Getting Started : The only permanent foolproof method of increasing your vocabulary involves PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE.

Think, say, hear, write, reinforce! The root ped- means foot. pedestal, biped, quadruped The prefix bi- means two. bifocal, bicuspid, bivalve, biannual quadraphonic, quadruplet, quadruple, The prefix quad- means four. quadrilateral, The Latin root later- means side. bilateral, unilateral Semi- is a prefix meaning 1/2. semiannual Latin annus, year, appears in some English annuity, biennial, quadrennial, words as the syllable enn-. Latin, per-, through, and annus, year. perennial The prefix tri- means three. tricycle, trifocal, triplet A quadruped walks with its body more or less horizontal, on all fours. squirrel, antelopes, hippopotamuses, rhinoceros, rectangle, fraction, abbreviation, chrysanthemum Latin centum means 100. century, cent, centimeter, percent,centipede centennial, bicentennial, tricentennial, semicentennial, sesquicentennial million, millimeter, millennium , millipede

Latin mill means 1000. The ending -meter comes speedometer, tachometer, odometer, pedometer, chronometer, from Greek metron, optometrist measure. Greek optikos means vision ; therme, heat ; chronos, optician, thermostat, chronic time. pedestrian as an adjective to describe flat and awkward language and thinking. a doubly outrageous exaggeration! unattainable, wormlike, longitude Writing that is labored, tedious, dull, full of cliches, without sparkle or originality is . Call a man's mind , and you imply he has not had a fresh thought in years. Call a writer's style , and you mean that it is graceless, heavy, hackneyed. Call a movie plot , and you label it the same weary old rehash that has bored you so often in the past. A political philosophy limps and hobbles along clumsily in the same old, futile lockstep instead of putting a fresh foot forward.

As you repeatedly call a new word to mind - as you repeatedly say it aloud - as you repeatedly write it down - as you repeatedly think about it structure - then finally it becomes such an old friend that you may feel you have known it all your life. Then finally you will understand it fully, then finally you will find yourself using it precisely and unselfconsciously.

One quick trick for remembering the endings of some of those words is to think that the superintendent of an apartment house collects the rent, and is insistent and persistent about payment. The tenant, on the other hand, is sometimes resistant to paying up. Often the tenant has more perseverance than the superintendent.

Latin prefix im- means in.

impede, impediment internal, interior, inhale, include, introvert, introverted ex- is Latin for out. expedite, expediter, expeditious, expeditiously exit, external, exhale, exclude, extrovert, extroverted, expedition malice, malicious / avarice, avaricious / caprice, capricious / vice, vicious If you want to be popular, stop thinking so much about yourself. Don't be withdrawn; instead, make contact with others, invite people to your house, get involved in social doings. In short, become more extroverted. You worry constantly about the impression you are making. You daydream too much. You're so withdrawn that no one can get close to you. You're really terribly introverted. However, an introvert, who is often quiet and discontented, yet very creative, is more likely to change the world. Sesqui- is Latin for one and a half. sesquipedalian, sesquipedalianism The suffix -ism may mean, among other asceticism, vegetarianism things, "the practice of". Latin manus, hand, and cura, care. manicure, manual, manipulate, manuscript, curator, sinecure, accurate, secure eleemosynary, ineluctability, ochlocracy, rodomontade If you prefer to say "the anatomical juxtaposition of two orbicularis oris muscles in a state of contraction" when you mean kiss, then you are very much addicted to sesquipedalianism. Sesquipedalianism is a noncontagious ailment, but it keeps people at a distance nevertheless, for they rarely know that you're talking about.

Bear in mind this one important principle: The more words you know, the more accurate your thinking, reading, and writing will be, and the more interesting your conversation! We'll meet plico, to hold; sedeo, to sit; cedo, to go; jacio, to throw; sentio, to feel. convert - conversion pervert - perversion revert - reversion invert - inversion introvert - introversion extrovert - extroversion vertiginous vertebra vertebrae versatile Most Latin verbs end in -o. Latin sectus is the past participle of the bisect, trisect verb seco, "cut" intersect, dissect, insect, section Lingua is Latin for "tongue" or bilingual, trilingual, quadrilingual / linguistics, "language". linguist The -pl comes from Latin plico, to tripled, quadrupled / triplicate, quadruplicate / fold. The English word ply comes from imply, implication, implicit, explicit plico, to hold. plywood, four-ply The ap- is from Latin ad-, to or apply, application toward. podium, tripod, trio, tricycle, triple, triplets The instructor in the class teaches, this book teaches, experience teaches, but you learn only by thinking, by applying what was taught, by forming new connections and making new discoveries in your mind. The teaching is the motivator, the causative agent - but learning goes on in your head. Latin duo is two. Latin quadr Latin quintus Latin sextus Latin septem Latin octo duo, duet, duplicate quadruplicate quintet, quintuplicate sextet, sestet, sextuplicate septet, septuplicate octet, octuplicate

