etymology: Root Words Base Words Cognates Word Families

Root Words
Base Words
Cognates
Word Families
ETYMOLOGY
The Study of
Word Origins and Root Words
• The word etymology is derived from the Greek
etumos which means real or true.
• The ending ‘ology’ suggests the study or

science of something.
That is the etymology of etymology.

What is etymology?
Here is an example:
• The Ancient Greek word hippos
means horse.
• And potamus means river.
Hippopotamus literally
means river horse.
The English Language has Why Study
over Greek and
1,000,000 words Latin Roots?
Over 60% of the English language is derived

from Latin or Greek.
90% of all English words that are three

syllables or more are derived from Latin.
In the sciences and technology, over 90% of the

words are derived from Latin or Greek!
A single Latin root can generate 5-20 English words.

For hundreds of years after the fall of
the Roman Empire, Latin was the
language of education and knowledge
in Europe.
This explains why so many terms we
use connected with knowledge,
religion, or education are of
Latin origin.
During the 17th and 18th centuries,
dictionary writers and grammarians
felt that English was an imperfect
language and Latin was perfect.
To improve the English
language, they made up
many English words from
Latin roots.
How Latin words got into English Language
The Roman Empire Latin words found
expanded into their way into the
Britain, bringing Latin Anglo-Saxon language
of the people in
Ancient Britain
For Example:
“Stratum”
Latin word became “straets”
“stratum” in Anglo-Saxon
means
“layered road” Now called
“streets” in
modern English
Miles of streets and roads were created.

Mile is from the Latin word mille, which means 1,000.
The Roman mile was measured as 1,000 paces.
They used Greek roots also since
Greek was considered the language of
the arts.
The Greeks were the first Europeans

to use an alphabet, to theorize about
language, and to frame
language categories.
• a part of a word
• the part that carries the
most meaning
• often called a base word

when it’s a complete word
• by itself usually not a word

Main part of word
• Must have at least one in a word
• In English, limited to two in a word
• Simple words have one root
• Compound words have two roots

• At least half of the words in the English language are
derived from Greek and Latin roots.
• Knowing these roots helps us understand the

meaning of words before we look them up in the
dictionary.
Words “Grow” from
Greek and Latin Root
Words!
Spec = See
EXAMPLES:
EXAMPLE EXAMPLE
EXPLAINED: EXPLAINED:
a lung disease caused by the opposition to the belief that there

inhalation of a fine silica dust found should not be an official relationship
in most volcanoes. between a country's government and
its national Church
A base word is a word part
that by itself is also a word:
part ition
Partition has the base word

part and means
“to divide into parts.”
A root is a word part that is
used to form other words.
A root by itself is usually not a word:
hiero glyph
Hieroglyph has the root word hiero
and the root glyph. Hiero means “sacred”
and glyph means “carving.” Hieroglyph
means “a carved symbol in the sacred writing
of ancient Egypt.”
The Latin root ‘port’
means to carry.
Knowing the root can

help you unlock the
meaning of many
related words with
the same root.
porter exportable
portable deport reporter
importable deportation importer
import important portage
export report portfolio
A porter is a person employed to
carry burdens, such as luggage.
Important means carrying a great
significance or value.
Portable means easy to move or
carry.
Report means to carry back
and repeat information.
See how easy it is when you
know the root word ‘port’
means to carry?
Latin Word Parts Greek Word Parts
Aqua= water Phile= one who loves

