Vocabulary Unit 11
ROOT WORDS AND THEIR DEFINITIONS
Alumni
 i- plural
 lum- light
 The Sanderson Alumni group raised more money for
the food drive than the freshman class.
Justify
 Jus- law
 Ify- to make
 The teacher had to justify her decision when she
assigned homework on the first day of school.
Illuminate
 Lum-light
 Ate- to make
 I asked her to shed some light on the situation and
her response was illuminating.
Annual
 Ann- year
 The food drive is our annual community service
project at Sanderson.
Apologize
 apo- up or away
 Log- word or reason
 Ize- to make
 When she wouldn’t apologize, her father told her she
would have to make it up to her sister by doing her
chores.
Senility
 Sen-old
 Ity- quality of
 My grandmother’s senility often frustrates her
nurses.
Solitude
 Sol- alone
 Tude- state of
 When children have temper tantrums, they are often
punished with solitude.
Basic
 Bas- low
 Because my math scores were low, I was placed in a
basic math class.
Interrogation
 Inter-within
 Rogat- ask
 Ion- state of
 During the interrogation, Elie was confused by the
quickly asked questions.
Parliament
 Parl-speak
 Parliament members are often known for their
speaking skills.
Potential
 Potent- power
 Many people do not live up to their potentials, which
is often frustrating for their parents and teachers.
Program
 Pro-forward
 Gram- writing
 The program guide gave us a speak peak into the
day’s activities.
Cantata
 Cant-sing
 The Christmas cantata had such catchy songs that I
sang them the entire winter break!
Regulatory
 Reg- rule
 The regulatory committee created the rules for all of
the Olympic events.
Androgynous
 Andro- man
 Gyn- woman
 Ous- full of
 When I visited France, I found that many of the
public restrooms were androgynous.
Agile
 Ag- to do
 The quarterback of the football team must be very
agile in order to catch the ball.
Reaction
 Re- again
 Act- to do
 Ion- act of
 Her reaction to my speech made realize that I should
have practiced more!
Immobilize
 Im- not
 Mob- move
 Ize- to make
 When I broke my leg, I was immobilized for two
weeks.
Possessive
 Sess- sit
 The possessive boyfriend sat outside his girlfriend’s
class everyday.
Announcement
 Nounce- tell
 Ment- action
 The announcements will be aired school wide
beginning Friday!