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Root Words In English Vocabulary PDF: List, Prefix And Suffix With Meaning and Examples
Root Words In English Language PDF: The majority of English words are created by starting with simple words and embellishing them with various prefixes and suffixes. Learning the root words in English with meaning and examples PDF will help you remember things easily. These root words in English examples will help you score well in the verbal ability section of all competitive exams. Learn this list of root words in English for bank exams, SSC, RRB, and UPSC exams. Also, aspirants who want to ace their verbal ability section and those who aspire to improve their English vocabulary skills and those who are in search of root words in English grammar, root words in English PDF download, root words in English with Hindi meaning, English root words list PDF, prefix and suffix words in English PDF, list of all root words in English PDF, root word PDF in Hindi, root word meaning in English grammar, total root words in English language, greek root words in English language, the example of root word in English grammar, most common root words in English language, the origin of words in English language, Latin origin words in English language, french origin words in English language, greek origin words in English list can proceed through this article for complete details on root words for vocabulary PDF, prefix and suffix words in English list.
Moreover, it is possible to define root words in english vocabulary as whole words that cannot be divided further. It can develop its meaning without using the English language’s suffixes and prefixes. Learn root words for English vocabulary PDF and enhance your vocab skills by understanding the meaning of the root words in English grammar definition. In order to create several English words, basic words are combined with various prefixes and suffixes. Given the depth and Comprehensive nature of the English language, it is challenging to learn every word’s definition. Hence, root words in English vocabulary PDF can make it simple for you to comprehend what all of the words mean with this root words in english pdf. As a result, the root words in English list provided in this article will include root words in English with meaning. For easy preparation, candidates will also be able to download the root words pdf. Get to know the root words in English prefix and suffix lists with meaning and examples in this article. Also, root words in English with Hindi meaning given helps you understand the concept at your convenience.
English Language Free PDF
What Are Root Words In English Language?
Check the root words in english pdf along with the origin of root words in English vocabulary below.
Origin Of Words In English Language
Each word’s background must be understood in order to comprehend language. Because it is a synthesis of all widely spoken languages, including Spanish, Latin, Greek, and others, English is regarded as a world language. The aspirants’ ability to decipher the meaning of new terms as they are encountered will be made easier by having knowledge of the fundamental words. Check out the list of prefixes suffixes root words and their meanings with Latin origin words in English language, french origin words in English language, greek origin words in English, etc., by referring to the details provided below.
Root Words In English Language
A root word is a word that, when combined with other words, creates new words (prefixes or suffixes). It is the word’s most fundamental component. The fundamental components of roots are either added or removed to create new words. Knowing the common root terms will let you to make educated guesses about the meaning of unfamiliar words, which will improve your vocabulary. The root meaning in English word is a word in its own right.
A list of root words in English PDF is provided with prefix words in English list. Candidates can get to know the English root words prefixes and suffixes and root words in English with Hindi meaning through the root words in English with meaning and examples PDF given below. Utilize these root words in English for SSC CGL, CHSL, bank exams, and other competitive exams. Also, get to know the root words in English with meaning and examples in this PDF. Aspirants preparing for competitive exams can improve their vocabulary by learning the most common root words in English language given here in this list of root words of English PDF. Candidates in search of English root words list PDF, prefix and suffix words in English PDF, root words of English PDF, list of all root words in English PDF, root words for vocabulary PDF, how to learn root words for English vocabulary PDF, root words in English with meaning and examples PDF can utilize this root words in English PDF given below.
List Of Root Words In English PDF Download
Root Words In English List
Here we have added the prefix and suffix words in English list for understanding the root words in English in detail. The root word for English words can be found by keeping in mind the basic Root Words In English and their meanings. Also, download the root words in english pdf provided above for effective preparation. Refer to the example of root word in english grammar with the list of words and their meanings tabulated below.
1. Root Words In English: «Cent»
Root Words In English With Meaning: «one hundred»
List Of Prefixes Suffixes Root Words And Their Meanings With Examples | ||
Root Words In English List | Root Words In English With Meaning | Root Words In English Examples |
century | any period of 100 years | It took more than a century to complete the cathedral. |
percent | one part in every hundred. | If a goalie saves 96 out of 100 shots, his save percentage is 96 percent. |
centenarian |
a person who is a hundred or more years old. |
One centenarian continues to march for peace. |
centrifugal |
moving away from a centre point | Centrifugal machines are connected to the motor drive directly instead of through a gearbox. |
centimeters | a measure of length | He is 1 meter 80 centimeters tall. |
centroids | the centre of mass of a geometric object of uniform density | The entire census tract population will be included only if the centroid is included in the cylinder. |
2. Root Words In English: «Mal»
Root Words In English With Meaning: «bad or evil»
Most Common Root Words In English Language — Prefix Words In English List — Suffix Words In English List | ||
Root Words In English List | Root Words In English With Meaning | Example of root word in english grammar |
Malfunction | working badly | According to some sources, the crash was due to a technical malfunction. |
Malignment | defame something badly | He has been much maligned by those who have not bothered to find out his antecedents. |
Malice | evil intention | Actions done with malice have no good intention. |
Dismal | A gloomy situation | The last six or seven weeks have been truly dismal. |
Maltreat | Treat someone/something badly | He said that he was not tortured or maltreated during his detention. |
Maleficent | Someone who deliberately try causing harm to someone | He denied any maleficent intent. |
3. Root Words In English: «Phobia»
Root Words In English With Meaning: «Fear or dislike»
Words With Prefix Suffix And Root — Root Words And Their Prefixes | ||
Root Words In English List | Root Words In English With Meaning | Root Words In English Examples |
acrophobia | fear of heights | Because I have acrophobia, I never ride anything other than the Ferris wheel at the amusement park. |
aerophobia | fear of flying | He has not toured since his rebirth in popularity, apparently due to his dislike of traveling and aerophobia. |
