The Daring Book for Girls - Andrea J. Buchanan [128]
4. How to Make a Walking Stick
A walking stick should only be fashioned from a fallen branch, not pulled from a tree, and should reach from the ground to your shoulder. First, use your Swiss Army knife to remove the bark and whittle away extra branches and spurs. Then sand it down until the stick is smooth to touch, and finally just shine it with a little linseed oil.
Greek and Latin Root Words
MANY ENGLISH WORDS have their origins in Latin and Greek. Knowing a word’s roots, prefixes, or suffixes, can be your clue to its meaning—even if you don’t understand it at first glance.
A word’s “root” is the part of the word that carries the main component of meaning. Adding a prefix to the beginning of the root word, or a suffix to the end of it, can add other layers of meaning, but the core concept of the word is in its root. Here is a chart of Greek and Latin root words, their meanings, and some examples (the Greek terms are in italic).
Greek and Latin roots Meaning English examples
-anthrop- human anthropology
-arch-/-archi- ancient archetype
-aster-/-astra- star astronomy, astral
-audi- hear audible
-bene- good benefit
-bio- life biography
-brev- short abbreviation
-chron-/-chrono- time anachronism, chronicle
-dem- people democracy, demagogue
-derm- skin dermatologist
-dict- to say dictate, predict
-duc- to lead; to take produce, reduce
-fer- carry transfer
-fix- fasten affix, fixative
-gen- kind, type; birth generation
-geo- earth geography, geology
-graph- write graphic
-gress- to walk progress
-hydr-/hydro- water hydrate
-ject- to throw eject, project
-jur/just- law jury, justice
-log/logue- word, thought dialogue, monologue
-luc- light lucid, luculent
-manu- hand manual
-meter/metr- measure thermometer
-morph- form amorphous
-neg- no negative
-ocu- eye ocular
-olig- few oligarchy
-op/oper- work operation
-osteo- bone osteoporosis
-path- feeling, suffering empathic, sympathy
-pel- to drive compel, dispel,
-pend- to hang depend, pendulum
-philo-/-phil- love philanthropy, philosophy
-phon- sound polyphonic, phonetics
-phys- body; nature physical
-pod- foot podiatrist
-port- to carry export, support
-proto- first prototype
-pseudo- false pseudonym
-scrib-/-script- to write describe, transcribe
-sect- cut dissect
-sol- alone solitary, solo
-struct- build construct
-tact- touch contact, tactile
-tele- far off telephone
-tract- to pull, drag, draw attract, contract, extract
-ter/terr- earth territory
-vac- empty vacant, vacuous
-ver- truth verify
-verb- word verbal
-vert- to turn convert, revert
-vid/vis- see video, visualize
A prefix is a word part added to the beginning of a root word to change its meaning. Here are some Greek and Latin prefixes, their meanings, and examples.
Greek and Latin prefixes Meaning English examples
a-/an- without; not amoral, atypical
ad- to addict
amb-/ambi- both ambidextrous
ante- before antecedent
anti-/ant- opposite antifreeze, antacid
auto- self autobiography, autopilot
bi-/bi- two bipedal
bio- life biology
centi- hundred centimeter, century
circum- around circumvent, circumnavigate
con- with concert
co- together coauthor
de- off; from; down depart, defrost
deci- ten decimeter, decade
di- two diameter
dis- opposite; not disable, discomfort
e-/ex-; ec-/ex- out exit, exegesis
hyper- too much hyperactive, hypersensitive
hypo- too little hypoactive
in- not invalid
inter- between interstate, international
intra- within intramurals
macro- large macrobiologist
micro- small microscope
milli- thousand millipede
mis- bad misnomer
mon-/mono- one; single monochrome
nano- billion nanosecond
neo- new; recent neophyte, neonate
non- not nonstop
omni- all omniscient
pan- all panorama
para- alongside paralegal
per- throughout pervade
peri- all around periscope