Prefixes, Suffixes, and Word Roots

A familiarity with common prefixes, suffixes, and word roots can dramatically improve your ability to deter-mine the meaning of unfamiliar vocabulary words.. The following tables list co

A familiarity with common prefixes, suffixes, and word roots can dramatically improve your ability to deter-mine the meaning of unfamiliar vocabulary words The following tables list common prefixes, suffixes, and word roots; their meanings; an example of a word with that prefix, suffix, or word root; the meaning of that word; and a sentence that demonstrates the meaning of that word Refer to this chapter often to refresh your memory and improve your vocabulary.

 P r e f i xe s

A prefix is a syllable added to the beginning of a word to change or add to its meaning The following table

lists some of the most common prefixes in the English language They are grouped together by similar meanings.

Prefixes, Suffixes, and Word Roots

10

PREFIX MEANING EXAMPLE DEFINITION SENTENCE

uni- one unify (v) to form into a single The new leader was able

unit; to unite to unify the three factions into

one strong political party mono- one monologue a long speech by I was very moved by the

(n) one person or monologue in Scene III.

performer bi- two bisect (v) to divide into two If you bisect a square, you will

equal parts get two rectangles of equal

size.

duo- two duality (n) having two sides The novel explores the duality

or parts of good and evil in humans tri- three triangle (n) a figure having In an isosceles triangle, two of

three angles the three angles are the same

size.

quadri- four quadruped (n) an animal with four Some quadrupeds evolved

feet into bipeds.

tetra- four tetralogy (n) series of four related “Time Zone” was the fourth

artistic works and final work in Classman’s

tetralogy.

quint- five quintuplets (n) five offspring born Each quintuplet weighed less

at one time than four pounds at birth pent- five pentameter (n) a line of verse Most of Shakespeare’s sonnets

(poetry) with five are written in iambic metrical feet pentameter.

multi- many multifaceted having many sides This is a multifaceted issue,

(adj) and we must examine each

side carefully.

poly- many polyglot (n) one who speaks or It is no wonder he is a

understands several polyglot; he has lived in eight languages different countries.

PREFIX MEANING EXAMPLE DEFINITION SENTENCE

omni- all omniscient knowing all Dr Perez seems omniscient;

(adj) she knows what all of us are

thinking in class.

micro- small microcosm (n) little or miniature Some people say that Brooklyn

world; something Heights, the Brooklyn district representing something across the river from the Wall else on a very small Street area, is a microcosm of scale Manhattan.

mini- small minority (n) small group within a John voted for Bridget, but he

larger group was in the minority; most

peo-ple voted for Elaine.

macro- large macrocosm (n) the large scale world Any change to the macrocosm

or universe; any great will eventually effect the whole microcosm.

ante- before anticipate (v) to give advance His decades of experience

thought to; foresee; enabled him to anticipate the expect problem.

pre- before precede (v) to come before in The appetizers preceded the

time or order main course.

post- after postscript (n) message added after His postscript was almost as

the close of a letter long as his letter!

inter- between intervene (v) to come between Romeo, trying to make peace,

intervened in the fight between Tybalt and Mercutio.

inter- together interact (v) to act upon or The psychologist took notes as

influence each other she watched the children

interact.

intra- within intravenous within or into a vein She could not eat and had to

(adj) be fed intravenously for three

days.

intro- into, within introvert (n) a person whose Unlike his flamboyant sister,

attention is largely quiet Zeke was a real directed inward, toward introvert.

himself or herself; a shy

or withdrawn person

PREFIX MEANING EXAMPLE DEFINITION SENTENCE

in- in, into induct (v) to bring in (to a group) She was inducted into the

honor society.

ex- out, from expel (v) to drive out or away Let us expel the invaders! circum- around circumscribe (v) to draw a line around; She carefully circumscribed

to mark the limits of the space that would become

her office.

sub- under subvert (v) to bring about the His attempt to subvert my

destruction of, authority will cost him his job overthrow; to undermine

super- above, over supervisor (n) one who watches over Alex refused the promotion to

supervisor because he did not feel comfortable being his friends’ boss.

con- with, together consensus (n) general agreement After hours of debate, the group

finally reached a consensus and selected a candidate non- not nonviable (adj) not able to live The farmer explained that the

or survive seedling was nonviable in- not invariable (adj) not changing The weather here is invariable—

always sunny and warm un- not, against unmindful (adj) not conscious For better or worse, he is

or aware of; forgetful unmindful of office politics contra- against contradict (v) to state that (what is I know we do not have to agree

said) is untrue; to state on everything, but she the opposite of contradicts everything I say.

anti- against, antipode (n) exact or direct North is the antipode of south.

opposite opposite

counter- against, counter- working against Complaining is

counter-opposing productive (adj) production productive.

dis- away, dispel (v) to drive away To dispel rumors that I was

quitting, I scheduled a series

of meetings for the next three months.

