Etymology
- How to build a powerful vocabulary through etymology, parallel roots, and word clusters
- How to understand meanings through prefixes and suffixes
- How to attempt various types of vocabulary questions asked in aptitude tests
These are 15 words that have appeared in newspapers over the last few years and have also appeared in aptitude tests. Select the word closest in meaning to the given word:
(1) Avarice: (a) greediness (b) stinginess (c) meanness (d) wealth
(2) Bellwether: (a) flatterer (b) leader (c) miser (d) humidifier
(3) Conglomeration: (a) façade (b) gorgeous display (c) varied mixture (d) arduous task
(4) Dought: (a) cowardly (b) valiant (c) obese (d) uncooked
(5) Epitome: (a) praise (b) applause (c) embodiment (d) critique
(6) Fortuitously: (a) by chance (b) surprisingly (c) intentionally (d) funnily
(7) Gregarious: (a) talkative (b) courageous (c) sociable (d) generous
(8) Hubris: (a) humility (b) humidity (c) arrogance (d) disgrace
(9) Ingenuity: (a) innocence (b) inventiveness (c) wisdom (d) imitation
(10) Juvenile: (a) Immature (b) Criminal (c) Deviant (d) Sophisticated
(11) Martinet: (a) Teacher (b) a lenient superior (c) a strict taskmaster (d) a gentle mannered man
(12) Nefarious: (a) tricky (b) wicked (c) blessed (d) weak
(13) Obfuscate: (a) confuse (b) clarify (c) warn (d) arrange
(14) Preposterous: (a) gigantic (b) absurd (c) reasonable (d) unforgettable
(15) Redoubtable: (a) formidable (b) insignificant (c) disreputable (d) soothing
Knowing the root or the origin of the word helps you to understand its meaning. But roots can be misleading too. So, instead of learning the root, use it as a guide to know its meaning.
- Flu, flux: flow
Affluent: (a) greedy (b) rich (c) improvident (d) scornful
Confluence: (a) a gathering (b) a plot (c) a secret (d) a wicked act
Flux: (a) a continuous change (b) a kind of material (c) continuous chatter (d) a unit of measurement
Mellifluous: (a) dulcet (b) harsh (c) excess (d) rough
- Lat: comes from latus; it is the past participle form of ferre, which means to carry
Collate: (a) collect and combine (b) examine and reject (c) eat quickly (d) appraise and apprise Dilate: (a) expand (b) project (c) command (d) contract
Dilatory: (a) expediting (b) extenuating (c) delaying (d) precluding
Elation: (a) great height (b) great joy (c) grave danger (d) a cliff
However, in words like latent, lateral, and latitude, the root is not this lat.
In latent, lat means to hide.
In lateral, the root is later, which means side.
In latitude, lat means wide.
- Locut, loqu: speak (from the verb loqui, meaning speak, talk)
Circumlocutory: a style of speaking that is (a) circuitous (b) direct (c)offensive (d) extensive Colloquial: refers to a speech or a writing that is (a) informal (b) formal (c) incorrect (d) unidiomatic
Colloquy: (a) a formal discussion (b) a brief speech (c) a bitter argument (d) a rumour Loquacious: (a) garrulous (b) quiet (c) reticent (d) aggressive
Obloquy: (a) condemnation (b) praise (c) applause (d) acclaim
Parallel roots and words are other aids to building your vocabulary.
Here, you try to combine a word of Latin origin with one of Greek origin whenever the roots and meanings correspond.
Circum/Peri: around; fer/phor: bear or carry
Circumferential: peripheral, going around
Scrib, script/graph: to write
Superscription/Epigraph: something written above
(the excerpt that appears at the head of each chapter in a book is an epigraph)
Epigram is a witty poem or clever statement.
Epigraph is a type of epigram inscribed somewhere such as a building or at the beginning of a book/chapter.
Tempor/Chron: time
Contemporary/Synchronous: happening at the same time
Word clusters
- Bellicose: war (Root: bell/bellum)
Bellicose, belligerent, combative, aggressive, pugnacious, rebellious
- Exacerbate: to make more bitter, to aggravate; from ex: intensive, acer: sharp (Root: acr)
Irritate, exasperate, asperity, acerbity, acrid, acrimonious
- Propensity: to hang forward, quality of leaning forward, disposition, inclination, strong tendency (Root: pend)
Append, appendage, impending, pendant, depend, independent
Prefixes are syllables that start a word.
