Word roots and origins

In English grammar, a root is a word or portion of a word from which other words grow, usually through the addition of prefixes and suffixes. By learning root words, you can decipher unfamiliar words, expand your vocabulary, and become a better English speaker. 

The Roots of Words

Most words in the English language are based on words from ancient Greek and Latin. The root of the word «vocabulary,» for example, is ​voc, a Latin root meaning «word» or «name.» This root also appears in such words as «advocacy,» «convocation,» «evocative,» «vocal,» and «vowel.» By dissecting words such as these, etymologists can study how a word has evolved over time and tell us about the cultures they came from.

In some cases, root words might be slightly transformed en route to becoming part of words that we’re familiar with. In the above example, «vowel» is a word that’s clearly related to the voc root and its family of derivative words, and yet the «c» in «voc» is not present. There are several reasons for this sort of pattern, and the changes often depend on what language each individual word comes from, but it serves as a reminder that not every word with the same root will look exactly the same.

Root words are also useful for creating new words, especially in technology and medicine, where new innovations occur frequently. Think of the Greek root word tele, which means «far,» and inventions that traverse long distances, such as the telegraph, telephone, and television. The word «technology» itself is a combination of two other Greek root words, techne, meaning «skill» or «art,» and logos, or «study.»

Because several modern languages share some of the same ancestor languages, it’s not entirely uncommon for several related languages to share root words. For instance, the Latin root voc, described above, is shared by several Romance languages. Connections between languages can be found in the shared roots between them, although one always has to be wary of false cognates — that is, words that sound like they have the same roots (and thus related meanings) but actually don’t.

Greek Root Words

The table below defines and illustrates 25 of the most common Greek roots.

Latin Root Words

The table below defines and illustrates 25 of the most common Latin roots.

​Understanding the meanings of the common word roots can help us deduce the meanings of new words that we encounter. But be careful: root words can have more than one meaning as well as various shades of meaning. In addition, words that look similar may derive from different roots.

In addition, a handful of root words can stand on their own as whole words in and of themselves. This list includes words such as photo, kinesis, chrome, port, and script. Words like this tend to have related meanings on their own, then can also act as roots for longer, more complex words.

Sources

• Bryant, Alice, and Robbins, Jill. «Grow Your Vocabulary by Learning Root Words.» VOANews.com, 28 November 2017.
• Grammarly staff. «Why You Should Learn Roots.» Grammarly.com, 6 February 2016.
• McCammon, Ellen. «50 GRE Words You Should Know.» PrepScholar.com, 8 February 2017.

Becoming Interested in the Origin of Words

Words, like facts, are difficult to remember out of context.  Remembering is greatly
facilitated when you have a body of information with which to associate either a word
or a fact.  For words, interesting origins or histories will help provide a context. 
For example, a hippopotamus is a «river horse,» from the Greek hippos, meaning «horse,» and potamos, meaning «river.»

Indiana is called the Hoosier state, and its people Hoosiers.  Why?  In the early days, the pioneers were gruff in manner; when someone knocked
at the front door, a pioneer’s voice would often boom, «Who’s yere?»

If you were offered a Hobson’s choice, would you know what was meant?  Thomas Hobson owned a livery stable in seventeenth-century
England.  He loved his horses, and to prevent any one horse from being overworked,
he hired them out in turn, beginning with stall number one.  Customers had to take
the horses they were given.  Thus Hobson’s choice means no choice at all. (Pauk, p. 314)

Etymology is the study of the origins of words.  The English language is living and growing. 
Although many of our words have been part of our language for many years, new words
are added all the time.  Following are various ways our language is influenced.

• Derived from Foreign Words — English, in many cases, has been commonly expanded by incorporating foreign words
  into it.  Most of our language has ancient Anglo-Saxon or Latin origins.  Other languages
  have also added to our vocabularies.

• Additions through Technology & Products — Our words often reflect current interests, trends, and innovations.  One of the
  most recent contributors to our language has been computer technology, which has created
  words such as bytes, monitor, and disk.

  Another way new words come into our language is through the development of products. 
  Some examples include: Kleenex, Walkman, Scotch tape, Xerox, and Linoleum.

• People’s Names — sometimes when a person invents or introduces something, that thing becomes associated
  with the person’s name.  The person, through time, is forgotten while the name lives
  on in our language.  Examples include:

  • mesmerize — F.A. Mesmer, an Austrian doctor and hypnotist.
  • sideburns — an American English alteration of burnsides, Ambrose E. Burnside, a Union general.

