GREEK/LATIN ROOT WORDS OF ENGLISH-PART1

Root word	Meanings	Origin	Examples and Definitions
a/n	not, without	Greek	abyss - without bottom; achromatic - without color; anhydrous - without water
a	on	Latin	afire - on fire; ashore - on the shore; aside - on the side
a, ab/s	from, away, off	Latin	abduct - carry away by force; abnormal - away from normal, not normal; absent - away, not present; aversion - the act of turning away from; abbreviate: to shorten.
a/c/d	to, toward, near	Latin	accelerate - to increase the speed of; accessible - easily entered, approached, or obtained; admittance - allowing into;
acro	top, height, tip, beginning	Greek	acrobat - a "high walker"; acronym - a word formed from the first (capital) letters of a word; acrophobia - fear of height
act	do	Latin	activity - something that a person does; react - to do something in response; interaction - communication between two or more things
aer/o	air	Greek	aerate - to let air reach something; aerial - relating to the air; aerospace - the air space
agr/i/o	farming	Latin	agriculture - management of the land, agribusiness - making money by utilizing land; agrarian - relating to the management of land
		Greek
alg/o	pain	Latin	neuralgia - pain caused by a nerve; analgesic - a drug that makes one pain free; nostalgia - aching for the familiar
ambi, amphi	both, on both sides, around	Latin	ambidextrous - able to use both hands equally; ambiguous - having more than one meaning; ambivalence - conflicting or opposite feelings toward a person or thing
ambul	walk, move	Latin	amble - to walk in a slow, relaxed way; ambulant - walking or moving around; ambulance - a vehicle that moves a patient
ami/o	love	Latin	amiable - friendly, pleasant, lovable; amity - friendly and peaceful relations; amorous - showing romantic love
ana	up, back, against,	Greek	analysis - a close examination of something; anatomy - the structure of something as visible when cut up for analysis; anachronism - not being in the right place in time
	again, throughout
andr/o	man, male	Greek	androgynous - being both male and female; android - resembling a human; misandry - hatred towards men
anim	life, spirit	Latin	animal - a living organism; animate - to make alive; equanimity - of balanced spirit
ann/enn	year	Latin	anniversary - a date observed once a year; annual - happening once a year; millennium - 1,000 years
ante	before, in front	Latin	antecede - to come before something in time; antemeridian - before noon; anteroom- a small room before the main room
anth/o	flower	Greek	chrysanthemum and amaranth - names of flowers; anthology - a collection of treasured writings; anthozoan - half plant, half animal, like anemones and corals.
anthrop/o	human	Greek	anthropology - the study of mankind; anthropomorphism - giving human form to non-human things; philanthropy - the love to mankind (expressed through good deeds)
anti	against, opposite of	Greek	antibody - a substance that destroys micro-organisms; antiseptic - preventing infection; antisocial - opposing social norm
apo, apho	away, off, separate	Greek	aphorism - a short expression of a general truth; apology - an explicit expression of regret, apostrophe - a small dash used in place of an omitted letter
aqu/a	water	Latin	aquarium - a water container for fish; aquatic- relating to water; aqueduct - a pipeline for water
arbor	tree	Latin	arborist - someone working with trees; arbor - a shady area formed by trees; arborous - having many trees
arch/i	chief, most important, rule	Greek	archbishop - the highest ranking bishop; archenemy - chief or worst enemy; matriarch - a female who rules a group; monarch - a king or queen
arch/a/i	primitive, ancient	Greek	archaeology - the study of ancient cultures; archaic - belonging to an earlier period; archive - a collection of historical materials
arthr/o	joint	Latin	arthroscope - a tool to see inside a joint; arthritis - inflammation of a joint; arthropod - invertebrates with jointed legs, like spiders, crustaceans, insects
		Greek
art	skill	Latin	artifact - object made by a person's skill; artisan - a person skilled in a craft; artist - a person who creates skillfully
astro,	star, stars, outer space	Latin	astronaut - a person traveling to the stars; astronomer - someone who studies the stars; asterisk - a star-shaped sign used as a reference tool
