Words with Greek & Roman Roots

Words with Greek and Roman (Latin) Roots

Many English words come from Greek and Roman mythology or have Greek or Roman (also called Latin) roots. In this lesson, you will learn some.

​definition: tall, strong, bold woman

origin: The Amazons were a mythological group of women warriors

​​Amazon

​definition: books of maps

origin: Atlas was a giant who supported the world on his shoulders.

​​Atlas

​definition: very difficult; requiring great strength

origin: Hercules was a hero who had superhuman strength.

​​Herculean

​

​definition: having colors like the rainbow

origin: Iris was the Greek goddess of the rainbow.

​​Iridescent

​definition: 26 mile foot race

origin: Philippides ran about 26 miles from the town of Marathon to Athens to let them know the Greeks defeated the Persians.

​​Marathon

​definition: war-like

origin: This word came from Mars, the god of war.

​​Martial

​definition: advisor, tutor, or coach

origin: Mentor was a tutor in ancient Greece who worked with Odysseus's son.

Mentor

​definition: in love with oneself

origin: Narcissus was a young man in Greek mythology who fell in love with his own reflection leading to his death.

​​Narcissistic

​definition: a person's enemy or rival

origin: Nemesis was the Greek goddess of vengeance.

​​Nemesis

​definition: reflection of sound

origin: Echo was cursed by the goddess Hera to only be able to speak by repeating the last words she heard.

Echo

​definition: enormous strength, size, or power

origin: The Titans were the powerful giants defeated by Zeus.

​​Titanic

​definition: a trick for remembering something

origin: Mnemosyne was the goddess of memory.

​​Mnemonic

​definition: 8 legged insect-like creature

origin: Arachne was a great weaver who was turned into a spider by Athena.

Arachnid

​definition: great disorder or confusion

origin: In Greek mythology, there was Chaos first and then the world was created.

Chaos

​definition: a trancelike condition in which the subject responds to commands

origin: Hypnos was the Greek personification of sleep.

​​Hypnosis

​definition: arrangement of events in order of occurrence of time

origin: Chronos was the god of time and Zeus's father.

Chronology

​definition: relating to the night

origin: In Greek mythology, Nyx was the goddess of night.

Nocturnal

​definition: vent in the earth's crust that ejects lava

origin: Vulcan was the Roman god of fire.

Volcano

​definition: arrangement of vocal and/or instrumental sounds

origin: The Muses were Zeus's daughters who inspired the creation of literature and art forms.

Music

​definition: chance or luck; wealth

origin: Fortuna was the goddess of luck.

Fortune

Can you believe so many of our words come from mythology?

And there are so many more! The ancient Greek and Roman (Latin) languages also gave us affixes to create new words.

Multiple Choice

What is an affix?

• a quick way to fix something

• an additional element placed at the beginning or end of a root, stem, or word, or in the body of a word, to modify its meaning

• an ancient Greek god or goddess

• to attach one thing to something else

prefix: at the beginning of a word or stem → the prefix un- added to kind makes the word unkind.

suffix: at the end of a word or stem→ the suffix -ish added to child makes the word childish

​What are examples?

an additional element placed at the beginning or end of a root, stem, or word, or in the body of a word, to modify its meaning.

​What is it?

affix

​having to do with time

Examples:

chronology

chronological

chronic

synchronous

asynchronous

chron or chrono

​having to do with self

Examples:

automobile

autobiography

automatic

autopilot

auto

​having to do with a book

Examples:

bibliography

bibliophile

bibliophobia

​​biblio

Multiple Choice

What would be the best definition of the underlined word?

After the wreck, the police officer asked for a chronicle of the events.

• time order of events

• newspaper about the events

• book of the events

• feelings about the events

Multiple Choice

What would be the best definition of the underlined word?

Some Teslas are autonomous cars.

• expensive

• self-driving

• dangerous

• colorful

Multiple Choice

What would be the best definition of the underlined word?

Some kids experience bibliomania when they get to the book fair and spend lots of money!

• envy of others

• fear of reading

• excitement to have books

• inability to make a choice

study of something or person who studies something

Examples:

biology/biologist

cardiology/cardiologist

zoology/zoologist

logy/ology/ologist

​relating to the name of something

Examples:

synonym

antonym

pseudonym

anonymous

nym/onym

Multiple Choice

What is the best definition for the underlined word?

A person who loves the outdoors would probably like ecology classes in college.

• study of the environment

• study of the economy

• how to be a hiker

• easy

Multiple Choice

What is the best definition of the underlined word?

CIA is an acronym for Central Intelligence Agency.

• a fake name for a person

• a government agency

• a kind of acrobat

• series of letters to shorten the name of something

Now that you know this, you can determine the definitions of unknown words!