Latin Root

Latin Root
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Latin was the language spoken by the ancient Romans. As the Romans conquered most of Europe, the Latin language spread throughout the region. Over time, the Latin spoken in different areas developed into separate languages, including Italian, French, Spanish, and Portuguese. These languages are considered “sisters,” as they all descended from Latin, their “mother” language.
In 1066 England was conquered by William, duke of Normandy, which is in northern France. For several hundred years after the Norman invasion, French was the language of court and polite society in England. It was during this period that many French words were borrowed into English. Linguists estimate that some 60% of our common everyday vocabulary today comes from French. Thus many Latin words came into English indirectly through French.
Many Latin words came into English directly, though, too. Monks from Rome brought religious vocabulary as well as Christianity to England beginning in the 6th century. From the Middle Ages onward many scientific, scholarly, and legal terms were borrowed from Latin.
During the 17th and 18th centuries, dictionary writers and grammarians generally felt that English was an imperfect language whereas Latin was perfect. In order to improve the language, they deliberately made up a lot of English words from Latin words. For example, fraternity, from Latin fraternitas, was thought to be better than the native English word brotherhood.
Many English words and word parts can be traced back to Latin and Greek. The following table lists some common Latin roots.
From the example words in the above table, it is easy to see how roots combine with prefixes to form new words. For example, the root -tract- , meaning “to pull,” can combine with a number of prefixes, including de- and re- . Detract means literally “to pull away” ( de- , “away, off”) and retract means literally “to pull back” ( re- , “again, back”). The following table gives a list of Latin prefixes and their basic meanings.
Words and word roots may also combine with suffixes. Here are examples of some important English suffixes that come from Latin:
contradict, dictate, diction, edict, predict
eject, inject, interject, project, reject, subject
append, depend, impend, pendant, pendulum
comport, deport, export, import, report, support
describe, description, prescribe, prescription, subscribe, subscription, transcribe, transcription
attract, contract, detract, extract, protract, retract, traction
away, off; generally indicates reversal or removal in English
deactivate, debone, defrost, decompress, deplane
disbelief, discomfort, discredit, disrepair, disrespect
international, interfaith, intertwine, intercellular, interject
nonessential, nonmetallic, nonresident, nonviolence, nonskid, nonstop
postdate, postwar, postnasal, postnatal
preconceive, preexist, premeditate, predispose, prepossess, prepay
rearrange, rebuild, recall, remake, rerun, rewrite
submarine, subsoil, subway, subhuman, substandard
forms adjectives and means “capable or worthy of”
creation, civilization, automation, speculation, information
forms verbs and means “to make or cause to become”
entertainment, amazement, statement, banishment
subtlety, certainty, cruelty, frailty, loyalty, royalty; eccentricity, electricity, peculiarity, similarity, technicality

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Whenever learning a new language, students are often overwhelmed by the fact that they must study the grammar and vocabulary. Vocabulary can be tough for anyone, but especially for those learning a new language for the first time or one like Latin which not spoken. However, the vocabulary in Latin should be easier since Latin is integrated into many modern languages: French, Italian, Spanish, English, etc.
Here is a wonderful list of the most basic roots any Latin learner should know! This list is also helpful to anyone wishing to improve their vocabulary along with test taking skills. So, if you are studying for the GRE, MCAT, LSAT, or even the SATs; this is a great chart for you to study, make flash cared and improve your ability to dissect words to discover their meanings!
Build vocabulary, practice pronunciation, and more with Transparent Language Online. Available anytime, anywhere, on any device.
Hello There! Please feel free to ask me anything about Latin Grammar, Syntax, or the Ancient World.
very helpful thanks and I shared this on FB as well.
Brittany, this is a very interesting web page. I studied linguistics, and Latin is a fascinating subject to know.
ad- , a- , ac- , af- , ag- , al- , ap- , ar- , as- , at-
movement to or toward; in addition to
ac cept, ad apt, af fect, ag gression, ap proximate, a scend
antebellum,antediluvian anticipate,
capital, precipitation, decapitation
“et cetera” = “and the rest, others”
form, formation, conform, deformity
fusion, profuse, profusion, transfusion
gratitude, gratuity, grateful,ingrate
impossible, irrational, inappropriate, illegal
lucent, lucid, Lucifer (bearer of Light)
ob- , o- , oc- , of- , og- , op- , os-
obstinate, obstreperous, occur, offend, omit, oppose, ostentatious
explosion, implode, plaudits, plausible
scand- , -scend- , scans- , -scens-
sub- , su- , suf- , sug- , sup- , sus-
aver, veracious, verify, verisimilitude, verity

50 Latin roots that will help you understand the English language
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Anyone who has ever studied a stack of GRE vocabulary words or invested in a word-a-day calendar to try to expand their lexicon can attest to the fact that the English language is incredibly expansive. Data has shown that the average adult knows somewhere around 40,000 words in total, and that includes active (i.e., regularly used) and passive (i.e., familiar, but not utilized) vocabulary. Put that number up against the more than one million total words in the English language, and it becomes clear that the percentage of terms in English speakers’ everyday rotation is only a small fraction of the English language as a whole.