aster
aud/i/io	hear	Latin	audible - loud enough to be heard; audience - people who listen to a program; audiovisual - relating to sound and vision
auto	self, same, one	Greek	autocrat - a person who governs with absolute power; autograph - a person's own signature; automatic - moving by itself
avi/a	bird	Latin	aviary - a large enclosure for birds; aviatrix - a female airplane pilot; aviation - the art of designing or operating aircraft
bar/o	pressure, weight	Greek	baric - pertaining to pressure, esp. of the atmosphere; milliard - metric unit, equal to 1/1000th of a bar; baryon - heavy elementary particle
bell/i	war	Latin	bellicose - warlike; belligerent - hostile, ready to fight; rebel - person who opposes and fights
bene	good, well	Latin	benefactor - person who gives money to a cause; beneficial - producing a good effect; benevolent - showing kindness or goodwill
bi/n	two, twice, once in every two	Latin	biannual - happening twice a year; binoculars - optical device with two lenses; bilateral - of or involving two sides
bibli/o	book	Greek	bibliography - a list of books used as sources; bibliomania - an extreme love of books; bibliophile - a person who loves books
bio	life, living matter	Greek	biography- a life story written by another person; biology - the science of life; biosphere - Earth's surface inhabited by living things
blast/o	cell, primitive, immature cell	Greek	blastula - an early stage of embryonic development; fibroblast - a cell that forms connective tissue; blastoderm - the layer surrounding the inside of an egg
burs	pouch, purse	Latin	bursar- an administrative officer in charge of funds; bursary- the treasury of a college or monastery; disburse- to expend especially from a public fund
calc	stone	Latin	calcite; calcium- the flame of acetylene gas generated by reaction of calcium carbide with water; calcification- impregnation with calcareous matter
cand	glowing, iridescent	Latin	candid- free from bias, prejudice, or malice; candle- something that gives light; incandescent- white, glowing, or luminous with intense heat
capt, cept, ceive	take, hold	Latin	intercept - to stop or interrupt;
			perceive - to take notice of something; captivating - taking hold of
cardi/o	heart	Greek	cardiac - relating to the heart; cardiogenic - resulting from heart disease; cardiologist - a heart doctor
carn/i	flesh, meat	Latin	carnivorous - flesh-eating; carnal - pertaining to the body or flesh; incarnate - given bodily form
cata	down, against	Greek	cataclysm - a flood or other disaster, catalog - a complete listing; catastrophe - turning for the worst, a substantial disaster
	completely, intensive,
	according to
caust,	to burn	Latin	cauterize - to burn with a hot instrument; caustic - capable of burning or eating away; holocaust - total devastation, especially by fire
caut		Greek
cede,	go, yield	Latin	exceed - to go beyond the limits; recede - to go back; accessible - easily entered, approached, or obtained;
ceed,
cess
celer	fast	Latin	accelerate - to increase the speed of; decelerate - to reduce the speed of
cent/i	hundred, hundredth	Latin	centennial- the 100th anniversary; centimeter - 1/100 of a meter; century - 100 years
centr/o/i	center	Greek	egocentric - self-centered; eccentric - not having a common center, not according to norm; centrifugal - moving outward from a center
cephal/o	head	Greek	encephalitis - inflammation of the brain; cephalic - pertaining to the head; cephalopod - marine mollusks like octopus and squid who have tentacles growing from their head
cerebr/o	brain	Latin	cerebral - pertaining to the brain; cerebrate - to use the brain; cerebrospinal - pertaining to the brain and the spinal cord
cert	sure	Latin	ascertain- to find out something with certainty; certain - being absolutely sure; certify - to state that something is true
chrom/o chromat/o, chros	color, pigment	Greek	achromatic - without color; chromium - a blue-white metallic chemical element, chromatics - the study of color
chron/o	time	Greek	chronic - lasting for a long time; chronological - arranging events in time order, synchronize - happening at the same time
