Root

Original Meaning/

Usage Notes

English Derivatives

Vocabulary

anim- [from Latin]

(noun)

soul

to animadvert

animal [literally, ‘ensouled thing;’ a member of the biological kingdom of Animalia possessing the capacity for locomotion and a fixed bodily structure.]

animation [literally, ‘acting with soul;’ vivacity and spiritedness.]

animism

animosity [literally, ‘fullness of soul;’ deep hatred.]

magnanimous [literally, ‘big-souled;’ having and showing a generous spirit toward others.]

to animadvert (verb) [literally, ‘to turn one’s soul toward;’ to express strong disapproval or harsh censure of someone.]

animism (noun) [literally, ‘soulism;’ the belief that everything in the world possesses a soul and is alive.]

psych- [from Greek]

(noun)

soul

metempsychosis [literally, ‘being ensouled after(ward);’ the transmigration of souls at death from one being into another.]

psychiatry

psychoanalysis [literally, ‘loosening up the soul;’ the method of psychic treatment or therapy formulated by Sigmund Freud.]

psychology

psychosis [literally, ‘soul condition;’ severe mental dysfunction.]

psychosomatic [literally, ‘soul-bodily;’ relating to an illness with physical or bodily symptoms but with a mental or psychological cause; psychogenic.]

psychiatry (noun) [literally, ‘soul healing;’ the medically based science of mental functioning.]

psychology (noun) [literally, ‘speech about the soul;’ the non-medical science of mental functioning.]

Root

Original Meaning/

Usage Notes

English Derivatives

Vocabulary

per- [from Latin]

(preposition)

through

[Note: As a prefix, this also means ‘thorough(ly).’]

to percolate [literally, ‘to strain through or thoroughly;’ to pass a substance through small holes; to bubble with activity.]

perfection [literally, ‘making thoroughly;’ completeness in every way.]

to permit

to persecute

perspective [literally, ‘of a look through;’ a view or point of view.]

perverted

[literally, ‘thoroughly turned;’ deviating from what is considered normal or proper.]

to permit (verb) [literally, ‘to send through;’ to allow.]

to persecute (verb) [literally, ‘to follow thoroughly;’ to mistreat a person or group of persons doggedly and persistently, particularly on account of the person or group’s religion, ethnicity, or sexual orientation. ]

dia-/di- [from Greek]

(preposition)

through, on-account-of

diagnosis [literally, ‘recognizing through;’ the identification of the nature of a patient’s disease by means of an examination of the patient’s symptoms; any evaluation of the condition of anything.]

diagram [literally, ‘a thing written through;’ an illustrative or explanatory sketch or drawing.]

dialogue

dialysis [literally, ‘loosening through;’ the separation of smaller molecules from larger molecules or of dissolved substances from colloidal particles in a solution by selective diffusion through a semipermeable membrane.]

diameter

diocese [literally, ‘housekeeping through;’ the group of churches and parishioners under the administrative control of a bishop.]

dialogue (noun) [literally, ‘speaking through;’ actual conversation or conversation imitated in literature.]

diameter (noun) [literally, ‘a measure through;’ a line segment that passes through the center of a circle and terminates at its circumference.]

Root

Original Meaning/

Usage Notes

English Derivatives

Vocabulary

phy-/phys- [from Greek]

(verb)

to grow

[Note: This gave rise to the ancient Greek words for plant (phyton) and for nature (physis).]

metaphysics [literally, ‘the things after the natural things;’ the philosophy that studies the nature of the whole or the whole of nature; a science that studies the preconditions for a kind of knowledge, such as the metaphysics of morals.]

neophyte [literally, ‘newly grown;’ a beginner at a job or activity.]

physician [literally, ‘one skilled in nature;’ a licensed medical practitioner.]

physics [literally, ‘skill in nature;’ the science of the nature and behavior of matter and energy.]

physiology

phytology

physiology (noun) [literally, ‘speech about growing or nature;’ the science of the functions and parts of biological organisms.]

phytology (noun) [literally, ‘speech about growing things;’ the science of plants, equivalent to botany.]

Root

Original Meaning/

Usage Notes

English Derivatives

Vocabulary

cre-/cresc-/cret- [from Latin]

(verb)

to grow

accretion [literally, ‘grown toward or near;’ becoming or growing bigger by the addition of something external.]

concrete

crescent

excrescence [literally, ‘growing out;’ an outgrowth, sometimes abnormal (such as a wart) or normal (such as a fingernail), perhaps with the suggestion that the outgrowth is unwanted]

to increase [literally, ‘to grow on(to);’ to become or grow bigger as an individual or as a species, i. e., to become or grow larger or to procreate.]

increment [literally, ‘grown on(to);’ an increase in amount, frequently with the suggestion that it is barely noticeable.]

concrete (adjective) [literally, ‘grown together;’ pertaining to what actually exists or to a material particular thing.]

crescent (adjective) [literally, ‘growing;’ enlarging or growing in appearance, as with the crescent (increasing or growing) moon.]