It’s all Greek to me!

Lots of English is still “Greek”

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Culture & language spread from
Greek to Rome to England (to us)
Expressions from Greek myths:
Achilles heel
Oedipus complex
Herculean task
Pandora’s Box
Clash of the Titans
Muse
Sirens
Greek word > English word with Greek root
astra (star) > astronomy
hemo (blood) > hemmorhage
manu (hand) > manicure, manual
bio (life) > biology
 Common Greek and Latin Prefixes

PREfixes are at the beginning of a word

(“pre” is a prefix that means “before”: precede, pretest, pretrial)

Prefix meaning example

ex- out exit

in- not invalid
intra- within intramurals
micro- small microbiologist
nano- billion / billionth nanosecond
omni- all omniscient
post- after postpone
pre- before precede
pro- forward progress
re- again reappear
retro- back retrogress
sub- under submarine
un- not unwilling
 Common Greek and Latin Suffixes

SUFfixes are at the end of a word

Suffix meaning example

-ic relating to poetic
-ile quality/state juvenile
-ism quality/state catholicism
-ist one who practices biologist
-ology study of biology
-ous quality/state nebulous
-tion quality/state preservation
-ular relating to cellular
 Boys vs. Girls!

(Martians vs. Venusians)

 Quick! How many words can you come up with that
use these Greek or Latin Prefixes or Suffixes?
Prefix/suffix meaning think of another example
ex- out exit, ex______?
in- not invalid, in_____?
intra- within intramurals, intra_____?
micro- small microbiologist, micro______>
nano- billion / billionth nanosecond, nano______?
omni- all omniscient, omni_______?
post- after postpone, post_______?
pre- before precede, pre_______?
pro- forward progress, pro_______?
re- again reappear, re________?
retro- back retrogress, retro_______?
sub- under submarine, sub_______?
un- not unwilling, un________?

-ic relating to poetic, ________ic?

-ile quality/state juvenile, ________ile?
-ism quality/state catholicism, , ________ism?
-ist one who practices biologist, , ________ist?
-ology study of biology, ________ology?
-ous quality/state nebulous, ________ous?
-tion quality/state preservation, ________tion?
-ular relating to cellular, ________ular?
 Measuring Up! book
• Page 11 - use handout
• Questions 1-5: List word and give
definition
• Word formation: Tell the meaning of the
Latin root in each group of words (guess
if you have to)
 Now: Try to find/cut out at least three words in the newspaper
that contain these prefixes or suffixes:
Prefix/suffix meaning think of another example
ex- out exit, ex______?
in- not invalid, in_____?
intra- within intramurals, intra_____?
micro- small microbiologist, micro______>
nano- billion / billionth nanosecond, nano______?
omni- all omniscient, omni_______?
post- after postpone, post_______?
pre- before precede, pre_______?
pro- forward progress, pro_______?
re- again reappear, re________?
retro- back retrogress, retro_______?
sub- under submarine, sub_______?
un- not unwilling, un________?

-ic relating to poetic, ________ic?

-ile quality/state juvenile, ________ile?
-ism quality/state catholicism, , ________ism?
-ist one who practices biologist, , ________ist?
-ology study of biology, ________ology?
-ous quality/state nebulous, ________ous?
-tion quality/state preservation, ________tion?
-ular relating to cellular, ________ular?