V. - The Century Vocabulary Builder - 12 - Garland Greever; Joseph M. Bachelor

V.

INDIVIDUAL WORDS: AS MEMBERS OF VERBAL FAMILIES

Our investigation into the nature, qualities, and fortunes of single words must now merge into a study of their family connections. We do not go far into this new phase of our researches before we perceive that the career of a word may be very complicated. Most people, if you asked them, would tell you that an individual word is a causeless entity—a thing that was never begotten and lacks power to propagate. They would deny the possibility that its course through the world could be other than colorless, humdrum. Now words thus immaculately conceived and fatefully impotent, words that shamble thus listlessly through life, there are. But many words are born in an entirely normal way; have a grubby boyhood, a vigorous youth, and a sober maturity; marry, beget sons and daughters, become old, enfeebled, even senile; and suffer neglect, if not death. In their advanced age they are exempted by the discerning from enterprises that call for a lusty agility, but are drafted into service by those to whom all levies are alike. Indeed in their very prime of manhood their vicissitudes are such as to make them seem human. Some rise in the world some sink; some start along the road of grandeur or obliquity, and then backslide or reform. Some are social climbers, and mingle in company where verbal dress coats are worn; some are social degenerates, and consort with the ragamuffins and guttersnipes of language. Some marry at their own social level, some above them, some beneath; some go down in childless bachelorhood or leave an unkempt and illegitimate progeny. And if you trace their own lineage, you will find for some that it is but decent and middle-class, for some that it is mongrelized and miscegenetic, for some that it is proud, ancient, yea perhaps patriarchal.

It is contrary to nature for a word, as for a man, to live the life of a hermit. Through external compulsion or internal characteristics a word has contacts with its fellows. And its most intimate, most spontaneous associations are normally with its own kindred.

In our work hitherto we have had nothing to say of verbal consanguinity. But we have not wholly ignored its existence, for the very good reason that we could not. For example, in the latter portions of Chapter IV we proceeded on the hypothesis that at least some words have ancestors. Also in the analysis of the dictionary definition of tension we learned that the word has, not only a Latin forebear, but French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian kinsmen as well. One thing omitted from that analysis would have revealed something further—namely, that the word has its English kinfolks too. For the bracketed part of the dictionary definition mentions two other English words, tend and tense, which from their origin involve the same idea as that of tension— the idea of stretching.

Now words may be akin in either of two ways. They may be related in blood. Or they may be related by marriage. Let us consider these two kinds of connection more fully.

As an illustration of blood kinships enjoyed by a native English word take the adjective good. We can easily call to mind other members of its family: goodly, goodish, goody-goody, good-hearted, good-natured, good- humored, good-tempered, goods, goodness, goodliness, gospel (good story), goodby, goodwill, goodman, goodwife, good-for-nothing, good den (good evening), the Good Book. The connection between these words is obvious.

Next consider a group of words that have been naturalized: scribe, prescribe, ascribe, proscribe, transcribe, circumscribe, subscriber, indescribable, scribble, script, scripture, postscript, conscript, rescript, manuscript, nondescript, inscription, superscription, description. It is clear that these words are each other's kith and kin in blood, and that the strain or stock common to all is scribe or (as sometimes modified) script. What does this strain signify? The idea of writing. The scribes are a writing clan. Some of them, to be sure, have strayed somewhat from the ancestral calling, for words are as wilful—or as independent—as men. Ascribe, for example, does not act like a member of the household of writers, whatever it may look like. We should have to scrutinize it carefully or consult the record for it in that verbal Who's Who, the dictionary, before we could understand how it came by its scribal affiliations honestly. But once we begin to reflect or to probe, we find we have not mistaken its identity. Ascribe is the offspring of ad (to) and scribo (write), both Latin terms. It originally meant writing to a person's name or after it (that is, imputing to the person by means of written words) some quality or happening of which he was regarded as the embodiment, source, or cause. Nowadays we may saddle the matter on him through oral rather than written speech. That is, ascribe has largely lost the writing traits. But all the same it is manifestly of the writing blood.

The scribes are of undivided racial stock, Latin. Consider now the manu, or man, words which sprang from the Latin manus, meaning "hand." Here are some of them: manual, manoeuver, mandate, manacle, manicure, manciple, emancipate, manage, manner, manipulate, manufacture, manumission, manuscript, amanuensis. These too are children of the same father; they are brothers and sisters to each other. But what shall we say of legerdemain (light, or sleight, of hand), maintain, coup de main, and the like? They bear a resemblance to the man's and manu's, yet one that casual observers would not notice. Is there kinship between the two sets of words? There is. But not the full fraternal or sororal relation. The mains are children of manus by a French marriage he contracted. With this French blood in their veins, they are only half-brothers, half-sisters of the manu's and the man's.

Your examination of the family trees of words will be practical, rather than highly scholastic, in nature. You need not track every word in the dictionary to the den of its remote parentage. Nor need you bother your head with the name of the distant ancestor. But in the case of the large number of words that have a numerous kindred you should learn to detect the inherited strain. You will then know that the word is the brother or cousin of certain other words of your acquaintance, and this knowledge will apprise you of qualities in it with which you should reckon. To this extent only must you make yourself a student of verbal genealogy.

EXERCISE - Blood

(Simple exercises in tracing blood relationships among words are given at the end of the chapter. Therefore the exercises assigned here are of a special character.)

1. Each of the following groups is made up of related words, but the relationship is somewhat disguised. Consult the dictionary for each word, and learn all you can as to (a) its source, (b) the influence (as passing through an intermediate language) that gave it its present form, (c) the course of its development into its present meaning.

Captain Cathedral Governor
Capital Chaise Gubernatorial
Decapitate Chair
Chef Shay Guardian
Chieftain Ward
Camp
Cavalry Campaign Guarantee
Chivalry Champion Warrant

Camera Inept Incipient
Chamber Apt Receive

Serrated Inimical Poor
Sierra Enemy Pauper

Influence Espionage Work
Influenza Spy Wrought
Playwright
Isolate
Insular

2. The variety of sources for modern English is indicated by the following list. Do not seek for blood kinsmen of these particular words, but think of all the additional words you can that have come into English from Indian, Spanish, French, any other language spoken today.

Alphabet (Greek) Piano (Italian)
Folio (Latin) Car (Norman)
Boudoir (French) Rush (German)
Binnacle (Portuguese) Sky (Icelandic)
Anger (Old Norse) Yacht (Dutch)
Isinglass (Low German) Hussar (Hungarian)
Slogan (Celtic) Samovar (Russian)
Polka (Polish) Chess (Persian)
Shekel (Hebrew) Tea (Chinese)
Algebra (Arabic) Kimono (Japanese)
Puttee (Hindoo) Tattoo (Tahitian)
Boomerang (Australian) Voodoo (African)
Potato (Haytian) Skunk (American Indian)
Guano (Peruvian) Buncombe (American)
Renegade (Spanish)

That words marry and are given in marriage, is too generally overlooked. Any student of a foreign language, German for instance, can recall the thrill of discovery and the lift of reawakened hope that came to him when first he suspected, aye perceived, the existence of verbal matrimony. For weeks he had struggled with words that apparently were made up of fortuitous collocations of letters. Then in some beatific moment these huddles of letters took meaning; in instance after instance they represented, not a word, but words—a linguistic household. Let them be what they might—a harem, the domestic establishment of a Mormon, the dwelling-place of verbal polygamists,—he could at last see order in their relationships. To their morals he was indifferent, absorbed as he was in his joy of understanding.

In English likewise are thousands of these verbal marriages. We may not be aware of them; from our very familiarity with words we may overlook the fact that in instances uncounted their oneness has been welded by a linguistic minister or justice of the peace. But to read a single page or harken for thirty seconds to oral discourse with our minds intent on such states of wedlock is to convince ourselves that they abound. Consider this list of everyday words: somebody, already, disease, vineyard, unskilled, outlet, nevertheless, holiday, insane, resell, schoolboy, helpmate, uphold, withstand, rainfall, deadlock, typewrite, football, motorman, thoroughfare, snowflake, buttercup, landlord, overturn. Every term except one yokes a verbal husband with his wife, and the one exception (nevertheless) joins a uxorious man with two wives.

These marriages are of a simple kind. But the nuptial interlinkings between families of words may be many and complicated. Thus there is a family of graph (or write) words: graphic, lithograph, cerograph, cinematograph, stylograph, telegraph, multigraph, seismograph, dictograph, monograph, holograph, logograph, digraph, autograph, paragraph, stenographer, photographer, biographer, lexicographer, bibliography, typography, pyrography, orthography, chirography, calligraphy, cosmography, geography. There is also a family of phone (or sound) words: telephone, dictaphone, megaphone, audiphone, phonology, symphony, antiphony, euphonious, cacophonous, phonetic spelling. It chances that both families are of Greek extraction. Related to the graphs—their cousins in fact—are the grams: telegram, radiogram, cryptogram, anagram, monogram, diagram, logogram, program, epigram, kilogram, ungrammatical. Now a representative of the graphs married into the phone family, and we have graphophone. A representative of the phones married into the graph family, and we have phonograph. A representative of the grams married into the phone family, and we have gramophone. A representative of the phones married into the gram family, and we have phonogram. Of such unions children may be born. For example, from the marriage of Mr. Phone with Miss Graph were born phonography, phonographer, phonographist (a rather frail child), phonographic, phonographical, and phonographically.

Intermarriage between the phones and the graphs or grams is a wedding of equals. Some families of words, however, are of inferior social standing to other families, and may seek but not hope to be sought in marriage. Compare the ex's with the ports. An ex, as a preposition, belongs to a prolific family but not one of established and unimpeachable dignity. Hence the ex's, though they marry right and left, lead the other words to the altar and are never led thither themselves. Witness exclude, excommunicate, excrescence, excursion, exhale, exit, expel, expunge, expense, extirpate, extract; in no instance does ex fellow its connubial mate—it invariably precedes. The ports, on the other hand, are the peers of anybody. Some of them choose to remain single: port, porch, portal, portly, porter, portage. Here and there one marries into another family: portfolio, portmanteau, portable, port arms. More often, however, they are wooed than themselves do the pleading: comport, purport, report, disport, transport, passport, deportment, importance, opportunity, importunate, inopportune, insupportable. From our knowledge of the two families, therefore, we should surmise that if any marriage is to take place between them; an ex must be the suitor. The surmise would be sound. There is such a term as export, but not as portex.

Now it is oftentimes possible to do business with a man without knowing whether he is a man or a bridal couple. And so with a word. But the knowledge of his domestic state and circumstances will not come amiss, and it may prove invaluable. You may find that you can handle him to best advantage through a sagacious use of the influence of his wife.

