Sunday, October 5, 2008

Greek and Latin roots in English

This is an alphabetical list of Greek and Latin roots commonly used in English. For practice, choose 10 Greek and Latin roots that you don't know, and find 2 examples for each one.

Example: Part 1

Root / Meaning / Origin / Examples
astro- / star (shaped) / Greek / astrology, astronomy, astronaut, astrophysics
-logy / study of / Greek / astrology (study of the stars, in this case for predicting the future)
-naut / ship / Greek / astronaut (starship, in this case traveler)
-phys / nature / Greek / astrophysics (star nature)

Longman defines "atro-" as relating to the stars, planets or space, and gives the following examples.
an astronaut (someone who travels in space)
astronomy (scientific study of the stars)

Example: Part 2

astrology: the study of the positions and movements of the stars and how they might influence people and events (Longman)
"A common assumption of astrology is the use of celestial (relating to the heaven or sky) placements in order to explain past and present events and predict the future" (Wikipedia).

astrophysics: the scientific study of the chemical structure of the stars and the forces that influence them (Longman)
"Modern astrophysics studies the formation, structure and evolution of stars and galaxies and of the Universe itself" (Longman).