[Vocabulary Building]Unit 4

=================> 2007-02-27  <================

VOR from the Latin verb vorare, means "to eat".  The ending -ivorous shows up in words that refer to eaters of certain kinds of food.

carnivorous

herbivorous

omnivorous

voracious

CARN  comes from the Latin carn-, the stem of caro, "flesh", and words including this root usually  refer to flesh in some form.  The word carnivore, for example, which we met in the preceeding section, means "an eater of meat".

carnage

carnal

carnival

incarnation

=================> 2007-02-28  <================

CRED comes from credere, the Latin verb meaning "to believe".  If something is credible it is believable, and if it is incredible it is almost unbelievable.  We have a good credit rating when institutions believe in our ability to repay a loan, and we carry credentials so others will believe we are who we say we are.

credence

creditable

credulity

creed

FID comes from fides, the Latin word for faith.  Fidelity is another word for "faithfulness".  Confidence is having faith in someone or something.  And an infidel is someone who lacks a particular kind of religious faith.

affidavit

diffident

fiduciary

perfidy

=================> 2007-03-05  <================

CURR/CURS comes from currere, the Latin verb meaning "to run."  Although the sense of speed may be lacking from words based on this root,  the sense of movement remains.  Current, for instance, refers to running water in a stream or river.  And an excursion is a trip from one place to another.

concurrent

cursory

discursive

precursor

PED comes from the Latin ped-, the stem of pes, meaning "foot." which is related to the Greek pod- and pous, with the same meaning.  From ped- we get pedicure, "care of the feet, toes, and toenails." From pod- we get podiatrist, "a foot doctor."

expedient

expedite

impediment

pedestrian

=================> 2007-03-08  <================

FLECT/FLEX comes from flectere, the Latin verb meaning "to bend." Things that are flexible can be bent.  When light is reflected, it is bent and bounces back to us.

deflect

flexor

genuflect

inflection

POST comes from a Latin word meaning "after" or "behind". A postscript is a note that comes after an otherwise completed letter, usually as an afterthought. Postpartum refers to the period following childbirth and all of its related events and complications.  To postdate a check is to give it a date after the day when it was written.

posterior

posthumous

postmodern

postmortem

Words from Mythology

calypso

odyssey

palladium

Penelope

procrustean

protean

sibyl

siren