EXERCISE - Marriage

1. For each word in the lists of EXERCISE - Dictionary and Activity 1 for EXERCISE - Past, determine (a) whether it is single or married; (b) if it is married, whether the wedding is one between equals.

2. Make a list of the married words in the first three paragraphs of the selection from Burke (Appendix 2). For each of these words determine the exact nature and extent of the dowry brought by each of the contracting parties to the wedding.

Hitherto in our study of verbal relationships we have usually started with the family. Having strayed (as by good luck) into an assembly of kinsmen, we have observed the common strain and the general characteristics, and have then "placed" the individual with reference to these. But we do not normally meet words, any more than we meet men, in the domestic circle. We meet them and greet them hastily as they hurry through the tasks of the day, with no other associates about them than such as chance or momentary need may dictate. If we are to see anything of their family life, it must be through effort we ourselves put forth. We must be inquisitive about their conjugal and blood relationships.

How, then, starting with the individual word, can you come into a knowledge of it, not in its public capacity, but in what is even more important, its personal connections? You must form the habit of asking two questions about it: (1) Is it married? (2) Of what family or families was it born? If you can get an understanding answer to these two questions, an answer that will tell you what its relations stand for as well as what their name is, your inquiries will be anything but bootless.

Let us illustrate your procedure concretely. Suppose you read or hear the word conchology. It is a somewhat unusual word, but see what you can do with it yourself before calling on the dictionary to help you. Observe the word closely, and you will obtain the answer to your first question. Conchology is no bachelor, no verbal old maid; it is a married pair.

Your second and more difficult task awaits you; you must ascertain the meaning of the family connections. With Mr. Conch you are on speaking terms; you know him as one of the shells. But the utmost you can recall about his wife is that she is one of a whole flock of ologies. What significance does this relationship possess? You are uncertain. But do not thumb the dictionary yet. Pass in mental review all the ologies you can assemble. Wait also for the others that through the unconscious operations of memory will tardily straggle in. Be on the lookout for ologies as you read, as you listen. In time you will muster a sizable company of them. And you will draw a conclusion as to the meaning of the blood that flows through their veins. Ology implies speech or study. Conchology, then, must be the study of conches.

Your investigations thus far have done more than teach you the meaning of the word you began with. They have brought you some of the by-products of the study of verbal kinships. For you no longer pass the ologies by with face averted or bow timidly ventured. You have become so well acquainted with them that even a new one, wherever encountered, would flash upon you the face of a friend. But now your desires are whetted. You wish to find out how much you can learn. You at last consult the dictionary.

Here a huge obstacle confronts you. The ologies, like the ports (above), are a haughty clan; they are the wooed, rather than the wooing, members of most marital households that contain them. Now the marriage licenses recorded in the dictionary are entered under the name of the suitor, not of the person sought. Hence you labor under a severe handicap as you take the census of the ologies. Let us imagine the handicap the most severe possible. Let us suppose that no ology had ever been the suitor. Even so, you would not be entirely baffled. For you could look up in the dictionary the ologies you your self had been able to recall. To what profit? First, you could verify or correct your surmise as to what the ological blood betokens. Secondly, you could perhaps obtain cross-references to yet other ologies than those you remembered.

But you are not reduced to these extremities. The ologies, arrogant as they are, sometimes are the applicants for matrimony, and the marriage registry of the dictionary so indicates. To be sure, they do not, when thus appearing at the beginning of words, take the form ology. They take the form log. But you must be resourceful enough to keep after your quarry in spite of the omission of a vowel or two. Also from some lexicons you may obtain still further help. You may find ology, logy, logo, or log listed as a combining form, its meaning given, and examples of its use in compounds cited.

By your zeal and persistence you have now brought together a goodly array of the ologies—all or most, let us say, of the following: conchology, biology, morphology, phrenology, physiology, osteology, histology, zoology, entomology, bacteriology, ornithology, pathology, psychology, cosmology, eschatology, demonology, mythology, theology, astrology, archeology, geology, meteorology, mineralogy, chronology, genealogy, ethnology, anthropology, criminology, technology, doxology, anthology, trilogy, philology, etymology, terminology, neologism, phraseology, tautology, analogy, eulogy, apology, apologue, eclogue, monologue, dialogue, prologue, epilogue, decalogue, catalogue, travelogue, logogram, logograph, logo-type, logarithms, logic, illogical. (Moreover you may have perceived in some of these words the kinship which exists in all for the loquy group—see (1) Soliloquy below.) Of course you will discard some items from this list as being too learned for your purposes. But you will observe of the others that once you know the meaning of ology, you are likely to know the whole word. Thus from your study of conchology you have mastered, not an individual term, but a tribe.

In conchology only one element, ology, was really dubious at the outset. Let us take a word of which both elements give you pause. Suppose your thought is arrested by the word eugenics. You perhaps know the word as a whole, but not its components. For by looking at it and thinking about it you decide that its state is married, that it comprises the household of Mr. Eu and his wife, formerly Miss Gen. But you cannot say offhand just what kind of person either Mr. Eu or the erstwhile Miss Gen is likely to prove.

Have you met any of the Eu's elsewhere? You think vaguely that you have, but cannot lay claim to any real acquaintance. To the dictionary you accordingly betake yourself. There you find that Mr. Eu is of a family quite respectable but not prone to marriage. Euphony, eupepsia, euphemism, euthanasia are of his retiring kindred. The meaning of the eu blood, so the dictionary informs you, is well. The gen blood, as you see exemplified in gentle, general, genital, engender, carries with it the idea of begetting, of producing, of birth, or (by extension) of kinship. Eugenics, then, is an alliance of well and begotten (or born).

Your immediate purpose is fulfilled; but you resolve, let us say, to make the acquaintance of more of the gens, whose number you have perceived to be legion. You are duly introduced to the following: genus, generic, genre, gender, genitive, genius, general, Gentile, gentle, gentry, gentleman, genteel, generous, genuine, genial, congeniality, congener, genital, congenital, engender, generation, progeny, progenitor, genesis, genetics, eugenics, pathogenesis, biogenesis, ethnogeny, palingenesis, unregenerate, degenerate, monogeny, indigenous, exogenous, homogeneous, heterogeneous, genealogy, ingenuous, ingenious, ingenue, engine, engineer, hygiene, hydrogen, oxygen, endogen, primogeniture, philoprogeniture, miscegenation. Some of these are professional rather than social; you decide not to leave your card at their doors. Others have assumed a significance somewhat un_gen_-like, though the relationship may be traced if you are not averse to trouble, Thus engine in its superficial aspects seems alien to the idea of born. But it is the child of ingenious (innate, inborn); ingenious is the inborn power to accomplish, and engine is the result of the application of that power. Whether you care to bother with such subtleties or not, enough gens are left to make the family one well worth your cultivation.

Thus by studying two words, conchology and eugenics, you have for the first time placed yourself on an intimate footing with three verbal families—the ologies, the eu's, and the gens. Observe that though you studied the ologies apart from the eu's and the gens, your knowledge—once you have acquired it—cannot be kept pigeonholed, for the ologies have intermarried with both the other families. Hence you on meeting eulogy can exclaim: "How do you do, Mr. Eu? I am honored in making your acquaintance, Mrs. Eu—I was about to call you by your maiden name; for I am a friend of your sister, the Miss Ology who married Mr. Conch. And you too, Mr. Eu—I cannot regard you as a stranger. I have looked in so often on the family of your brother—the Euphony family, I mean. What a beautiful literary household it is! Yet it has been neglected by the world-yea, even by the people who write. Well, the loss is theirs who do the neglecting." And genealogy you can greet with an equal parade of family lore: "Don't trouble to tell me who you are. I am hob and nob with your folks on both sides of the family, and my word for it, the relationship is written all over you. Mr. Gen, I envy you the pride you must feel in the prominence given nowadays to the eugenics household. And it must delight you, Miss Ology-that-was, that connoisseurs are so keenly interested in conchology. How are Grandfather Gen and Grandmother Ology? They were keeping up remarkably the last time I saw them." Do you think words will not respond to cordiality like this? They will work their flattered heads off for you!

EXERCISE - Relationships

1. For each of the following words (a) determine what families are intermarried, (b) ascertain the exact contribution to the household by each family represented, and (c) make as complete a list as possible of cognate words.

Reject Oppose Convent Defer Omit Produce Expel

2. Test the extent of the intermarriages among these words by successively attaching each of the prefixes to each of the main (or key) syllables. (Thus re-ject, re-fer, re-pel, etc.)

In tracing verbal kinships you must be prepared for slight variations in the form of the same key-syllable. Consider these words: wise, wiseacre, wisdom, wizard, witch, wit, unwitting, to wit, outwit, twit, witticism, witness, evidence, providence, invidious, advice, vision, visit, vista, visage, visualize, envisage, invisible, vis-à-vis, visor, revise, supervise, improvise, proviso, provision, view, review, survey, vie, envy, clairvoyance. Perhaps the last six should be disregarded as too exceptional in form to be clearly recognized. And certainly some words, as prudence from providentia, are so metamorphosed that they should be excluded from practical lists of this kind. But even in the words left to us there are fairly marked divergences in appearance. Why? Because the key-syllable has descended to us, not through one language, but through several. As good verbal detectives we should be able to penetrate the consequent disguises; for wis, wiz, wit, vid, vic, and vis all embody the idea of seeing or knowing.

On the other hand, you must take care not to be misled by a superficial resemblance into thinking two unrelated key-syllables identical. Let us consider two sets of words. The first, which is related to the tain group (see <Tain> below), has a key-syllable that means holding: tenant, tenement, tenure, tenet, tenor, tenable, tenacious, contents, contentment, lieutenant, maintenance, sustenance, countenance, appurtenance, detention, retentive, pertinacity, pertinent, continent, abstinence, continuous, retinue. The second has a key-syllable that means stretching: tend, tender, tendon, tendril, tendency, extend, subtend, distend, pretend, contend, attendant, tense, tension, pretence, intense, intensive, ostensible, tent, tenterhook, portent, attention, intention, tenuous, attenuate, extenuate, antenna, tone, tonic, standard. The form of the key-syllable for the first set of words is usually ten, tent, or tin; that for the second tend, tens, tent, or ten. You may therefore easily confuse the two groups until you have learned to look past appearances into meanings. Thenceforth the holdings and the stretchings will be distinct in your mind—will constitute two great families, not one. Of course individual words may still puzzle you. You will not perceive that tender, for example, belongs with the stretchings until you go back to its primary idea of something stretched thin, or that tone has membership in that family until you connect it with the sound which a stretched chord emits.

