Use a dictionary or website to get to the bottom of new or unfamiliar words.
Words often take on different appearances, depending on the role they play in a sentence. The word "syrup," for example, is a noun. You can use it as the subject of a sentence like this: "Syrup is sticky." If you want to use the word "syrup" as an adjective, however, you might add a suffix to it, in this case, a y. For example, "The used plate was syrupy." Get out your dictionary and discover whether the root of a familiar word has a prefix or suffix to help it do its sentence-work.
Instructions
1. Look up a word in an authoritative dictionary or online (see References). For example, you look up the word "semicircle" in "Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language, College Edition."
2. Look for the square brackets following the word and the information within the brackets. For example, after "semicircle" you find "[L. semicirculus; see
SEMI- + CIRCLE]."
3. Look up any abbreviations you don't understand in the front of the dictionary. For example, the "L." in the square brackets after "semicircle" means the word "semicircle" comes from the Latin word "semicirculus."
4. Recognize that a word part with a hyphen at the end of it and followed by a plus (+) sign is the prefix of the word you are analyzing. For example, "semi" is the prefix of "semicircle."
5. Remove the prefix from the word you are analyzing to find the root of the word. For example, you remove the prefix "semi" from the word "semicircle," leaving "circle." "Circle" is the root of "semicircle."
6. Look up another word. For example, you look up the word "sempiternity."
7. Look for the square brackets following the word and the information within the brackets. For example, after "sempiternity" you find "[L. sempiternus (see SEMPITERNAL); + ity]."
8. Recognize that a word part with a hyphen in front of it and preceded by a plus sign is the suffix of the word you are analyzing. For example, "ity" is the suffix of "sempiternity."
9. Remove the suffix from the word you are analyzing to find the root of the word. For example, you remove the suffix "ity" from the word "sempiternity," leaving "sempitern." "Sempitern" is the root of "sempiternity."
Tags: from word, word analyzing, square brackets, word example, word semicircle, after semicircle