aquaphobia | fear of water | He went snorkelling and was jubilant at overcoming his aquaphobia. |
astraphobia | fear of storms | In 2007 scientists found astraphobia is the third most prevalent phobia in the US. |
claustrophobia | fear of closed spaces | In the claustrophobia of her parents’ house she had no stimulus for creativity. |
enochlophobia | fear of crowds | Depending on the length of the original exposure to the painting, subjects may suffer from this condition until death, resulting in severe paranoia and enochlophobia. |
4. Root Words In English: «fort»
Root Words In English With Meaning: «strength»
Root Words In English Grammar — Root Word Meaning In English Grammar | ||
Root Words In English List | Root Words In English With Meaning | Example of root word in english grammar |
fortress | “strong” building. | He lamented that even this fortress was no longer safe from the epidemic. |
effort | a putting of “strong” work forth | He put a lot of effort into finishing the project on time. |
fortify | to make “strong” | They hurriedly fortified the village with barricades of carts. |
fortuity | a chance occurrence | It all rested on the fortuity of her getting five minutes alone with him. |
pieforts | any coin struck on an unusually thick planchet as a trial piece or essay | He saw pieforts in the presentation piece. |
fortune | luck | She inherited a fortune from her grandmother. |
5. Root Words In English: «Anti»
Root Words In English With Meaning: «Opposite or against»
Prefix Words In English List — Suffix Words In English List | ||
Root Words In English List | Root Words In English With Meaning | Root Words In English Examples |
Antiseptic | a liquid or cream that prevents a cut, etc. from becoming infected | She bathed the cut with antiseptic. |
Antidote | a medical substance that is used to prevent a poison or a disease from having an effect | There is no antidote to this poison. |
Antisocial | harmful or annoying to other people | My neighbor is antisocial. |
Antioxidants | man-made or natural substances that may prevent or delay some types of cell damage | C is an important antioxidant and good for all-round health. |
Antipathy | dislike | Declarations of racial antipathy against ethnic minorities will not be tolerated. |
Anticipating | expect something to happen | We don’t anticipate any snags with the negotiations. |
Antibiotic | a medicine which is used for destroying bacteria and curing infections | I’m taking antibiotics for a throat infection. |
6. Root Words In English: «Dict/Dic»
Root Words In English With Meaning: «Say»
List Of Prefixes Suffixes Root Words — Root Words In English With Meaning And Examples | ||
Root Words In English List | Root Words In English With Meaning | Example of root word in english grammar |
Prediction | say something beforehand. | Weather prediction has never been a perfect science. |
Dictated | say something to someone | Circumstances dictated that they played a defensive rather than attacking game. |
Verdict | speaking or saying the truth | The verdict was not guilty. |
Indicate | make known about something by saying | Our records indicate a depth of 3,000 feet here. |
Contradict | say something against | He contradicted the charges of his critics. |
Dictionary | a book that tells us how to say a certain word correctly. | He bought me a new dictionary. |
Addicted | when we want to say or declare that we are in love with certain things. | After about three months, I was no longer addicted to using my mobile. |
7. Root Words In English: «Logy»
Root Words In English With Meaning: «to study something»
Root Words In English Grammar And Their Meanings With Examples | ||
Root Words In English List | Root Words In English With Meaning | Root Words In English Examples |
Analogy | the study of comparison of two or more things | He submitted his analogy of the science experiment. |
Anthropology | the study of human beings as ‘anthrop’ means human. | She has a year until her final exams and hopes to study anthropology at university. |
Theology | ‘theo’ means God/religion so theology is the study of religion | He has an interest in theology and pastoral work. |
Morphology | the study of structures is morphology. Morph means structures. | Of particular interest is the finding that motile cells switch surface morphologies reversibly between ruffles and blebs. |
8. Root Words In English: «Phil»
Root Words In English With Meaning: «to Love»
Root Words In English Vocabulary And Their Meanings With Examples | ||
Root Words In English List | Root Words In English With Meaning | Example of root word in english grammar |
Bibliophile | the one who loves books | As a child, he was an intense bibliophile and avid collector of old books. |
Philologist | word lover who is a scholar of language | He is a philologist, specialising in American poetry. |
Philanthropist | is a person who loves mankind. | He has been the most extraordinarily generous philanthropist. |
Philosopher | A person who will love wisdom | This wise old philosopher was counselor to Bishop Ambrose. |
Philodendron | A tree that curls up while growing and are called love trees. | A greenhouse was built to house the philodendron and other plants during renovation and afterwards used for expansion and keeping more exotic plants. |
9. Root Words In English: «port»
Root Words In English With Meaning: «to carry»
Root Words In English Prefix And Suffix And Their Meanings With Examples | ||
Root Words In English List | Root Words In English With Meaning | Root Words In English Examples |
portable | that can be moved or carried easily | There was a little portable television switched on behind the bar. |
transportation | intentional movement | The company will provide transportation. |
deport | ‘carry’ from. | The refugees were deported back to their country of origin. |
important | ‘carried’ in. | In his editorial, he made several important points. |
reporter | one who ‘carries’ back. | He leaked the story to a news reporter. |
10. Root Words In English: «spect»
Root Words In English With Meaning: «to look»
Prefix And Suffix Words In English List And Their Meanings With Examples | ||
Root Words In English List | Root Words In English With Meaning | Example of root word in english grammar |
inspection | the act of looking at something carefully | Close inspection of the candles revealed some small defects. |
spectator | one who “sees” an event. | The spectators lining the road cheered the racers on. |
spectacular | impressive enough to be worthy of “seeing” | He has just walked out into a spectacular summer storm. |
spectacles | glasses which allow wearers to “see” better. | He always wore tinted spectacles, as you can see in photographs. |
spectacle | something which is “seen,” such as a public event or show. | It was a strange spectacle to see the two former enemies shaking hands and slapping each other on the back. |
List Of Other Root Words In English
Here we have added the list of other root words in englishwith meanings and sample words.
List Of Root Words In English | |||
S.No |
Root Words In English |
Meaning |
Sample Words |
1 |
Fid |
Trust/Faith |
|
2 |
Loc/Loq |
To speak/talk |
|
3 |
Plac/Plais |
To soothe/please/calm down |
|
4 |
Pathy |
Emotions, Feelings |
|
5 |
Nov/Neo |
New |
|
6 |
Luc |
Light,Bright,Clear |
|
7 |
Bell |
War/Tight |
|
8 |
Acri/Acer |
Bitter, Sour, Sharp |
|
9 |
Pan |
All, Everywhere |
|
10 |
Dict |
Say, Tell, Announce |
|
11 |
Bene |
Good, Well |
|
12 |
Mal |
Bad |
|
13 |
Gre |
Group, Gathering |
|
14 |
Viv |
Life, Live |
|
15 |
Mag |
Huge, Big, Grand |
|
16 |
Ambul |
Move, Walk |
|
17 |
Eu |
Good, Well, Pleasant |
|
18 |
San |