FIRST GENERAL EXERCISE FOR THE CHAPTER

Each of the key-syllables given below is followed by (1) a list of fairly familiar words that embody it, (2) a list of less familiar words that embody it, (3) several sentences containing blank spaces, into each of which you are ultimately to fit the appropriate word from the first list. (The existence of the two lists will show you that learned words may have commonplace kinfolks.)

First, however, you are to study each word in both lists for (1) its exact meaning, (2) the influence of the key-syllable upon that meaning, (3) any variation of the key-syllable from its ordinary form. (A few words have been introduced to show how varied the forms may be and yet remain recognizable.)

Also, as an aid to your memory, you are to copy each list, underscoring the key-syllable each time you encounter it.

(The lists are practical, not meticulously academic. In many instances they contain words derived, not from a single original, but from cognates. No list is exhaustive.)

<Ag, act, ig> (carry on, do, drive): (1) agent, agitate, agile, act, actor, actuate, exact, enact, reaction, counteract, transact, mitigate, navigate, prodigal, assay, essay; (2) agenda, pedagogue, synagogue, actuary, redact, castigate, litigation, exigency, ambiguous, variegated, cogent, cogitate.

Sentences (inflect forms if necessary; for example, use the past tense, participle, or infinitive of a verb instead of its present tense): It was ____ into law. The legislators had been ____ by honest motives, but the popular ____ was immediate. The ____ of the mining company refused to let us proceed with the ____. Nothing could ____ the offense. The father was ____, the son ____. The student handed in his ____ at the ____ time designated. Though ____ enough on land, he could not ____ a ship. The ____ by missing his cue so ____ the manager that his good work thereafter could not ____ the ill impression.

<Burn, brun, brand> (burn): (1 and 2 combined) burn, burnish, brunette, brunt, bruin, brand, brandish, brandy, brown.

Sentences: He plucked a ____ from the ____. The ____ hair of the ____ was so glossy it seemed ____. He ____ his sword and bore the ____ of the conflict. After drinking so much ____ he saw snakes in his imagination, he staggered off into the woods and met Old ____ in reality.

<Cad, cas, cid> (fall): (1) cadence, decadent, case, casual, casualty, occasion, accident, incident, mischance, cheat; (2) casuistry, coincide, occidental, deciduous.

Sentences: The period was a ____ one. He gave but ____ attention to the ____ of the music. On this ____ an ____ befell him. To the general it was a mere ____ that his ____ were heavy. As a result of this ____ he was accused of trying to ____ them.

<Cede, ceed, cess> (go): (1) cede, recede, secede, concede, intercede, procedure, precedent, succeed, exceed, success, recess, concession, procession, intercession, abscess, ancestor, cease, decease; (2) antecedent, precedence, cessation, accessory, predecessor.

Sentences: He ____ the existence of a ____ that justified such ____. The delegate ____ his authority when he consented to ____ the territory. He would not ____ from his position or ____ for mercy. At ____ the pupils ____ in forming a ____. His ____ was suffering from an ____ at the time the Southern states ____. His agony ____ only with his ____.

<Ceive, ceit, cept, cip, cap(t)> (take): (1) receive, deceive, perceive, deceit, conceit, receipt, reception, perception, inception, conception, interception, accept, except, precept, municipal, participate, anticipate, capable, capture, captivate, case (chest, covering), casement, incase, cash, cashier, chase, catch, prince, forceps, occupy; (2) receptacle, recipient, incipient, precipitate, accipiter, capacious, incapacitate.

Sentences: Though she ____ the officers, she did not prevent the ____ of the fugitive. He ____ that the man was very ____. The mayor skilfully ____ the alderman and proposed that ____ bonds be issued. The sight of the money ____ him and he quickly gave me a ____. He uttered musty ____, which were not always given a friendly ____. From the ____ of the movement he plotted to ____ the leadership in it. The ____ took part in the ____, but failed to ____ any of the game.

<Cide, cis(e)> (cut, kill): (1) decide, suicide, homicide, concise, precise, decisive, incision, scissors, chisel, cement; (2) patricide, fratricide, infanticide, regicide, germicide, excision, circumcision, incisors, cesura.

Sentences: He could not ____ whether to make the ____ with a ____ or a pair of ____. There was ____ evidence that he was the ____. In a few ____ sentences he explained why his friend could never have been a ____. The prim old lady had very ____ manners of speech.

<Cur, course> (run): (1) current, currency, incur, concur, occurrence, cursory, excursion, course, discourse, intercourse, recourse; (2) curriculum, precursor, discursive, recurrent, concourse, courier, succor, corridor.

Sentences: He ____ in the request that payment be made in ____. The ____ was so strong that the ____ by steamer had to be abandoned. In the ____ of his remarks he had ____ to various shifts and evasions. By his ____ with one faction, though it was but ____, he ____ the enmity of the other. It was a disgraceful ____.

<Dic, dict> (speak, say): (1) dedicate, vindicate, indication, predicament, predict, addict, verdict, indict, dictionary, dictation, jurisdiction, vindictive, contradiction, benediction, ditto, condition; (2) abdicate, adjudicate, juridical, diction, dictum, dictator, dictaphone, dictograph, edict, interdict, valedictory, malediction, ditty, indite, ipse dixit, on dit.

Sentences: The man ____ to drugs was ____ for ____ treatment of his wife, and the ____ were that the ____ would be against him. He said, on the contrary, that his character would be ____. The attorney for the defense ____ that the judge would rule that the matter did not lie within his ____. This would leave the prosecution in a ____. But the prosecution issued a strong ____ of this theory, and said ____ were favorable for proving the man guilty.

<Duce, duct> (lead): (1) induce, reduce, traduce, seduce, introduce, reproduce, education, deduct, product, production, reduction, conduct, conductor, abduct, subdue; (2) educe, adduce, superinduce, conducive, ducat, duct, ductile, induction, aqueduct, viaduct, conduit, duke, duchy.

Sentences: We ____ the company to ____ the fare. They ____ ten cents from the wages of each man, an average ____ of four per cent. They ____ us when they say we have wilfully lessened ____. The highwaymen ____ the ____. If you have an ____, you can ____ an idea in other words.

<Error> (wander): (1) error, erroneous, erratic, errand; (2) errata, knight errant, arrant knave, aberration.

Sentences: That ____ fellow came on a special ____ to tell us we had made an ____. And his statement was ____ at that!

<Fact, fic(e), fy, fect, feat, feit> (make, do): (1) fact, factory, faction, manufacture, satisfaction, suffice, sacrifice, office, difficult, pacific, terrific, significant, fortification, magnificent, artificial, beneficial, verify, simplify, stupefy, certify, dignify, glorify, falsify, beautify, justify, infect, perfect, effect, affection, defective, feat, defeat, feature, feasible, forfeit, surfeit, counterfeit, affair, fashion; (2) factor, factotum, malefaction, benefaction, putrefaction, facile, facsimile, faculty, certificate, edifice, efficacy, prolific, deficient, proficient, artifice, artificer, beneficiary, versification, unification, exemplification, deify, petrify, rectify, amplify, fructify, liquefy, disaffect, refection, comfit, pontiff, ipso facto, de facto, ex post facto, au fait, fait accompli.

Sentences: The opposing ____ by incredible ____ had found it ____ to take over the ____ of the goods. By this ____ it ____ what goodwill the owner of the ____ had for it, but it won the ____ of the public. The owner, though seemingly ____ at first, soon ____ a scheme to make the success of the enterprise more ____. By an ____ lowering of the price of his own goods and by ____ that those of his rivals were ____, he hoped to ____ the public mind with unjust suspicions. But all this did not ____. In truth the ____ of it was the hastening of his own ____ and a ____ heightening of the public ____ toward his rivals. His directors, seeing that his policy had failed to ____ itself, met in his ____ and urged him to take a more ____ attitude.

<Fer> (bear, carry): (1) transfer, prefer, proffer, suffer, confer, offer, referee, deference, inference, indifferent, ferry, fertile; (2) referendum, Lucifer, circumference, vociferate, auriferous, coniferous, pestiferous.

Sentences: With real ____ to their wishes he ____ to ____ the goods by ____. The ____ of the sporting writers was that the ____ was ____ to his duties. After ____ apart, the farmers ____ the use of their most ____ acres for this experiment. To be mortal is to ____.

<Fide> (trust, believe, have faith): (1) fidelity, confide, confident, diffident, infidel, perfidious, bona fide, defiance, affiance; (2) fiduciary, affidavit, fiancé, auto da fé, Santa Fé.

Sentences: He was ____ that the man was an ____. He had ____ in a ____ rascal. He had been ____ for years and had proved his ____. Though we are somewhat ____ in making it, you may be sure it is a ____ offer. His attitude toward his father is one of gross ____.

<Grade, gress> (walk, go): (1) grade, gradual, graduate, degrade, digress, Congress, aggressive, progressive, degree; (2) gradation, Centigrade, ingress, egress, transgression, retrogression, ingredient.

Sentences: His failure to ____ from college made him feel ____ especially as his cronies all received their ____. The engine lost speed ____ as it climbed the long ____. I ____ to remark that some members of ____ are more ____ than ____.

<Hab, hib> (have, hold): (1) habit, habitation, inhabitant, exhibit, prohibition, ability, debit, debt; (2) habituate, habiliment, habeas corpus, cohabit, dishabille, inhibit.

Sentences: The ____ of the island ____ an ____ to live without permanent ____. It was his ____ to glance first at the ____ side of his ledger, as he was much worried about his ____. Most women favor ____.

<Hale, heal, hol, whole> (sound): (1) hale, hallow, Hallowe'en, heal, health, unhealthy, healthful, holy, holiday, hollyhock, whole, wholesome; (2) halibut, halidom.

Sentences: Though he lived in a ____ climate, he was ____. The food was ____, the man ____ and hearty. He did not think of a ____ as ____. We had ____ in our garden almost until ____. He wept at hearing the ____ name of his mother. For a ____ month the wound refused to ____.

<It> (go): (1) exit, transit, transition, initial, initiative, ambition, circuit, perishable; (2) itinerant, transitory, obituary, sedition, circumambient.

Sentences: The ____ was broken. It was his ____ shipment of ____ goods, and they suffered a good deal in ____. His ____ was to be regarded as a man of great ____. His ____ was less effective than his entrance.

<Ject> (throw): (1) eject, reject, subject, project, objection, injection, dejected, conjecture, jet, jetty; (2) abject, traject, adjective, projectile, interjection, ejaculate, jetsam, jettison.

Sentences: With ____ mien he watched the waves lash the ____. His scheme was ____ to much ridicule and then ____, and he himself was ____ from the room. From a pipe that ____ from the corner of the building came a ____ of dirty water. He could only ____ what their ____ was. The ____ brought immediate relief.