Latin quartus quart, quarter,quartet Latin verb fero, to carry infer, inference insinuate, insinuation transfer,transcontinental (Latin trans-, across) refer,recede (Latin re-, back) confer,concurrent (Latin con-, together or with) differ,dissect (Latin dis, away) defer, depend (Latin de-,down) duplex, triplex, explicate, complicate, complex, pliable, pliers from Greek cheir, hand, plus pod-, foot podiatrist, podiatry, podiatric chiropodist, chiropody biograph, telegraph, phonograph, Greek graphein, to write chirography, chiropractor, chiroprastic Octo- is from Greek okto, eight. octoroon, octosyllable -gon is from Greek gonia, angle octagon, octagonal, octogenarian, septuagenarian, nonagenarian, Latin number octoginta, eighty centenarian education-educational, function- functional. option-optional decade, Decalogue (the ten Commandments), Decameron Greek gonia is angle decagon, pentagon, octagonal Ten, decem in Latin December, decimal The decade of the 1920' was one of wild stock speculation; the decade of the thirties, economic depression; the decade for the forties, war and prosperity; the decade of the fifties, conformity to the establishment; the decade of the sixties, nonconformism, riots in the cities, violence on college campuses; the decade fo the seventies, double-digit inflation. Greek deka, ten Tests can be self-defeating. If you look upon a test as a gauge of your worth, of your virtue, or of your intelligence, then you will approach it only as a painful experience and a tension-producing ordeal. A test is none of these things. It is only a yardstick - a measurement of how successfully you have learned. You do not pass or fail a test. A test, realistically, is no more than a metering device, much like one of the dials on the dashboard of your car. In short, the indicators provide information for more efficient

driving - they do not assess your value as a person. sedentary, sediment, sedate, sedately, sedative superior, supervisor, Super- is a Latin prefix meaning above or over supernormal, supersede residence, recede, reflect, The Latin prefix re-, back recession, a Latin verb denoting string movement - jacio, to throw reject, inject The prefix ex- is often shortened to e-. eject One of the meanings of the Latin prefix de- is down. deject, depend, descend, depress rejection, injection, ejection, dejection a Latin word meaning "to sit", namely sedeo adjective sedate, verb sedate, sedatio sculpt from sculptor, burgle from burglar (burglarize), bach from bachelor, entuse from enthusiasm, ush from usher supersede succeed, proceed, exceed accede, antecede, cede, concede, intercede, precede, recede, secede preside, president, predict, predate, precede The prefix re- means back. recoil, revert, dissident, dismiss, discard, Dis- is a Latin prefix meaning "apart" or "away". dissect subnormal, supernormal, The Latin prefix sub- means "under". submarine, subway, subordinate, subside / subsidence Latin nihil, nothing annihilate, annihilation, nihilist confident / confidence, competent / competence, different / difference, impertinent / impertinence, eloquent / eloquence, affluent / affluence, dissident / dissidence insidious, communist / communistic / communism , nihilist / nihilistic / nihilism The prefix pre- means before.

Of all life on the planet, only humans are bent on self-annihilation by fighting wars, by dumping noxious chemicals into waterways, by polluting the atmosphere. Those who escape these forces of destruction kill one another on the highways. sentiment / sentimental / sentimentality , resent sentient / sentience, the prefix pre- means before presentiment dis- means apart or away dissident /dissect / dissent master / masterful , power / powerful, sorrow/sorrowful, suffix -ous may mean full of wonder/wonderful, resent/resentful constitution / constitutional, convention / conventional, octagon / octagonal, magic / magical, congruent / congruence, affluent / affluence, arrange / arrangement, disparage / disparagement, disarrange / disarrangement, develop / development, embarrass / embarrassment, encourage / encouragement, envelope / envelopment, disable / disablement, discourage / discouragement, resent / resentment Both words mean saying yes; to assent means "Yes, you're right"; consent means "Yes, I'll let you." Women are reputed to be more sentimental than men. (Probably not true!) Latin verb sentio, feel sensitive / insensitive, sane/insane, sanity/insanity, justice/injustice, describable/indescribable, equality/inequality insidious, assiduous, furious, sensuous

the negative prefix in-

suffix -ous may mean full of

sensitive/sensitiveness, insensitive/insensitiveness insane/insanity, verbose/verbosity, abnormal/abnormality, active/activity, passive/passivity, inactive/inactivity, sensitive/sensitivity, insensitive/insensitivity sensory

Com- is from Latin cum, with, together combine - put together commingle - mix together companion - a companion breaks bread with you ??? collect - gather together correlate - relate one with the other contact - a touching together coitus - etymologically a going together cohere - stick together concoct - cook together There is one exception, Dis- + spirit becomes dispirit and dispirited. syllable sens- have some relationship to feeling or sensuous, sensory, sensual perceiving sensible / insensible possible / possibility, profitable / profitability, usable / usability, insensible / insensibility, practical / practicality, intellectual / intellectuality, punctual / punctuality, sensual / sensuality The poems of Edgar Allan Poe are sensuous; on the other hand, much of Swinburne's poetry is sensual.