Cleanliness, Health, Pure |
|
19 |
Mort |
Death, Decay, Weak |
|
20 |
Vor |
To eat |
|
21 |
Dem |
People |
|
22 |
Omni |
All, Throughout |
|
23 |
Soli/Sol |
Alone, Single |
|
24 |
Ambi |
Both, Around |
|
25 |
Cide |
Killing, Murder |
|
26 |
Phobia |
Fear, Panic |
|
27 |
Cracy |
Rule, Government |
|
28 |
Cre |
Believe, Belief |
|
29 |
Phil |
Love, Liking |
|
30 |
Ami/Amo |
Friendly, Loveable, Peaceful |
|
31 |
Alter/ Ali/ Allo |
Other, Change |
|
32 |
Zo/o |
Animal Life |
|
33 |
Acro |
Top, Height, Tip, Beginning |
|
34 |
Andr/o |
man, male |
|
35 |
Arbour |
tree |
|
36 |
Art |
skill |
|
37 |
Auto |
self, same, one |
|
38 |
bio |
life, living matter |
|
39 |
Cata |
down, against completely intensive according to |
|
40 |
caust, caut |
to burn |
|
41 |
ceive, cept |
take |
|
42 |
cert |
sure |
|
43 |
circum |
around, about |
|
44 |
claim, clam |
shout, speak out |
|
45 |
Com |
together, common |
|
46 |
Counter |
opposite, contrary, opposing |
|
47 |
Cred |
believe |
|
48 |
Cumul |
mass, heap |
|
49 |
De |
reduce, away, down, remove |
|
50 |
Deci |
one tenth |
|
51 |
Act-, -act |
do |
|
52 |
alg/o |
pain |
|
53 |
Ana |
up, back, against, again, throughout |
|
54 |
ann/enn |
year |
|
55 |
Ante- |
before, in front |
|
56 |
apo, apho |
away, off, separate |
|
57 |
Arbour |
tree |
|
58 |
Crypt |
to hide |
|
59 |
bell/i |
war |
|
60 |
Legal |
related to the law |
|
61 |
phon |
sound |
|
62 |
hypo |
below; beneath |
|
63 |
cardil/o |
heart |
|
64 |
Non |
no, not, without |
|
65 |
Cata |
down, against completely intensive according to |
|
66 |
homo |
same |
|
67 |
cede, ceed, cess |
go, yield |
|
68 |
Poli |
City |
|
69 |
gram |
thing written |
|
70 |
aster |
star |
|
71 |
biblio |
book |
|
72 |
dyna |
power |
|
73 |
Poly |
Many, many more than one |
|
74 |
dys |
bad; hard; unlucky |
|
75 |
chrome |
color |
|
76 |
logy |
Study of |
|
77 |
graph |
writing |
|
78 |
Kinesis |
movement |
|
79 |
Nym |
Name |
|
80 |
centi |
hundred, hundredth |
|
81 |
anthrop |
man; human; humanity |
|
82 |
photo |
light |
|
83 |
syn |
together, with |
|
84 |
schem |
Plan |
|
85 |
cerebr/o |
brain |
|
86 |
chrom/o chromat/o, chros |
colour, pigment |
|
87 |
circum |
around, about |
|
88 |
Clar |
clear |
|
89 |
Cline |
lean |
|
90 |
Co |
with, together, joint |
|
91 |
cogn/i |
know |
|
92 |
contra/o |
against opposite |
|
93 |
cosm/o |
universe |
|
94 |
Cranio |
skull |
|
95 |
Cumul |
mass, heap |
|
96 |
Cycl |
circle, ring |
|
97 |
dec/a. deka |
Ten |
|
98 |
dendr/o/i |
tree |
|
99 |
dent |
tooth |
|
100 |
derm/a |
skin |
|
101 |
di |
two, twice |
|
102 |
Dia |
through, between, apart, across |
|
103 |
Domin |
master |
|
104 |
dys- |
abnormal, bad |
|
105 |
enn/I, anni |
years |
|
106 |
ep/i |
on, upon, over, among, at, after, to, outside |
|
107 |
erg/o |
work |
|
108 |
esth/aesth |
feeling, sensation, beauty |
|
109 |
Eu |
good, well |
|
110 |
Ex |
from, out |
|
111 |
Funct |
perform, work |
|
112 |
Hetero |
different, other |
|
113 |
hex/a |
six |
|
114 |
histo |
tissue |
|
115 |
hygr/o |
moisture, humidity |
|
116 |
iatr/o |
medical care |
|
117 |
icon/o |
image |
|
118 |
Idio |
peculiar, personal, distinct |
|
119 |
il, in |
in, into |
|
120 |
imag |
likeness |
|
121 |
intra, intro |
within, inside |
|
122 |
Iso |
Equal |
|
123 |
Junct |
jin |
|
124 |
Juven |
young |
|
125 |
lact/o |
milk |
|
126 |
Lex |
word, law, reading |
|
127 |
Liber |
Free |
|
128 |
Loc |
place |
|
129 |
loqo, luco |
speak |
|
130 |
lud, lus |
to play |
|
131 |
man/i/u |
hand |
|
132 |
Mand |
to order |
|
133 |
mar/i |
sea |
|
134 |
Max |
greatest |
|
135 |
Mega |
great, large |
|
136 |
memor/i |
remember |
|
137 |
Meso |
middle |
|
138 |
Mob |
move |
|
139 |
Mut |
change |
|
140 |
Nat |
born |
|
141 |
Ocu |
eye |
|
142 |
Pan |
all, any, everyone |
|
143 |
Quart |
fourth |
|
144 |
Radio |
radiation, ray |
|
145 |
Scend |
climb, go |
|
146 |
tact, tang |
touch |
|
147 |
Un |
not, opposite of, lacking |
|
148 |
Vac |
empty |
|
149 |
vor, vour |
Eat |
|
150 |
zo/o |
animal life |
|
Most Common Root Words In English Language
Here we have added the words with prefix suffix and root for your reference. Aspirants in search of greek origin words in English list, Latin origin words in English language, french origin words in English language.
Latin Origin Words In English Language
English Root Words From the Latin Language — English Root Words List |
||
Latin Root |
Root Words With Meaning |
Root Words In English Examples |
ambi | both | ambiguous, ambidextrous |
aqua | water | aquarium, aquamarine |
aud | to hear | audience, audition |
bene | good | benefactor, benevolent |
cent | one hundred | century, percent |
circum | around | circumference, circumstance |
contra/counter | against | contradict, encounter |
dict | to say | dictation, dictator |
duc/duct | to lead | conduct, induce |
fac | to do; to make | factory, manufacture |
form | shape | conform, reform |
fort | strength | fortitude, fortress |
fract | to break | fracture, fraction |
ject | throw | projection, rejection |
jud | judge | judicial, prejudice |
mal | bad | malevolent, malefactor |
mater | mother | material, maternity |
mit | to send | transmit, admit |
mort | death | mortal, mortician |
multi | many | multimedia, multiple |
pater | father | paternal, paternity |
port | to carry | portable, transportation |
rupt | to break | bankrupt, disruption |
scrib/scribe | to write | inscription, prescribe |
sect/sec | to cut | bisect, section |
sent | to feel; to send | consent, resent |
spect | to look | inspection, spectator |
struct | to build | destruction, restructure |
vid/vis | to see | video, televise |
voc | voice; to call | vocalize, advocate |
Greek Origin Words In English List
Greek Origin Words In English List — English Root Words List |
||
Root Words from the Greek Language |
Root Words With Meaning |
Root Words Examples |
anthropo | man; human; humanity | anthropologist, philanthropy |
auto | self | autobiography, automobile |
bio | life | biology, biography |
chron | time | chronological, chronic |
dyna | power | dynamic, dynamite |
dys | bad; hard; unlucky | dysfunctional, dyslexic |
gram | thing written | epigram, telegram |
graph | writing | graphic, phonograph |
hetero | different | heteronym, heterogeneous |
homo | same | homonym, homogenous |
hydr | water | hydration, dehydrate |
hypo | below; beneath | hypothermia, hypothetical |
logy | study of | biology, psychology |
meter/metr | measure | thermometer, perimeter |
micro | small | microbe, microscope |
mis/miso | hate | misanthrope, misogyny |
mono | one | monologue, monotonous |
morph | form; shape | morphology, morphing |
nym | name | antonym, synonym |
phil | love | philanthropist, philosophy |
phobia | fear | claustrophobia, phobic |
phon | sound | phone, symphony |
photo/phos | light | photograph, phosphorous |
pseudo | false | pseudonym, pseudoscience |
psycho | soul; spirit | psychology, psychic |
scope | viewing instrument | microscope, telescope |
techno | art; science; skill | technique, technological |
tele | far off | television, telephone |
therm | heat | thermal, thermometer |
Prefix And Suffix Words In English List
Affixes are morphemes that are added to a base word to change its meaning. They consist of prefixes and suffixes. Prefixes are placed at the beginning of a word, while suffixes are placed at the end. The majority of prefixes and suffixes in English are one or two syllables long, with the exception of the three-syllable suffix -ology. The -s and -‘s suffixes only add the ess sound to the end of a word; they are not even full syllables. Prefixes and suffixes both aid in vocabulary growth and writing proficiency, but only suffixes are employed for grammatical operations like verb conjugation and noun pluralization.