• Words from Letters — The initials for the names of things may actually come to replace the names.  The
  initials become the words that represent the thing, concept, or group.  The following
  are examples of words that have developed from initials.

  • TV — TeleVision
  • DWI — Driving While Intoxicated
  • COD — Cash On Delivery
  • ZIP — Zone Improvement Plan

• Word Histories — Some words also have interesting histories.  Learning the stories behind the meanings
  is a good way to learn those words.  The following examples will give you an idea
  of how history can affect language.

  • footman — It was once thought to bring bad luck if a person stepped on the door threshold
    when entering a house.  Rich people hired a servant to stand at their doors.  His
    job was to guard against a guest’s stepping on the threshold.  The guard became known
    as a footman.
  • hooker — A synonym for prostitute.  The term became popular during the Civil War.  The women
    involved were camp followers.  General «Fighting Joe» Hooker approved their presence
    in order to boost the morale of his men.

Presentation on theme: «Word Roots & Origins.»— Presentation transcript:

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Word Roots & Origins

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Do Now Purpose Brainstorm… where do many words originate or come from?
If you know what certain parts of words mean, you can figure out almost any word! This is how doctors and scientists around the word communicate So, if you are stuck on a test and do not know what a word means… break it down into its parts

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Word Roots Parts of words — Prefix — Root — Suffix — Hydrophobic
Come from Greek and Latin Comes before the root word Often the beginning of the word if no prefix Added on the end of a word Hydrophobic Hydro / phobic Water / Fear of Fear of water

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Example: DERMATOLOGIST
Breakdown — ____________ _______________ Meaning — Example: Subdermal Breakdown — ____________ _______________ Meaning —

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You can make words using the same root word
You can make words using the same root word. You just need to change the prefix(beginning) or suffix(ending) Prefix Root Suffix Meaning 1 derm -otology 2 -otologist 3 Hypo -ic 4 -atitis SKIPPP Now lets test your skills…

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DERMATOFIBROSARCOMA CARCINOSARCOMA SALIVOLITHITIS

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Homework Practice Dermatitis Herbivore Cytology

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Word Roots Homework The Language of Science Complete for H.W. using the SAME format as in class!

What Word origins means and why bother about it?

English Language is made of borrowings from about 150 languages…...it was first brought to the land by Germanic tribes- Anglo, Saxons and Jutes. This why we have so many English words with Greek and Latin roots as prefix, suffix and many Scientific English words are  derived from Latin and Greek.

The land was further taken over by French for about 100 years after the conquest of Normandy.there are a whole lot of words in English which are borrowed from e.g. Latin, French, Italian, Asia  and Middle East in English Language.

In this period Norman French equated English language to the low worker to establish superiority of French language. Result being Church have records written in French!!!

Modern English era started with renaissance from 1500 to the present time.

Half the words we use today have roots in old English, yet old English looks so different from the present version.

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History of English Word Origin

English word origins in English language date as far as back as 5th Century or as some say old English spoken by Celts. Celts were the earliest dwellers of the British Isle and only few of Celtic or old English words have survived into Modern English today, words like Water and Be.

Some Latin words have remained unchanged in English language but, most have changed the way they were used in old English to the way the are used today…….See here how Latin and Greek words they were used in old English period to modern English time. Also check out these Latin words used in their original form…Latin Words and Latin Roots.

Shakespeare alone invented 2000 unique words and catch phrase we still use

Brief Summary of Word origins in different time Periods

Now FREE e-book ACADEMIC WORD LISTS AND HIGH FREQUENCY WORDLISTSRight-click to download the PDF.

FREE E-BOOK-Latin and Greek Word Roots

Now download
Right-click to download the PDF.

Oxford English Dictionary publishes new word updates and revised word meanings, on March, June,September and December every year. For instance, in March 2012, it added:
bit bucket n. An An imaginary trash location, example, «it fell into the bit bucket» means the data was lost.

Click here Contact me for mailing you daily updates on new words 

Word Origins: Etymologic Equivalents in English, Russian and Ukrainian

lufu → loue → luve → love

The above was the task related to the word origins and word history that I received some 20 years ago at a university exam in the history of the English language. The task was to explain how the word ‘love’ evolved from Old English ‘lufu’ to modern English ‘love’. Since then, my interest in etymology (the science of the origin and history of words) has not faded.

Words seem so much like people. Each has its own «biography», relatives (cognate words in the same and other languages), ancestors and descendants. There are dead words (words that are out of use) and newborn words (neologisms).

All phenomena in our fragile world are interconnected and interdependent, including our languages. You may think you know only one language. But your mother tongue has many words borrowed from or loaned to other languages. So, actually, you know many words from other languages even not knowing these languages per se.