<Jud, jur, just> (law, right): (1) judge, judicious, judicial, prejudice, jurist, jurisdiction, just, justice, justify; (2) judicature, adjudicate, juridical, jurisprudence, justiciary, de jure.

Sentences: The eminent ____ said the matter did not lie within his ____. Though ____ in most matters, he admitted to ____ in this. The ____ said he would comment in an unofficial rather than a ____ way. She could not ____ her suspicions. He was not only ____ himself, but devoted to ____.

<Junct> (join): (1) junction, juncture, injunction, disjunctive, conjugal, adjust; (2) adjunct, conjunction, subjunctive, conjugate.

Sentences: A ____ force had entered their ____ relationships. At this ____ he gave the ____ that disturbances should cease. The tramp halted at the ____ to eat his lunch and ____ his knapsack.

<Jure> (swear): (1 and 2 combined) juror, jury, abjure, adjure, conjurer, perjury.

Sentences: They ____ their loyalty. He ____ them to remember their duty as ____. The ____ held the ____ guilty of ____.

<Leg, lig, lect> (read, choose, pick up): (1) elegant, illegible, college, negligent, diligent, eligible, elect, select, intellect, recollect, neglect, lecturer, collection, coil, cull; (2) legend, legion, legacy, legate, delegate, sacrilegious, dialect, lectern, colleague, lexicon.

Sentences: In ____ he listened to the ____ and took an occasional note in an ____ hand. She ____ an ____ costume. They ____ the only man who was ____. He did not ____ to take up the ____. He was ____ rather than ____. Her mind was too ____ to ____ all the circumstances.

<Lig> (bind): (1 and 2 combined) ligament, ligature, obligation, ally, alliance, allegiance, league, lien, liable, liaison, alloy.

Sentences: It was a pleasure that knew no ____. To belong to the ____ carries ____. In studying anatomy you learn all about ____ and ____. The two nations were in ____. We may be sure of their ____. We will take a ____ upon your property. As a ____ officer he was ____ for the equipment which our ____ reported lost.

<Luc, lum, lus> (light): (1) lucid, translucent, luminous, illuminate, luminary, luster, illustrate, illustrious; (2) lucent, Lucifer, lucubration, elucidate, pellucid, relume, limn.

Sentences: The ____ author spoke very ____. He gave us a ____ explanation of a very abstruse subject. The material was ____ even to the rays of the feeblest of the heavenly ____. He ____ his theory by the following anecdote. This deed added ____ to his fame.

<Mand> (order): (1 and 2 combined) mandate, mandamus, mandatory, demand, remand, countermand, commandment.

Sentences: The superior court issued a writ of ____. The case was ____ to the lower court. His instructions were not discretionary, but ____. At your ____ the ____ has been issued. The ____ promptly ____ the orders of the offending officer.

<Mit, mis, mise> (send): (1) permit, submit, commit, remit, transmit, mission, missile, missionary, remiss, omission, commission, admission, dismissal, promise, surmise, compromise, mass, message; (2) emit, intermittent, missive, commissary, emissary, manumission, inadmissible, premise, demise.

Sentences: The ____ could only ____ why so many of his people had not attended ____. The ____ contained a ____ that no one would be held ____. The request was ____ that he would please ____. He ____ to his ____ without a protest. A ____ was appointed to investigate whether the territory should be granted ____ as a state. His ____ was such as to ____ him to tarry if he chose.

<Move, mote, mob> (move): (1) move, movement, removal, remote, promote, promotion, motion, motive, emotion, commotion, motor, locomotive, mob, mobilize, automobile, moment; (2) immovable, motivate, locomotor ataxia, mobility, immobile, momentum.

Sentences: The next ____ was his, and his ____ was profound. The ____ of the ____ from across the alley enabled the ____ to surge in a threatening ____ toward the rear of the building. At this ____ the ____ was great. The officer whose ____ had seemed so ____ was now enabled to ____ strong forces for the campaign. The ____ began a slow ____ forward. His exact ____ was not known.

<Pass, path> (suffer): (1) passion, passive, impassive, impassioned, compassion, pathos, pathetic, impatient, apathy, sympathy, antipathy; (2) passible, impassible, dispassionate, pathology, telepathy, hydropathy, homeopathy, allopathy, osteopathy, neuropathic, pathogenesis.

Sentences: With an ____ countenance he spoke of the ____ of our Lord. The ____ of the story moved her to ____. He allowed his ____ no further expression than through that one ____ shrug. With a ____ smile he settled back into dull ____. His plea was ____.

<Ped, pod> (foot): (1) pedal, pedestrian, pedestal, expedite, expediency, expedition, quadruped, impediment, biped, tripod, chiropodist, octopus, pew; (2) centiped, pedicle, pedometer, velocipede, sesquipedalian, antipodes, podium, polypod, polyp, Piedmont.

Sentences: A ____ suggested that we could ____ matters by each mounting a ____. The loss of the ____ was a serious ____ to the rider of the bicycle. The ____ had me place my foot on an artist's ____. The purpose of this nautical ____ was to capture a live ____. The ____ of having so large a ____ for the statue had not occurred to us. A ____ scarcely recognizable as human occupied my ____.

<Pell, pulse> (drive): (1) dispel, compel, propeller, repellent, repulse, repulsive, impulse, compulsory, expulsion, appeal; (2) appellate, interpellate.

Sentences: After the ____ of the attack the mists along the lowlands were ____. His manner was ____, even ____. The revolutions of the ____ soon ____ the boatmen to shove farther off. After his ____ he ____ for a rehearing of his case. The act was ____, but he felt an ____ toward it anyhow.

<Pend, pense, pond> (hang, weigh): (1) pending, impending, independent, pendulum, perpendicular, expenditure, pension, suspense, expense, pensive, compensate, ponder, ponderous, preponderant, pansy, poise, pound; (2) pendant, stipend, appendix, compendium, propensity, recompense, indispensable, dispensation, dispensary, avoirdupois.

Sentences: The veterans felt great ____ while action regarding their ____ was ____. We shall ____ you. An arm of it stood in a position ____ to the ____ mass. He knew that fate was ____, and he watched the ____ swing back and forth slowly. He gave a ____ argument in favor of the ____ of the money. There is ____, that's for thoughts. Let us ____ the question whether the ____ is needful. She was a woman of rare social ____. Penny-wise, ____ foolish.

<Pet> (seek): (1 and 2 combined) petition, petulant, impetus, impetuous, perpetuate, repeat, compete, competent, appetite, centripetal.

Sentences: A great ____ force keeps the planets circling about the sun. The complaints of a ____ woman led him to ____ for the prize. The sexual ____ leads men to ____ the race. The ____ was pronounced upon ____ authority to be ill drawn up. With ____ wrath he ____ the assertion. The ____ became noticeably weaker.

<Ply, plic, plicate> (fold): (1) ply, reply, imply, plight, suppliant, explicit, implicit, implicate, supplicate, duplicate, duplicity, complicate, complicity, accomplice, application, plait, display, plot, employee, exploit, simple, supple; (2) pliant, pliable, replica, explication, inexplicable, multiplication, deploy, triple, quadruple, plexus, duplex.

Sentences: We ____ the thief's ____ with questions. He ____ that others were ____ with him. The king ____ to the ____ that such ____ must never be ____ in the realm thereafter. It would be a ____ matter to ____ the order. The manager had ____ confidence in his ____. She admired his courage in this ____, perceived his ____ in the crime, and deplored his participation in the ____. They ____ him for an ____ promise that mercy would be shown. She was in a ____, for she had not had time to arrange her hair in its usual broad ____. He was ____ of body. The ____ was refused.

<Pose, pone> (place): (1) expose, compose, purpose, posture, position, composure, impostor, postpone, post office, positive, deposit, disposition, imposition, deponent, opponent, exponent, component; (2) depose, impost, composite, apposite, repository, preposition, interposition, juxtaposition, decomposition.

Sentences: The ____ said he would ____ the manner in which the cashier had made away with the ____. The true ____ of the ____ was now known, yet he retained his ____. For you to make yourself an ____ of these wild theories is an ____ on your friends. The closing hour at the ____ is ____ thirty minutes on account of the rush of Christmas mail. He was ____ that his ____ had ____ the letter. One of the ____ elements in his ____ was gloom.

<Prise, prehend> (seize): (1) prize, apprise, surprise, comprise, enterprise, imprison, comprehend, apprehension; (a) reprisal, misprision, reprehend, prehensile, apprentice, impregnable, reprieve.

Sentences: He had no ____ as to what the ____ would ____. His ____ was so great that he could scarcely ____ the fact that the ____ was his. The judge ____ them of the likelihood that they would be ____.

<Prob> (prove): (1 and 2 combined) probe, probation, probate, probity, approbation, reprobate, improbable.

Sentences: The young ____ was placed on ____. The will was brought into the ____ court. It is ____ that such ____ as his will win the ____ of evil-doers.

<Rupt> (break): (1 and 2 combined) rupture, abrupt, interrupt, disrupt, eruption, incorruptible, irruption, bankrupt, rout, route, routine.

Sentences: The volcano was in ____. Though ____, he remained ____. The ____ of the barbarians ____ these reforms. The organization was ____ after having already been put to ____. The ____ he had chosen led to a ____ in their relationships. It was ____ work.

<Sed, sid(e), sess> (seat): (1) sedulous, sedentary, supersede, subside, preside, reside, residue, possess, assessment, session, siege; (2) sediment, insidious, assiduous, subsidy, obsession, see (noun), assize.

Sentences: The ____ was so small that he scarcely noticed he ____ it. The officer was ____ in making the ____ upon every tax-payer fair. During the ____ Congress remained in ____. He ____ in the city and has a ____ occupation. When the officer who ____ is firm, such commotions will quickly ____. He ____ the disgraced commander.

<Sequ, secu, sue> (follow): (1) sequel, sequence, consequence, subsequent, consecutive, execute, prosecute, persecute, sue, ensue, suitor, suitable, pursuit, rescue, second; (2) obsequies, obsequious, sequester, inconsequential, non sequitur, executor, suite.

Sentences: On the ____ day they continued the ____. In the ____ chapter of the ____ the heroine is ____. The ____ of events is hard to follow. The ____ was that her brother began to ____ her ____. The district attorney ____ six ____ offenders, but thought it useless to bring any ____ offender to trial. It was a ____ occasion.

<Shear, share, shore> (cut, separate): (1 and 2 combined) shear, sheer, shred, share, shard, scar, score, (sea)shore, shorn, shroud, shire, sheriff.