Looking at the sheer volume of the English vocabulary, one thing that helps make sense of the words is the notable patterns that emerge in light of its etymological roots; particularly, its Latin roots. Though Latin itself has often been referred to as a dead language, it is very much alive in the 80% of English terms that are borrowed directly from the ancient language and the over 60% of English words that have roots in Latin and Greek. In the same way that a new reader may try to sound out a word phonetically, looking at English through the lens of Latin etymology allows us to obtain a new grasp on the language, such that we can more actively deduce the meanings of unfamiliar words.
To identify key linguistic elements from Latin that appear throughout the English language today, Stacker sorted through educational resources and online databases and compiled a list of 50 important Latin roots that shape the English language as we know it. Read on to get a better understanding of how some of the words you use regularly—and a few perhaps you’ve never seen before—all share a common foundation in Latin.
The Latin root “ann”—which means “yearly”—can be found in countless words that reference events and occurrences that happen on a yearly basis. For example, an anniversary celebration marks the passing of another year of a relationship, a business, or a birthday. Then there are yearly events that are characterized as annual, such as award ceremonies (e.g., the Academy Awards), sporting events (e.g., Super Bowl), and holidays (e.g., Halloween).
Whether it’s being used in reference to a color such as aqua, a blueish-green hue, or to describe sea life, i.e., aquatic, the Latin root “aqu” is familiar in its relationship to water and large bodies of water. The mainstream familiarity of the Latin root was on full display in the 2006 coming-of-age film “Aquamarine,” where the titular character is a mermaid washed ashore.
- Meaning in English: Hearing, listening, sound
Those who prefer the convenience of listening to their books rather than reading them may recognize this Latin root from the name of Audible, Amazon’s audiobook and entertainment platform. The root also makes an appearance in the English terms audience, as in a group of people gathered together to listen to or receive a performance, and auditorium, the room in which said audience sits to listen.
Derived from a Latin term meaning “well,” bene is most commonly used as a prefix in the English language. The word benign means harmless or favorable, and in pathology is used to describe a condition that is not life-threatening. A benefit is something that is considered favorable or advantageous, and the term can also be used to describe a charitable event. A benefactor gives help to a person or a cause. Perhaps the most famous example of a benefactor is Miss Havisham from “Great Expectations” by Charles Dickens.
The Latin prefix “bi” means two, as does the closely related, Greek-derived prefix “di.” A bifurcation describes the act of something splitting off into two distinct branches. In anatomy, the bicep is a muscle of the arm that runs between the shoulder and the elbow, so-named because it splits off into two branches where the muscle connects at the scapula. The word bicep translates to “two-headed muscle of the arm.”
The Latin root “bibl” may sooner remind college students of having to create bibliographies—detailed lists of the books and sources referenced in academic work—than anything else. However, the root’s connection to the English language has a far deeper history: “bibl” is also the root for the name of the Bible, the collection of Judeo-Christian texts and scripture.
The term “cent” likely conjures up thoughts of money—i.e., dollars and cents—before anything else, but that ties back perfectly to the Latin root from which the term comes. One cent is 1/100th of a dollar. Pennies aside, the Latin root also makes an appearance in terms like “century” and “centennial,” which pertain to 100-year timespans and a hundredth anniversary, respectively.
The Latin root “circum”—meaning “around”—appears in terms like “circumnavigate,” which is the act of traveling all the way around something. Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan is remembered for successfully circumnavigating the globe in the early 16th century. This root also appears in terms like “circumvent,” which describes the act of getting around a problem, and “circumstance,” which pairs this root with another Latin root—“stance,” meaning “stand”—to reference a situation that focuses on a core cause.
“Civility” is characterized by respect towards others, and “civics,” which refers to the infrastructure in place that is intended to facilitate civility, are both rooted in the Latin “civ,” meaning “citizen.” The root also makes an appearance in the name of the Honda Civic, a car that––as the brand puts it–– is meant to improve the lives of citizens.
The term “clarity”—which comes from the Latin root “clar,” meaning “clear”—is the property of being both pure and clean, as well as being lucid and coherent. The root has seen a variety of modern uses alluding to its Latin translation, including the brand Clarisonic, a beauty company that develops products meant to provide clearer-looking skin, and Claritin, an allergy medication that promises clarity and relief from chronic allergies.
