Latin Roots and Vocabulary Grade 9

humanus

Root

Human being

human, humanitarian, humane, humanism, humanities, humanoid, inhumane...

humane

All veterinarians treat animals in a humane way.

adjective

Having the worthy qualities of a human being

humanism

A regenerated interest in humanism inspired many Renaissance artists throughout Europe.

noun

a philosophy in which the interests and values of human beings are of primary importance.

humanities

I enjoy teaching humanities classes because of my love of language.

noun

branches of knowledge concerned with human beings and their culture: philosophy, art, literature, history

I enjoy teaching humanities classes because of my love of language.

anthropos

Root

human being or man

anthropology, anthropologist, anthology, misanthrope, anthropomorphism

anthropology

My brother decided to study anthropology since various cultures fascinate him.

noun

the scientific study of the origins, the cultural development, and customs of human beings

misanthrope

Many people think of Ebeneezer Scrooge as the most famous misanthrope in classic literature.

noun a person who hates all people

homo, hominis

Root

man

homo sapien, homosexual, homocide

homicide

Police charged the drunk driver who killed the pedestrian with vehicular homicide.

noun

the killing of one person by another

vir

Root

man

virile, virulent, virility

virile

Virile Greek heroes like Odysseus could slay giant monsters like the cyclops and Scylla.

adjective

having characteristics popular;ly associated with men, especially physical strength, procreative power, vitality, and assertiveness

gyne

Root

woman

gynecology, gynecologist, misogynist, androgynous...

gynecology

I always wanted to deliver babies, so I will likely specialize in gynecology in medical school.

noun

the branch of medicine dealing with the health of women's reproductive system

femina

Root

woman

feminine, female, feminism, feminist, feminize, effeminate...

feminism

True democracy can never exist unless every person supports feminism.

noun

the belief that women should possess the same political and economic rights as men

feminist

Any person who refuses to call him or herself a feminist suggests that he or she does not support equality for all.

noun

a supporter of women's entitlement to the same political and economic rights as men

autos

root

self

automatic, automated, automobile, autocrat, autonomy, automaton, autopsy...

autocrat

America overthrew Iraq's autocrat Saddam Hussein in 2006.

noun

a ruler who has unlimited or absolute power; a despot or tyrant

automaton

When I called the insurance company for help, the person on the phone sounded like an automaton who cared nothing about my health problems.

noun

a person who behaves in a routine, mechanical way; a robot

autonomy

The American colonies fought for autonomy from British rule in 1776.

noun

the condition of being self-governing; independence

autopsy

After my neighbor's sudden death, the autopsy confirmed that he died of a heart attack.

noun

the examination of a corpse to determine the cause of death

ego

Root

I

egoist, egotistical, egoist, egomaniac, egocentric, megalomaniac, ego

egoism

His egoism led him to assume that his team would elect him captain.

noun

conceit; valuing everything according to one's own self-interest; excessive confidence; hubris or arrogance

genos, geneos
gens, gentis
genus, generis

Root

race, family, clan, tribe, birth, race, kind, clan

genealogy, genetics, genes, generation, genocide, genre, genteel,gentile, genteel, gentry, heterogeneous, homogeneous. ...

genealogy

After studying my genealogy, I realized my parents named me after my great-great grandmother.

noun

a record or account of the ancestry and descent of a person, family, group, etc.

genocide

Most leaders who want genocide only fear others different from themselves.

noun

the deliberate and systematic extermination or annihilation of a national, racial, political, or cultural group.

genre

I love the genre of fiction because of its endless plot possibilities.

noun

a type, class or category especially of art or lterature

genteel

Emily Post wrote many books on the proper rules of genteel behavior.

adjective

well-mannered, refined; polite; elegant; stylish.

gentile

Because I practice Catholicism, people consider me a gentile.

noun

anyone not of the Jewish faith

gentry

My forefathers did not belong to the gentry; my hard-working immigrant ancestors farmed the land by planting potatoes.

noun

aristocratic, well- bred people; nobility.

heterogeneous

The bag held a heterogeneous mix of different shells I collected from the seashore.

