Root Words:
Latin:
* -able, -ible: able to be (e.g., portable, edible)
* -ation: action or process (e.g., education, celebration)
* -cede, -ceed, -cess: to go, move, yield (e.g., precede, proceed, access)
* -cide: to kill (e.g., homicide, suicide)
* -duct: to lead (e.g., conduct, aqueduct)
* -fer: to carry, bear (e.g., transfer, infer)
* -fic: to make, do (e.g., terrific, benefic)
* -form: shape, form (e.g., conform, uniform)
* -graph: to write (e.g., autograph, photograph)
* -ject: to throw, cast (e.g., project, inject)
* -junct: to join (e.g., conjunction, disjunct)
* -lude: to play, deceive (e.g., prelude, elude)
* -meter: to measure (e.g., thermometer, speedometer)
* -mit: to send, let go (e.g., submit, permit)
* -morph: form, shape (e.g., metamorphosis, anthropomorphic)
* -port: to carry (e.g., import, transport)
* -scribe: to write (e.g., subscribe, describe)
* -spect: to look (e.g., inspect, retrospect)
* -struct: to build, make (e.g., construct, instruct)
* -tract: to pull, draw (e.g., attract, distract)
* -vert: to turn (e.g., convert, invert)
* -viv: to live (e.g., revive, survive)
Greek:
* -auto: self (e.g., autobiography, automatic)
* -bio: life (e.g., biology, biography)
* -cosm: world (e.g., cosmos, cosmopolitan)
* -dem: people (e.g., democracy, epidemic)
* -geo: earth (e.g., geography, geology)
* -graph: to write (e.g., autograph, telegraph)
* -logy: study of (e.g., biology, psychology)
* -micro: small (e.g., microscope, microbe)
* -morph: form, shape (e.g., metamorphosis, amorphous)
* -path: feeling, suffering (e.g., sympathy, pathology)
* -phon: sound (e.g., telephone, symphony)
* -photo: light (e.g., photograph, photosynthesis)
* -scope: to look, view (e.g., telescope, microscope)
* -tele: far (e.g., telephone, television)
* -theo: god (e.g., theology, atheism)
Other:
* -bene: good (e.g., benefit, benevolent)
* -mal: bad (e.g., malfunction, malnourished)
* -mini: small (e.g., miniature, minimal)
* -omni: all (e.g., omnipresent, omnipotent)
* -pre: before (e.g., prefix, preview)
* -re: again (e.g., rewrite, redo)
* -super: above (e.g., superior, supervise)
* -trans: across (e.g., transport, translate)
This is just a small sample of common root words. There are many more, and understanding these root words can help you decipher the meanings of unfamiliar words.