Root

Original Meaning/

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Vocabulary

spec-/spect- [spic-] [from Latin]

(noun/verb)

to look (at)

conspicuous [literally, ‘looked at thoroughly;’ standing out as unusual and noteworthy.]

to inspect [literally, ‘to look into;’ to review officially and carefully.]

perspicacity

species

specimen [literally, ‘a thing to be looked at;’ a member, frequently a representative member, of a designated group.]

spectacle [literally, ‘a thing to be looked at;’ a remarkable or impressive display, especially a public one.]

perspicacity (noun) [literally, ‘thorough looking;’ sharpness of physical or mental perception.]

species (noun) [literally, ‘the look (of something);’ a group of organisms united by common characteristics; subgroup of a class or genus.]

Root

Original Meaning/

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Vocabulary

para-/par- [from Greek]

(preposition)

beside, beyond

paradigm

paradox [literally, ‘beyond opinion;’ a statement that seems simultaneously to contradict accepted opinion or belief and to be true.]

parallel

paralysis [literally, ‘loosening beyond;’ loss of the ability to move or to function.]

parasite [literally, ‘food beside;’ an organism that lives or feeds on or by another organism.]

parenthesis [literally, ‘a putting in beside;’ in punctuation, one of the upright arcs used to separate an interruption or explanation in a clause.]

paradigm (noun) [literally, ‘a showing beside;’ the model or pattern for all other items of the same type.]

parallel (adjective) [literally, ‘beside each other;’ two geometric entities that are equidistant at every point.]

Root

Original Meaning/

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Vocabulary

rap-/rapt- [rept-] [from Latin]

(verb)

to take (by force)

rapacious

rape [literally, ‘taking (by force);’ the act of violating a person’s body or of seizing a person’s property by force.]

rapid [literally, ‘having taken off;’ swift, speedy.]

raptor [literally, ‘one who takes (by force);’ a predatory beast, especially a bird.]

rapture [literally, ‘being taken (out of oneself);’ the state of ecstatic transcendence.]

surreptitious

rapacious (adjective) [literally, ‘characterized by taking things (by force);’ indiscriminately predatory by nature.]

surreptitious (adjective) [literally, ‘characterized by taking things undercover (by force);’ carried out secretly or by stealth.]

Root

Original Meaning/

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English Derivatives

Vocabulary

(a)esthe- [from Greek]

(verb)

to sense

[Note: When the “ae” combination (a Latin transliteration of the Greek “ai”—alpha-iota—combination) comes from Greek into English, it is often shortened to ‘e.’]

aesthete [literally, ‘one who senses;’ one who is a connoisseur of beauty in art or in nature.]

aesthetics

anesthesia

kinesthesia [literally, ‘sensing motion;’ the faculty that senses bodily movement.]

somesthetic [literally, ‘pertaining to sensing the body;’ pertaining to the awareness of stimuli sent from the skin and bodily organs.]

synesthesia [literally, ‘sensing together with;’ the sensing of one type of stimulus as a result of the sensing of another type of stimulus.]

aesthetics (noun) [literally, ‘sensing skill;’ the philosophical discipline devoted to the study of beauty, especially in the fine arts.]

anesthesia (noun) [literally, ‘lack of sensing;’ loss of the ability to sense, especially to sense pain.]

sens-/sent- [from Latin]

to sense

consensus [literally, ‘a sensing together;’ an agreement reached by a group either unanimously (consensus omnium) or by a majority (consensus gentium).]

dissent

insensate [literally, ‘not sensing;’ deprived of sensation or feeling.]

resentment

sensation [literally, ‘sensing;’ the matrix of bodily faculties that perceive stimuli.]

sensible [literally, ‘able to be sensed [of things]’ or ‘able to sense [of persons];’ able to be perceived [of things]; showing good judgment in word or deed [of persons].]

dissent (noun) [literally, ‘sensing apart;’ refusal to accept majority or established opinion.]

resentment (noun) [literally, ‘state of sensing back at;’ the feeling of hostility toward another because of an actual or imagined grievance.]