Prefix Words In English List
A prefix is a one- to three-syllable affix that is used to modify the meaning of a base word. For instance, the word impossible, which signifies «not possible,» is created by prefixing the basic word possible with the im- prefix. Understanding prefixes can significantly increase your vocabulary and reading comprehension because they are a common component of English.
Prefix Words In English Grammar
Prefix Words In English Grammar With Examples — Root Words And Their Prefixes |
||
Prefix Words In English List |
Prefix Words In English With Meaning |
Prefix Words In English Examples |
a- | not, without | amoral, atheist, asexual |
anti- | against | anticlimax |
after- | following something | afterlife, aftermath, aftereffect |
all- | including everything or completely | all-knowing, all-American, all-encompassing |
ambi- | both | ambidextrous, ambiguous, ambivalence |
back- | behind or reverse | backflip, background, backward |
bio- | life or relating to life | biology, biotechnology, biopsy |
circum- | around | circumference, circumvent, circumstantial |
contra- | against or opposing | contradiction, contraceptive, contrarian |
de- | opposite | devalue |
dis- | not; opposite of | discover |
down- | moving from higher to lower | downgrade, download, downplay |
en-, em- | cause to | enact, empower |
ex- | former or in the past | ex-boyfriend, ex-wife, ex-president |
extra- | outside of | extradite, extraterrestrial, extracurricular |
fore- | before; front of | foreshadow, forearm |
geo- | relating to the earth | geology, geography, geofence |
hetero- | different | heterosexual, heterogeneous, heteromorph |
hind- | in the back or behind | hindsight, hindquarters, hinder |
homo- | same | homosexual, homogeny, homophone |
hydro- | relating to water | hydroelectric, hydrophobic, hydroplane |
in-, im- | in | income, impulse |
in-, im-, il-, ir- | not | indirect, immoral, illiterate, irreverent |
inter- | between; among | interrupt |
intra- | on the inside, within | intramural, intravenous, intracellular |
micro- | very small | microscope, microaggression, microcosm |
mid- | middle | midfield |
mis- | wrongly | misspell |
neo- | new iteration of something | neoclassical, neonatal, neoliberal |
non- | not | nonviolent |
over- | over; too much | overeat |
omni- | encompassing all | omnipotent, omnibus, omnivore |
out- | surpassing or going outside the normal | outperform, outmaneuver, outlier |
pre- | before | preview |
re- | again | rewrite |
semi- | half; partly; not fully | semifinal |
sub- | under | subway |
super- | above; beyond | superhuman |
trans- | across | transmit |
un- | not; opposite of | unusual |
under- | under; too little | underestimate |
Suffix Words In English List
Suffixes are letters that are appended to a base word to alter its word type, conjugation, or other grammatical characteristics like plurality. In English, suffixes are important for writing and reading comprehension in addition to grammar.
Suffix Words In English Grammar
Suffix Words In English Grammar With Examples — Root Words And Their Suffixes |
||
Suffix Words In English List |
Suffix Words In English With Meaning |
Suffix Words In English Examples |
-able, -ible | is; can be | affordable, sensible |
-ate | showing | congratulate, enunciate, regulate |
-al, -ial | having characteristics of | universal, facial |
-ed | past tense verbs; adjectives | the dog walked, the walked dog |
-en | made of | golden |
-er, -or | one who; person connected with |
teacher, professor |
-er | more | taller |
-est | the most | tallest |
-ful | full of | helpful |
-ic | having characteristics of | poetic |
-ing | verb forms; present participles |
sleeping |
-ion, -tion, -ation, -tion |
act; process | submission, motion, relation, edition |
-ity, -ty | state of | activity, society |
-ive, -ative, -itive |
adjective form of noun | active, comparative, sensitive |
-less | without | hopeless |
-ly | how something is | lovely |
-ment | state of being; act of | contentment |
-ness | state of; condition of | openness |
-ous, -eous, -ious | having qualities of | riotous, courageous, gracious |
-s, -es | more than one | trains, trenches |
-self, -selves | creates reflexive pronouns that refer back to the subject | myself, ourselves, oneself |
-y | characterized by | gloomy |
Additional Root Words In English Vocabulary
Candidates in search of 20 root words with prefixes and suffixes and are looking for additional root words in English grammar can refer to the root words in English prefixes and suffixes with meaning and examples provided here in this article.
Root Words In English With Meaning
- pater — father (paternal, paternity, patriarch)
- script — to write (manuscript, postscript, scripture)
- acri — bitter (acrid, acrimony, acridity)
- astro — star (astronaut, astronomy, astrophysics)
- aud — hear (audience, audible, audio)
- ambul — to move or walk (ambulance, ambulate)
- cardio — heart (cardiovascular, electrocardiogram, cardiology)
- cede — to go or yield (intercede, recede, concede)
- counter — against or opposite (counteract, counterpoint, counterargument)
- dem — people (democracy, democrat, demographic)
- sect — cut apart (dissect, sectional, transect)
- tele — far (telephone, telegraph, television)
- fac — to do (factory, faculty, faction)
- gen — birth (genesis, genetics, generate)
- lum — light (lumen, luminary, luminous)
- micro — small (microbiology, microcosm, microscope)
- multi — many (multilingual, multiple, multifaceted)
- port — carry (portal, portable, transport)
- sen — old (senator, senile, senior)
- sent — to feel (consent, sensation, sensing)
- vor — to eat (herbivore, omnivore, voracious)
- auto — self (autonomy, autocrat, automatic)
- bene — good (benefactor, benevolent, beneficial)
- carn — flesh (carnal, carnivorous, reincarnate)
- corp — body (corporal, corporate, corpse)
- cred — believe (credible, credence, incredible)
- dict — say (diction, dictate, edict)
- derm — skin (dermatitis, dermatology, epidermis)
- equi — equal (equity, equilateral, equidistant)
- hypno — sleep (hypnosis, hypnotic, hypnotism)
- intra — within or into (intrapersonal, intramural, intravenous)
- ject — to throw (reject, eject, inject)
- magni — big or great (magnificent, magnify, magnitude)
- mal — bad (malignant, malfunction, malice)
- omni — all (omnipotent, omnipresent, omnivore)
- vis, vid — to see (envision, evident, vision)
FAQs — Root Words In English List
Q. What are the examples of root words?
The examples of root words are bene, act, ly, sen, omni, vis, vid, mal, phobia,etc., For more root words in english refer to the article given here.
