Vocabulary List 4 - More roots

F
or example, in this chapter, you will be introduced to the root phobe, which means fear. You can then
guess that any word that contains this root has to do with the fear of something. For instance, claus-
trophobia means an abnormal fear of small spaces.
CHAPTER
Vocabulary List 4:
More Roots
CHAPTER SUMMARY
Just as many people in our culture have their roots in other countries,
roots of English words, too, come from other languages. The words of
the English language have been borrowed from other languages over
the course of history. The history of a word is called its etymology. Many
of the roots in Chapter 6 come from Greek and Latin languages. We
have included 20 more words with important roots in this chapter
because the more roots and origins you are familiar with, the more you
will be able to recognize related words.
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VOCABULARY LIST 4: MORE ROOTS
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Across
1 average
6 able to be broken down by
living things
8 payment
9 to credit
10 relating to
13 hindrance

14 easily noticed
17 social
Down
2 summarize
2 goodwill towards men
4 denial
5 fear of open or public spaces
6 bighearted, good
7 to fit in
11 obvious
12 deduction
13 clear cut
14 belief
15 preceding
16 suave
Choose the word from the Vocabulary List that best fits into the crossword puzzle. You can check your answers
at the end of the chapter following the answers to the questions.
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4
2
6
5
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121110
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15 16
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Vocabulary List 4: More Roots
agoraphobic
assimilate
attribute
benevolent
biodegradable
conspicious
contradiction
credence
evident
gregarious
impediment
incisive
inference
mediocre
philanthropy
precedent
recapitulate
remittance
tangential
urbane

goraphobic (a·ə·rə·fo¯ ·bik)
root: phobe means fear
(adj.)
fear of open or public spaces
My neighbor is , so I do his grocery
shopping for him.
assimilate (əs·sim·ə·la¯t)
root: simul means copy

(verb)
to fit in
It is very difficult to to another culture as
an adult.
attribute (at·tri·bu¯t)
root: trib means to give
(noun)
a special quality
(verb)(at·trib·u¯t)
to credit
I much of my success to my education.
benevolent (bə·nev·ə·lent)
root: ben means good
(adj.)
kind, having goodwill
The counselor always seemed to
understand her student’s problems.
biodegradable (b¯·o¯ ·de¯ ·ra¯d·ə·bəl)
root: bio means life
(adj.)
able to be broken down by living things
Ella is a staunch environmentalist, so she buys only
products.
conspicuous (con·spic·u¯ ·əs)
root: spic, spec mean see
(adj.)
highly visible
Nikolai’s Halloween costume made it
hard not to notice him.
contradiction (con·trə·dik·shən)

root: contra means against, dict means say
(noun)
the act or state of disagreeing
My teacher made a direct to her earlier
instructions by allowing us to turn in a
handwritten report.
credence (kre¯ ·dəns)
root: cred means believe
(noun)
belief, believability
Marty gave to the gossip because it came
from a reliable source.
evident (ev·i·dent)
root: vid means see
(adj.)
obvious
The effects of the drought will be to
anyone who comes to visit the area.
gregarious (re·air·e¯ ·əs)
root: greg means crowd
(adj.)
sociable
People want to be around Eva because of her
nature.
impediment (im·ped·ə·mənt)
root:
ped, pod means foot, ped means child
(noun)
a barrier or hindrance
I had to work with a therapist to overcome my

speech .
incisive (in·s¯·siv)
root: cis, cid mean to cut
(adj.)
penetrating, clear cut
Journalistic writing should be and
factual.
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VOCABULARY LIST 4: MORE ROOTS
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