Latin Roots
English I Pre-AP
Act
To do, Drive
Sample Words:
 Acting (the art or practice
of representing (doing) a
character on a stage)
 React (to change what
one is doing in response
to a stimulus)
 Enact (to drive or make
into law)
Alt
High
Sample Words:
 Altos (voices in a choir
higher than tenors and
basses)
 Altitude (the vertical
height of an object above
a surface)
 Altimeter (an instrument
for measuring height of
an object )
Anima, Anim
Life, Mind
Sample Words:
• Animal (any of a kingdom
of living things )
• Animated (endowed with
life or the qualities of life )
• Animator (one who gives
a picture life)
Ann, Enn
Year
Sample Words:
 Annual (something that
occurs once a year)
 Perennial (persisting for
several years)
 Bicentennial (200th year
celebration)
Aqua
Water
Sample Words:



Aquarium (a container in which
living animals and water are
kept)
Aquamarine (a pale blue to light
greenish blue that mimics the
color of water)
Aquanaut (a scuba diver who
lives and operates both inside
and outside an underwater
shelter for an extended period)
Arm
Army, Weapon
Sample Words:
• Armory (a place where
weapons and military
equipment are stored)
• Armament (the process of
preparing weapons and
an army for war )
Bell
War
Sample Words:
 Belligerent (waging war;
inclined to or exhibiting
assertiveness, hostility, or
combativeness (war-like
behaviors))
 Bellicose (favoring or
inclined to start quarrels
or wars)
Cede
To go, To yield
Sample Words:
• Intercede (to intervene
between parties with a
view to make one party
yield)
• Supersede (to cause to
be set aside or yield)
• concede (to yield to
someone else’s point or
idea)
Cert
To be sure, To trust
Sample Words:
 Certain (known or proved
to be true or trustworthy)
 Certify (to attest as being
true or as represented or
as meeting a standard;
attest to being
trustworthy)
Cid, Cis
To cut of, be brief; To kill
Sample Words:
•
•
•
Concise (brief; having all
superfluous elaboration and
detail cut out)
Homicide (the crime of
killing another person)
Genocide (the deliberate
and systematic killing of a
racial, political, or cultural
group
Curs, Curr, Corr
To run
Sample Words:
 Current (presently
elapsing or running)
 Courier (one who runs
messages from place to
place)
 Corral (an enclosure for
confining livestock so
they won’t run off)
Dic, Dict
To say, to speak; To assert
Sample Words:



Dictate (to speak or act
domineeringly)
Dictionary (an alphabetical
listing of words people say)
Diction (choice of spoken
or written words esp. with
regard to correctness,
clearness, or effectiveness)
Duct, Duc
To lead; To draw
Sample Words:
• Aqueduct (a conduit for
drawing water)
• Conduct (to lead from a
position of command)
• Reduce (to draw
together or cause to
converge)
Dur
Hard, Lasting
Sample Words:
 Durable (lasting for a long
time without significant
deterioration)
 Duration (lasting for a
specific period of time)
 Endure (to last under
suffering without yielding)
Gen
Race, Family, Kind
Sample Words:
 Generation (a group of
individuals having the
same kind of status)
 General (involving, relating
to, or applicable to every
member of a class, kind, or
group)
Loc
Place
Sample Words:
• Location (a place outside
a motion-picture studio
where a picture or part of
it is filmed)
• Dislocate (to put out of
place)
Mar
Sea
Sample Words:
 Marine (of or relating to
the sea)
 Marina (a dock or basin
on the sea providing
secure moorings for
pleasure boats and often
offering supply, repair,
and other facilities)
Mit, Mis
To send
Sample Words:
• Remission (to send a
disease into a dormant
state)
• Transmit (to send from one
person or place to another)
• Mission (a body of persons
sent to perform a service or
carry on an activity)
Mort
Death
Sample Words:
 Mortician (one who
prepares a dead body for
a funeral)
 Mortal (causing or having
caused death)
 Mortify (to subject to
severe and vexing embarrassment that makes
the person want to die)
Mut
Change
Sample Words:
• Mutation (a significant and
basic change)
• Transmute (to change or
alter in form, appearance,
or nature and especially to
a higher form)
• Mutant (of or relating to
something produced by
change)
Ord, Ordin
To put in order
Sample Words:
 Order (to put in order)
 Ordinal (rites for the
ordination of deacons,
priests, and bishops [for
induction into the order])
 Ordinary (to regular or
customary order of
things)
Part, Pars
Portion, Part
Sample Words:



Partial (of or relating to a
part rather than a whole)
Particle (a minute quantity,
part, or fragment)
Partner (on that shares part
of something)
Ped
Foot
Sample Words:
• Pedestal (the base of
foot of a column)
• Pedestrian (one who
travels on foot)
• Pedal (a lever pressed
by the foot)
Prov, Prob
To Prove, Test
Sample Words:
 Probate (the proving of
the validity of a will)
 Probation (subjection of
an individual to a period
of testing and trial to
ascertain fitness)
 Prove (to test the truth,
validity, or genuineness
of)
Rupt
To Break, Burst
Sample Words:
 Disrupt (to break apart)
 Eruption (the act, process,
or instance of erupting
[breaking/bursting out])
 Rupture (a break of peace
or concord)
Sacr, Secr, Sanct
Sacred
Sample Words:
• Desecrate (to violate the
sanctity/sacredness of)
• Sacrifice (an act of
sacred offering)
• Sacrilege (a violation of
something sacred)
• Sanctify (to set apart as
sacred)
Sent, Sens
To Feel
Sample Words:
 Sense (one of the five
“feelings”)
 Sentimental (marked or
governed by feeling)
 Sentinel (a sentry; a
guard or watch placed at
a point of passage [one
who feels for danger])
Sol, Soli
Alone, Lonely
Sample Words:
• Soliloquy (a speech given
by one person alone on
stage)
• Solo (something done
alone)
• Solitary (being, living, or
going alone or without
companions)
Test
To Witness, Affirm
Sample Words:
 Attest (to affirm to be true
or genuine)
 Contest (a struggle for
the affirmation of
superiority or victory)
 Testify (to bear witness)
Vers, Vert
To Turn
Sample Words:
• Adverse (acting against or
in a contrary [turning]
direction)
• Conversion (the turning
from former ways and the
embracing of new)
• Reverse (to turn around and
go the opposite direction)