Stem Word List #9
Stem
Meaning
Example Words
polis
(city)
metropolis, megalopolis, police, policy, necropolis
ego
(I)
egomaniac, egocentric, egotistical, egoism, alter ego
dia
(across)
diagonal, diameter, dialogue, dialect, diatribe, dialectic
per
(through)
perception, perforation, percolate, perambulate, pertain
pac
(peace)
pacify, pacific, pacifist, pacifier, pacifism, pacification
brev
(short)
brevity, abbreviation, breviary, brief
il
(not)
illegal, illiterate, illicit, ill-mannered, illogical, illegible
leg
(read)
legible, legend, legendary, legibility, alleged, illegible
sanct
(holy)
sanctity, sanctuary, sanctify, unsanctioned, sanctimonious
meta
(change or beyond)
metamorphosis, metaphor, metaphysics, metastasize
curs
(run)
cursive, incursion, cursory, cursor, precursor
cad
(fall)
cascade, cadaver, cadence, decadent, cadaverous
capit
(head)
decapitate, capital, captain, caption, capitulation
ness
(quality)
softness, redness, politeness, kindness, darkness
ate
(cause to be)
graduate, coagulate, domesticate, implicate, insinuate
paleo
(old)
Paleolithic, paleontologist, Paleozoic, paleography
crypt
(hidden)
cryptic, cryptology, crypt, cryptogram, encrypt
sacr
(holy)
sacred, sacrifice, sacrament, sacrilege, consecrate
cor
(heart)
core, concord, discord, cordial, courageous
fug
(flee)
centrifuge, fugitive, subterfuge, refugee, fugue
Directions:
Step One: Create a study note card for each stem
Step Two: Spend time each night reviewing your cards. (This can be done on the bus ride home, in the
car, or during study time in Inquiry class, etc.)
Step Three: Remember that the Word Within a Word is cumulative. That means once you have list # 2
you can’t just toss out list # 1. You’ll need to keep reviewing those words too! You’ll see them on Stem
Test # 2 and so on.