ROOT
DEFINITION
Anglo
English
ist
one who
saur
lizard
dinosaur, pterosaur, tyrannosaurus, stegosaurus, Greek
saurian, plesiosaur
pithec
ape
calli
beautiful
austro
south
pithecanthropus, australopithecus, dryopithecus, Greek
oreopithecus
calligraphy, calliope, calisthenics, calliopsis,
Greek
callithmpian
australopithecus, Australia, austral, Austronesia, Latin
austromancy
cephalo
head
cephalic, cephalopod, cephalothorax,
microcephalic, encephalitis
Greek
chiro
hand
chiromancy, chiropody, chiropteran, chiropractor
Greek
caust
burn
Greek
terr
land
cata
down
jur
swear
caustic, holocaust, cauterize, caustically,
causticity
extraterrestrial, subterranean, Mediterranean,
terrain, terra firma
catapult, catastrophe, catacombs, catalepsy,
cataclysm, cataract
abjure, adjure, perjure, jury, jurisdiction,
jurisprudence, jurist
EXAMPLES
Anglophile, Anglophobe, Anglican, Anglicism,
Anglo-Saxon
artist, funambulist, anthropologist, solipsist,
centrist, atheist, sophist
ORIGIN
Latin
Greek
Latin
Greek
Latin
flu
flow
here
stick
pos
put
mund
world
cracy
government
mania
madness
ize
make
antho
flower
algia
pain
somn
sleep
quadr
four
err
sine
confluence, fluid, influence, fluent, superfluous, effluent, Latin
fluvial
coherence, adhesive, adhere, inherent, incoherent
Latin
position, deposit, superimpose, transpose, depose,
imposition
mundane, transmundane, intermundane, mundanity,
numdo
autocracy, democracy, aristocracy, plutocracy,
meritocracy
kleptomania, egomania, pyromania, dipsomania,
megalomania
victimize, harmonize, temporize, mobilize, fossilize,
polarize, bowdlerize
anthology, anthozoan, anthocyanin, anthophilous,
anther
neuralgia, analgesic, arthralgia, hemialgia, algometer,
algophobia
insomnia, somniferous, somnolent, somnambulate,
somniloquy
Latin
quadruped, quadratic, quadrant, quadruplet,
quadrilateral, quadriplegic
Latin
wander
error, erratic, Knight-errant, erroneous, erratum
Latin
without
sinecure, sine qua non, sine die, sine prole
Latin
Latin
Greek
Greek
Greek
Greek
Greek
Latin
Using the context clues from the sentence and your understanding
of the root, define the underlined words in the following sentences.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
He is a member of the Anglican church, but he is not an Anglophile.
The anthropologist studies human cultures the world over.
The pterosaur and pterodactyl were both flying dinosaurs.
Fossilized pithecanthropus and australopithecus skeletons were
discovered.
Her calligraphy is ornate, like the music of the calliope.
The austral winds raised dust storms over the dry Australian
outback.
The microcephalic boy held the cephalopod, a nautilus, in both
hands.
The physician accused the chiropractor of practicing chiromancy.
The survivor of the holocaust made a caustic comment about social
Darwinism.
The extraterrestrial admired the high terrain and the subterranean
grottoes.
The cataract after the cataclysm caused a catastrophe in the
catacombs.
The lying criminal perjured himself as the jury listened.
Using the context clues from the sentence and your understanding
of the root, define the underlined words in the following sentences.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
A fortunate confluence of influences made him fluent in Spanish.
The senator’s adherents thought the opponent’s speech was incoherent.
The corrupt ruler was deposed when his foreign bank deposits were
discovered.
His mundane conversation bored her to tears.
Do we want a democracy and a meritocracy or a plutocracy for the
aristocracy?
The host’s egomania kept him from noticing the kleptomania of his guest.
He was victimized by his own ignorance of his civil rights.
The anthology article discussed the anthozoans, including the sea
anemones.
The over-the-counter analgesic didn’t help her with her arthralgia much.
The mayor’s somniferous speech put even the insomniac to sleep.
The quadruped from Neptune gave birth to quadruplets.
The Knight-errant’s error was to save the dragon from the maiden.
A sinecure in the bureaucracy was the sine qua non of his dreams.
without which (there is) nothing
Answer and add reason!
1.
Is beautiful handwriting calligraphy or cacography?
2. Is an incoherent argument powerfully persuasive?
3. Is a flowery ocean coral or sea anemone an anthozoan?
4. Does American culture result from a confluence of international
customs?
5. Is a Knight-errant always at the side of his king?
6. Is a meeting that is adjourned sine die scheduled to resume the
next day?
7. Is a common bat a member of the order Chiroptera?
8. Is calliopsis ugliness or beauty?
9. Is Britain’s Prince Charles an Anglophobe?
10. Does a good politician abjure his commitments?
1. plutocracy : meritocracy ::
government : society
money : merit
democracy : president
autocracy : monarchy
4. solipsist : painter ::
philosophy : aesthetics
sophistry: honesty
hermit : eremite
ascetic : hedonistic
2. pyromania : match ::
dipsomania : glass
dipsomania : drink
kleptomania : thief
megalomania : megalopolis
5. mundane: cosmic ::
continent : ocean
planet : star
world : universe
ordinary : earth
3. superfluous : incisive ::
confluence : dispersion
unnecessary : trenchant
mundane : worldly
Anglophile : Anglophobe
6. catacombs : burial ::
sine qua non : essential
fork : utensil
Mediterranean : terrain
cabinet : storage