Q. What are root words in English / Define root word in English grammar?
A root word is a word that, when combined with other words, creates new words (prefixes or suffixes).
Q. How many English root words are there / How many root words in English language?
In the English language, there are almost 100+ root words that have been identified, which are commonly originated from Greek and Latin.
Q. How to find prefixes suffixes and root words?
Prefixes function as modifiers and occur before root words. A word’s root determines its primary meaning and can be joined to other roots, prefixes, and suffixes. After the root word, suffixes function as modifiers.
Q. Where can I download the list of prefixes suffixes and root words PDF?
Candidates can download the root words in english vocabulary PDF, english root words list PDF, prefix and suffix words in english PDF, root words of english pdf, list of root words in english pdf, root word pdf in hindi and list of prefixes suffixes and root words PDF can refer to the article given here.
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We use words constantly to express ourselves and exchange thoughts with others. We write, speak, hear, read, and listen to words. Some research suggests the average person can speak from 4,000 to 7,000 words in a day.
All words have origins that might date from days to millennia since their inception. The English language is about 1,400 years old; one of the earliest-known English dictionaries, The Elementarie (1582), contained 8,000 words. Today’s English dictionaries can include up to hundreds of thousands of them.
Words can be complex or simple. Different word parts also can combine to form new words with new meanings. The root of a word—also referred to by some as a base word—is its primary morpheme, which is the smallest grammatical unit that cannot be divided further into parts. Every word in American English has at least one morpheme.
The grammatical unit can be a free morpheme, which is a word that can stand alone, or a bound morpheme, which is an affix (a prefix or a suffix) that cannot stand alone but can form a word by combining with other morphemes.
More than half of English words have roots in Latin and Greek. Many words also have German, French, and Spanish origins, which often have their own Latin roots as well.
When standing alone, the foreign root words themselves might not always make sense to English writers and speakers, but we can quickly recognize their contributions to our lexicon when they are combined with other word parts.
Root | Meaning | Origin | Word |
carn | flesh or meat | Latin | carnal, carnivore |
deca | ten (10) | Latin | decade, decameter |
tele | distant | Greek | telephone, telegram |
mal | bad, evil | Latin | malice, malpractice |
psycho | soul, spirit | Greek | psychic, psychology |
In our contemporary English vocabulary, we can readily infer the different parts of words, including their roots and prefixes or suffixes.
Word | Root | Prefix | Suffix |
unkindness | kind | un- | -ness |
action | act | -ion | |
misplayed | play | mis- | -ed |
fearless | fear | -less |
Word Roots in Different Parts of Speech
You may have noticed that roots appear in parts of speech other than nouns. They also apply to verbs, adverbs, and adjectives, as in the following recognizable English words.
Word | Part of Speech | Root | Prefix | Suffix |
description | noun | script | de- | -ion |
disappear | verb | appear | dis- | |
nicest | adjective | nice | -est | |
aimlessly | adverb | aim | -less, -ly |
Those familiar with English know that in the preceding words, the root has an understood meaning, and the prefixes and suffixes offer much less meaning to us without the root. When combined, however, they form a word that can express.
Let’s look at a few more words with Greek and Latin roots:
Word | Part of Speech | Root | Origin |
bibliophile | noun | biblio (book), phil (love) | Greek |
(to) chronicle | verb | chrono (time) | Greek |
benevolent | adjective | bene (good) | Latin |
ambiguously | adverb | ambi (both) | Latin |
Word Roots for Expanding Vocabulary
Being familiar with word roots and how words originate becomes a versatile tool in building vocabulary and interpreting unfamiliar words.
For example, many versed in English recognize that the Greek root “phobia” stands for “fear.” Sometimes that root is attached to prefixes we readily know, such as with claustrophobia (fear of small, confined spaces) and arachnophobia (fear of spiders).
We also might encounter words such as demophobia (fear of crowds) and anthrophobia (fear of flowers). We might not instantly recognize the fear the prefix identifies, but because we understand the word root, we’re halfway to comprehension.
Understanding roots also helps to better deconstruct words. For example, uncharacteristically is a 20-letter adverb common to English vernacular that means “not consistent with established or expected qualities or attributes” (e.g., James is uncharacteristically late).
This word contains four parts (morphemes): character (root, free morpheme), un- (prefix, bound morpheme), -istic (suffix, bound morpheme), and -ally (suffix, bound morpheme). Breaking the full word down this way can simplify the spelling of it as well as our initial insight into its meaning, even if we understand only a couple of parts as opposed to all of them.
(Character stems from the Greek charassein: “to sharpen, cut in furrows, or engrave.” This word also gave the Greeks charaktēr: “a mark; a distinctive quality,” a meaning the Latin character shared. English adopted character in the 14th century to express “a distinctive differentiating mark” as one of the word’s earliest English meanings.)
Word Roots and Affixes for Word-Count Reduction
Understanding word roots and their conjoining parts further can support written precision by allowing us to reduce word count.
Examples
against the establishment > anti-establishment (three words to one word with three morphemes: anti-, establish, -ment)
to act against > counteract (three words to one word with two morphemes: counter-, act)
Shelly is the one who can run with more speed than any other runner on the team >
Shelly is the fastest runner on the team (Seventeen words to eight words, achieved mainly by inclusion of fastest, which is one word with two morphemes: fast, -est.)
Related Topic
How Does a Word Become a Word?
Pop Quiz
Applying what we’ve discussed about word roots, identify the root in each following word. Some can be recognizable English words, and others can be from original roots such as Latin or Greek.
1. international
2. nonexistent
3. contradict
4. enlightenment
5. destruction
Pop Quiz Answers
1. international
2. nonexistent
3. contradict
4. enlightenment
5. destruction
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A root (or root word) is the core of a word that is irreducible into more meaningful elements.[1] In morphology, a root is a morphologically simple unit which can be left bare or to which a prefix or a suffix can attach.[2][3] The root word is the primary lexical unit of a word, and of a word family (this root is then called the base word), which carries aspects of semantic content and cannot be reduced into smaller constituents.
Content words in nearly all languages contain, and may consist only of, root morphemes. However, sometimes the term «root» is also used to describe the word without its inflectional endings, but with its lexical endings in place. For example, chatters has the inflectional root or lemma chatter, but the lexical root chat. Inflectional roots are often called stems, and a root in the stricter sense, a root morpheme, may be thought of as a monomorphemic stem.
The traditional definition allows roots to be either free morphemes or bound morphemes. Root morphemes are the building blocks for affixation and compounds. However, in polysynthetic languages with very high levels of inflectional morphology, the term «root» is generally synonymous with «free morpheme». Many such languages have a very restricted number of morphemes that can stand alone as a word: Yup’ik, for instance, has no more than two thousand.
The root is conventionally indicated using the mathematical symbol √; for instance, the Sanskrit root «√bhū-» means the root «bhū-«.