Sentences: The ____ had on his face a ____ made by a ____ thrown at him. In that ____ an old custom for every one to ____ in the ____ the sheep. There was, instead of the usual ____, a cliff that rose from the sea. All ____ as the freshman was, he had hardly a ____ of his former dignity. The ____ was very one-sided. A ____ of mist was about him.

<Sign> (sign): (1) sign, signal, signify, signature, consign, design, assign, designate, resignation, insignificant; (2) ensign, signatory, insignia.

Sentences: He ____ his approval of the ____. The disturbance caused by his ____ was ____. He ____ no reason for ____ those particular men. As he could not write his own ____, I ____ the document for him. It was a ____ defeat.

<Solve, solu> (loosen): (r) solve, resolve, dissolve, solution, dissolute, resolute, absolute; (2) solvent, absolution, indissoluble, assoil.

Sentences: On account of his ____ course he had given his parents many a problem to ____. He ____ the powder in a cupful of water and ____ to give it to the patient. This ____ of the difficulty did not win the ____ approval of his employer. The obstacles were many, but he was ____.

<Spec(t), spic(e)</b/> (look): (1) spectator, spectacle, suspect, aspect, prospect, expect, respectable, disrespect, inspection, speculate, special, especial, species, specify, specimen, spice, suspicion, conspicuous, despise, despite, spite; (2) specter, spectrum, spectroscope, prospector, prospectus, introspection, retrospect, circumspectly, conspectus, perspective, specie, specification, specious, despicable, auspices, perspicacity, frontispiece, respite.

Sentences: His ____ was conducted in such a manner as to show the utmost ____. In ____ she noticed an odor of ____. From his ____ you would have taken him to be a ____ of wild animal. The ____ was better than we had ____ it to be. Though you have no ____ fondness for children, you will enjoy the ____ of them playing together. The ____ did not ____ what underhand tactics some of the players were resorting to. In ____ of all this, we made a ____ showing. The ____ is one you cannot ____. ____ this ____ of matters, she did not ____ the cause of her ____, but let him ____ what it might be.

<Spire, spirit> (breathe, breath): (1 and 2 combined) spirit, spiritual, perspire, transpire, respire, aspire, conspiracy, inspiration, expiration, esprit de corps.

Sentences: At the ____ of a few days it ____ that a ____ had actually been formed. The ____ of the division was such that every man ____ to meet the enemy forthwith. He was a man of much ____ and marked powers of ____. As he lay there, he merely ____ and ____; he had no thought whatsoever of things ____.

<Sta, sti(t), sist> (stand): (1) stand, stage, statue, stall, stationary, state, reinstate, station, forestall, instant, instance, distance, constant, withstand, understand, circumstance, estate, establish, substance, obstacle, obstinate, destiny, destination, destitute, substitute, superstition, desist, persist, resist, insist, assist, exist, consistent, stead, rest, restore, restaurant, contrast; (2) stature, statute, stadium, stability, instable, static, statistics, ecstasy, stamen, stamina, standard, stanza, stanchion, capstan, extant, constabulary, apostate, transubstantiation, status quo, armistice, solstice, interstice, institute, restitution, constituent, subsistence, pre-existence, presto.

Sentences: The ____ of the motion was that the student who had been expelled should be ____. He ____ in his ____ resolution to go on the ____. She could not ____ the pleas of ____ people. He ____ her to alight at the ____. In an ____ you shall ____ what the ____ was that drove me to tempt ____ thus. We had gone but a little ____ when I perceived by the hungry working of his jaws that his ____ was the ____ in the next block. No ____ could cause him to ____. She was ____ in a ____ at the bazaar.

<Stead> (place): (1 and 2 combined) stead, steadfast, instead, homestead, farmstead, roadstead, bestead.

Sentences: ____ of resting in a harbor, the ships were tossed about in an open ____. Little did it ____ him to cling to the old ____. A ____ nestled by the highway. To be known as ____ now stood him in good ____.

<Strict, string, strain> (bind): (1) district, restrict, strictly, stringent, strain, restrain, constrain; (2) stricture, constriction, boa constrictor, astringent, strait, stress.

Sentences: We ____ them by means of ____ regulations. He ____ them to this course by his mere example. He attended ____ to his duties. You should not ____ your pleasures in this way. The ____ of long effort was telling on him.

<Tact, tang, tain, ting, teg> (touch): (1) tact, contact, intact, intangible, attain, taint, stain, tinge, contingent, integrity, entire, tint; (2) tactile, tactual, tangent, distain, attaint, attainder, integer, disintegrate, contagion, contaminate, contiguous.

Sentences: His appointment is ____ upon his removing this ____ from his name. His ____ is such that no ____ with evil could leave any ____ upon him. The contents were ____. With ____ he hopes to ____ the ____ approval of his auditors. It was a dark ____. The reason is ____.

<Tail> (cut): (1 and 2 combined) detail, curtail, entail, retail, tailor, tally.

Sentences: He held the property in ____. He kept the reckoning straight by means of ____ cut in a shingle. He resolved to ____ expenses by visiting the ____ less often. We need not go into ____. The profit lies in the difference between wholesale and ____ prices.

<Tain> (hold—for related ten group see above under Two Admonitions): (1 and 2 combined) detain, abstain, contain, obtain, maintain, entertain, pertain, appertain, sustain, retain.

Sentences: Village life and things ____ thereto I shall willingly ____ from. I ____ that precepts of this kind in no sense ____ to public morals. If the gentleman can ____ the consent of his second, the chair will ____ the motion as he restates it. Though your forces may ____ heavy losses, they must ____ their position and ____ the enemy.

<Term, termin> (end, bound): (1 and 2 combined) term, terminus, terminal, terminate, determine, indeterminate, interminable, exterminate.

Sentences: At the ____ of the railroad stands a beautiful ____ station. The manner in which we may ____ the agreement remains ____. He ____ that rather than yield he would make the negotiations ____. During the second ____ they ____ all the rodents about the school.

<Tort> (twist): (1) torture, tortoise, retort, contort, distortion, extortionate, torch, (apple) tart, truss, nasturtium; (2) tort, tortuous, torsion, Dry Tortugas.

Sentences: By the light of the ____ he saw a ____ fowl by the fireside and a ____ in the cupboard. The ____ of his countenance was due to the ____ he was undergoing. ____ his face into a very knowing look, he ____ that a man with a ____ in his buttonhole and ____ shell glasses on his nose had leered at the girls as he passed.

<Tract, tra(i)> (draw): (1) tract, tractor, intractable, abstracted, retract, protract, detract, distract, attractive, contractor, trace, trail, train, trait, portray, retreat; (2) traction, tractate, distraught, extraction, subtraction.

Sentences: In an ____ manner he drove the ____ across a large ____ of ground. He ____ his gaze at the ____ girl. The ____ was now willing to ____ his statement that in the house as it stood there was no ____ of departure from the specifications. Down the weary ____ of the pioneer dashes the palatial modern ____. To be ____ was one of his ____. The artist ____ her as in a ____ state. The ____ of his forces ____ but little from his fame.

<Vene, vent> (come): (1) convene, convenient, avenue, revenue, prevent, event, inventor, adventure, convention, circumvent; (2) venire, venue, parvenu, advent, adventitious, convent, preventive, eventuate, intervention.

Sentences: The legislature ____ in order to pass a measure regarding the public ____. At the ____ the wily old politician was able to ____ his enemies. The ____ saw no means of ____ this infringement of his patent right. In that ____ we are likely to have an ____. Through the long, shaded ____ they strolled together.

<Vert, vers(e)> (turn): (1) avert, divert, convert, invert, pervert, advertize, inadvertent, verse, aversion, adverse, adversity, adversary, version, anniversary, versatile, divers, diversity, conversation, perverse, universe, university, traverse, subversive, divorce; (2) vertebra, vertigo, controvert, revert, averse, versus, versification, animadversion, vice versa, controversy, tergiversation, obverse, transverse, reversion, vortex.

Sentences: Though he carried a large ____ of goods, he was ____ to ____ them. He had ____ forgotten that it was his wedding ____. The ____ was on ____ subjects. They ____ a broad area where nothing had been done to ____ the danger that threatened them. With ____ stubbornness he held to his ____ of the story. He held that the reading of ____ is ____ of masculine qualities. His professors at the ____ soon ____ him to new social and economic theories. Her husband was such a ____ creature that she resolved to secure a ____. Americans are the most ____ people in the ____. The anecdote ____ his ____ himself. Her answer not only was ____, it revealed her ____. He had undergone grave ____ in his time.

<Vince, vict> (conquer): (1 and 2 combined) evince, convince, province, invincible, evict, convict, conviction, victorious.

Sentences: He was ____ that the campaign against the rebels in the ____ could not be ____. He ____ a lively interest in my theory that the fugitive could not be ____. He felt an ____ repugnance to ____ the man, and this in spite of his ____ that the man was guilty.

<Voc, voke> (call, voice): (1) vocal, vocation, advocate, irrevocable, vociferous, provoke, revoke, evoke, convoke; (2) vocable, vocabulary, avocation, equivocal, invoke, avouch, vouchsafe.

Sentences: He was a ____ ____ of the measure, but no sooner was the order issued than he wished it ____. In ____ the assembly he ____ the enthusiasm of his followers. That he should give ____ utterance to this thought ____ me; but the words, once spoken, were ____.

<Volve, volute> (roll, turn): (1) involve, devolve, revolver, evolution, revolutionary, revolt, voluble, volume, vault; (2) circumvolve, convolution, convolvulus.

Sentences: It ____ upon me to put down the ____. In this ____ the heroine is ____ and the hero handy with a ____. He was ____ in a ____ uprising. He had laid the papers away in a ____. The ____ of civilization is a tedious story.

SECOND GENERAL EXERCISE

Copy both sections (the first consists of fairly familiar terms, the second of less familiar terms) of each of the following word-groups. Find the key-syllable, underscore it in each word, observe any modifications in its form. Decide for yourself what its meaning is; then verify or correct your conclusion by reference to the dictionary. Study the influence of the key-syllable upon the meaning of each separate word; find the word's original signification, its present signification. Add to each word-group as many cognate words as you can (1) think of for yourself, (2) find in the dictionary by looking under the key-syllable. Fill the blanks in the sentences after each word-group with terms chosen from the first section of words in that group.

(1) Animosity, unanimous, magnanimity; (2) animate, animadvert, equanimity.

Sentences: It was the ____ opinion that to so noble a foe ____ should be shown. The spiteful man continued to display his ____.

(1) Annual, annuity, anniversary, perennial, centennial, solemn; (2) superannuate, biennial, millennium.

Sentences: The amateur gardener made the ____ discovery that the plant was a ____. The ____ celebration of the great man's birth took a ____ and imposing form in our city. By a happy coincidence the increase in his ____ came on his wedding ____.

