Latin root #5: TERRA Meaning: land, earth Words: Terra cotta (n) (cocta = cooked or baked): cooked earth, a ceramic made of clay I’ve been sitting here staring at my computer for a full 12 minutes trying to think of something funny, interesting, profound, or even just plain stupid to say about terra cotta, and […]
Etymology
Latin #4
Latin root #4: VER Meaning: truth Words: 1. Veracious (adj) (-acious = having quality of): quality of being truthful, honest Sometimes, it would be nice if my sons were slightly less veracious in nature. My eldest recently told me, “Mom, I seriously doubt starving people would want your casserole.†He was so totally right, incidentally, […]
Latin #3
Latin root #3: TANG, TACT, TIG Meaning: touch Words: 1. Tangible (adj) (-ible = able, having power): capable of being touched, touchable The tangible effects of living at the beach include sand in your fingernails, your hair, your teeth (oh, yes), and just about everywhere. Of course, if you regularly do this for fun, what […]
Latin #2
Latin root #2: VERB (In the same vein as Latin #1) Meaning: word Words: 1. Verbal (adj) (-al = relating to, characteristic of): relating to words My husband’s intrinsically verbal nature meant there were no awkward moments of silence when we first met. No siree. 2. Verbose (adj) (-ose = full of): full of words, […]
Latin #1
In another life, I taught an etymology class that focused on Latin and Greek roots, prefixes and suffixes. It’s a great way to improve your vocabulary by focusing on word parts that can ultimately be used to build any number of words. I thought I would add a category of posts that will feature some […]