English 9

Root Words

(image:Martin_LaBar-flickr)

The root is the base part of a word. The root carries the most significant aspects of of a word, and cannot be reduced into smaller parts. By knowing the root of a word, you can often guess at the meaning of the word, even if you have never seen the word before.

Root	Meaning	Sample Words
act	do	action, actor, react, activate
bio	life	biology, autobiography, biochemistry
clud	close	exclude, include, conclude
counter	against	counterattack, counterclaim, counteract
de	down	descend, demolish, deplete
fer	carry	ferry, transfer, chauffer
fract	break	fracture, fraction, refract
gram	writing	telegram, grammar, hologram
mar	sea	marine, mariner, submarine
mem	remember	memory, memoir, memo, remember
nav	ship	navy, navigator, circumnavigate
pop	people	population, popular, populate
port	carry	transport, portable, export
rupt	break	rupture, erupt, disrupt, corrupt
scribe	write	scribble, inscribe, describe, transcribe
sect	cut	dissect, section, intersection
sur	over	surplus, surpass, surcharge, surface
tele	far	television, telephone, telescope
tort	twist	contort, torture, distort
uni	one	unicycle, universe, united, union