Why learn about word origins or etymologies?
Etymology deals with the origin or derivation of words. When you know the meaning of a Latin or Greek root, prefix, or suffix; you can better understand, and more easily remember, all the vocabulary words built on this Latin or Greek element that exists in English words. Learn one root and you have the key that will unlock the meanings of up to ten, twenty, or even hundreds of English words in which that Latin and/or Greek element (prefix, root, and suffix) appears; for example, learn ego (Latin, “I”) and you will immediately have a grasp of the meanings of egocenric, egomaniac, egoist, egotist, and alter ego; all of which will expand your vocabulary. Again, learn anthropos (Greek, “mankind”) and you will quickly understand, and rarely forget, anthropology, misanthropy, anthropoid, anthropocentric, anthropomorphic, philanthropy, and anthropophobia. Meet any word with -anthropo- in it and you will have at least some idea of its meaning when it is presented in a vocabulary list. In the e
