Roots of English (Part VII): Best way to learn new vocabulary each day!

By Akshay Khandelwal|Updated : June 4th, 2020

Dear Readers,

Here we are with the 7th edition of "Roots of English".

English root words have the following origin;

GREEK ROOTS
GERMAN ROOTS
FRENCH ROOTS
LATIN ROOTS

Root words are a combination of basic words accompanied by a prefix or suffix. They form the rock of new words and with the addition of prefixes and suffixes, you can decipher unfamiliar words, replenish your vocabulary and be a better English Speaker. A word is made up of three parts.

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For eg- subtracted

Sub (prefix) --------tract (root) ----------ed (suffix)

Note: PREFIX---a word, letter or number placed before another.

SUFFIX---a letter or a group of letters added to the end of a word to change its meaning.

CASE I

Consider ANIM as a ROOT means mind, life, spirit, anger

With the help of this one root word, you can decrypt several other English words. Below is a list of few such words;

Animal ------ means all living beings except humans

Animate ---- give (a film or character) the appearance of movement (life) using animation techniques.

Animosity ---- strong hostility

Anima ---- the soul or inner self of a person

Animadversion ---- strong criticism, censure, and disapproval

Animadversive ---- Being critical, censuring, or making a censorious comment

Animalism ---- a trait or mode of behaviour typical of animals

Animalist ---- A believer in, or greater interest, in physical rather than in spiritual needs.

CASE II

ROOT ---- AMBUL means to walk. New words that can be formed from this root word are the following;

Ambulatory ---- relating to or adapted for walking

Amble --- walk or move at a slow, relaxed pace

Ambulance ----- a vehicle equipped for taking sick or injured people to and from the hospital, especially in emergencies

Ambulant ----- a reference to moving or walking around

Ambulatorial ---- Being equipped or fit to walk

Ambulative ---- A descriptive term for walking or for moving forward.

We hope you found this session helpful in Vocabulary Preparation. The importance of English and vocabulary cannot be overlooked now given the fact that banking exams are aligned along with Management Examinations. Pay attention to this exclusive series to combat that fear of Anglophobia.

This was all for today. We will come back soon with our edition on the same topic.

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