Latin and Greek Roots of English Vocabulary: An Online Manual: Lesson 19 [fin-]
March 28, 2010
|
Root |
Original Meaning/ Usage Notes |
English Derivatives |
Vocabulary |
| (base)
fin- [from Latin]
|
(noun) limit, end
|
definite [literally, ‘limited down from;’ possessing distinct limits.] finish [literally, ‘limiter;’ end or boundary.] finite [literally, ‘limited;’ in grammar, the form of a verb that is limited in person, number, or mood.] infinite [literally, ‘unlimited.’] infinitesimal infinitive |
infinitesimal (adjective) [literally, ‘unlimitedly (small).’] infinitive (noun) [literally, ‘unlimited;’ the form of a verb that is not limited by person, number, or mood.] |
Latin and Greek Roots of English Vocabulary: An Online Manual: Lesson 18 [ex- (Latin)/e-; ec-/ex- (Greek)]
March 21, 2010
|
Root |
Original Meaning/ Usage Notes |
English Derivatives |
Vocabulary |
| (prefix)
ex-/e- [from Latin]
|
(preposition) out-of, on-the-basis-of
|
event [literally, ‘a coming out;’ a happening, sometimes one of significance; a final result or outcome.] to exacerbate excess excursion [literally, ‘a running out;’ a short pleasure trip.] to expect [literally, ‘to look out for;’ to await something that is probable or due.] to expel [literally, ‘to push out;’ to drive out or force to leave.] |
to exacerbate (verb) [literally, ‘to make bitter out-of;’ to make something worse than it already is.] excess (noun) [literally, ‘gone out-of;’ an amount or behavior that goes beyond what is normal or sufficient or lawful or conventionally acceptable.] |
| (prefix)
ec-/ex- [from Greek]
|
(preposition) out-of, on-the-basis-of
|
eccentric ecclesiastical [literally, ‘pertaining to a calling out (and together);’ pertaining to the church.] eclectic [literally, ‘selected out-of;’ composed of items selected out of a wide variety of sources.] eclipse [literally, ‘leaving out;’ the partial or complete blotting out of one heavenly body by another.] ecstasy [literally, ‘standing out-of;’ a state of intense blissful emotion that transcends reasoning and takes one out of oneself.] exodus |
eccentric (adjective) [literally, ‘out-of the center;’ deviating from the conventionally accepted standard.] exodus (noun) [literally, ‘way out;’ a departure of a large number of persons as a coherent group.] |
Latin and Greek Roots of English Vocabulary: An Online Manual: Lesson 17 [fac-/fact- (fic-/fect-)]
March 14, 2010
|
Root
|
Original Meaning/ Usage Notes |
English Derivatives
|
Vocabulary
|
| (base)
fac-/fact- [fic-/fect-] [from Latin]
|
(verb) to do, to make
|
confection [literally, ‘making together with;’ making a product by combining things together; a product made to be sweet, such as candy.] efficacious [literally, ‘able to be made out of;’ capable of producing a desired result.] fact factory [literally, ‘a making place;’ a building in which products are made by industrial technology.] to manufacture perfect [literally, ‘made thoroughly;’ complete in every way.] |
fact (noun) [literally, ‘a thing done;’ item of information presented as objectively actual and true.] to manufacture (verb) [literally, ‘to make by hand;’ to make a product, especially by means of industrial technology.] |
Stop the Texification of Our Texts!
March 11, 2010
Texas may not be seceding from the union politically, but it is doing everything that it can to do so educationally. As the New York Times’s James McKinley reported (www.nytimes.com/2010/03/11/us/politics/11texas.html?ref=education), just as the nation is at last on the cusp of crafting something like uniform national curriculum standards, the Texas State Board of Education is revising its social studies curriculum to tilt it in an extremist right wing direction, elevating Jefferson Davis to a stature equal to Abraham Lincoln, watering down the New Deal and the Great society and civil rights history, elevating the groundless claim of the centrality of Christianity in the founding of the republic, even mentioning the Tea Party movement as legitimate, to name just a few.
Why is this important? It is important because the sheer size of Texas makes it one of the prime purchasers of textbooks in the nation. Consequently, when Texas speaks, textbook publishers listen. This could lead to a decade of textbooks skewed to a malformed rightist view of our civil life and history.
It is time for publishers to stand firm and to act in a principled way to resist the textbook bullying of Texas.
The national standards being formulated may not be all that some of us would wish in the way of rigor and comprehensiveness and coherence, but they will be preferable to anything that the Texan right wingers can cook up.
Stop the Texification of our texts!
Our Latinate Political Scene (A Political Vocabulary Exercise)
March 8, 2010
Students of politics should refresh the Latin that they learned in high school, because it would provide them with some insight into our current universe of political discourse and action.
The Republic Party is the “ob” party, the party of the Latin preposition “ob,” which means “against/regarding.” This preposition conveys a sense of in-your-face againstness. Two English nouns that have this as a root are: obstacle and obloquy. The English adjectives derived from it include: obdurate, obfuscatory, objectionable, objurgating, obliterative, oblivious, obnoxious, obscene, obscurantist, obsequious, obsessive, obsolescent, obstinate, obstreperous, obstructionist, obtrusive, obtundent, obturating, and obtuse.
The Democratic Party is the “si” party, the party of the Latin conjunction “si,” which means “if.” The iffiness of the Democratic Party has made it seem like a cadre of temporizing bumblers, the party of unfulfilled conditionality. Some of its mottoes could be: “if we had the courage of our convictions,” “if we had the principled certainty to act decisively,” or “if we valued the truth enough to confront proliferated lies directly.”
This is only the tip of the iceberg of what Latin has to teach us about our current political stagnation.
Latin and Greek Roots of English Vocabulary: An Online Manual: Lesson 16 [dic-/dict-]
March 7, 2010
|
Root
|
Original Meaning/ Usage Notes |
English Derivatives
|
Vocabulary
|
|
(base) dic-/dict- [from Latin]
|
(verb) to say
|
benediction dictator diction [literally, ‘saying;’ the choice and use of words in speaking or in writing.] edict [literally, ‘said out;’ a legally binding decree or proclamation or pronouncement.] to indict [literally, ‘to say unto;’ to accuse someone formally of wrongdoing or crime.] malediction [literally, ‘badly-saying;’ a curse.] |
benediction (noun) [literally, ‘well-saying;’ a blessing.] dictator (noun) [literally, ‘official sayer;’ an ancient Roman leader designated to lead the city temporarily in a crisis; an absolute or autocratic ruler.] |