Examples[edit]
The root of a word is a unit of meaning (morpheme) and, as such, it is an abstraction, though it can usually be represented alphabetically as a word. For example, it can be said that the root of the English verb form running is run, or the root of the Spanish superlative adjective amplísimo is ampli-, since those words are derived from the root forms by simple suffixes that do not alter the roots in any way. In particular, English has very little inflection and a tendency to have words that are identical to their roots. But more complicated inflection, as well as other processes, can obscure the root; for example, the root of mice is mouse (still a valid word), and the root of interrupt is, arguably, rupt, which is not a word in English and only appears in derivational forms (such as disrupt, corrupt, rupture, etc.). The root rupt can be written as if it were a word, but it is not.
This distinction between the word as a unit of speech and the root as a unit of meaning is even more important in the case of languages where roots have many different forms when used in actual words, as is the case in Semitic languages. In these, roots (semitic roots) are formed by consonants alone, and speakers elaborate different words (belonging potentially to different parts of speech) from the root by inserting different vowels. For example, in Hebrew, the root ג-ד-ל g-d-l represents the idea of largeness, and from it we have gadol and gdola (masculine and feminine forms of the adjective «big»), gadal «he grew», higdil «he magnified» and magdelet «magnifier», along with many other words such as godel «size» and migdal «tower».
Roots and reconstructed roots can become the tools of etymology.[4]
Secondary roots[edit]
Secondary roots are roots with changes in them, producing a new word with a slightly different meaning. In English, a rough equivalent would be to see conductor as a secondary root formed from the root to conduct. In abjad languages, the most familiar of which are Arabic and Hebrew, in which families of secondary roots are fundamental to the language, secondary roots are created by changes in the roots’ vowels, by adding or removing the long vowels a, i, u, e and o. (Notice that Arabic does not have the vowels e and o.) In addition, secondary roots can be created by prefixing (m−, t−), infixing (−t−), or suffixing (−i, and several others). There is no rule in these languages on how many secondary roots can be derived from a single root; some roots have few, but other roots have many, not all of which are necessarily in current use.
Consider the Arabic language:
- مركز [mrkz] or [markaza] meaning ‘centralized (masculine, singular)’, from [markaz] ‘centre’, from [rakaza] ‘plant into the earth, stick up (a lance)’ ( ر-ك-ز | r-k-z). This in turn has derived words مركزي [markaziy], meaning ‘central’, مركزية [markaziy:ah], meaning ‘centralism’ or ‘centralization’, and لامركزية, [la:markaziy:ah] ‘decentralization’[5]
- أرجح [rjh] or [ta’arjaħa] meaning ‘oscillated (masculine, singular)’, from [‘urju:ħa] ‘swing (n)’, from [rajaħa] ‘weighed down, preponderated (masculine, singular)’ ( ر-ج-ح | r-j-ħ).
- محور [mhwr] or [tamaħwara] meaning ‘centred, focused (masculine, singular)’, from [mihwar] meaning ‘axis’, from [ħa:ra] ‘turned (masculine, singular)’ (ح-و-ر | h-w-r).
- مسخر [msxr], تمسخر [tamasxara] meaning ‘mocked, made fun (masculine, singular)’, from مسخرة [masxara] meaning ‘mockery’, from سخر [saxira] ‘mocked (masculine, singular)’ (derived from س-خ-ر[s-x-r]).»[6] Similar cases may be found in other Semitic languages such as Hebrew, Syriac, Aramaic, Maltese language and to a lesser extent Amharic.
Similar cases occur in Hebrew, for example Israeli Hebrew מ-ק-מ √m-q-m ‘locate’, which derives from Biblical Hebrew מקום måqom ‘place’, whose root is ק-ו-מ √q-w-m ‘stand’. A recent example introduced by the Academy of the Hebrew Language is מדרוג midrúg ‘rating’, from מדרג midrág, whose root is ד-ר-ג √d-r-g ‘grade’.»[6]
According to Ghil’ad Zuckermann, «this process is morphologically similar to the production of frequentative (iterative) verbs in Latin, for example:
- iactito ‘to toss about’ derives from iacto ‘to boast of, keep bringing up, harass, disturb, throw, cast, fling away’, which in turn derives from iacio ‘to throw, cast’ (from its past participle iactum).[6]
Consider also Rabbinic Hebrew ת-ר-מ √t-r-m ‘donate, contribute’ (Mishnah: T’rumoth 1:2: ‘separate priestly dues’), which derives from Biblical Hebrew תרומה t’rūmå ‘contribution’, whose root is ר-ו-מ √r-w-m ‘raise’; cf. Rabbinic Hebrew ת-ר-ע √t-r-‘ ‘sound the trumpet, blow the horn’, from Biblical Hebrew תרועה t’rū`å ‘shout, cry, loud sound, trumpet-call’, in turn from ר-ו-ע √r-w-`.»[6]
and it describes the suffix.
Category-neutral roots[edit]
Decompositional generative frameworks suggest that roots hold little grammatical information and can be considered «category-neutral».[7] Category-neutral roots are roots without any inherent lexical category but with some conceptual content that becomes evident depending on the syntactic environment.[7] The ways in which these roots gain lexical category are discussed in Distributed Morphology and the Exoskeletal Model.
Theories adopting a category-neutral approach have not, as of 2020, reached a consensus about whether these roots contain a semantic type but no argument structure,[8] neither semantic type nor argument structure,[9] or both semantic type and argument structure.[10]
In support of the category-neutral approach, data from English indicates that the same underlying root appears as a noun and a verb — with or without overt morphology.[7]
-
English Examples — Overt[7]
Root Noun Verb advertise an advertisement to advertise character a character to characterize employ an employment to employ alphabet an alphabet to alphabetize -
English Examples — Covert[7]
Root Noun Verb dance a dance to dance walk a walk to walk chair a chair to chair wardrobe a wardrobe to wardrobe
In Hebrew, the majority of roots consist of segmental consonants √CCC. Arad (2003) describes that the consonantal root is turned into a word due to pattern morphology. Thereby, the root is turned into a verb when put into a verbal environment where the head bears the «v» feature (the pattern).[11]
Consider the root √š-m-n (ש-מ-נ).
Pattern | Pronounced word | Gloss |
---|---|---|
CeCeC (n) | šemen | oil, grease |
CaCCeCet (n) | šamenet | cream |
CuCaC (n) | šuman | fat |
CaCeC (adj) | šamen | fat |
hiCCiC (v) | hišmin | grow fat/fatten |
CiCCeC (n) | šimen | grease |
Although all words vary semantically, the general meaning of a greasy, fatty material can be attributed to the root.
Furthermore, Arad states that there are two types of languages in terms of root interpretation. In languages like English, the root is assigned one interpretation whereas in languages like Hebrew, the root can form multiple interpretations depending on its environment. This occurrence suggests a difference in language acquisition between these two languages. English speakers would need to learn two roots in order to understand two different words whereas Hebrew speakers would learn one root for two or more words.[11]
English Root | English Word | Hebrew Root | Hebrew Word | Gloss |
---|---|---|---|---|
√CREAM | cream | √š-m-n ש-מ-נ | šamenet | ‘cream’ |
√FAT | fat | √š-m-n ש-מ-נ | šuman | ‘fat’ |
Alexiadou and Lohndal (2017) advance the claim that languages have a typological scale when it comes to roots and their meanings and state that Greek lies in between Hebrew and English.[12]
See also[edit]
- Lemma (morphology)
- Lexeme
- Morphological typology
- Morphology (linguistics)
- Phono-semantic matching
- Principal parts
- Proto-Indo-European root
- Radical (Chinese character) (this is more based upon a writing system than a spoken language)
- Semitic root
- Word family
- Word stem
References[edit]
- ^ Katamba, Francis (2006). Morphology (2nd ed.). Houndsmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 42. ISBN 9781403916440.
