Page 398 - Word Power Made Easy: The Complete Handbook for Building a Superior Vocabulary

The verb form of diagnosis is diagnose (dī′-Əg-NŌS′); the verb form of prognosis is

prognosticate (prog-NOS′-tƏ-kayt′). To use the verb prognosticate correctly, be sure that your
meaning involves the forecasting of developments from a consideration of symptoms or
conditions—whether the problem is physical, mental, political, economic, psychological, or
what have you.
In school, you doubtless recall taking diagnostic (dī′-Əg-NOS′-tik) tests; these measured not

what you were supposed to have learned during the semester, but your general knowledge
in a eld, so that your teachers would know what remedial steps to take, just as doctors
rely on their diagnosis to decide what drugs or treatments to prescribe.
In a reading center, various diagnostic machines and tests are used—these tell the

clinician what is wrong with a student’s reading and what measures will probably increase
such a student’s reading efficiency.
The medical specialist in diagnosis is a diagnostician (dī′-Əg-nos-TISH′-Ən).
The noun form of the verb prognosticate is prognostication (prog-nos′-tƏ-KAY′-shƏn).

4. getting back to God

Theos, God, is also found in:
1. Monotheism (MON′-Ə-thee-iz-Əm)—belief in one God. (Monos, one, plus theos, God.)

Using atheism, atheist, and atheistic as a model, write the word for the person who
believes in one God: __________________. The adjective? __________________.

2. Polytheism (POL′-ee-thee-iz-Əm)—belief in many gods, as in ancient Greece or Rome.
(Polys, many, plus theos.)
The person with such a belief? __________________. The adjective? __________________.

3 . Pantheism (PAN′-thee-iz-Əm)—belief that God is not in man’s image, but is a

combination of all forces of the universe. (Pan, all, plus theos,) The person? __________________.
The adjective? __________________.

4. Theology (thee-OL′-Ə-jee)—the study of God and religion. (Theos plus logos, science or
study.)
The student is a theologian (thee′-Ə-LŌ′-jƏn), the adjective is theological (thee′-Ə-LOJ′-Ə-
kƏl).

5. of sex and the tongue

A lecher practices lechery (LECH′-Ər-ee). The derivation is Old French lechier, to lick. The

adjective lecherous (LECH′-Ə-rƏs) has many close or not-so-close synonyms, most of them
also, and signi cantly, starting with the letter l, a sound formed with the tongue,
supposedly the seat of sensation.

1. libidinous (lƏ-BID′-Ə-nƏs)—from libido, pleasure.