(1) Audit, auditor, auditorium, audience, inaudible, obey; (2) aurist, auricular, auscultation.

Sentences: His voice may not have been ____, but it certainly did not fill the ____. Not one ____ in all that vast ____ but was willing to ____ his slightest suggestion. He was not willing that they should ____ his accounts.

(1) Automatic, automobile, autocrat, autobiography; (2) autograph, autonomy.

Sentences: The ____ dictated to his secretary the third chapter of his ____. The habit of changing gear properly in an ____ becomes almost ____.

(1) Cant, descant, incantation, chant, enchant, chanticleer, accent, incentive; (2) canto, canticle, cantata, recant, chantry, chanson, precentor.

Sentences: He ____ upon this topic in a queer, foreign ____. Such utterances are mere sanctimonious ____; I had rather listen to the ____ of a voodoo conjurer. The little girl from the city was ____ with the crowing of ____. The ____ of the choir somehow gave him the ____ to try again.

(1) Cent, per cent, century, centennial; (2) centenary, centime, centurion, centimeter, centigrade.

Sentences: For nearly a ____ this family has been living on a small ____ of its income. I wouldn't give a ____ for ____ honors; I want my reward now.

(1) Chronic, chronological, chronicle; (2) chronometer, synchronize, anachronism.

Sentences: It is a ____ record of changing activities and ____ ills. This page is a ____ of athletic news.

(1) Corps, corpse, corporal, corpulent, corporation, incorporate; (2) corpus, habeas corpus, corporeal, corpuscle, Corpus Christi.

Sentences: The ____ gentleman said he did not believe in ____ punishment. The hospital ____ carried the ____ into the office of a great ____. He resolved to ____ this idea into the reforms he was introducing.

(1 and 2 combined) Creed, credulous, credential, credit, accredit, discredit, incredible.

Sentences: He was not so ____ as to suppose that his ____ would be accepted and his statements ____ without some investigation. It is to his ____ that he refused to be bound by his former religious ____. That such ____ has been heaped upon him is ____.

(1) Crescent, increase, decrease, concrete, recruit, accrue, crew; (2) crescendo, excrescence, accretion, increment.

Sentences: The ____ now had ____ evidence that military life was not altogether pleasant. In the olden days on the sea deaths from scurvy might bring about a dangerous ____ in the size of the ____. His courage ____ with the profits that ____ to him. The ____ moon rode in the sky.

(1) Cure, secure, procure, sinecure, curious, inaccurate; (2) curate, curator.

Sentences: Occupying the position for a while will ____ you of the notion that it is a ____. He was ____ to know so a bookkeeper had managed to ____ so high a salary. He ____ the equipment required.

(1 and 2 combined) Indignity, indignation, undignified, condign, deign, dainty.

Sentences: We must not be too ____ about visiting ____ punishment upon those responsible for this ____. He did not ____ to express his ____. It was an ____ act.

(1) Durable, endure, during, duration, obdurate; (2) durance, duress, indurate, perdurable.

Sentences: ____ the whole interview she remained ____. It is a ____ cloth; it will ____ all sorts of weather. The session was one of prolonged ____.

(1) Finite, infinite, define, definite, confine, final, in fine, unfinished; (2) definitive, infinitesimal.

Sentences: One cannot ____ the ____. He ____ himself to purely ____ topics. ____ it was a ____ offer and the ____ one he expected to make. The bridge is still ____.

(1) Flexibility, inflexible, deflect, inflection, reflection, reflex; (2) circumflex, genuflection.

Sentences: The ____ influence of this act was great. I did not like the ____ of his voice. After some ____ he decided to remain ____. He was not to be ____ from his purpose. I could but admire the ____ of her tones.

(1) Fluent, affluent, influence, influenza, superfluous, fluid, influx, flush (rush of water), fluctuate; (2) confluent, mellifluous, flux, reflux, effluvium, flume.

Sentences: When you ____ the basin, an ____ of water fills it again. He is an ____ man and a ____ writer. When I had ____, the doctor gave me a disgusting ____ to drink. The wind must have an ____ in making the waves ____ as they do. Any more would be ____.

(1) Fort, forte, effort, comfort, fortitude, fortify, fortress; (2) aqua fortis, pianoforte.

Sentences: The defenders of the ____ held out with great ____. Though a ____ or two stood at important passes, the border was not really ____. His ____ was not public speaking. It was the only by an ____ that he could ____ them.

(1) Fraction, infraction, fracture, fragility, fragment, suffrage, frail, infringe; (2) diffract, refractory, frangible.

Sentences: It was in the course of his ____ of the rules that he suffered the ____ of his collar-bone. He told the committee of ladies that he was as fond of ____ as of ____. It is hardly a proof of ____ that he is so willing to ____ upon the rights of others. The ____ scaffolding bent and swung as he trod it.

(1 and 2 combined) Fugitive, fugue, refuge, subterfuge, centrifugal.

Sentences: Closing his eyes as if to listen better to the ____ was a little ____ of his. The upward movement of the missile was arrested by the ____ attraction of the earth. The ____ took ____ in an abandoned barn.

(1) Refund, confound, foundry, confuse, suffuse, profuse, refuse, diffuse; (2) fusion, effusion, transfuse.

Sentences: With ____ cheeks and ____ utterance he made a ____ apology. The amount we lost through the defective work at your ____ should be ____ to us. Such a blow might ____ but not ____ him. He ____ the appointment.

(1) Belligerent, gesture, suggest, congested, digestion, register, jest; (2) gerund, congeries.

Sentences: As he stopped before the cash ____ he gave a ____ which showed that his ____ was none too good. His look was ____, but he lightly made a ____. Amid the ____ traffic she stopped to ____ that pink would be more becoming than lavender.

(1) Relate, translate, legislate, elation, dilated, dilatory; (2) collate, correlate, prelate, oblation, superlative, ablative.

Sentences: With ____ eyes he ____ the passage for me. The ____ was very ____ in agreeing upon the measure to be passed. He ____ the story with pride and ____.

(1) Locate, locality, locomotive, dislocate; (2) locale, allocate, collocation.

Sentences: In trying to ____ the mine as near the fissure as possible he fell and ____ his hip. It was only ____ in that entire ____.

(1) Soliloquy, loquacious, loquacity, colloquial, eloquent, obloquy, circumlocution, elocution; (2) magniloquent, grandiloquent, ventriloquism, interlocutor, locutory, allocution. (For related log and ology words see above under Prying Into a Word's Relationships.)

Sentences: ____ always, he indulged at this time in a great deal of ____. Though it was mere ____, yet there was something ____ about it. Amid all this ____ he managed to rid himself of a good deal of ____ regarding Standish. Hamlet's ____ on suicide is a famous passage.

(1) Allude, elude, delude, ludicrous, illusory, collusion; (2) prelude, postlude, interlude.

Sentences: Such evidence is ____, and belief in it is ____. He ____ to a possible ____ between them. The more credulous ones he ____, and the skeptical he manages to ____.

(1) Metrical, thermometer, barometer, pedometer, diametrically, geometry; (2) millimeter, chronometer, hydrometer, trigonometry, pentameter.

Sentences: He was careful to consult both the ____ and the ____. He always wore a ____ on these trips. The two were ____ opposed to each other. The poet has great ____ skill. ____ is an exact science.

(1) Monotone, monotonous, monoplane, monopoly, monocle, monarchy, monogram, monomania; (2) monosyllable, monochrome, monogamy, monorail, monograph, monolith, monody, monologue, monad, monastery, monk.

Sentences: His eye held a ____, his gold ring bore a ____ seal, and his voice was a stilted ____. One thing I hate about a ____ is the ____ reference to everything as his majesty's. He had a ____ of the trade in his town. He is suffering, not from madness, but from ____.

(1) Mortal, immortality, mortify, postmortem, mortgage, morgue; (2) mortmain, moribund, À la mort.

Sentences: After a hasty ____ examination, the body was taken to the ____. She was ____ at this reminder of the ____ on her father's property. The ____ shall put on ____.

(1 and 2 combined) Mutual, mutation, permutation, commute, transmute, immutable, moult.

Sentences: As he ____ that morning he reflected upon the ____ and combinations of fortune. We suffer the ____ of this worldly life, but ourselves are not ____. God's love is ____, and our love for each other should be ____. Birds when they ____ are weakened in body and depressed in spirit.

(1) Native, prenatal, innate, nature, unnatural, naturalize, nation, pregnant, puny; (2) denatured, nativity, cognate, agnate, nascent, renascence, née.

Sentences: It was some ____ influence, he thought, that gave him his ____ physique. It was a ____ reply, but its heartlessness was ____. He was not ____ to the country, but ____. ____ in his ____ was the love of his own ____.

(1) Note, notion, notable, notice, notorious, cognizant, incognito, recognize, noble, ignoble, ennoble, ignore, ignorance, ignoramus, reconnoiter, quaint, acquaintance; (2) notary, notation, connotation, cognition, prognosticate, reconnaissance, connoisseur.

Sentences: In complete ____ of the enemy's position, he decided that he would ____ it. ____ himself, he was ____ of what was going on about him. You must ____ the conduct of such an ____. His ____ with this ____ gentleman ____ him. He ____ but would not ____ this ____ fellow. The ____ is a ____ one. He could but ____ how ____ his brother had become.

(1) Panacea, panoply, panorama, pantomime, pan-American, pandemonium; (2) pantheist, pantheon.

Sentences: Arrayed in all the ____ of savages, they acted the scene out in ____. From this point the ____ of the country-side unrolled itself before him. It is no ____ for human ills; any supposition that it is will lead to ____. It is a ____ movement.

(1) Peter, petrify, petrol, stormy petrel, petroleum, saltpeter, pier; (2) petrology, parsley, samphire.

Sentences: As he walked along the ____, he observed the flight of the ____. The English name for gasoline is ____. ____ is used in the manufacture of gunpowder. He was almost ____ at hearing of this enormous stock of ____. The crowing of the cock caused ____ to weep bitterly.

(1 and 2 combined) Petty, petite, petit jury, petit larceny, petticoat, pettifogger.

Sentences: Charged with ____, he was tried by the ____. The contemptible ____ hid behind the ____ of his wife. She was a winsome maiden, dainty and ____. It is a ____ fault.

(1 and 2 combined) Philosophy, philanthropy, Philadelphia, bibliophile, Anglophile.

Sentences: His ____ was generous, but his ____ was not profound. That queer old ____ hangs to the library like a caterpillar. It was the love of humankind that caused Penn to name the city ____. Most Americans are not ____.

(1 and 2 combined) Cosmopolitan, metropolitan, politics, policy, police.