- ^ «Root». Glossary of Linguistic Terms. 3 December 2015.
- ^ Kemmer, Suzanne. «Words in English: Structure». Words in English. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
- ^
Compare:
Durkin, Philip (2009). «8: Semantic change». The Oxford Guide to Etymology. Oxford: Oxford University Press (published 2011). p. xciv. ISBN 9780191618789. Retrieved 2017-11-10.In etymological reconstruction at the level of proto-languages, it is customary to reconstruct roots, which are assigned glosses, reflecting what is taken to be the common meaning shown by the words derived from this root.
- ^ Wehr, Hans (1976). Cowan, J Milton (ed.). Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic (PDF) (3rd ed.). Ithaca, N.Y.: Spoken Language Services. p. 358. ISBN 0-87950-001-8. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
- ^ a b c d Zuckermann, Ghil’ad 2003, Language Contact and Lexical Enrichment in Israeli Hebrew, Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 1-4039-1723-X. pp 65–66.
- ^ a b c d e f Lohndal, Terje (28 February 2020). «Syntactic Categorization of Roots». Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Linguistics. doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780199384655.013.257. ISBN 978-0-19-938465-5.
- ^ Levinson, Lisa (27 November 2014). «The ontology of roots and verbs». The Syntax of Roots and the Roots of Syntax: 208–229. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199665266.003.0010. ISBN 978-0199665273.
- ^ Acquaviva, Paolo (May 2009). «Roots and Lexicality in Distributed Morphology». York Papers in Linguistics. University of York. Department of Language and Linguistic Science. 2 (10). hdl:10197/4148.
- ^ Coon, Jessica (1 February 2019). «Building verbs in Chuj: Consequences for the nature of roots». Journal of Linguistics. 55 (1): 35–81. doi:10.1017/S0022226718000087. S2CID 149423392.
- ^ a b c Arad, Maya (2003). «Locality Constraints on the Interpretation of Roots: The Case of Hebrew Denominal Verbs». Natural Language and Linguistic Theory. 21 (4): 737–778. doi:10.1023/A:1025533719905. S2CID 35715020.
- ^ Alexiadou, Artemis; Lohndal, Terje (18 May 2017). «On the division of labor between roots and functional structure». The Verbal Domain. 1. doi:10.1093/oso/9780198767886.003.0004. hdl:10037/19837.
External links[edit]
- Virtual Salt Root words and prefixes
- Espindle — Greek and Latin Root Words
Glossary of Grammatical and Rhetorical Terms
Hope is a root word.
Malte Mueller / Getty Images
In English grammar and morphology, a root is a word or word element (in other words, a morpheme) from which other words grow, usually through the addition of prefixes and suffixes. Also called a root word.
In Greek and Latin Roots (2008), T. Rasinski et al. define root as «a semantic unit. This simply means that a root is a word part that means something. It is a group of letters with meaning.»
Etymology
From the Old English, «root»
Examples and Observations
- «Latin is the most common source of English root words; Greek and Old English are the two other major sources.
«Some root words are whole words and others are word parts. Some root words have become free morphemes and can be used as separate words, but others cannot. For instance, cent comes from the Latin root word centum, meaning hundred. English treats the word as a root word that can be used independently and in combination with affixes, as in century, bicentennial and centipede. The words cosmopolitan, cosmic and microcosm come from the Greek root word kosmos, meaning universe; cosmos is also an independent root word in English.» (Gail Tompkins, Rod Campbell, David Green, and Carol Smith, Literacy for the 21st Century: A Balanced Approach. Pearson Australia, 2015)
Free Morphs and Bound Morphs
- «Because a root tells us more about the meaning of a word than anything else, the first thing we ask about a complex word is often: What is its root? Often a complex word has more than one root, as in blackbird. . . .
«In our native and nativized vocabulary, roots can usually appear as independent words, for which reason they are called free morphs. This makes it particularly easy to find the roots of words like black-bird, re-fresh, and book-ish-ness. In Latin and Greek, roots most often do not occur as separate words: they are bound morphs, meaning they can only appear when tied to other components. For example, the root of concurrent is curr ‘run.’ which is not an independent word in English or even in Latin.»
(Keith Denning, Brett Kessler, and William R. Leben. English Vocabulary Elements, 2nd ed. Oxford University Press, 2007)
Roots and Lexical Categories
- «Complex words typically consist of a root morpheme and one or more affixes. The root constitutes the core of the word and carries the major component of its meaning. Roots typically belong to a lexical category, such as noun, verb, adjective, or preposition. . . . Unlike roots, affixes do not belong to a lexical category and are always bound morphemes. For example, the affix -er is a bound morpheme that combines with a verb such as teach, giving a noun with the meaning ‘one who teaches.'»
(William O’Grady, et al., Contemporary Linguistics: An Introduction, 4th ed. Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2001)
Simple and Complex Words
- «[M]orphologically simple words, which contain only a single root morpheme, may be compared to morphologically complex words which contain at least one free morpheme and any number of bound morphemes. Thus, a word like ‘desire’ may be defined as a root morpheme constituting a single word. ‘Desirable,’ by contrast, is complex, combining a root morpheme with the bound morpheme ‘-able.’ More complex again is ‘undesirability’ which comprises one root and three bound morphemes: un+desire+able+ity. Notice also how, in complex words of this sort, the spelling of the root may be altered to conform to the bound morphemes around it. Thus, ‘desire’ becomes ‘desir-‘ while ‘beauty’ will be transformed into ‘beauti-‘ in the formation of ‘beautiful’ and of the increasingly complex ‘beautician.'» (Paul Simpson, Language Through Literature: An Introduction. Routledge, 1997)
Pronunciation:
ROOT
Also Known As:
base, stem
Do you know what a root word is? This article will provide you with all of the information you need on root words, including its definition, usage, example sentences, and more!
What is a root word?
According to Your Dictionary, a root word is a word or word part that forms the basis of new words through the addition of prefixes and suffixes. These often come from Latin and Greek, and typically do not stand alone as a complete word. They can help us understand the meanings of new words. While they are similar, a root word is not the same thing as a suffix, though they are both a building block of English grammar. Common suffixes include ive, al, en, ing, ion, tion, ly, est, ful, ment, ity, ible, es, ed, and more. There are also many prefixes. Common prefixes include im, and more.
Many different languages also contain words that mean root word. You may notice that some of these translations of root word look and sound similar to one another. These are called cognates, which are words and phrases in different languages that likely have the same root or language of origin, causing them to sound the same. The below list of translations of root word is provided by Word Sense.