‘In’ stands for in, on, upon, into, within, etc. (‘in’ changes to ‘il’, ‘im’, ‘ir’, etc. in some words)
Immure: wall in (immured in an asylum)
Inject: throw in (inject insulin; inject some humour into the proceedings)
Inscribe: write in (his name was inscribed in the book)
Epi: upon
Epigraph/Epigram/Epitaph
Ex: out, out of
Exorbitant: excessive; Extirpate: to root out, wipe out; Extrovert: uninhibited in expressing oneself
Re: back
Retro: backward; Recede: to go back; Retrogress: to revert to an earlier state
We also have words in a combining form where a word is attached to another word or word element
Archeo/Archae: old (Greek)
Archeology, Archaic
Neo: new (Greek)
Neologism, Neophyte
Suffixes
ate: (mostly ends verbs, but sometimes used as the ending of an adjective)
Ameliorate, attenuate, consummate, desiccate, disparate, importunate
Common suffixes
ly: most adverbs
y: deify, rectify, stultify, edify
al: inimical, connubial, conjugal, nuptial
fic: malefic, soporific
ic: ascetic, aseptic, didactic, kinetic
Types of vocabulary questions in aptitude tests:
Fill in the blanks
1. The genocides in Bosnia and Rwanda, apart from being mis-described in the most sinister and _________ manner as ‘ethnic cleansing’, were also blamed, in further hand-washing rhetoric, on something dark and interior to __________ and perpetrators alike.
(a) innovative; communicator
(b) enchanting; leaders
(c) disingenuous; victims
(d) exigent; exploiters
(e) tragic; sufferers
2. As navigators, calendar makers, and other __________ of the night sky accumulated evidence to the contrary, ancient astronomers were forced to __________ that certain bodies might move in circles about points, which in turn moved in circles about the earth.
(a) scrutinizers; believe
(b) observers; agree
(c) scrutinizers; suggest
(d) observers; concede
(e) students; conclude
3. Every human being, after the first few days of his life, is a product of two factors: on the one hand, there is his __________ endowment; and on the other hand, there is the effect of the environment, including _____.
(a) constitutional; weather
(b) congenital; education
(c) personal; climate
(d) economic; learning
(e) genetic; pedagogy
4. Exhaustion of natural resources, destruction of individual initiative by governments, control over men’s minds by central _______ of education and propaganda are some of the major evils which appear to be on the increase as a result of the impact of science upon minds suited by __________ to an earlier kind of world.
(a) tenets; fixation
(b) aspects; inhibitions
(c) institutions; inhibitions
(d) organs; tradition
(e) departments; repulsion
5. A map is a useful metaphor for our brain when talking about _______ because at its most basic level our brain __________to be our atlas of sorts, a system of routes _______to navigate us toward just one destination: staying alive!
From the options below, choose the set that MOST appropriately fills up the blanks.
(a) perception; evolved; designed
(b) understanding; progressed; shaped
(c) connections; changed; moulded
(d) design; developed; shaped
(e) comprehension; metamorphosed; designed
6. __________, medicine has been operated by trial and error, in other words, __________. We know by now that there can be entirely_________ connections between symptoms and treatment, and some medications succeed in medical trials for mere random reasons.
From the options below, choose the one that MOST appropriately fills up the blanks.
(a) Formerly; randomly; accidental
(b) Traditionally; analytically; casual
(c) Initially; statistically; unexpected
(d) Periodically; logically; arbitrary
(e) Historically; arbitrarily; fortuitous
Analogies
7. Sleek : Glossy ::
(a) Credible : Believable
(b) Rapid : Vapid
(c) Humiliated : Elated
(d) Polished : Paint
8. Scalp : Hair ::
(a) Glove : hand
(b) Shoe : Foot
(c) Earth : Grass
(d) Door : Window
9. Zenith : Nadir :
(a) Height : Length
(b) Low : Lower
(c) Highest : Lowest
(d) Smallest : Largest
10. Donkey : Brays :: Serpent :
(a) Slide
(b) Hiss
(c) Poison
(d) fear
11. Purloin : Steal :: Adumbrate :
(a) Specify
(b) Assert
(c) Outline
(d) Reject
Confused words
12. Augur/Auger
The rain does not augur(A)/auger(B) well for the picnic we had planned.
13. Anita was wearing a lovely diamond brooch(A)/broach(B).
14. I would advice(A)/advise(B) you to see a doctor.
15. Critics censored(A)/censured (B) the movie for its socially unacceptable theme.
Let’s go back to the roots!
16. The root of all the words is anim, which means mind or spirit. Do you know their meanings?
Magnanimous
Pusillanimous
Unanimous
Equanimity
17. The root of all the following words is com, which means with/together.
Comportment
Commutation
Compunction
Commemorate
Compulsion
===========================
Download the BYJU’S Exam Prep App NOW
The most comprehensive exam prep app.
If you are aiming to crack CLAT and other Law Entrance Exam Exam, join BYJU'S Exam Prep Online Classroom Program where you get :
- Live Courses by Top Faculty
- Daily Study Plan
- Comprehensive Study Material
- Latest Pattern Test Series
- Complete Doubt Resolution
- Regular Assessments with Report Card
#DreamStriveSucceed
Comments
write a comment