Agri=field Auto=self
Spec=see Photo=light
Pre=before Cardi=heart
Vascul=tube, vessel Cycl=wheel
Dent=tooth Bio=life
Ped= foot Hydr=water
Stella=star Therm=heat
Aud=hear Phone=sound
Terr=land Geo=Earth
Latin root Basic meaning Example words
-dict- to say contradict, dictate, diction, edict, predict
-duc- to lead, bring, deduce, produce, reduce
take
-gress- to walk digress, progress, transgress
-ject- to throw eject, inject, interject, project, reject, subject
-pel- to drive compel, dispel, impel, repel
-pend- to hang append, depend, impend, pendant, pendulum
-port- to carry comport, deport, export, import, report,
support
-scrib-, - to write describe, description, prescribe, prescription,
script- subscribe, subscription, transcribe,
transcription
-tract- to pull, drag, attract, contract, detract, extract, protract,
draw retract, traction
-vert- to turn convert, divert, invert, revert
Greek root Basic meaning Example words
-anthrop- human misanthrope, philanthropy,
anthropomorphic
-chron- time anachronism, chronic,
chronicle, synchronize,
chronometer
-dem- people democracy, demography,
demagogue, endemic,
pandemic
-morph- form amorphous, metamorphic,
morphology
-path- feeling, suffering empathy, sympathy, apathy,
apathetic, psychopathic
-pedo-, -ped- child, children pediatrician, pedagogue
-philo-, -phil- having a strong affinity philanthropy, philharmonic,
or love for philosophy
-phon- sound polyphonic, cacophony,
phonetics
The root ‘am’ means love or friend.
Select the best meaning of the word
friendly.
A. amend
B. ambition
C. amicable
D. ambush
How did you do?
You could have looked at the part of speech of
friendly.
You see a suffix ending. The –ly (meaning like)
tells you this word must be an adjective or an
adverb, both parts of speech used to describe
someone or something.
The suffix ending –able (meaning capable of)
should also tell you this word is an adjective.
If you understand that there are two
Latin roots that mean light:
luc- and lum-
you can begin to figure out some of
the meanings of the words below.
luminous illuminate
lucid luminaria
luminescent translucent
luminousness illumination
The Latin roots ‘pod’ and ‘ped’ mean
foot. Knowing this, you will be able
to figure out the meanings of each of
these words:
podiatrist = treats foot ailments

pedestrian = person who walks
pedicure = care of the feet
pedal = lever worked by the foot
quadruped = animal with four feet
Here's a little bit more.
Most French words and Spanish words have
Greek and Latin roots (just like English words).
So these languages have a lot of cognates…
We are talking about THOUSANDS of words that

are used in the same meaning and sense across
languages!
English Spanish
family familia
center centro
radio radio
class clase
desert desierto
magic magia
gorilla gorila
English words with the same base word
or root word often have related
meanings. When they do, they make
up what’s called a word family.
Knowing the meaning of the base word
or root can help you figure out the
meanings of the words in the family.
BASE WORD BASE WORD
light spect
en light ment spect acle

flood light pro spect
light -year in spect or
spot light spect ator
Here’s another word family that
shares the Latin root pos meaning
to put or to place.
im pos ition im pos e

pro pos e pos ture
trans pos e pos itive
de pos it pre pos ition
imposition = a burden or unfair
demand placed on someone
impose = to place a burden or
unfair demand
posture = to put or place the
body in a certain position
deposit = to put or set down;
to place
DIG IN THE WORDS AND
KNOW THEIR ROOTS
TO UNLEASH THE

Etymology: Root Words Base Words Cognates Word Families

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Root Words

• The ending ‘ology’ suggests the study or

That is the etymology of etymology.

Over 60% of the English language is derived

90% of all English words that are three

In the sciences and technology, over 90% of the

A single Latin root can generate 5-20 English words.

Miles of streets and roads were created.

The Greeks were the first Europeans

• often called a base word

• by itself usually not a word

• In English, limited to two in a word

• Simple words have one root

• Compound words have two roots

• Knowing these roots helps us understand the

a lung disease caused by the opposition to the belief that there

Partition has the base word

Knowing the root can

Aqua= water Phile= one who loves

podiatrist = treats foot ailments

So these languages have a lot of cognates…

We are talking about THOUSANDS of words that

en light ment spect acle

im pos ition im pos e

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