See for yourself. Below is a table containing some Russian and Ukrainian words that have common Arabic, Teutonic, Latin or Greek roots with relevant English words. Now see if you can figure out the meanings of these Russian and Ukrainian words. For each word, there is a hint in English to make the task easier. Type your guess in the spaces under «Meaning». Then push the button «?» to see how accurate your guess is.

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Hints:

1/ Branch of mathematics

2/ Financial establishment for keeping money and valuables safely

3/ Outer garment from neck to waist, worn by women and girls

4/ List of the days, weeks, and months of a particular year

5/ Bush with berries containing seeds which, when roasted and ground to powder, are used to make a drink by infusing with boiling water; the drink

6/ Person respected for bravery or noble qualities

Like this exercise? Continue to Word Origin, page 2.

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Read more about the word origins and amusing evolution of these words: algebra, bank, blouse, calendar, coffee, hero, mausoleum.

1. Word origins: algebra; алгебра (Ru, Uk)

The word is derived from the Arabic language. ‘al-jabr’ were initial words of the title of a work written by Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi, an Uzbeck mathematician and astronomer of the 9th century. Arabic ‘al-jabr’ means ‘restoration’ (‘restoration of the equation’s balance by adding or subtracting like elements to/from both sides of the equation’). In the Middle Ages, this word was borrowed from Arabic to Latin (Latin ‘algebra’) and from Latin it penetrated into other languages of the world.

English ‘algebra’ was borrowed from Arabic through Latin in 1551.

Russian ‘алгебра’ was borrowed at the beginning of the 18th century from Latin through German and Polish: German ‘Algebra’ → Polish ‘algiebra’ → Russian ‘алгебра’. In imitation of Polish, the Russian word ‘алгебра’ originally was pronounced with the stress falling on the second syllable. At the beginning of the 19th century, the stress moved to the first syllable.

Ukrainian ‘алгебра’ came to the language through the same channels as the Russian ‘алгебра’.

Additional info: As early as 4000 B.C., elements of algebra were used by ancient Babylonians famous for their high mathematical culture. Nevertheless, there were no individual mathematical sciences and the indivisible mathematics existed until the 9th century. Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi was the first to separate algebra from arithmetic and geometry and started to treat it as a separate science. In Europe, the word ‘algebra’ was used for the first time only in the 16th century by Rafael Bombelli, an Italian mathematician. It can be explained by the fact that the Holy Inquisition repressed scientific thought in Europe, while sciences thrived in the East. Therefore, later on many scientific notions and terms, especially those related to mathematics, were borrowed by European languages from Arabic. In Russia, algebra as a science was introduced by Tsar Peter I at the beginning of the 18 century.

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2. Word origins: bank; банк (Ru, Uk)

English ‘bank’ was borrowed from Italian (‘banca’, ‘banco’) through French (‘banque’). It meant «a money-changer’s desk» in both languages. Furthermore, this borrowing can be traced back to Teutonic ‘bankiz’ that meant «a rising ground, a bench». So, at the interlingual level, these equivalents semantically have evolved from the notion of «a rising ground, a bench» to «a money-changer’s desk» to «a bank».

Russian ‘банк’ is a borrowing from French or German.

Ukrainian ‘банк’, apparently, has the same etymology as the Russian ‘банк’.

Additional info: The first monetary transactions (cash settlements, currency exchange transactions, etc.) appeared with the advent of money. Special people, money-exchangers, did that job. They were already known in Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. With the development of trade, the role of money-exchangers increased and the scope of their functions expanded. People started to contact them for loans.

Financial institutions that dealt with monetary transactions appeared in England in the 14th century. The new word ‘bank’ came into general use with the establishment of such institutions. In Russia and Ukraine, the first banks were established in the 18th century.

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3. Word origins: blouse; блуза (Ru, Uk)

Derived from Middle Latin ‘pelusia’ (meant «Pelusian garment»). Those clothes were blouses for crusaders. The blouses were sewed in the city of Pelusium in Upper Egypt. An Indian blue fabric manufactured in the same city was used as a material for those blouses.

The English language borrowed the word ‘blouse’ from Latin (‘pelusia’) through French (‘blouse’) at the end of the 18th century.

Russian ‘блуза’ was borrowed from French in the first half of the 19th century and meant a type of ladies wear.

Ukrainian ‘блуза’ was borrowed from French through Russian and had the same meaning as in Russian.

Later on, Russian and Ukrainian ‘блуза’ got a new additional meaning: «garment worn by workmen».

