The Greek & Latin Roots of English (19 page)

37.
Meta
morphosis indicates __________of shape or form.

38. A
para
medic works __________ the doctor.

39. A
hyper
critical individual is __________ judgmental.

40. In a state of
ecsta
sy, you may experience a psychological sensation of __________ __________ your body.

41. A disease that is
en
demic is widespread __________ the population.

42. A
pro
phet speaks the true outcome of an event __________ it happens.

43. There was an
ex
odus toward the doors as the audience looked for a way __________.

44. In a
sym
phony, all the sounds blend __________.

C. As we have already seen, some Latin words changed their function when they entered into English. Here are some more Latin verb forms that have become English nouns. What are the current meanings of these Latin verbs?

D. Fill in the blanks in the following sentences with the literal meaning of the italicized word or part of a word. Make sure that the sentence is grammatically correct.

52. An
omnivor
ous animal _______ ______ kinds of food.

53. If you are a
neo
phyte at tennis, you may make mistakes because you are ______ to the sport.

54. A creature that is
macroc
ephalic has a __________ skull.

55. A
mis
ogamist _______ the very thought of marriage.

56. The population of New York City may be described as
hetero
geneous because it is made up of many __________ nationalities and ethnic groups.

57. A
bene
volent individual wishes you ___________.

58. A
dys
peptic individual may be irritable because she has ________ digestion.

59. A
polyg
ynist has _______ wives at the same time.

60. The
Pantheon
was an ancient temple in Rome dedicated to _______ the _______.

61. To be
magn
animous means that you are generous and therefore have a ________ spirit.

62. If you are abysmally ignorant, your lack of knowledge is _________ any measure or depth.

63. A
retro
spective exhibit looks _________ at the whole of an artist's work.

64. A musical composition that is
euphoni
ous _________ _________ to the ear.

65. A
micrometer
is an _________ _________ distances.

66. An Anglo
phile
_________ all things English.

67. An
autonomous
state is one that is ____________ ____________.

68. A
cryptogram
is ________ whose meaning is __________.

69. An
archaeolog
ist _________ _________ cultures.

70. A
recti
linear argument moves along a __________ line.

71. The speech of an
in
coherent individual does _________ hold together.

72. “Please do not
desert
me in the
desert
” provides an example of a _____________.

73. “He jumped into the
air
when he found out that he was
heir
to a fortune” provides an example of a ___________.

74. What is the difference between an
immigrant
and an
emigrant
? ______________________.

E.
What's in a name?
Onyma
(ὄνυμα) is the Greek word for name. Give the current meaning of each of the following compounds of
onyma
and cite an example of each.

F. How many of these words can you use to construct a coherent essay or story? Whatever you write must make grammatical and logical sense. If you are unsure of a meaning, check your dictionary. In addition, give the etymology of each of the words that you use.

G. Construct sentences that contain one of the following words and that demonstrate you understand the meaning of the word. You need use only one word per sentence but extra credit for using two or more. Make sure that your sentences are grammatically correct.

Footnotes

1
. Certain consonants (such as
b
,
m
, and
n
) often take on the sound of the following consonant: e.g., sub + pono (place) > suppono-supponere-suppositum (place under). This is called
assimilation
. Sometimes there is only a partial assimilation of sounds: e.g.,
n
before
p
becomes
m
, as in
compose
.

2
. Sometimes the Latin prefixes
cum
and
per
(as well as the Greek διά) serve merely to intensify the word to which they are affixed: e.g., per + facio > perficio-perficere-perfectum = do thoroughly, finish; or cum + cedo > concede-concedere-concessum = yield completely, give way.

3
. The prefix
co
- is most often used as a learned borrowing, meaning “together” or “jointly”: e.g.,
coworker
.

4
. When the Latin word has first passed through French,
contra
most often becomes
counter:
e.g., contra + mando (order) > countermand.

5
. When the Latin word has first passed through French,
super
most often becomes
sur:
e.g., super + vivo (live) >
survive
.

6
.
Ultra
is never used as a prefix in Latin. It appears in English only as a learned borrowing.

7
. Almost all uses of
hyper
- and
hypo
- in English compounds are learned borrowings.

8
. In compounds, the
n
of
syn
- is often assimilated to the consonant that follows it.

9
. When
a
- is added to a word that begins with a vowel, an
n
is placed between the prefix and the root of the word: e.g.,
a
+
arche
> anarchy.

10
. There is, unfortunately, no way to distinguish between the use of
in
- as a prefix meaning
in
or
on
, and its use as a negative.

LATIN
and
GREEK NUMBERS