---
title: "Greek and Latin Roots for Word Meaning"
description: "Use knowledge of Greek and Latin affixes (prefixes and suffixes) and roots as clues to determine the meaning of unfamiliar words, building a bank of common roots and their meanings"
canonical: https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/greek-and-latin-roots-for-word-meaning-mt_x_Lg4RASVU
source: https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/greek-and-latin-roots-for-word-meaning-mt_x_Lg4RASVU.md
retrieved: 2026-10-19
---

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# Greek and Latin Roots for Word Meaning

Use knowledge of Greek and Latin affixes (prefixes and suffixes) and roots as clues to determine the meaning of unfamiliar words, building a bank of common roots and their meanings

Subject: English · Area: Vocabulary · Ages 9 to 11
Page: https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/greek-and-latin-roots-for-word-meaning-mt_x_Lg4RASVU

## Ready when they can

- Identify common Greek and Latin roots in unfamiliar words and use root meaning to infer word meaning, e.g. 'aqua' (water) in aquarium/aquatic, 'dict' (say) in predict/dictionary
- Break a multi-morpheme word into prefix + root + suffix to determine meaning, e.g. un- (not) + believe + -able = not able to be believed
- Use knowledge of Greek-origin prefixes (auto-, tele-, micro-) and Latin-origin prefixes (inter-, trans-, sub-) to decode and define unfamiliar vocabulary in context

## Lesson: Greek and Latin Roots for Word Meaning

Many English words are built from small pieces that come from Greek and Latin. If you learn what a few of these pieces mean, you can guess the meaning of words you have never seen before.

*(drawing: trans- means across, and port means carry. Put them together: transport means to carry something across a distance.)*

Here is a small bank of roots to know. aqua means water, as in aquarium. dict means say or tell, as in dictionary. bio means life, as in biology. tele- means far, as in telephone. auto- means self, as in automatic. micro- means small, as in microscope. inter- means between, as in international. sub- means under, as in submarine.

**Example.** Look at the word unbreakable. Split it into three pieces: un- (not) plus break (the root) plus -able (able to be). Put the meanings together and you get: not able to be broken.

**Tip.** When you meet a strange word, look for a small piece you already know. That piece is often the clue to the whole word's meaning.

**Recap.** Split an unfamiliar word into its pieces, use the meaning of each Greek or Latin root, and you can often figure out what the whole word means.

## Practice

24 questions on this page, each with its working shown.

## Needs first

- [Prefixes and suffixes](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/prefixes-and-suffixes-mt_HrgDjxcWvf)
- [Word Families and Root Words](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/word-families-and-root-words-mt_p1imGSFgJT)
- [Prefixes (age 7+)](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/prefixes-age-7-mt_T6nrrf2K43)

## Opens up

- [Academic Vocabulary](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/academic-vocabulary-mt_OLwNsTI6C7)