Additional info: Far back in the Middle Ages, crusaders worn loose-fitting outer garment that looked like long blouses with crosses sewed on. With time, blouses became fashionable ladies wear in Europe and gradually they came into general use in many countries. Thus, a blouse turned from a piece of men’s clothing into a piece of dressy ladies clothing. Nowadays, men wear blouses as a type of loose-fitting working clothes with or without a belt.

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4. Word origins: calendar; календарь (Ru); календар (Uk)

Latin ‘calendārium’ is an etymological source of correspondences. The semantic evolution of that word in Latin was as follows: ‘calāre’ (call out, proclaim, call together) → ‘calendae’ (the first day of a month) → ‘calendārium’ (a debt book or an account book). See details in the Additional info below. In the word ‘calendārium’, -ārium is a suffix that means «a repository, a collection».

English ‘calendar’ was borrowed from Latin.

Russian ‘календарь’ was borrowed in the 17th century either from Polish (‘kalendarz’) or from German (‘Kalender’).

Ukrainian ‘календар’ was borrowed from Latin.

Additional info: The word ‘calendārium’ («a debt book or an account book») appeared in Ancient Rome when there were no any calendars at all. Priests established chronology. On the first day of each month, they called people together to the Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus and solemnly announced about the beginning of calends («the first day of a month»). On that day, debtors had to pay off their debts to creditors and creditors made respective entries in the ‘calendāria’ (plural of ‘calendārium’ — «debt books»). The custom to announce calends remained after the introduction of the calendar. With time, people started to enter the most important events, dates of religious ceremonies, festivals, etc. in the ‘calendāria’.

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5. Word origins: coffee; кофе (Ru); кава (Uk)

The source of correspondences is generally thought to be of the Arabic origin: ‘qahwe’ (originally meant «wine»). Some etymologists, however, think that the name of coffee beans and drink is related to Kaffa, the region in Ethiopia from which coffee got to Arabia. (Ethiopia is the only place on the planet where indigenous coffee trees grow. Elsewhere, they are grown only in coffee plantations.)

From Arabic, this word penetrated to other languages. Compare: ‘kahve’ (Turkish), ‘caffè’ (Italian), ‘café’ (French).

English ‘coffee’ appeared in the language at the end of the 16th century as a loanword from Italian into which it penetrated from Turkish.

Russian ‘кофе’ was borrowed from English in the epoch of Peter the Great. Tsar Peter forced the Russian nobility to drink coffee in order to inculcate in them a taste for this drink.

Ukrainian ‘кава’ was borrowed from Polish ‘kawa’. Polish borrowed this word from Arabic through Turkish.

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6. Word origins: hero; герой (Ru, Uk)

An etymological source of correspondences: Greek ‘hḗrōs’. The word originally meant «a demigod» (a person born from a god and a human) and «a defender». Later, ‘hero’ came to refer to persons who performed feats and also to warriors.

English ‘hero’ was borrowed from Latin through French: ‘hērōem’ (Latin) → ‘heros’ (French) → ‘hero’ (English).

Russian ‘герой’ was borrowed from French in the 18th century. Before that, Russians used the wordform ‘ирой’ borrowed from Greek ‘ērōs’ without the initial aspirate ‘h’ (the borrowing of the 17th century).

Ukrainian ‘герой’ was borrowed from German (‘Heroe’) or French (‘heros’). The wordform ‘ирой’, which also was used in Ukrainian, was borrowed directly from Greek.

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7. Word origins: mausoleum; мавзолей (Ru, Uk)

This word derives from Greek ‘mausōleion’. That was how Greeks referred to the grave of King Mausolus, the ruler of Caria, a small country in Asia Minor in the 4th century B.C.. Ancient Romans inherited this word from Greeks and started to use it to name all impressive grave constructions for persons of importance. From Latin, this word penetrated into many Indo-European languages.

English ‘mausoleum’ was borrowed from Latin.

Russian ‘мавзолей’ was borrowed from German: ‘mausōlēum’ (Latin) → ‘mausolée’ (French) → ‘Mausoleum’ (German) → ‘мавзолей’ (Russian)

Ukrainian ‘мавзолей’ was borrowed from Western European languages.

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Sources used in this compilation:

Л.Ю. Куштенко. Этимологический справочник учителя английского языка – Киев, «Радянська школа», 1987
A.S. Hornby. Oxford Student’s Dictionary of Current English – Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1984

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_____________________________________________________________________ Website owner: Irina Lychak, self-employed freelance linguist, Russian translator, Ukrainian translator, Kiev (Kyiv), Ukraine