Roots and Prefixes

Positive
ama love amiable easy to get along with
amic friend amicable friendly
ana not, without anarchy without rule
bene good beneficial

helpful, good, fic(do)- something that does good
eu happy euphoria

joyful exhilaration, euphoric (pleasant sounding)
fid loyal perfidy disloyal, beyond loyalty, per(through, beyond)
lev light (weight) alleviate to relieve from pain, literally to make lighter
luc, lux light lucid clear
magna large

magnanimous very generous, anim (soul, spirit)- greatness of spirit
moll soft emollient
mollify
substance that softens
pacify, calm down, literally make soft
multi many multifarious complex, having many different aspects
pac, plac peace placate to soothe, make peaceful
poly many polymath person knowledgeable about or accomplished in many
different areas
pro in favor of prolong make longer
val value valid true, literally having value
vener worship, love venerate hold in high regard
ver true

verisimilitude appearance of truth, simil (similar)-similar to the truth
vig energy vigorous energetic, full of life

Negative
a not, without anomalous unusual, literally without name
anti against antipathy dislike
bell war belligerent threatening, violent, bellicose
contra against contrast difference
culp guilt

exculpate free from guilt, ex (from)
deb weak debilitate to make weak, cripple
dis not disparage to put down, insult
err wrong erroneous wrong
fall wrong fallacious false
fict false fictitious fake, false
im, in not ineffable inexpressible
neb cloud nebulous cloudy, unclear
pej bad pejorative insulting
pug violent pugnacious violent, looking for a fight
vac empty, waver vacuous empty, meaningless






Neutral or positive/negative based on context
ambi both ambivalent having mixed feeling, unable to choose between two
ante before

antebellum before the war, bellum (war)
anthro human misanthrope one who hates people
auto self autonomous independent
bi two bifurcate split down the middle
chron

time

anachronism in the wrong time period (a record player is an
anachronism in the 21
st
century), anna (not)
circum

around

circumspect careful, cautious, spect (look)-to look around
co, con with condescending look down on, disdainful
cog think cognition thought
corp body corporeal having a body
di two dichotomy contradiction, separated into two, mutually exclusive
groups or ideas
dia

through

dialect regional or local form of a language, lect(read)-read
through
dict say dictum saying, clich
dom mastery dominate have power over
e, ex
temp
from
time
extemporaneous done without preparation
away from time
equi equal, same

equivocal unclear or using ambiguous language, sometimes
with the intention to mislead; equal voice (=voc)
fac, fic make, do facile easy, doable
gen knowledge,
innate, type
ingenuous nave; not having knowledge genre (type, category),
genetic (from the genes, innate)
grav weight, serious gravity seriousness
hetero different

heterogeneous varied, multifaceted; different type, gen(type)
homo same homogeneous same, same type
inter between interrupt come between
lib free, book liberate to set free
loc, loq words, speech loquacious talkative
mal bad malicious cruel, evil
ment mind mentality mindset
morph shape amorphous shapeless
mut

change

immutable fixed, unchanging, im (not)
nerv

boldness,
courage
enervate to sap of energy, e (from)
nom name nominal in name only
ob against obdurate extremely stubborn, obstinate
os bone ossify become hard, like bone
para alongside,
contrary to
paradox contradiction, two seemingly contradictory idea
ped foot, child pedestrian boring, unoriginal, like a child would do
pend hang pendulous hanging, heavy
per through perspicacious perceptive
peri around periphery border
phone sound

euphony pleasing sound; happy sound, eu(happy)
port carry portentous significant, amazing, carrying a lot of weight
pot power potent powerful, potentate (powerful person)
re again revive bring back to life; viv(live)- make live again
scrut look, examine scrutinize look very closely
sens, sent feel sentimental emotional, displaying or appealing to tender feelings
seq follow obsequious follower, toady
pec, spect look spectator one who watches
stat stand static unmoving, in a state of standing
sub below substantiate support, prove, stand below
super above supercilious condescending, cil(eyelash)- looking down from
above
tac silence taciturn silent, not talkative
temp time temporize procrastinate, take too much time
ten hold tenacious stubborn, holding on
terr earth terrestrial having to do with the earth
trans through intransigent stubborn, unmovable
vap air, steam evaporate to become air
ven come advent beginning, coming of
vid see invidious envious, in(not)- unable to see(jealous is blinding)
vit, viv life convivial merry, lively, con(with), vitiate (to sap of life, tire out)
voc, vox voice vociferous loud
vol desire, fly,
volume
volatile unstable, having the potential to explode, ready to fly
off
volut turn, twist convoluted extremely intricate or complex, con(with), with lot of
turns