Building a Better Vocabulary Part 3

Five Principles for Learning Vocabulary. 1. Definitions 2. Context 3. Connections 4. Morphology/etymology 5. Sematic chunking

Egotistical- excessively conceited or absorbed in oneself; self-centered. The Latin root word ego means “I.” This Latin root is the word origin of a fair number of English vocabulary words, including ego and egotistical. The Latin root word ego is easily recalled through the English word ego—someone with a big ego is always thinking about number one, that is, himself, and how great he is.

ego: the way a person thinks about herself, that is, her “I” egotistical: thinking about “I” a little too much egotist: one who excessively thinks about “I” egoist: another word for “egotist” egotism: thinking excessively about “I” egoism: another word for “egotism” egomaniac: thinking about “I” way too much egomaniacal: of thinking about “I” way too much superego: that part of the ego or “I” that watches over what it does

Labor- to exert one's powers of body or mind especially with painful or strenuous effort : work. 2. : to move with great effort. The Latin root word labor means “work.” This Latin root is the word origin of a “working” number of English vocabulary words, including collaborate, labor itself, and elaborate. The root labor is easily recalled via the word laboratory, for that is where scientists do their “work.”

labor: “work” laborer: one who “works” laborious: filled with “work” laboratory: place where scientists “work” lab: short for laboratory collaborate: to “work” together elaborate: to “work” out a puzzle or problem elaborate: of something fully “worked” out belabor: to “work” out ad nauseam

Elaborate- uh lab uh rate (verb) to expand something in detail. To work out in detail. Elaborate- uh labrate (adjective) made or done with great care or with much detail. having many parts that are carefully arranged or planned.

belabor- to explain, worry about, or work at (something) repeatedly or more than is necessary Ad nauseam- is a Latin phrase that literally means “to nausea.” Use ad nauseam to describe something that's been repeated or discussed so long that you're sick of hearing about it.

Naut, naus, nav Let’s look at words derived from or related to the Greek naus meaning “ship” and nautes, meaning “sailor.” You can probably guess that the word “nautical,” and “navy” come from this Greek source. Another related word is “navigate,” which literally and etymologically means “to set a ship in motion.”

The word “nausea,” the condition of feeling like you’re going to vomit, literally means “seasickness” or “ship-sickness.” The word “astronaut” combines naus with the Greek word astro, or “star,” giving it the literal meaning “star-sailor.”

Enamor- be filled with a feeling of love for. He wanted to enamor his students with the beauty of art. As a result of the lecture, the students became enamored with art.

Am- love The Latin root word am means “love.” This Latin root is the word origin of a good number of English vocabulary words, including amateur, amatory, and Amanda. The Latin root word am is easily recalled through the word amor, or “love,”

Amanda: she who is to be “loved” amorous: of or pertaining to “love” enamored: in “love” with amatory: of a “love” relationship amenity: things that people “love” to have that make a place comfortable to live in inamorato: a male with whom someone has fallen in “love” inamorata: a female with whom someone has fallen in “love” amateur: one who “loves” to do something but is not a professional at it

philodendron- large genus of flowering plants in the family Araceae. That name derives from Greek: 'philo' means 'love' or 'affection' and 'dendron' is 'tree'. Freely translated it means 'tea hugger', because Philodendron is a real climber that loves to 'embrace' trees.

phil- to love The root word phil comes from a Greek verb meaning to love. Some common words derived from phil are philosopher, philanthropist, and bibliophile. Note that phil can begin the word as in philosopher, or end it as in bibliophile. But wherever it occurs you can be assured that phil has something to do with love.

Philip : A lover of horses Philosopher : A lover of wisdom Philodendron : Loves trees Hemophiliac : A lover of blood Philanthropist : A lover of humans Philologist : A lover of words