chrys/o	gold, yellow	Greek	chrysanthemum and helichrysum - golden/yellow flowers; chrysolite - a yellowish gem
cide, cise	cut, kill	Latin	homicide - murder; incisor - a sharp tooth for cutting food; insecticide - a chemical used to kill insects
circum,	around, about	Latin	circumnavigate - to sail around; circumscribe - to draw around; circumspect - looking around
circle
claim, clam	shout, speak out	Latin	clamor - to shout and make noise; exclaim - to cry out loudly and suddenly; proclamation - something announced officially in public
clar	clear	Latin	clarification - an explanation; clarify - to make something clear; declare - to state something clearly
clud, clus	close	Latin	conclusion - the end or last part; exclusion - shutting out, rejecting; seclude - to keep away from; to isolate
cline	lean	Latin	inclination - a leaning toward; incline - a surface that slopes or leans; recline - to lean back and relax
co	with, together, joint	Latin	coauthor - writer who collaborates with another author; coeducation - educating males and females together; cohousing - planning your neighborhood in an intentional neighborly fashion
col	together, jointly	Latin	Collaborate - to work together; collision - smashing together; colloquial - words formed by everday interaction
com	together, common	Latin	commemorate - to memorize together; composition - an arrangement or putting together of parts; commune - living together while owning things in common
cogn/i	know	Latin	cognition - process of acquiring knowledge; incognito - disguised so no one knows you; recognize - to discover that one knows
con	with, jointly	Latin	concur - to agree with someone; contemporary - of the same time period as others; convention - a gathering of people with a common interest
contra/o	against, opposite	Latin	contradict to argue against, Contraflow, contraception, contrary not in agreement, controversy disagreement
corp/o	body	Latin	corporation - a company recognized by law as a single body; corpse - a dead body; corporal - pertaining to the body
cosm/o	universe	Greek	cosmonaut - a Russian astronaut; cosmos - the universe; microcosm - a miniature universe
counter	opposite, contrary, opposing		counteract - to oppose the effects of an action; countermand - to cancel a previous order; counteroffensive - attack against an attack
cranio	skull	Greek	craniology - the study of skull characteristics; cranium - skull of vertebrates; cranial - pertaining to the skull
cred	believe	Latin	credence - belief that something is true or valid; credulous - believing things too easily, gullible; incredible - unbelievable
cruc	cross	Latin	crucial-characteristic of or having the form of a cross ; crucifix- the cross itself as a Christian emblem; excruciating-  so intense as to cause great pain or anguish
crypto	hidden, secret	Greek	cryptic - of hidden meaning; cryptography - science of secret codes; encrypt - encode into secret code
cumul	mass, heap	Latin	accumulate - to gather or pile up; cumulative - gradually building up
curr, curs	run	Latin	concurrent- running parallel; current- flowing easily and smoothly; cursive- having a flowing, easy, impromptu character
cycl	circle, ring	Greek	bicycle - a vehicle with two wheels; cycle - a sequence that is repeated; cyclone - a storm with circling winds
de	reduce, away, down, remove	Latin	decelerate - to slow down, reduce speed; dethrone - to remove from power; debug - to remove bugs
dec/a,	ten	Greek	decade - 10 years; decathlon - athletic contest that includes 10 disciplines in which each participant competes; December - formerly the 10th month of the Roman calendar
deka
deci	one tenth	Latin	deciliter - a tenth of a liter; decimate - reduce dramatically; decibel - one tenth of the sound volume unit bel
dem/o	people	Greek	democracy - government of the people; demographic - the study of people; epidemic - spreading among people in a region
demi	half, less than	Latin	demitasse - a small cup of coffee; demimonde - someone of little respected life style
dendr/o/i	tree	Greek	philodendron - a climbing plant that grows on trees; dendrochronology - dating events by studying growth rings in trees; dendriform - in the shape of a tree
dent, dont	tooth	Latin	dental - relating to teeth; dentist - a doctor for the teeth; dentures - a set of false teeth