adjective

different in kind; unlike; incongruous; composed of parts of different kinds

homogeneous

Although she insisted she used different shades of blue in each room, the house seemed pretty homogeneous to me.

adjective

composed of parts or elements that are all of the same kind; similar

gigno, gignere, genui, genitum

Root

to beget, to bear, to bring forth

congenital

Because of the baby's traumatic birth, he suffered a congenital brain disorder.

adjective

of or relating to a condition present at birth, but necessarily heredity; caused by the environment, especially the uterine environment.

engender

I tried to engender a cooperative work environment for our research project.

verb

to produce, cause, give rise to; bring into existence

genesis

The genesis of women's right to vote stems back to the suffrage movement.

noun

a beginning or origin

indigenous

Indigenous to the Mediterranean area, the olive makes up many recipes in the local cuisine.

adjective

occurring in or characterizing an area ; native

ingenious

His ingenious plan allowed him to manipulate everyone at work, including the boss who offered him a raise.

adjective

cleverly inventive and resourceful

progenitor

My great-grandmother, the oldest progenitor I ever met, died at the age of 104.

noun

a direct ancestor, an originator of a family line of decent

progeny

I hope for progeny of my own some day.

noun

children or descendants, offspring

mater, matris

Root

mother

matriarchy, matriarchal, maternal, matriculate, matricide

matrix

I used a matrix of damp soil and consistent sunlight to raise my geraniums.

noun

the surrounding within which something begins or develops

matriarchy

The Minoan matriarchy revered females as mother goddesses.

noun

a society ruled or controlled by women

matriculate

My brother will matriculate at Cornell in the fall.

verb

to register as a student at a college or university

Pater, patris

Root

father

patriarchy, patriarchal, paternal, patricide, patriarch, patrimony, patronage, patronize, patronymic

patriarch

Grandpa Joe, the patriarch of our family, made a speech at my wedding.

noun

the head of a family or tribe;
an Old Testament (of the Bible) ancestor;
a founding father or wise man

patrimony

Traditionally, a family's patrimony passed to the first born son, but that tradition weakened with the emergence of feminism.

noun

a family inheritance

patronage

The yogurt shop's patronage consists of mostly teenagers who visit the store after school ends.

noun

support or encouragement;
business clientele or customers

patronize

We patronize the theater in Hanover because it is closer to my house.

Sometimes I feel like the boss patronizes me when I ask questions during meetings.

verb

to visit regularly; to degrade to treat in an inferior way

patronymic

In my family, the name "John" and "William" remain the most common patronymics.

noun

name derived from, a paternal ancestor

frater, fratris

Root

brother

fraternity, fraternal, fraternize, fraternization

fraternal

Although not biologically related, the boys share a special fraternal bond.

adjective

pertaining to brothers; brotherly

fraternize

Although new to the school, Sam seemed to fraternize with her peers easily.

verb

to be friendly with; to socialize

avunculus; avunculi

Root

Uncle

avuncular

avuncular

Twenty years my senior, my cousin Billy acts as an avuncular figure to me.

adjective

like an uncle

familia

Root

family

family, familial, familiar

familial

The familial bonds in my extended family run deep.

adjective

having to do with the family

uxor, uxoris

Root

wife

uxorious

uxorious

The uxorious man followed his wife in the clothing store holding her purse and her tea.

adjective

dominated by one's wife

gamos

root

marriage

bigamist, bigamy, polygamy, monogamous, monogamy, misogamist

bigamy

Because Phillip married Mary before the church annulled his first marriage, he inadvertently committed bigamy.

noun

marriage to two mates

monogamy

Even before I married, I believed in monogamy.

noun

marriage to a single mate;
a committed relationship

Puer

Root

a male child

puerile

puerile

When my bother hangs out with his friends, their puerile behavior mortifies me.

adjective

childish; immature

pais, paidos

Root

child; boy

pediatrician, pediatric, orthopedics, pedagogue, pedant, pedantic

orthopedics

After his severe leg injury, Michael became fascinated in orthopedics and decided to become a doctor.

noun

branch of medicine treating disorders of the skeletal system and tissues related to movement

pedagogue

My most memorable pedagogue from college, Mr. Cording, taught poetry.

