Roots of English 28 - Learn the Important Parts of English

By Shristi|Updated : May 22nd, 2017

Today, we are sharing one more article of our series of root words which will help you in improving your vocabulary & confront the dire changes of the English pattern. As visual images do have an impact & last for a longer period of time. we have started a new format of learning words roots through images. Hope it will help, do let us know in the comment section about our new initiative.

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The English language is made up of four parts. These are -

GREEK ROOTS
GERMAN ROOTS
FRENCH ROOTS
LATIN ROOTS

Now if you learn these roots, you can figure out the meaning of hundreds of English language words without even knowing their exact meaning. Before we go further, let us answer some basic questions for you first.

What is a root?
A root is the part of the word which gives instructions to a word.

How many parts is a word made of?
A word is made up of three parts.

For example - Unhappily

Here 'Un' is a prefix, 'happy' is the root and 'ly' is the suffix.

Note: PREFIX is a word, letter or number placed before another.
SUFFIX is a letter or a group of letters added to the end of a word to change its meaning.

Now today we have taken 'Calc' as a ROOT which has variant meanings: small stone, pebble used for counting, lime or calcium, or heel.

Now with the help of this one root you can come out with conclusion of several other English words. Such as,

1) Calciferous - (Calci-fer-ous) - Containing or producing calcium salts, especially calcium carbonate

Usage - The possibility of utilizing low calciferous rock and blende tails in the cement industry has been studied.

2) Calcify - (Calc-fy) - Harden by deposition of or conversion into calcium carbonate or some other insoluble calcium compounds

Usage - The rock calcified over the centuries.

3) Calculus - (Cal-cu-lus) - A particular method or system of calculation or reasoning

Usage - She's learning calculus in math class.

4) Incalculable - (In-cal-cu-lable) - Too great to be calculated or estimated

Usage - Her contribution to our work is incalculable.

5) Inculcate - (In-cul-kate) - Instil (an idea, attitude, or habit) by persistent instruction

Usage - We have tried to inculcate a feeling of citizenship in youngsters.

6) Recalcitrant - (Re-calci-trant) - Having an obstinately uncooperative attitude towards authority or discipline

Usage - The danger is that recalcitrant local authorities will reject their responsibilities.

7) Decalcify - (De-cal-ci-fy) - The removal or loss of calcium or calcium compounds (as from bones or soil)

Usage - It may be difficult to decalcify large bone block within ours.

8) Calcite - (Cal-site) - one of the commonest minerals, calcium carbonate, CaCO 3, found in a great variety of crystalline forms: a major constituent of limestone, marble, and chalk, calc-spar

Usage - The mineral calcite is made up of carbonate sheets and intervening planes of calcium ions.

We hope this session will help you in Vocabulary Preparation. We will come back soon with our next session. Also, you can go through our previous articles from the list given below: