Membean

Flowering Flor!
The Latin root word flor means “flower.” Holidays such as Valentine’s Day see florists
particularly busy selling “flowers,” as love is flourishing!

It is easy to remember that the Latin root word flor means “flower,” for if you take out the “we”
in “flower,” you are left with flor! Of course, florists deal with “flowers” all the time, for they
sell them as gifts for holidays such as Valentine’s Day, and for other non-holiday occasions, such
as weddings and funerals. Hence, florists sell floral arrangements, or “flowers” put together in
many different ways and in all sizes, shapes, and colors. Florists rely on buying the “flowers”
they sell from floriculturists, or farmers who specialize in the growing and care of “flowers.”

Since “flowers” are so bright, colorful, and beautiful, it is no wonder that some places are named
after them. The state of Florida, for instance, was purportedly so named because the Spanish
explorer Ponce de Leon arrived on its shores during Pascua Florida, or “Feast of the Flowers.” It
is not hard to imagine why the name stuck, since Florida’s warm weather is highly conducive to
the growth of “flowers” practically year-round. The Italian city of Florence was supposedly so-
called because at the time of its naming it was financially blooming like a “flower.”

If you have studied biology, you have heard the term “flora and fauna,” which refers to all plant
and animal life, respectively. Flora, which gave rise to the word “flora,” was the Roman goddess
of “flowers” as well as all blossoming plants, hence giving her name to all of plant life. When a
plant is undergoing efflorescence orflorescence, it is “flowering.”

When something, like trade, is flourishing, it is in a period of “flowering,” hence is blossoming,

prospering, or thriving. When you refer to a time in history when someone was alive or active,
you use the abbreviation “fl.”, which stands for the Latin floruit, that is, “he flourished.” For
example, the Florentine painter Botticelli fl. or “flourished” from 1470-1510, which refers to the
fact that he was especially active artistically during that time frame.

Last but not least is a mention of the fleur-de-lis, the “flower” of the lily, which is the royal
emblem of France and very prevalent in French heraldry. May the fleur-de-lis forever flourish
for the French!

Your vocabulary should now be flourishing anew what with all the words containing the Latin
root flor you have just learned!

1. florist: one who sells “flowers”

2. floral: of “flowers”
3. floriculturist: “flower” farmer
4. Florida: named after a feast of “flowers”
5. Florence: a city so named when it was blooming financially like a “flower”
6. Flora: the goddess of “flowers” and other blooming vegetation
7. flora: “flowers” and all other plant life
8. efflorescence: state of “flowering” of a plant
9. florescence: state of “flowering” of a plant
10. flourish: to blossom like a “flower”
11. fl.: abbreviation for “she, he, or it flourished,” that is, period of a “flowering” or thriving
12. fleur-de-lis: the “flower” of the lily

Ab-, Ab-, and Away!

Today we will focus on the prefix ab-, which means “away.” By the end of this podcast you will
beabsolutely sure that ab- means “away!”
Have you ever met someone who was abnormal, or “away” from being normal? A person would
be acting in an abnormal fashion if she were absent from class or work over half the time, that
is, she was “away” more than she was present. Or a person would really be abnormal if she
could abvolate, or fly “away” on wings!
Have you ever been absolutely sure about something, so much so that you were loosened “away”
from all doubt? For instance, you might be absolutely sure that you will never be abducted or led
“away” by aliens, but then again, others apparently have … so can you be “away” from all doubt
after all about that?
If a queen were to abdicate her throne, she would say that she wanted to be “away” from it, that
is, step down from being a queen. However, her people might love her so much that she would
have to abort her plans, or be “away” from their rising successfully, thereby remaining on the
throne.
SpongeBob SquarePants, being a sponge and all, is really into absorbing water, or sucking it
“away” from the surrounding ocean so that it goes into himself. Although SpongeBob does like
the soft water of the ocean, he probably wouldn’t like something abrasive, like sandpaper, which
would scrape or scratch “away” at his yellow holey awesomeness, which is just what someone
like Plankton might do. Although others might consider Plankton’s behavior to be aberrant, or
wandering “away” from acceptable conduct, Plankton wouldn’t care as he scraped away
in absent-minded, or maybe not so absent-minded glee!
“Away” with this podcast since you are indeed now absolutely in command of that English
prefix!
1. abnormal: “away” from being normal
 2. absent: being “away” from a place
3. abvolate: fly “away”
4. absolutely: loosened “away” from any doubt
5. abduct: lead “away”
6. abdicate: a monarch saying she wants to be “away” from being in power
7. abort: “away” from rising or beginning
8. absorb: suck “away”
9. abrasive: relating to scraping “away” at
10. aberrant: wander “away”

Ante Up Before You Play!

Today we will focus on the English prefix ante-, which means “before.” “Before” we end,
we’ll ante up some English derivatives by focusing on the following words in order to have a
full understanding of this important prefix.
A term from the card game poker will be most helpful in remembering that the
prefix ante- means “before.” “Before” each round of a poker game, the dealer tells each player to
put in her ante first, or to ante up, which means to contribute a predetermined amount of money
into the pot to seed it “before” that round begins. The ante strikes up interest in the game
“before” it begins, since all the poker players want that money!
Rooms in large homes and edifices that go “before” other rooms often use the prefix ante-,
“before.” For instance, an anteroom, more commonly known as a waiting room, is that room one
sits in at the doctor’s office “before” going into the main part of the office. An antechamber is
synonymous to an anteroom, again a smaller room that is “before” a larger room, often seen in
large homes. In a church, an antechoir is that part of the church that is “before” the choir, which
is usually closed off and reserved for either the clergy or the choir members, or both.
The word antebellum, which means “before” the war, usually refers to the time right “before”
the start of the American Civil War. Soldiers did not know when or if they would die in this
bloody conflict, so before battles many would engage in antemortem activities, or those things
done “before” impending death. Some of these bloody battles would begin at dawn, or in the
a.m., which is Latin for ante meridiem: “before” noon or midday.
Speaking of epic events, many cultures had a story about a Great Flood that destroyed the Earth;
the biblical version with Noah and his ark is the most famous of these. The time “before” that
Great Flood is referred to as antediluvian, which can also refer to something which is very old or
old-fashioned. It is hard to imagine a time that antedates, or is dated “before” that catastrophic
event, especially the time right “before” it was to begin!
The Penultimate Peril was the 12th or “second to last” book of A Series of Unfortunate
Events by Lemony Snicket, which ended with the 13th book, entitled simply The End. Mr.
Snicket could have named the third to last book The Antepenultimate Activity, or the book
“before” the second to last book, but instead he named it The Grim Grotto. Imagine the
trend: The Preantepenultimate Presumption instead of The Slippery Slope, The
Supraantepenultimate Snicket Snapshot instead of The Carnivorous Carnival, etc.
Enough anteing up of ante derivatives! You can now have the utmost confidence in your
knowledge of what words mean with the prefix ante- in them “before” you even see them!
1. ante: to stake money “before” a poker game begins
2. anteroom: a waiting room “before” a larger room
3. antechamber: a smaller room “before” a larger room
4. antechoir: the section in a church “before” the choir
5. antebellum: of a period “before” the American Civil War
6. antemortem: of the period “before” death
7. ante meridiem: Latin for “before” midday or noon
8. antediluvian: of “before” the Great Flood
9. antedate: to date “before” another event in time
10. antepenultimate: “before” the second to last in a series