Latin Roots

English I Pre-AP

Act

To do, Drive Sample Words: Acting (the art or practice

of representing (doing) a character on a stage)

React (to change what one is doing in response to a stimulus)

Enact (to drive or make into law)

Alt

HighSample Words: Altos (voices in a choir

higher than tenors and basses)

Altitude (the vertical height of an object above a surface)

Altimeter (an instrument for measuring height of an object )

Anima, Anim

Life, MindSample Words:• Animal (any of a kingdom

of living things )• Animated (endowed with

life or the qualities of life )• Animator (one who gives

a picture life)

Ann, Enn

YearSample Words: Annual (something that

occurs once a year) Perennial (persisting for

several years) Bicentennial (200th year

celebration)

Aqua

WaterSample Words: Aquarium (a container in which

living animals and water are kept)

Aquamarine (a pale blue to light greenish blue that mimics the color of water)

Aquanaut (a scuba diver who lives and operates both inside and outside an underwater shelter for an extended period)

Arm

Army, WeaponSample Words:• Armory (a place where

weapons and military equipment are stored)

• Armament (the process of preparing weapons and an army for war )

Bell

WarSample Words: Belligerent (waging war;

inclined to or exhibiting assertiveness, hostility, or combativeness (war-like behaviors))

Bellicose (favoring or inclined to start quarrels or wars)

Cede

To go, To yieldSample Words:• Intercede (to intervene

between parties with a view to make one party yield)

• Supersede (to cause to be set aside or yield)

• concede (to yield to someone else’s point or idea)

Cert

To be sure, To trustSample Words: Certain (known or proved

to be true or trustworthy) Certify (to attest as being

true or as represented or as meeting a standard; attest to being trustworthy)

Cid, Cis

To cut of, be brief; To killSample Words:• Concise (brief; having all

superfluous elaboration and detail cut out)

• Homicide (the crime of killing another person)

• Genocide (the deliberate and systematic killing of a racial, political, or cultural group

Curs, Curr, Corr

To runSample Words: Current (presently

elapsing or running) Courier (one who runs

messages from place to place)

Corral (an enclosure for confining livestock so they won’t run off)

Dic, Dict

To say, to speak; To assertSample Words: Dictate (to speak or act

domineeringly) Dictionary (an alphabetical

listing of words people say) Diction (choice of spoken

or written words esp. with regard to correctness, clearness, or effectiveness)

Duct, Duc

To lead; To drawSample Words:• Aqueduct (a conduit for

drawing water)• Conduct (to lead from a

position of command)• Reduce (to draw

together or cause to converge)

Dur

Hard, LastingSample Words: Durable (lasting for a long

time without significant deterioration)

Duration (lasting for a specific period of time)

Endure (to last under suffering without yielding)

Gen

Race, Family, KindSample Words: Generation (a group of

individuals having the same kind of status)

General (involving, relating to, or applicable to every member of a class, kind, or group)

Loc

PlaceSample Words:• Location (a place outside

a motion-picture studio where a picture or part of it is filmed)

• Dislocate (to put out of place)

Mar

SeaSample Words: Marine (of or relating to

the sea) Marina (a dock or basin

on the sea providing secure moorings for pleasure boats and often offering supply, repair, and other facilities)

Mit, Mis

To sendSample Words:• Remission (to send a

disease into a dormant state)

• Transmit (to send from one person or place to another)

• Mission (a body of persons sent to perform a service or carry on an activity)

Mort

DeathSample Words: Mortician (one who

prepares a dead body for a funeral)

Mortal (causing or having caused death)

Mortify (to subject to severe and vexing em-barrassment that makes the person want to die)

Mut

ChangeSample Words:• Mutation (a significant and

basic change)• Transmute (to change or

alter in form, appearance, or nature and especially to a higher form)

• Mutant (of or relating to something produced by change)

Ord, Ordin

To put in orderSample Words: Order (to put in order) Ordinal (rites for the

ordination of deacons, priests, and bishops [for induction into the order])

Ordinary (to regular or customary order of things)

Part, Pars

Portion, PartSample Words: Partial (of or relating to a

part rather than a whole) Particle (a minute quantity,

part, or fragment) Partner (on that shares part

of something)

Ped

FootSample Words:• Pedestal (the base of

foot of a column)• Pedestrian (one who

travels on foot)• Pedal (a lever pressed

by the foot)

Prov, Prob

To Prove, TestSample Words: Probate (the proving of

the validity of a will) Probation (subjection of

an individual to a period of testing and trial to ascertain fitness)

Prove (to test the truth, validity, or genuineness of)

Rupt

To Break, BurstSample Words: Disrupt (to break apart) Eruption (the act, process,

or instance of erupting [breaking/bursting out])

Rupture (a break of peace or concord)

Sacr, Secr, Sanct

SacredSample Words:• Desecrate (to violate the

sanctity/sacredness of)• Sacrifice (an act of

sacred offering)• Sacrilege (a violation of

something sacred)• Sanctify (to set apart as

sacred)

Sent, Sens

To FeelSample Words: Sense (one of the five

“feelings”) Sentimental (marked or

governed by feeling) Sentinel (a sentry; a

guard or watch placed at a point of passage [one who feels for danger])

Sol, Soli

Alone, LonelySample Words:• Soliloquy (a speech given

by one person alone on stage)

• Solo (something done alone)

• Solitary (being, living, or going alone or without companions)

Test

To Witness, AffirmSample Words: Attest (to affirm to be true

or genuine) Contest (a struggle for

the affirmation of superiority or victory)

Testify (to bear witness)

Vers, Vert

To TurnSample Words:• Adverse (acting against or

in a contrary [turning] direction)

• Conversion (the turning from former ways and the embracing of new)

• Reverse (to turn around and go the opposite direction)