PREFIX MEANING EXAMPLE DEFINITION SENTENCE

dis- not, opposite of disorderly (adj) not having order; Two people were hurt when the

messy, untidy, crowd became disorderly uncontrolled, or during the protest.

unruly mis- wrong, ill misuse (v) to use wrongly She misused her authority

when she reassigned Charlie to

a new team.

mal- bad, wrong maltreat (v) to treat badly After the dog saved his life, he

or wrongly swore he would never maltreat

another animal.

mal- ill malaise (n) feeling of discomfort The malaise many women feel

or illness during the first few months of

pregnancy is called morning sickness.

pseudo- false, fake pseudonym (n) false or fake name Mark Twain is a pseudonym for

Samuel Clemens.

auto- by oneself automaton (n) a robot; a person The workers on the assembly

or by itself who seems to act line looked like automatons.

mechanically and without thinking co- together with, cohesive (adj) having a tendency Though they came from

jointly to bond or stick different backgrounds, they

together; united have formed a remarkably

cohesive team.

 S u f f i xe s

A suffix is a syllable added to the end of a word to change or add to its meaning The following table lists some

of the most common suffixes in the English language They are grouped together by similar meanings.

-en to cause broaden (v) to make more Traveling around the world will

to become broad; to widen broaden your understanding of

other cultures.

-ate to cause resuscitate (v) to bring or come Thanks to a generous gift from

to be back to life or an alumnus, we were able to

consciousness; resuscitate the study-abroad

to revive program.

-ify/-fy to make or electrify (v) to charge with The singer electrified the

cause to be electricity audience with her

performance.

-ize to make, alphabetize (v) to put in alphabetical Please alphabetize these files

-al capable of, practical (adj) suitable for use; He has years of practical,

suitable for involving activity, on-the-job experience.

as distinct from study

or theory -ial pertaining to commercial of or engaged Commercial vehicles must

(adj) in commerce have special license plates -ic pertaining to aristocratic of or pertaining Though he was never rich or

(adj) to the aristocracy powerful, he has very

aristocratic manners.

-ly resembling, tenderly (adv) done with tenderness; He held the newborn baby

having the gently, delicately, and tenderly in his arms.

qualities of lovingly -ly in the manner boldly (adv) in a bold manner Despite his fear, he stepped

-ful full of meaningful significant; When Robert walked into the

(adj) full of meaning room with Annette, she cast

me a meaningful glance.

SUFFIX MEANING EXAMPLE DEFINITION SENTENCE

-ous, -ose full of humorous (adj) full of humor; funny His humorous speech made

the evening go by quickly -ive having the descriptive (adj) giving a description The letter was so descriptive

quality of that I could picture every place

he had been.

-less lacking, painless (adj) without pain; The doctor assured me that it

free of not causing pain is a painless procedure -ish having the childish (adj) like a child; unsuitable He did not get the job because

quality of for a grown person of his childish behavior during

the interview.

-ance/ quality or tolerance (n) willingness or ability He has a high level of

-ence state of to tolerate a person tolerance for rudeness.

or thing -acy quality or indeterminacy state or quality of The indeterminacy of his state

state of (n) being undetermined ment made it impossible to tell

(without defined limits) which side he was on.

or vague -tion act, state, completion (n) the act of completing; The second siren signaled the

or condition of the state of being completion of the fire drill.

completed or finished -or/-er one who does narrator (n) one who tells the story; A first-person narrator is

or performs the gives an account of usually not objective.

action of

-atrium/ place for arboretum a garden devoted They built a deck with an -orium (n) primarily to trees arboretum for their bonsai tree

and shrubs collection.

-ary place for, sanctuary (n) a sacred place; refuge With three noisy roommates,

pertaining to Ellen frequently sought the

quiet sanctuary of the library -cide kill pesticide (n) substance for killing This pesticide is also

insects dangerous for humans.

SUFFIX MEANING EXAMPLE DEFINITION SENTENCE

-ism quality, state, optimism (n) belief that things Her optimism makes people

or condition will turn out for the want to be around her.

of; doctrine of best; tendency to take

a hopeful view of things -ity quality or morality (n) state or quality He argued that the basic

state of of being moral morality of civilized societies

has not changed much over the centuries.

-itis inflammation tonsillitis (n) inflammation and Her tonsillitis was so severe

of infection of the that doctors had to remove her

tonsils tonsils immediately.

-ment act or judgment (n) ability to judge or He exercised good judgment

condition of make decisions wisely; by keeping his mouth shut

act of judging during the meeting.