noun

a teacher

pedant

Always a pedant, Jason quoted the latest study about product development during our board meeting, but when I asked him about the benefits of the study, he could not answer me.

noun

a persona who pays excessive attention to learning rules rather than to understanding; a scholarly show off.

sum, esse, fui, futurum

root

to be

entity, non-entity, essence, future, essential, absent, present, represent, summation

entity

Although twins, I treat Brian and Megan as unique entities.

noun

something that has a real or independent existence.

nonentity

After elected caption of the team, he treated his best friend like a nonentity.

noun

a person or thing of no importance; something that does not exist or exists only in the imagination

essence

After baking all afternoon, the essence of vanilla wafted through the house.

noun

the basic element; the identifying characteristic; a substance in concentrated form obtained from a plant or drug; a perfume

Morior, mori, mortuum

Root

to die

mortal, immortal, mortician, mortality, moribund, mortify, postmortem,

moribund

After a passing car hit my kitty, she became moribund and even the veterinarian could not help her.

As cell phones popularized, land lines became moribund.

adjective

about to die or end

mortify

I mortified myself when a giant burp escaped my mouth before I spoke in class.

Some people follow religions in which they mortify themselves as a tribute to their devotion.

verb

to shame; to disciple oneself by denial

postmortem

After the secretary found the boss dead at work, doctors conducted a postmortem and police launched a full investigation to explore what happened.

The sports reporter presented a postmortem of the Superbowl game on the late night news.

noun

an examination of the body to determine the cause of death; an analysis of something that is over.

thanatos

root

death

euthanasia, euthanize

euthanasia

Some states legalize euthanasia while others consider it murder.

noun

the act of painlessly killing a suffering person or animal; mercy killing

nascor, nasci, natum

Root

to be born

natal, prenatal, nativity, innate, naive, nascent, renaissance, natural, native

innate

The accelerated sports program intensified her innate soccer skills.

adjective

possessed at birth; inborn or natural

naive

The naive children believed in the tooth fairy until high school.

adjective

childlike and unsophisticated; gullible

nascent

I hope to nurture the nascent writing skills of all students to better prepare them for any career.

adjective

emerging; coming into existence.

renaissance

I hope that after two decades of conservative policies, a renaissance of feminist values will surge in America.

noun

a rebirth or a renewal; (when capitalized) a revival of humanism in the fourteenth to sixteenth century Europe

amo, amare, amavi, amatum

Root

to love

amorous, paramour, enamored, enamor

amicable

The amicable neighbors lived next to each other for forty years.

adjective

friendly; peaceable

amity

The amity between the two neighbors ended when one neighbor crashed into the fence and refused to fix it.

noun

friendship; friendly relations

enamored

Enamored by Juliet's voice and beguiling eyes, Romeo climbed the orchard walls to find her.

adjective

in love with; charmed by

inimical

Despite its inimical effects on my health, I do love junk food.

adjective

harmful to your health; hostile or unfriendly

amicus

Root

friend

amicable, amity

Odium

Root

Hate

odious

Odious

Bob Ewell, an odious character in Harper Lee's novel, beat his children, threatened a judge, framed an innocent man, and tried to kill two young kids.

adjective

hateful; distasteful

Philos

Root

friend

philanthropy, philosophy

phileo, philein

Root

to love

philander, philanderer, bibliophile

bibliophile

A self-confessed bibliophile, Lucy became a librarian.

noun

a lover of books

philander

Zeus liked to philander with mortal and immortal women in many Greek myths.

verb

to engage in casual love affairs

philanthropy

In addition to his inventions, Bill Gates offers tremendous philanthropy, especially in global education and health.

noun

goodwill to fellow human beings

phobos

Root

fear, flight

phobia, arachnophobia, hydrophobia, agoraphobia...

phobia

I think my phobia of elevators stems from a traumatic experience stuck in one during my childhood.

noun

strong irrational fear or hatred

acrophobia

Sally refused to go on the Ferris wheel because of her acrophobia.

noun

a fear of heights

hydrophobia

After surviving Hurricane Katrina, Bill suffered from hydrophobia.

Once the foaming dog bit Kevin, the doctor ordered medicine to combat hydrophobia.

noun

a fear of water; rabies