List of Use etymologies to determine the meanings of words
- Absolve (Latin: absolvere – to set free, release)
- To free from guilt or responsibility.
- Acronym (Greek: akros – high, top + onyma – name)
- A word formed from the initial letters of a phrase.
- Amicable (Latin: amicus – friend)
- Characterized by friendly goodwill.
- Anonymous (Greek: an – without + onyma – name)
- Without any name acknowledged.
- Apology (Greek: apologia – a speech in defense)
- A statement expressing regret or asking pardon.
- Autonomy (Greek: autos – self + nomos – law)
- The right or condition of self-government.
- Benefactor (Latin: bene – well + facere – to do)
- A person who gives money or help to a person or cause.
- Circumvent (Latin: circum – around + venire – to come)
- To find a way around an obstacle.
- Cognition (Latin: cognoscere – to know)
- The mental action or process of acquiring knowledge.
- Conform (Latin: conformare – to shape)
- To comply with rules, standards, or laws.
- Contradict (Latin: contra – against + dicere – to speak)
- To assert the opposite of a statement made by someone.
- Credible (Latin: credere – to believe)
- Capable of being believed; plausible.
- Democracy (Greek: demos – people + kratos – rule)
- A system of government by the whole population.
- Dictate (Latin: dicere – to say)
- To lay down authoritatively; prescribe.
- Dissolve (Latin: dissolvere – to loosen, break apart)
- To become or cause to become incorporated into a liquid.
- Dynamic (Greek: dynamis – power)
- Characterized by constant change or activity.
- Empathy (Greek: em – in + pathos – feeling)
- The ability to understand and share the feelings of another.
- Epidemic (Greek: epi – upon + demos – people)
- A widespread occurrence of an infectious disease.
- Euphoria (Greek: eu – well + pherein – to bear)
- A feeling of great happiness or well-being.
- Exceed (Latin: excedere – to go beyond)
- To go beyond what is allowed or stipulated.
- Exonerate (Latin: exonerare – to unburden)
- To absolve someone from blame for a fault or wrongdoing.
- Fidelity (Latin: fidelis – faithful)
- Faithfulness to a person, cause, or belief.
- Fragment (Latin: frangere – to break)
- A small part broken off or separated from something.
- Generous (Latin: generosus – of noble birth)
- Showing a readiness to give more of something.
- Gratitude (Latin: gratitudo – thankfulness)
- The quality of being thankful.
- Homogeneous (Greek: homos – same + genos – kind)
- Of the same kind; alike.
- Hypothesis (Greek: hypo – under + thesis – placing)
- A supposition or proposed explanation.
- Ignorant (Latin: ignorare – not to know)
- Lacking knowledge or awareness.
- Illuminate (Latin: illuminare – to light up)
- To light up or make bright.
- Impartial (Latin: impar – not equal)
- Treating all rivals or disputants equally.
- Incorporate (Latin: incorporare – to form into a body)
- To take in or contain as part of a whole.
- Inevitable (Latin: inevitabilis – unavoidable)
- Certain to happen; unavoidable.
- Innovation (Latin: innovare – to renew)
- The action or process of innovating.
- Interject (Latin: inter – between + jacere – to throw)
- To say something abruptly, especially as an aside or interruption.
- Introspect (Latin: intro – inward + specere – to look)
- To examine one’s own thoughts or feelings.
- Judicious (Latin: judicium – judgment)
- Having, showing, or done with good judgment.
- Legitimate (Latin: legitimus – lawful)
- Conforming to the law or to rules.
- Luminous (Latin: luminare – to light up)
- Emitting or reflecting light.
- Magnitude (Latin: magnitudo – greatness)
- The great size or extent of something.
- Malfunction (Latin: mal – bad + functionem – performance)
- To fail to function normally.
- Mediocre (Latin: mediocris – moderate, ordinary)
- Of only moderate quality; not very good.
- Metamorphosis (Greek: meta – change + morphe – form)
- A change of the form or nature of a thing.
- Multitude (Latin: multitudo – a great number)
- A large number.
- Narrative (Latin: narrativus – telling a story)
- A spoken or written account of connected events.
- Obsolete (Latin: obsoletus – grown old)
- No longer produced or used; out of date.
- Omnipotent (Latin: omni – all + potens – powerful)
- Having unlimited power; able to do anything.
- Orthodox (Greek: orthos – correct + doxa – opinion)
- Conforming to what is generally or traditionally accepted as right.
- Paradox (Greek: para – contrary to + doxa – opinion)
- A statement that seems self-contradictory but may be true.
- Patriarch (Greek: pater – father + archein – to rule)
- The male head of a family or tribe.
- Perceive (Latin: percipere – to seize, understand)
- To become aware or conscious of something.
- Perennial (Latin: perennis – lasting through the year)
- Lasting or existing for a long or apparently infinite time.
- Persevere (Latin: perseverare – to persist)
- To continue in a course of action despite difficulty.
- Perspective (Latin: perspectivus – optical)
- A particular attitude toward or way of regarding something.
- Philanthropy (Greek: philo – loving + anthropos – man)
- The desire to promote the welfare of others.
- Philosophy (Greek: philo – loving + sophia – wisdom)
- The study of the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality, and existence.
- Plagiarism (Latin: plagiarius – kidnapper)
- The practice of taking someone else’s work or ideas and passing them off as one’s own.
- Posthumous (Latin: posthumus – after burial)
- Occurring, awarded, or appearing after the death of the originator.
- Proclaim (Latin: proclamare – to shout forth)
- To announce officially or publicly.
- Prohibit (Latin: prohibere – to hold back)
- To formally forbid something by law.
- Propensity (Latin: propensus – inclined to)
- An inclination or natural tendency to behave in a particular way.
- Protocol (Greek: protokollon – first glued sheet)
- The official procedure or system of rules.
- Reconcile (Latin: reconciliare – to bring together again)
- To restore friendly relations between.
- Refute (Latin: refutare – to repel)
- To prove to be wrong or false.
- Reiterate (Latin: reiterare – to repeat)
- To say something again or a number of times.
- Reminisce (Latin: reminisci – to remember)
- To indulge in enjoyable recollection of past events.
- Repudiate (Latin: repudiare – to refuse, reject)
- To refuse to accept or be associated with.
- Resilient (Latin: resilire – to leap back)
- Able to withstand or recover quickly from difficult conditions.
- Retrospect (Latin: retrospicere – to look back)
- A survey or review of a past course of events or period of time.
- Revolution (Latin: revolutio – a turn around)
- A forcible overthrow of a government or social order.
- Sacrifice (Latin: sacrificium – to perform sacred rites)
- To give up something valued for the sake of something else.
Let’s practice!
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