Sentences: Those who engage in ____ lack, as a rule, a ____ outlook. It is merely ____ intolerance of towns and villages. The ____ of the mayor was to increase the ____ force.

(1 and 2 combined) Potential, potency, potentate, impotent, omnipotent, plenipotentiary.

Sentences: So far from being ____, we possess a ____ difficult to estimate. The ____ sent an ambassador ____. A ____ solution of the problem is this. ____ God.

(1) Impute, compute, dispute, ill repute, reputation, disreputable; (2) putative, indisputable.

Sentences: She could not ____ the cost. There was some ____ as to the cause of his ____. Let them ____ to me what motives they will. Though somewhat ____, he was extremely solicitous about his ____.

(1) Abrogate, arrogate, interrogate, arrogant, derogatory, prerogative; (2) surrogate, rogation, prorogue.

Sentences: In an ____ manner he ____ these ____ to himself. To ____ authority is to give opportunity for remarks ____ to one's reputation. He skilfully ____ the witness.

(1) Salmon, sally, assail, assault, insult, consult, result, exultation, desultory; (2) salient, salacious, resilient.

Sentences: After the ____ the firing was ____. The defenders ____ out and ____ us, but the ____ of this effort only added to our ____. We sat there watching the ____ leap over the waterfall and ____ about our arrangements for taking them. To accept the remark as an ____ is to acknowledge the speaker as an equal.

(1) Science, conscience, unconscious, prescience, omniscience, nice; (2) sciolist, adscititious, plebiscite.

Sentences: By his ____ understanding of the issues he was able to gain a reputation for ____. We thought he possessed ____, but he seemed ____ of his erudition. Except under the sharp necessities of ____, he was ruled by a ____ thoroughly tender.

(1) Sect, section, non-sectarian, dissect, insect, intersection, sickle, vivisection, segment; (2) bisect, trisect, insection, sector, secant.

Sentences: He stood at the ____ of the roads, leaning on the shank of a sharp ____. The foreman of the ____ gang is a member of our ____. The boy was ____ an ____ with a butcher knife he had previously used to cut for himself a large ____ of the Sunday cake. It is a ____ movement. He defended the ____ of animals.

(1) Sense, consent, assent, resent, sentimental, dissension, sensation, sensibility, sentence, scent, nonsense; (2) sentient, consensus, presentiment.

Sentences: A woman of her ____ would shrink from a ____ of this sort. He ____ in a single, crisp ____. To be ____ is to be guilty of ____. He had the good ____ to ____ to this course. He ____ such ____ and the causes that produced them. A hound hunts by ____.

(1) Despond, respond, correspond, corespondent, sponsor; (2) sponsion, spouse, espouse.

Sentences: She ____ that her husband had been ____ with the ____. The ____ of the movement could as yet see no reason to ____.

(1 and 2 combined) Structure, instructor, construct, obstruct, instrument, destructive, misconstrue.

Sentences: The student ____ the intentions of his ____. He resolved to ____ every effort to complete the ____. The ____ was one that might easily be turned to ____ work. They ____ a grandstand overlooking the racetrack.

(1) Terrace, territory, subterranean, inter, terrier; (2) terrene, tureen, terrestrial, terra cotta, Mediterranean, terra firma, parterre.

Sentences: The ____ was tearing a great hole in the ____ in order to ____ a bone. He found rich ____ deposits. The discoverers laid claim to the entire ____.

(1) Thesis, parenthesis, antithesis, anathema, theme, epithet, treasure; (2) hypothesis, synthesis, metathesis.

Sentences: To set two ideas in ____ to each other makes both more vivid. By way of ____ he informed me that the subject was ____ to his father. On this ____ he can summon a host of picturesque ____. The ____ is one you will find it hard to establish. He was seeking Captain Kidd's buried ____.

(1 and 2 combined) Tumor, tumidity, tumult, tumulus, contumacy.

Sentences: The ____ of his joints was due to rheumatism. His ____ led to a ____ of opposition. So excited was he at the discovery of the ____ that he did not permit the ____ on his hand to restrain him from beginning the excavation.

(1 and 2 combined) Turbid, disturb, perturbation, turbulence, trouble, imperturbable.

Sentences: His ____ manner gave no hint of the ____ within him. The ____ sweep of the stream caused her not the slightest ____. Do not ____ yourself with the thought that you are putting me to any ____.

(1 and 2 combined) Pervade, invade, evasion, vade mecum.

Sentences: He promised that there would be no ____ of payments. Byron's Childe Harold was my ____ during my travels in Switzerland and Italy. The fragrance of heliotrope ____ the room. You must not ____ my privacy like this.

(1) Avail, prevail, prevalent, equivalent, valiant, validity, invalid, invalidate; (2) valetudinarian, valediction, valence.

Sentences: The ____ of the agreement has been thoroughly established. Our cause is just, and must ____. It is ____ to admitting that the terms are now ____. It was a ____ act and ____ the concessions previously wrested from us. The ____ impression is that mere ingenuity will not ____.

(1) Virtue, virile, virgin, virtually; (2) virago, virtuoso, triumvir.

Sentences: It was ____ a new arrangement. It is ____ soil. To be ____ and daring is every boy's dream. ____ is its own reward.

(1) Revive, survival, convivial, vivid, vivify, vivacious, vivisection; (2) vive (le roi), qui vive, bon vivant, tableau vivant.

Sentences: He has a ____ manner, a ____ spirit. The ____ of the opposition to the ____ of animals is very marked. You cannot ____ a dead cause or scarcely ____ memories of it. The ____ coloring of her cheeks was a sure sign of health, or of skill.

THIRD GENERAL EXERCISE

Find the key-syllable (in a few instances the key-syllables) of each of the following words. How does it affect the meaning of the word? Does it appear, perhaps in disguised form, in any of the words immediately preceding or following? Can you bring to mind other words that embody it?

Innovation Commonwealth Welfare Wayfarer
Adjournment Rival Derivation Arrive
Denunciation Denomination Ignominy Synonym
Patronymic Parliament Dormitory Demented
Presumptuous Indent Dandelion Trident
Indenture Contemporary Disseminate Annoy
Odium Desolate Impugn Efflorescent
Arbor vitae Consider Constellation Disaster
Suburb Address Dirigible Dirge
Indirectly Desperate Inoperative Benevolent
Voluntary Offend Enumerate Dilapidate
Request Exquisite Exonerate Approximate
Insinuate Resurgence Insurrection Rapture
Exasperate Complacent Dimension Commensurate
Preclude Cloister Turnpike Travesty
Atone Incarnate Charnal Etiquette
Rejuvenate Eradicate Quiet Requiem
Acquiesce Ambidextrous Inoculate Divulge
Proper Appropriate Omnivorous Voracious
Devour Escritoire Mordant Remorse
Miser Hilarious Exhilarate Rudiment
Erudite Mark Marquis Libel
Libretto Vague Vagabond Extravagant
Souse Saucer Oyster Ostracize

FOURTH GENERAL EXERCISE

With a few exceptions like the Hale-heal group above under Verbal Families, most verbal families of straight English or of Germanic- Scandinavian-English descent are easily recognizable as families. Witness the Good family and the Stead family. The families in which kinship may be overlooked are likely to be of Latin or Greek ancestry, though perhaps with a subsequent infusion of blood from some other foreign language, as French. Hitherto our approach to verbal families has been through the descendants, or through that quality in their blood which holds them together. But we shall also profit from knowing something of the founders of these families—from having some acquaintance with them as individuals. Below (in separate lists) the more prominent of Latin and of Greek progenitors are named, their meaning is given, and two or three of their living representatives (not always direct descendants) are designated. Starred [*] words are those whose progeny has not been in good part assembled in the preceding pages; for these words you should assemble all the living representatives you can. (Inflectional forms are given only where they are needed for tracing English derivatives.)