- Hungarian: szótő
- Russian: ко́рень (masc.), ко́рни (masc. pl.)
- Hebrew: שורש (masc.) (shoresh)
- Greek: ρίζα (fem.)
- Portuguese: raiz (fem.)
- Swedish: rot, ordrot
- Yiddish: שורש, וואָרצל (masc.
- Dutch: stam (masc.)
- Finnish: juuri, kantasana, kanta
- Irish: stoc (masc.)
- Mandarin: 詞根, 词根 (cígēn)
- Turkish: köken
- Armenian: արմատ
- Spanish: raíz (fem.)
- Persian: ریشه (riša)
- Slovene: koren (masc.)
- French: racine (fem.), mot souche (masc.)
- Welsh: gwreiddyn (masc.)
- Scottish Gaelic: freumh (masc.)
- Bashkir: тамыр
- Arabic: أَصْل (masc.) ((plural) أُصُول (masc. pl.))
- German: Stamm (masc.)
What are examples of root words?
A root word can be used in many different contexts in the English language. Trying to use a word or literary technique in a sentence is one of the best ways to memorize what it is, but you can also try making flashcards or quizzes that test your knowledge. Try using this term of the day in a sentence today! Below are a couple of examples of root word that can help get you started incorporating this tool into your everyday use. Take a look at the following root word examples from Your Dictionary and Reading Rockets and see how many you can identify the root word in!
- phobia – fear – claustrophobia, phobic
- acri – bitter (acrid, acrimony, acridity)
- act – to move or do (actor, acting, reenact)
- form – shape – conform, reform
- auto – self – autobiography, automobile
- graph – writing – graphic, phonograph
- vid/vis – to see – video, televise
- port – carry (portal, portable, transport)
- contra/counter – against – contradict, encounter
- multi – many (multilingual, multiple, multifaceted)
- graph/graphic – to write (autograph, spirograph)
- cede – to go or yield (intercede, recede, concede)
- micro – small – microbe, microscope
- legal – related to the law (illegal, legalities, paralegal)
- homo – same – homonym, homogenous
- logy – study of – biology, psychology
- morph – form; shape – morphology, morphing, morpheme
- script – to write (manuscript, postscript, scripture)
- sect – cut apart (dissect, sectional, transect)
- nym – name – antonym, synonym
- derm – skin (dermatitis, dermatology, epidermis)
- anthropo – man; human; humanity – anthropologist, philanthropy
- mis/miso – hate – misanthrope, misogyny
- ambi – both – ambiguous, ambidextrous
- fac – to do; to make – factory, manufacture
- mit – to send – transmit, admit
- ego – I (egotist, egocentric, egomaniac)
- multi – many – multimedia, multiple
- pater – father – paternal, paternity
- struct – to build – destruction, restructure
- lum – light (lumen, luminary, luminous)
- tele – far (telephone, telegraph, television)
- psycho – soul; spirit – psychology, psychic
- dyna – power – dynamic, dynamite
- tele – far off – television, telephone
- fract – to break – fracture, fraction
- aqua – water – aquarium, aquamarine
- micro – small (microbiology, microcosm, microscope, microwave)
- ject – to throw (reject, eject, inject)
- scrib – to write (inscription, prescribe)
- hydr – water – hydration, dehydrate
- cred – believe (credible, credence, incredible)
- scrib/scribe – to write – inscription, prescribe
- pater – father (paternal, paternity, patriarch)
- circum – around – circumference, circumstance
- mater – mother – material, maternity
- gram – thing written – epigram, telegram
- bene – good (benefactor, benevolent, beneficial)
- astro – star (astronaut, astronomy, astrophysics, astrology)
- jud – judge – judicial, prejudice
- carn – flesh (carnal, carnivorous, reincarnate)
- sent – to feel (consent, sensation, sensing)
- anti – against (anticapitalist, antagonist, antifreeze, antithesis)
- rupt – to break – bankrupt, disruption
- counter – against or opposite (counteract, counterpoint, counterargument)
- vor – to eat (herbivore, omnivore, voracious)
- hetero – different – heteronym, heterogeneous
- meter/metr – measure – thermometer, perimeter
- bio – life – biology, biography
- auto – self (autonomy, autocrat, automatic)
- mal – bad (malignant, malfunction, malice)
- sent – to feel; to send – consent, resent
- phil – love – philanthropist, philosophy
- pseudo – false – pseudonym, pseudoscience
- mal – bad – malevolent, malefactor
- chron – time – chronological, chronic
- cardio – heart (cardiovascular, electrocardiogram, cardiology)
- crypt – to hide (apocryphal, cryptic, cryptography)
- fac – to do (factory, faculty, faction)
- mit – to send (transmit, admit, submit)
- mort – death – mortal, mortician
- port – to carry – portable, transportation
- omni – all (omnipotent, omnipresent, omnivore)
- phon – sound – phone, symphony, microphone
- aud – to hear – audience, audition
- sen – old (senator, senile, senior)
- meter – measure (kilometer, millimeter, pedometer)
- techno – art; science; skill – technique, technological
- hypno – sleep (hypnosis, hypnotic, hypnotism)
- form – shape (conform, formulate, reform)
- ject – throw – projection, rejection
- bene – good – benefactor, benevolent
- corp – body (corporal, corporate, corpse)
- dys – bad; hard; unlucky – dysfunctional, dyslexic
- cent – one hundred – century, percent
- dem – people (democracy, democrat, demographic)
- dict – say (diction, dictate, edict)
- equi – equal (equity, equilateral, equidistant)
- hypo – below; beneath – hypothermia, hypothetical
- fort – strength – fortitude, fortress
- aud – hear (audience, audible, audio)
- magni – big or great (magnificent, magnify, magnitude)
- dict – to say – dictation, dictator
- arbor – tree (arboreal, arboretum, arborist)
- therm – heat – thermal, thermometer
- mono – one – monologue, monotonous
- voc – voice; to call – vocalize, advocate
- ambul – to move or walk (ambulance, ambulate)
- norm – typical (abnormal, normality, paranormal)
- duc/duct – to lead – conduct, induce
- spect – to look – inspection, spectator
- phobia – fear (arachnophobia, claustrophobia, hydrophobia)
- scope – viewing (telescope, microscope, periscope, retrospect)
- intra – within or into (intrapersonal, intramural, intravenous)
- photo/phos – light – photograph, phosphorous
- sect/sec – to cut – bisect, section
- scope – viewing instrument – microscope, telescope
- gen – birth (genesis, genetics, generate, gene)
- vis, vid – to see (envision, evident, vision)
Overall, a root word is a Latin or Greek work that produces other words in the English language.
Sources:
- Glossary of grammatical terms | OED
- Root Words, Roots and Affixes | Reading Rockets
- root: meaning, origin, translation | Word Sense
Kevin Miller is a growth marketer with an extensive background in Search Engine Optimization, paid acquisition and email marketing. He is also an online editor and writer based out of Los Angeles, CA. He studied at Georgetown University, worked at Google and became infatuated with English Grammar and for years has been diving into the language, demystifying the do’s and don’ts for all who share the same passion! He can be found online here.