Word Roots and Meaning L – N

There are hundreds of words in English that have roots in Latin and Greek, a lot of these words are similar to words in French, Italian and Spanish. Knowing the meanings of these word roots can help you guess the meanings of words you don’t know.

Many of these words are found most often in formal and academic English.

A root can be found in the beginning, middle or end of a word.

Root	Meaning	Examples
lect, leg (Latin)	choose, gather	collect, legion, lecturer, legend, dialect, eclectic, election
ling, lang (Latin)	language, tongue	linguistics, bilingual, monolingual, lingo, language
log (Greek)	word	logic, logistics, catalogue, prologue, monologue, travelogue
loqu, loc (Latin)	speak	loquacious, elocution, circumlocution, ventriloquism
luc, lum (Latin)	light	Lucid, elucidate, translucent, illuminate, luminary, luminous
mania (Greek)	crazy	manic, maniac, megalomania, egomania, pyromania,
manu (Latin)	hand	manual, manufacture, emancipate, manacles, manager,
mar (Latin)	sea	marine, submarine, aquamarine, marina, mariner, maritime
matr, mater (Latin)	mother	maternity, maternal, matrimony, matricide, matriarchy
max (Latin)	more	maximum, maximise, the max, maximalist, climax, anticlimax
med, mid (Latin)	middle	medium, midlands, mediator, medieval, mediocre, median
mini (Latin)	less	minimum, mini, miniature, mini-skirt, mini-break, deminish
mit, miss (Latin)	send	transmit, mission, omit, commit, submit, remittance, emit
mono (Greek)	one	monologue, monolingual, monopoly, monolith, monosyllable
mort (Latin)	death	mortuary, mortician, mortal, mortgage, immortal, morgue
multi (Latin)	many	multiplication, multinational, multilingual, multipurpose
naut (Greek)	sail, travel	nautical, astronaut, nausea, cosmonaut, aeronautics
neo (Greek)	new	neonatal, neophyte, neologism, neolithic, neonatal
neuro (Greek)	nerve	neuron, neurotic, neurology, neurosurgeon, neural
nomin, nomen (La)	name	nominate, nomenclature, nominee, denominator, ignominious

 

The prefix ‘bi’ means ‘two’, so what do you think the following words mean?

bilingual: ‘She has a French mother and a Polish father so she grew up bilingual‘.

bicycle: ‘It’s much easier to ride a bicycle than a unicycle’.

 

The prefix ‘mono’ means ‘one’, the root word ‘log’ means ‘word’, so what do you think ‘monologue’ means? ‘The actor has to speak a long monologue in scene 2. It’s a lot to learn’.

What is ‘monolingual’? ‘Most people in the UK are monolingual, a lot of children don’t spend much time studying foreign languages at school’.

 

The prefix ‘trans’ means ‘across’, so what do you think ‘transmission’ and ‘transmit’ mean? ‘The technology allows data to be transmitted by mobile phones’.

What is ‘transcontinental’? ‘By the 1890s there were half a dozen transcontinental railways’.

What’s ‘transatlantic’? ‘The first successful transatlantic flight from Canada to Ireland was in 1919′.

 

The root word ‘klepto’ means ‘steal’, so what do you think ‘kleptomania’ might mean? ‘He’s a kleptomaniac, if it’s not nailed down, he’ll take it’.

The suffix ‘ocracy’ means ‘rule’ or ‘govern’, so what do you think ‘kleptocracy’ means? ‘The country is largely run by a kleptocracy which diverts billions from the public purse into the hands of the party members’.

 

The root word ‘scrip’ means ‘write’, so what do you think ‘manuscript’ means? ‘The Book of Kells is a beautiful illuminated manuscript made by Irish monks in around 800 AD. You can visit it in Dublin’.

 

The suffix ‘cide’ means ‘kill’ or ‘killer’, so what do you think ‘matricide’ means? ‘The Roman Emperor Nero committed matricide. First he tried to poison his mother, then crush her under a falling ceiling and drown her in a sinking boat, eventually he disguised her death as suicide’.

Check your ideas in the dictionary.