Credibility is the characteristic of being believable, and it’s a term that comes from the Latin root “cred,” meaning “believe.” While the term may appear in the case of legal proceedings—e.g., a court case requires credible witnesses—it also ties into the idea of credit and credit cards. Since credit cards work by allowing users to acquire items before paying for them in full, they operate on a system of trust and good faith—belief, essentially—that payments will be made in full at a later time.
The Latin root “dict” appears in words like dictate, meaning to read something aloud; dictation, the act of speaking aloud with the intention of having your words recorded or transcribed; and predict, the act of stating something that will happen before it actually happens. Of all the instances in which “dict” appears in the English language, though, one of the most important may be the dictionary, which offers a comprehensive guide to all of the officially-recognized words in the English language. Some of the most respected and trusted dictionaries in the U.S. include the Oxford English Dictionary, Collins English Dictionary, and Merriam-Webster.
The Latin root “ex” means “out,” while related roots, including “exter” and “extrem,” offer additional variations of the same translation. The word extreme, for example, may refer to something that falls out of a normal expected range, as was the case with weather extremities, including record rainfall and high/low daily temperatures across the U.S. in 2019, which broke more than 120,000 records across the country.
The Latin “fract” is closely related to fellow Latin roots “frang,” “fring,” and “frag,” all of which mean “break.” A few of its familiar appearances may include infringe, as in the breaking of a legal agreement or violation of copyright, and fragment, a small piece of an item that has been broken. The root also appears in the word fragile, which can be used to describe items that are easily breakable.
The premise of the film “Interstellar” starring Matthew McConaughey is that a NASA physicist travels the universe via a wormhole in a quest to find a new home for mankind. The plot––and the flick’s title––reference the Latin root “inter,” meaning “between,” as McConaughey’s character essentially travels between cosmic stars. This root also appears in terms like international, which may refer to travel or political relations between nations, and interpersonal, which may refer to communication happening between different people (as opposed to intrapersonal, which uses the Latin root meaning “within”).
Legal systems are intended to act as a source of order and justice in society, and it turns out that a lot of the legal terminology that we’re familiar with today stems from the Latin “jur”—as well as the related roots “jus” and “judic”—meaning “law.” This includes the word jury, as in the body of citizens meant to come to a verdict in legal cases; judicial, as in something pertaining to the court or judge; and justice, as in fairness.
There are a number of ways that someone may choose to relax—yoga, unwinding with a good book, taking a bath, etc. Regardless of the method, the practice of relaxation just comes down to letting go of stress and releasing tension. The root origin of the term—the Latin “lax,” meaning “not tense”—is echoed in this way. The root also appears in the word laxative, which describes an agent used to relieve constipation by reducing tension in the bowels.
Liberty—which is defined as freedom from oppression in regards to one’s belief systems and way of life—is a fundamental tenet on which democracy is built. As for the Latin word “liber,” this is a fundamental root from which the term “liberty” stems. Further examples of “liber” in mainstream English language include the words liberate and liberation.
This Latin root meaning “light” appears in a number of common English words including luminous, which means that something is bright and shining. However, the Latin root has seen several linguistic iterations that go beyond these everyday terms as well, including brand names such as Luminary, a podcast streaming platform that may be considered to be bringing new and creative ideas “to light,” and fictional terms such as “lumos maxima,” the incantation used in the “Harry Potter” universe to generate a bright flash of light.
The Latin root “magn,” meaning “big” or “great,” can be used either in reference to something physically large in size or something that big in its presence, such that it’s striking. In regular use today, the root appears in words like magnificent, which simply refers to something that’s amazing or awe-inspiring, and magnitude, which is used to characterize the large size or impact of something (e.g., a 3.2 magnitude earthquake).
“Mal” is a Latin root meaning “bad,” and appears in such English terms as malicious, which is defined as having the intention to cause harm, as well as malevolent, which combines this root with another Latin root “volent,” which means “wishing.” Mal is defined as wishing evil or ill will upon another. Perhaps one of the most common pop culture affiliations with the root is “Maleficent,” the Disney film starring Angelina Jolie as the villainous fairy known for cursing Sleeping Beauty.
This Latin root is perhaps most prevalent in its connection to current events. Namely, “migr”—meaning “wander”—appears in the terms immigration and migrant, both of which have become majorly familiar in the collective consciousness as a result of such issues as the European migrant crisis as well as the U.S. border crisis and questions surrounding the country’s immigration policies.
There are a multitude of examples in the English language of the Latin root “multi,” meaning “many,” in use (with multitude being o
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