Latin
prefixes and roots
DP English A-1
When the Latin-speaking Romans ruled Britain, approximately 75-410 A.D., there was no English
language. The native Britons spoke Celtic, a language akin to Irish and Welsh. After the Romans
withdrew, the Britons were overwhelmed by Germanic invaders, the Angles, and Saxons. The English we
speak today is a continuation of the language of the Angles and Saxons.
Before invading Britain, the Angles and Saxons had adopted some Latin words from contacts with
the vast neighboring Roman Empire. In Britain, these Germanic tribes undoubtedly acquired a few more
Latin words from the Britons, who had lived so long under Roman domination. After 597, when the
Roman monk, St. Augustine, introduced Christianity and the Holy Scripture – in Latin – to Britain, the
Anglo-Saxons absorbed more words from Latin. But Latin had no major impact on English until 1066,
when the Normans conquered England.
The Normans spoke French, a Romance language, i.e., a language developed from the language of
the Romans. French, which is 85 percent descended from Latin, was England’s official language for two
hundred years after the Norman Conquest. The language of the Normans gradually blended with the
Anglo-Saxon spoken by the common people. In the process, a considerable number of Latin words were
incorporated into English indirectly, by way of French.
A substantial number of other words came into English directly from Latin itself. From the
Renaissance, in the sixteenth century, to the present day, as English-speaking authors and scientists have
needed new words to express new ideas, they have been able to form them from Latin (or Greek). It is no
wonder, then, that more than 50 percent of the vocabulary of English derives directly or indirectly from
Latin. To boost your own word power, study the common Latin prefixes and roots presented here.
Prefixes
1. a, ab –
2. ad
–
3. ante
–
4. bi
–
5. circum
–
6. con (col, com, cor) –
7. contra –
8. de
–
9. dis
–
10. e, ex
–
11. extra –
12. in (il, im, ir) –
13. in (il, im, ir) –
14. inter –
15. intra –
Latin
Roots
16. grat:
1. rupt:
17. mor (mort):
2. cide:
18. corp:
3. string (strict):
19. duc (duct):
4. vor:
20. secut (sequ):
5. viv:
21. cur (curr, curs):
6. tort (tors):
22. gress (grad):
7. vict (vinc):
23. ped:
8. fract (frag):
24. tact (tang):
9. omni:
25. prehend (prehens):
10. flect (flex):
26. ject:
11. ten (tin, tent):
27. vert (vers):
12. mon (monit):
28. mis (miss, mit, mitt):
13. mand (mandat):
29. locut (loqu):
14. cred (credit):
30. fer [ous]:
15. fid:
Greek
prefixes and roots
A great revival of interest in ancient Greek and Latin civilizations took place in England during the years
1500-1650, a period known as the Renaissance. At that time, numerous ancient Greek and Latin words
and their derivatives were incorporated into our language. This pattern of language growth has
continued to the present day. When modern scientists need to name a new idea, process, or object, they
tend to avoid existing English words because these already may have several other meanings. Instead,
they prefer to construct a new English word out of one or more ancient Greek or Latin words. Though
ancient Greek has not given us so many English words as Latin, it has been especially preferred as a
source of new words in the scientific and technical fields.
Here are twenty-five ancient Greek prefixes and roots that have enriched our language.
1. phobia:
15. homo:
2. phil (philo):
16. hetero:
3. mis:
17. hyper:
4. dys:
18. hypo:
5. eu:
19. endo:
6. macro:
20. exo:
7. micro:
21. archy:
8. a (an):
22. geo:
9. mono (mon):
23. path (patho, pathy):
10. poly:
24. morph:
11. logy:
25. peri:
12. bio:
13. tomy (tom):
14. pod:
Adapted from: Levine, Harold. Vocabulary for the College-Bound Student.
New York: Amsco School Publications, 1983. Print.