Building vocabulary with word roots, prefixes, and suffixes

Page contents:

  • Processing and producing vocabulary

  • Word roots

  • Prefixes

  • Suffixes

English borrows from many languages and, as a result, now has one of the world’s largest vocabularies. Modern English is a plant growing luxuriously in the soil of multiple language sources.

Processing and producing vocabulary

At its largest, your vocabulary includes all the words whose meanings you either recognize or can deduce from context. This group of words, called your processing vocabulary, allows you to interpret the meanings of many passages whose words you might not use yourself. Your producing or active vocabulary, on the other hand, is more limited, made up of words you actually use in writing or speaking.

An important intellectual goal is to consciously strengthen your producing vocabulary—to begin to use in your own speech and writing more of the words that you understand in context. To accomplish this goal, you must become an investigative reporter both of your own language and the language of others.

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Word roots

As its name suggests, a root is a word from which other words grow, usually through the addition of prefixes or suffixes. From the Latin root -dic- or -dict- (“speak”), for instance, grows a whole range of words in English: contradict, dictate, dictator, diction, dictionary, predict, and others. Here are some other Latin (L) and Greek (G) roots and examples of words derived from them.

ROOT MEANING EXAMPLES
-audi- (L) to hear audience, audio, inaudible
-bene- (L) good, well benevolent, benefit
-bio- (G) life biography, biosphere
-duc(t)- (L) to lead or to make ductile, reproduce
-gen- (G) race, kind genealogy, gene, generation
-geo- (G) earth geography, geometry
-graph- (G) to write graphic, photography
-jur-, -jus- (L) law justice, jurisdiction
-log(o)- (G) word, thought biology, logical
-luc- (L) light lucid, translucent
-manu- (L) hand manufacture, manual
-mit-, -mis- (L) to send permit, transmission
-path- (G) feel, suffer empathy, pathetic
-phil- (G) love philosopher, bibliophile
-photo- (G) light photography, telephoto
-port- (L) to carry transport, portable
-psych- (G) soul psychology, psychopath
-scrib-, -script- (L) to write scribble, manuscript
-sent-, -sens- (L) to feel sensation, resent
-tele- (G) far away telegraph, telepathy
-tend- (L) to stretch extend, tendency
-terr- (L) earth inter, territorial
-vac- (L) empty vacant, evacuation
-vid-, -vis- (L) to see video, envision, visit

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Prefixes

Originally individual words, prefixes are groups of letters added to the beginning of words or to roots to create new words. Prefixes modify or extend the meaning of the original word or root. Recognizing common prefixes can help you decipher the meaning of unfamiliar words.

Prefixes of negation or opposition

PREFIX MEANING EXAMPLES
a-, an- without, not amoral, anemia
anti- against antibody, antiphonal
contra- against contravene, contradict
de- from, take away from demerit, declaw
dis- apart, away disappear, discharge
il-, im-, in-, ir- not illegal, immature, indistinct, irreverent
mal- wrong malevolent, malpractice
mis- wrong, bad misapply, misanthrope
non- not nonentity, nonsense
un- not unbreakable, unable

Prefixes of quantity

PREFIX MEANING EXAMPLES
bi- two bipolar, bilateral
milli- thousand millimeter, milligram
mono- one, single monotone, monologue
omni- all omniscient, omnipotent
semi- half semicolon, semiconductor
tri- three tripod, trimester
uni- one unitary, univocal

Prefixes of time and space

PREFIX MEANING EXAMPLES
ante- before antedate, antebellum
circum- around circumlocution, circumnavigate
co-, col-, com-, con-, cor- with coequal, collaborate, commiserate, contact, correspond
e-, ex- out of emit, extort, expunge
hyper- over, more than hypersonic, hypersensitive
hypo- under, less than hypodermic, hypoglycemia
inter- between intervene, international
mega- enlarge, large megalomania, megaphone
micro- tiny micrometer, microscopic
neo- recent neologism, neophyte
post- after postwar, postscript
pre- before previous, prepublication
pro- before, onward project, propel
re- again, back review, re-create
sub- under, beneath subhuman, submarine
super- over, above supercargo, superimpose
syn- at the same time synonym, synchronize
trans- Across, over transport, transition

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Suffixes

Like prefixes, suffixes modify and extend meanings. Suffixes, which are attached to the end of words or roots, often alter the grammatical function or part of speech of the original word—for example, turning the verb create into a noun, an adjective, or an adverb.

VERB create
NOUNS creator/creation/creativity/creature
ADJECTIVE creative
ADVERB creatively

Noun suffixes

SUFFIX MEANING EXAMPLES
-acy state or quality democracy, privacy
-al act of dismissal, refusal
-ance, -ence state or quality of maintenance, eminence
-dom place or state of being freedom, kingdom
-er, -or one who trainer, investor
-ism doctrine or belief characteristic of liberalism, Taoism
-ist one who organist, physicist
-ity quality of veracity, opacity
-ment condition of payment, argument
-ness state of being watchfulness, cleanliness
-ship position held professorship, fellowship
-sion, -tion state of being or action digression, transition

Verb suffixes

SUFFIX MEANING EXAMPLES
-ate cause to be concentrate, regulate
-en cause to be or become enliven, blacken
-ify, -fy make or cause to be unify, terrify, amplify
-ize cause to become magnetize, civilize

Adjective suffixes

SUFFIX MEANING EXAMPLES
-able, -ible capable of being readable, edible
-al pertaining to regional, political
-esque reminiscent of picturesque, statuesque
-ful having much of a quality colorful, sorrowful
-ic pertaining to poetic, mythic
-ious, -ous of or characterized by famous, nutritious
-ish having the quality of prudish, clownish
-ive having the nature of festive, creative, massive
-less without endless, senseless

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