-ology the study of zoology (n) the scientific study She took a summer job at the

of animal life zoo because of her strong

interest in zoology.

 C o m m o n L a t i n Wo r d R o o t s

Many words in the English language derive from Latin The following table shows the original Latin words that are used to create various English words The Latin words serve as roots, providing the core meaning of the words; prefixes, suffixes, and other alterations give each word its distinct meaning The word roots are listed in alphabetical order.

amare to love amorous (adj) readily showing She told him to stop his

or feeling love amorous advances, as she

was already engaged.

audire to hear audience (n) assembled group of The audience was stunned

listeners or spectators; when the game show host people within hearing slapped the contestant.

ROOT MEANING EXAMPLE DEFINITION SENTENCE

bellum war belligerent inclined to fight; The citizens feared that their

hostile, aggressive belligerent leader would start

an unjust war.

capere to take captivate (v) to capture the fancy of The story captivated me from

the beginning; I could not put the book down.

dicere to say, speak dictate (v) to state or order; She began to dictate her notes

to say what needs to into the microphone.

be written down duco to lead conduct (v) to lead or guide He conducted a detailed tour

(thorough) of the building.

equus equal equilibrium (n) a state of balance I have finally achieved an

equilibrium between work and leisure.

facere to make manufacture (v) to make or produce The clothes are manufactured

lucere to light lucid (adj) very clear No one could possibly have

misunderstood such a lucid explanation.

manus hand manicure (n) cosmetic treatment To take care of her long

finger-of the fingernails nails, she gets a manicure

every week.

medius middle median (adj) middle point; middle The median household income

in a set of numbers in this wealthy neighborhood is

$89,000.

mittere to send transmit (v) to send across The message was transmitted

over the intercom.

omnis all; every omnipresent present everywhere That top-40 song is

(adj) omnipresent; everywhere I go,

I hear it playing.

plicare to fold application (n) putting one thing on His loan application was

another; making a denied because of his poor formal request credit history.

ROOT MEANING EXAMPLE DEFINITION SENTENCE

ponere/ to place position (n) the place a person Although he is only 22, he

positum or thing occupies holds a very powerful position

in the company.

protare to carry transport (v) to carry across The goods will be transported

by boat.

quarere to ask or inquiry (n) act of inquiry, The inquiry lasted several

question investigation, months but yielded no new

or questioning information.

scribere to write scribe (n) person who makes The scribe had developed

copies of writings thick calluses on his fingers

from years of writing.

sentire to feel sentient (adj) capable of feeling No sentient beings should be

used for medical research specere to look at spectacle (n) striking or impressive The debate was quite a

sight spectacle—you should have

seen the candidates attack one another.

spirare to breathe respiration (n) the act of breathing His respiration was steady, but

he remained unconscious.

tendere to stretch extend (v) to make longer; Please extend the deadline by

stretch out two weeks so we can complete

the project properly.

verbum word verbatim (adv) word for word The student failed because she

had copied an article verbatim instead of writing her own essay.

 C o m m o n G r e e k Wo r d R o o t s

Many other English words are derived from the ancient Greek language The following table shows the Greek words that are used to create various English words The Greek words serve as roots, providing the core mean-ing of the words; prefixes, suffixes, and other alterations give each word its distinct meanmean-ing The word roots are listed in alphabetical order.

ROOT MEANING EXAMPLE DEFINITION SENTENCE

bios life biology (n) the science of He is majoring in biology and

living organisms plans to go to medical school chronos time chronological arranged in the order The story is confusing because

(adj) in which things she did not put the events in

occurred chronological order.

derma skin dermatology (n) branch of medical She has decided to study

science dealing with dermatology because she has the skin and its always been plagued by diseases rashes.

gamos marriage, polygamy (n) the practice or custom Throughout history, certain

union of having more than cultures have practiced

one spouse or mate polygamy, but it is uncommon

at a time today.

genos race, sex, genocide (n) deliberate extermination The recent genocide in Bosnia

kind of one race of people has created a sharp increase in

the number of orphaned children.

geo earth geography (n) the study of the Earth’s The geography of this region

surface; the surface or made it difficult for the different topographical features tribes to interact.

of a place graphein to write calligraphy (n) beautiful or elegant She used calligraphy when

handwriting she addressed the wedding

invitations.

krates member of democrat (n) one who believes in I have always been a

a group or advocates democ- democrat, but I refuse to join

racy as a principle the Democratic Party.

of government kryptos hidden, cryptic (adj) concealing meaning; He left such a cryptic message

secret puzzling on my answering machine that

I don’t know what he wanted metron to measure metronome (n) device with a pendulum She used a metronome to

that beats at a deter- help her keep the proper pace mined rate to measure as she played the song.

time/rhythm