Greek Word Roots

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Often, when you come across a new word, you can break it down into parts in order to try and figure out what it means and how to spell it. To help you do this, it is worth paying attention to word roots. Once you accept that English words come from all over the world, you can group them depending on where they are from and start to look out for word patterns.

For example, if you recognise that the Greek ‘phob’ means ‘fear’, you can usually assume that English words which include ‘phob’ also describe fear in one way or another,for example ‘phobia’ or 'claustrophobic'

If you know that the Greek ‘acr’ means ‘height or summit’, it makes sense that the English word ‘acrobatics’ has something to do with heights, or that ‘acrophobia’ refers to a fear of heights.

Let’s take a look at some Greek word roots:

Root (click on link for spelling list)	What does it mean?	What are some examples in English?
ast	star	asterisk asteroid astrology astronaut astronomy disaster
cycl	wheel/circular	bicycle cycle cyclic cyclone Cyclops Encyclopaedia motorcycle recycle tricycle unicycle
dem	people	demagogue democracy demographic demography endemic epidemic epidemiology pandemic
gen	birth/race	antigen congenital degenerate eugenics gender genealogy generate generation genes genesis genetic genocide pathogen progeny
gramm/graph	writing	anagram autograph bibliography biography calligraphy diagram epigram grammar grammar graph graphic graphite monogram paragraph photography programme seismograph telegram
hydr	water	dehydrate hydra hydrangea hydrant hydrate hydraulic hydrogen hydrology hydroplane
meter/metr	measure	barometer centimetre diameter metre thermometer
opt	eye	optic optical optician optometry
phon	sound	cacophony earphone gramophone headphone homophone megaphone microphone phonetic phonics phonograph saxophone symphony telephone xylophone
poli	city	acropolis cosmopolitan megalopolis metropolis police policy politics
scop	see	horoscope kaleidoscope microscope periscope scope stethoscope telescope
tele	end/far	telecaster telecommunication telegram telegraph telekinesis telemarketing teleological telepathy telephone teleport telescope television
therm	heat	exothermic hypothermia thermal thermodynamics thermometer thermos thermostat

These, of course, are only a few of the many Greek roots used in English words. You can read a full Wikipedia list of Greek roots here.
If you’re interested in where words come from, make sure to check out our course and some of our previous blog posts:

Unit 36: British/American Spelling Differences
4 American Words and their British Translations
Japanese Loanwords: blog post and word list
25 Norse Words used in Yorkshire English
Latin Expressions used in English: part one and part two
Latin Word roots: blog post and word lists

Here at Spellzone we believe that knowing the story behind a word can really help with learning to spell it – both as a memory aid and as a way of identifying word patterns within the word. You can find our top spelling rules here.

Have a good week!

02 Jun 2014
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Greek Word Roots

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