Page 296 - Word Power Made Easy: The Complete Handbook for Building a Superior Vocabulary

KEY: 1–equal, 2–equal, 3–voice, 4–night, 5–balance, 6–side, 7–horse, 8–foot, 9–child, 10–
carry, bear, 11–large, 12–write, 13–hand, 14–after, 15–road, 16–soldier, 17–bad, 18–
say, tell, 19–wish, 20–do, make, 21–good, 22–faith, 23–sound, 24–please, soothe,
pacify, 25–give

TEASER QUESTIONS FOR THE AMATEUR ETYMOLOGIST

1. Keeping in mind the roots animus in equanimity and magnus in Magnavox or magnify, can
you combine these two roots to form a noun meaning, etymologically, largeness of mind?

__________________. Can you gure out the adjective form, ending in -ous, of the noun you have
constucted? __________________.
2. If equilateral means equal-sided, can you construct an adjective meaning two-sided?
__________________.
3. Trans- is a pre x meaning across. Build a verb meaning to write across (from one form or
language to another): __________________. What is the noun derived from this verb?
__________________.

4. What disease was so named on the erroneous assumption that it was caused by “bad
air?” __________________.
5. Facio may appear in English words as fec-. Using the pre x con-, together, can you form
a noun sometimes used as a synonym for candy, cake, or ice cream (etymologically,
“something made together”)? __________________.

(Answers in Chapter 18)

THE THRILL OF RECOGNITION

You have been adding, over the past twenty-three sessions, hundreds of words to your
vocabulary; you have been learning hundreds of pre xes, roots, and su xes that make it
possible for you to gure out the meaning of many unfamiliar words you may come across
in your reading.
As time goes on and you notice more and more of the words you have studied whenever

you read, or whenever you listen to lectures, the radio, or TV, the thrill of recognition plus
the immediate comprehension of complex ideas will provide a dividend of incalculable
value.
You will hear these words in conversation, and you will begin to use them yourself,
unself-consciously, whenever something you want to say is best expressed by one of the
words that exactly verbalizes your thinking. Another priceless dividend!

So keep on! You are involved in a dividend-paying activity that will eventually make you
intellectually rich.