Latin word Meaning English representatives

Ago, actum do, rouse agile, transact
*Alius other alias, inalienable
*Alter other alteration, adultery
*Altus high altitude, exalt
*Ambulo walk perambulator, preamble
*Amicus friend amicable, enemy
*Amo, amatum love inamorata, amateur, inimical
*Anima life animal, inanimate
Animus mind animosity, unanimous
Annus year annuity, biennial
*Aqua water aquarium, aqueduct
Audio, auditum hear audience, audit
*Bellum war rebel, belligerent
*Bene well benefit, benevolence
*Bonus good bonanza, bona fide
*Brevis short abbreviate, unabridged
Cado, casum fall cadence, casual
Caedo, cecidi, caesum cut, kill suicide, incision
Cano, cantum sing recant, chanticleer
Capio, captum take, hold capacious, incipient
*Caput, capitis head cape (Cape Cod), decapitate,
chapter, biceps
Cedo, cessum go concede, accessory
Centum hundred per cent, centigrade
*Civis citizen civic, uncivilized
*Clamo shout acclaim, declamation
*Claudo, clausum close, shut conclude, recluse, cloister, sluice
Cognosco (see Nosco)
*Coquo, coxi, coctum cook decoction, precocious
*Cor, cordis heart core, discord, courage
Corpus body corpse, incorporate
Credo, credituin believe creed, discreditable
Cresco, cretum grow crescendo, concrete, accrue
*Crux, crucis cross crucifix, excruciating
Cura care curate, sinecure
Curro, cursum run occur, concourse
*Derigo, directum direct dirge, dirigible, address
*Dexter right, right hand ambidextrous, dexterity
Dico speak, say abdicate, verdict
*Dies day diary, quotidian
Dignus worthy, fitting dignity, condign
Do, datum give condone, data
*Doceo, doctum teach document, doctor
*Dominus lord dominion, danger
*Domus house domicile, majordomo
*Dormio sleep dormant, dormouse
Duco lead traduce, deduction
*Duo two dubious, duet
Durus hard durable, obdurate
Eo, itum go exit, initial
Error, erratum wander erroneous, aberration
Facio, feci, factum make, do manufacture, affect, sufficient,
verify
Fero, latum carry transfer, relate
Fido trust, believe confide, perfidious
Finis end confine, infinity
Flecto, flexum bend reflection, inflexible
Fluo, fluxum flow influence, reflux
Fortis strong fortress, comfort
Frango, fractum break infringe, refraction
*Frater brother fraternity, fratricide
Fugio, fugitum flee centrifugal, fugitive
Fundo, fusum pour refund, profuse, fusion
Gero, gestum carry belligerent, gesture, digestion
Gradior, gressus walk degrade, progress
*Gratia favor, pleasure, ingratiate, congratulate,
good-will disgrace
*Grex, gregis flock segregate, egregious
Habeo, habitum have, hold habituate, prohibit
Itum (see Eo)
Jacio, jeci, jactum throw, hurl reject, interjection
Jungo, junctum join conjugal, enjoin, juncture
Juro swear abjure, perjury
Jus, juris law, right justice, jurisprudence
Judex (from jusdico) judge judgment, prejudice
*Juvenis young rejuvenate, juvenilia
Latum (see Fero)
*Laudo, laudatum praise allow, laudatory
Lego, lectum read, choose elegant, lecture, dialect
*Lex, legis law privilege, illegitimate,
legislature
*Liber book libel, library
*Liber free liberty, deliberate
Ligo bind obligation, allegiance, alliance
*Linquo, lictum leave delinquent, relict, derelict
*Litera letter illiterate, obliterate
Locus place collocation, dislocate
Loquor, locutus speak soliloquy, elocution
Ludo, lusum play prelude, illusory
/Lux, lucis light\ lucid, luminary
\Lumen, luminis /
*Magnus great magnate, magnificent
*Malus bad, evil malaria, malnutrition
Mando order mandatory, commandment
Manus hand manual, manufacture
*Mare sea maritime, submarine
*Mater mother maternal, alma mater
*Medius middle mediocre, intermediate
*Mens mind mental, demented
*Miror wonder mirror, admirable
Mitto, missum send commit, emissary
*Mordeo, morsum bite mordant, morsel, remorse
Mors, mortis death mortal, mortify
Moveo, motum move remove, locomotive
*Multus many multiform, multiplex
Muto, mutatum change transmute, immutable, moult
Nascor, natus be born renascence, cognate
*Nihil nothing nihilism, annihilate
*Nomen, nominis name denomination, renown
*Norma rule abnormal, enormous
/Nosco, notum cognosco \
\ cognitum know / notation, incognito
*Novus new novelty, renovate
*Nuntio announce denounce, renunciation
*Opus, operis work magnum opus, inoperative
*Pater father patrician, patrimony
Patior, passus suffer impatient, passion
Pello, pulsum drive propeller, repulse
Pendeo, pensum hang pendulum, appendix
Pendo, pensum weigh compendium, expense
Pes, pedis foot expedite, biped
Peto seek impetus, compete
*Plaudo, plausum clap, applaud explode, plausible
*Plecto, plexum braid perplex, complexion
*Pleo, pletum fill complement, expletive
*Plus, pluris more surplus, plural
Plico, plicatum fold reply, implicate
Pono, positum place opponent, deposit
Porto carry report, porter
Potens, potentis powerful impotent, potential
Prendo, prehensum seize comprehend, apprise
*Primus, primatis first primary, primate
Probo, probatum prove improbable, reprobate
*Pugno fight impugn, repugnant
Puto think impute, disreputable
*Quaero, quaesitum seek require, inquest, exquisite
*Rapio, raptum seize enraptured, surreptitious
*Rego, rectum rule, lead region, erect
*Rideo, risum laugh deride, risible
Rogo, rogatum ask prorogue, abrogate
Rumpo, ruptum break disrupt, eruption
Salio, saltum leap salient, insult
*Sanguis blood sang froid, ensanguined
Scio, scitum know prescience, plebiscite
Scribo, scriptum write prescribe, manuscript, escritoire
Seco, sectum cut secant, dissect
Sedeo, sessum sit supersede, obsession
Sentio, sensum feel presentiment, consensus
Sequor, secutus follow sequence, persecute, ensue
Signum sign insignia, designate
*Solus alone solitude, desolate
Solvo, solutum loosen solvent, dissolute
*Somnus sleep somnambulist, insomnia
*Sono sound consonant, resonance
*Sors, sortis lot sort, assortment
Specio, spectum look despicable, suspect
Spiro, spiratum breathe perspire, conspiracy
*Spondeo, sponsum promise respond, espouse
Sto, steti, statum stand constant, establish
Sisto, stiti, statum cause to stand consistent, superstition
Stringo, strictum bind stringent, restrict
Struo, structum build construe, destruction
Tango, tactum touch intangible, tact
Tempus, temporis time temporize, contemporary
Tendo, tensum stretch distend, intense
Teneo, tentuin hold tenure, detention
*Tendo try tentative, attempt
Terminus end, boundary terminal, exterminate
Terra earth territory, inter
Torqueo, tortum twist distort, tortuous
Traho, tractum draw extract, subtraction
Tumeo, tumidum swell tumor, contumacy
Turba tumult, crowd turbulent, disturb
*Unus one unify, triune, onion
*Urbs city urbane, suburban
Vado, vasum go pervade, invasion
Valeo, validum be strong prevail, invalid
Venio, ventum come intervene, adventure
Verto, versum turn divert, adverse
*Verus true verdict, veracity
*Via way obviate, impervious, trivial
Video, visum see provide, revise
Vinco, victum conquer province, convict
Vir man triumvir, virtue
Vivo, victum live vivacious, vivisect
Voco, vocatum call revoke, avocation
*Volo wish malevolent, voluntary
Volvo, volutum turn revolver, evolution
Vox voice equivocal, vociferate

Prefix Meaning English embodiments

*A, ab from, away avert, abnegation, abstract
*Ad to adduce, adjacent, affect, accede
*Ante before antediluvian, anteroom
*Bi two biped, bicycle
*Circum around circumambient, circumference
*Cum, com, with, together combine, consort, coadjutor
con, co
*Contra against contradict, contrast
*De from, negative deplete, decry, demerit, declaim
down, intensive
*Di, dis asunder, away from, divert, disbelief
negative
*E, ex from, out of evict, excavate
*Extra beyond extraordinary, extravagant
*In in, into, not innate, instil, insignificant
*Inter among, between intercollegiate, interchange
*Intro, into, within introduce, intramural
intra
*Non negative nonage, nondescript
*Ob against, before
(facing), toward obloquy, obstacle, offer
*Per through, extremely persecute, perfervid, pursue,
pilgrim, pellucid
*Post after postpone, postscript
*Pre before prepay, preoccupy
*Pro before proceed, proffer
*Re back, again return, resound
*Retro back, backward retroactive, retrospective
*Se apart, aside seclude, secession
*Semi half semiannual, semicivilized
*Sub under, less than, subscribe, suffer, subnormal,
inferior subcommittee
*Super above, extremely superfluous, supercritical, soprano
*Trans across, through transfer, transparent
*Ultra beyond, extremely ultramundane, ultraconservative

<Greek Ancestors of English Words>
(Scientific terms in English are largely derived from the Greek)

Greek word Meaning English representatives

*Aner, andros, man, stamen androgynous, philander,
anthropos philanthropy
*Archos chief, primitive archaic, architect
*Astron star asterisk, disaster
Autos self autograph, automatic, authentic
*Barvs heavy baritone, barites
*Biblos book Bible, bibliomania
*Bios life biology, autobiography, amphibious
*Cheir hand chiropody, chirurgical, surgeon
*Chilioi a thousand kilogram, kilowatt
*Chroma color chromo, achromatic
Chronos time chronic, anachronism
*Cosmos world, order cosmopolitan, microcosm
*Crypto hide cryptogam, cryptology
*Cyclos wheel, circle encyclopedia, cyclone
*Deca ten decasyllable, decalogue
*Demos people democracy, epidemic
*Derma skin epidermis, taxidermist
*Dis, di twice, doubly dichromatic, digraph
*Didonai, dosis give dose, apodosis, anecdote
*Dynamis power dynamite, dynasty
*Eidos form, thing seen idol, kaleidoscope, anthropoid
*Ethnos race, nation ethnic, ethnology
Eu well euphemism, eulogy
*Gamos marriage cryptogam, bigamy
*Ge earth geography, geometry
Genos family, race gentle, engender
Gramma writing monogram, grammar
Grapho write telegraph, lithograph
*Haima blood hematite, hemorrhage, anemia
*Heteros other heterodox, heterogeneous
*Homos same homonym, homeopathy
*Hydor water hydraulics, hydrophobia, hydrant
*Isos equal isosceles, isotherm
*Lithos stone monolith, chrysolite
Logos word, study theology, dialogue
Metron measure barometer, diameter
*Micros small microscope, microbe
Monos one, alone monoplane, monotone
*Morphe form metamorphosis, amorphous
*Neos new, young neolithic, neophyte
*Neuron nerve neuralgia, neurotic
Nomos law, science, astronomy, gastronomy, economy
management
*Onoma name anonymous, patronymic
*Opsis view, sight synopsis, thanatopsis, optician
*Orthos right orthopedic, orthodox
*Osteon bone osteopathy, periosteum
*Pais, paidos child paideutics, pedagogue,
encyclopedia
Pas, pan all diapason, panacea, pantheism
Pathos suffering allopathy, pathology
Petros rock petroleum, saltpeter
*Phaino show, be visible diaphanous, phenomenon,
epiphany, fantastic
Philos loving bibliophile, Philadelphia
*Phobos fear hydrophobia, Anglophobe
Phone sound telephone, symphony
*Phos light phosphorous, photograph
*Physis nature physiognomy, physiology
*Plasma form cataplasm, protoplasm
*Pneuma air, breath pneumatic, pneumonia
Polis city policy, metropolitan
*Polys many polyandry, polychrome,
polysyllable
Pous, pados foot octopus, chiropodist
*Protos first protoplasm, prototype
*Pseudes false pseudonym, pseudo-classic
*Psyche breath, soul, psychology, psychopathy
mind
*Pyr fire pyrography, pyrotechnics
*Scopos watcher scope, microscope
*Sophia wisdom philosophy, sophomore
*Techne art technicality, architect
*Tele far, far off telepathy, telescope
{*Temno cut }
{*Tomos that which is } epitome, anatomy, tome
{ cut off }
*Theos god theosophy, pantheism
*Therme heat isotherm, thermodynamics
{Tithenai place } epithet, hypothesis,
{Thesis a placing, } anathema
{ arrangement }
*Treis three trichord, trigonometry
*Zoon animal zoology, protozoa, zodiac

Prefix Meaning English embodiments

*A, an no, not aseptic, anarchy
*Amphi about, around, ambidextrous, amphitheater
(Latin ambi) both
*Ana up, again anatomy, Anabaptist
*Anti against, opposite antidote, antiphonal, antagonist
*Cata down catalepsy, cataclysm
*Dia through, across diameter, dialogue
*Epi upon epidemic, epithet, epode, ephemeral
*Hyper over, extremely hypercritical, hyperbola
*Hypo under, in smaller hypodermic, hypophosphate
measure
*Meta after, over metaphysics, metaphor
*Para beside paraphrase, paraphernalia
*Peri around, about periscope, peristyle
*Pro before proboscis, prophet
*Syn together, with synthesis, synopsis, sympathy