Intro to to Greek and Latin Roots You already are probably at least a little familiar with ancient Greek and Roman... architecture culture characters wardrobe malfunctio n wardrobe malfunctio n letters and numerals entertainment Excuse me. Youre stepping on my throat! Olympia competitions BCE Ancient Roman Empire 0 CE Ancient Greece Ancient Greece and Rome Greece Rome Rome is in what is now Italy. Greece is right next door. Through colonizing and empire- building, these two civilizations spread their languages across the land for centuries. The Greek Language The Latin Language I speak Greek. I speak Latin. I speak Latin. I speak Latin. I speak Latin. I speak Greek. I speak Latin. I speak Latin. I speak Latin. I speak Latin. I speak Latin. I speak Latin. I speak Latin. I speak Latin. I speak Greek. I speak Latin. I speak Latin. I speak Latin. I speak Latin. But why do we care about the languages of two ancient (dead) civilizations? I spoke Greek. I spoke Latin. Who cares? Because, if you speak English, you speak Latin and Greek. I speak Greek. I speak Latin. Greek and Latin roots are word parts that have meaning. Thousands of English words are made from a couple hundred Greek and Latin roots. Mediterranean Take the word for example. Medi terranean is a that means middle. Latin root Think about that the next time you order a medi um drink. Mediterranean is a Latin root that means land. Mediterranean means middle of the land. middle (Latin) land (Latin) Mediterranean I speak Latin. Heres another one. magn is a Latin root that means fy is a Latin root that means to make Magnify means make something appear big. big (Latin) make (Latin) magnify magnitude a measure of how big something is magnate is a person who is big and important in their field Knowledge of Greek and Latin roots is important and useful because it gives you the ability to spot patterns... and figure out unfamiliar words. I know that cracy means a type of government. And meritocracy must be a government based on merit. So technocracy is a government based on technology. In conclusion... Greek and Latin roots are word parts that have meaning. If you know the meaning of the most common Greek and Latin roots, you will know the meaning of thousands of English words.