Vocabulary Ladder · Middle school · Grade 6–9

Greek and Latin Roots

The prefixes, roots and suffixes that build most long English words, from bene- and mal- to -cracy and -ize. Each topic unlocks words in the main list.

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40 topics in 7 units. Leads to Advanced Vocabulary. Not sure this is the right course? Find your rung.

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Unit 1 How Words Are Built

2 topics

Prefixes, roots and suffixes, and where they come from.

  1. Prefix, Root and Suffix
  2. Latin and Greek: Where the Parts Come From

Unit 2 Not, Good and Bad

5 topics

The prefixes that say no, and the ones that say good or bad.

  1. Not: in-, un- and non-
  2. Without: a- and an-
  3. Good and Bad: bene- and mal-
  4. Good and Bad in Greek: eu- and dys-
  5. Wrongly and Apart: mis- and dis-

Unit 3 Where and When

6 topics

Prefixes of place and time: before and after, under and over, between, across, out and back.

  1. Before and After: pre-, ante- and post-
  2. Under and Over: sub-, super-, hypo- and hyper-
  3. Between, Within and Around: inter-, intro-, circum- and peri-
  4. Across and Through: trans-, per- and dia-
  5. Out and In: ex-, e-, in- and en-
  6. Back, Again and Down: re- and de-

Unit 4 Together, Against and How Many

6 topics

Prefixes for with and against, toward and away, one and all, and how prefixes change shape.

  1. Together: con-, com- and syn-
  2. Against: contra-, anti- and ob-
  3. Away, Toward and Forward: ab-, ad- and pro-
  4. How Many: mono-, uni-, di- and poly-
  5. All and Both: omni-, pan- and ambi-
  6. Prefixes That Change Shape

Unit 5 Latin Roots

13 topics

The Latin roots that build the most English words: say, see, believe, go, throw, lead, turn, hold, run and more.

  1. Say, Speak and Call: dict, loqu, voc, nounce and mand
  2. Look and See: spec, spic, vid and vis
  3. Believe, Trust, True and Know: cred, fid, ver and sci
  4. Go and Step: ced, cess, gress and grad
  5. Throw and Send: ject, mit and miss
  6. Lead, Pull and Shut: duc, tract and clud
  7. Turn: vert and vers
  8. Peace, Pleasing and War: pac, plac and bell
  9. Flocks, Friends and Hearts: greg, am, cord and sent
  10. Hold, Hang, Carry and Pour: ten, pend, fer and fund
  11. Run, Follow, Walk and Flee: cur, sequ, ped and fug
  12. Light and Heavy: luc, lev and grav
  13. Life, Food and Sleep: viv, vor and somn

Unit 6 Greek Roots

5 topics

Greek roots for time, feeling, words, rule and form.

  1. Time: chron, temp, ann and nov
  2. Feeling, Love and Humankind: path, phil, miso and anthrop
  3. Word and Writing: log and graph
  4. Rule: -cracy, -archy and auto-
  5. Birth, Kind and Form: gen and morph

Unit 7 Suffixes

3 topics

Endings that turn a root into an adjective, a noun or a verb.

  1. Adjective Endings: -ous, -ive, -ible and -ic
  2. Noun Endings: -ity, -tion, -ance, -ism and -ist
  3. Verb Endings: -ate, -ify and -ize
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