Latin elements in English word formation

About 2/3 of words in English come from Latin, and a number of others from Greek; these are especially common in technical and academic vocabulary. Some of the complexities of Latin and Greek based word formation (morphology) are presented here.

1 Latin abbreviations & expressions in academic writing

Latin		English use
c.	(circa)	about, approximately
cf.	(conferre)	compare, compare(d) to
e.g.	(exempliae gratia)	for example
et al.	(et alia)	and others, etc. (for multiple authors in source citations)
errata		errors (list of typographical errors that have been found)
i.e.	(id est)	that is, that is to say, in other words
infra		below, see below
loc. cit.		in the place cited (for footnote-style citation systems)
op. cit.		in the work cited
passim		here and there; the point is made in several places in the text
sic		“thus” - used to marking errors in the original source
supra		above, see above
viz.	(videlicet)	namely, obviously

2 Latin prefixes

The following are common Latin prefixes, with alternate forms resulting from phonological blendings in Latin; for example, ad+simil- → assimilate. A number of such blendings of prefixes and word stems led to double consonant spellings [“CC” below].

Prefix	Alternate forms	Meaning	Example
ab-	a-, abs-	from, away	abstract
ad-	a-, ad- a+CC: abb-, acc-, aff-, agg-, all-, amm-, ann-, app-, acq-, arr-, ass-, att-	to, toward	advertise, afferent, agglutinate, annotate, appropriate, acquire, arrest, asset, attention, alleviate
com	co-, col-, con-	with, together	complicate, collinear, confuse, contain
de-		down, away	describe, deduct
dis-	di-, dif-	apart, away	distance, difference
dis-		not	dislike
ex-	e-, ef-	out, beyond	express, effeminate
in-	ig-; i+CC: ill-, imm-, irr-	not	ignoble, inconsistent, immaculate, illiterate
in-	i+CC: ill-, imm-, irr-	in, into	instruct, illumine, innate, irradiate
inter-		between, among	intersection
mis-		wrong(ly)	misinform
non-		not	nonviolent
ob-	o+CC: occ-, off-, opp-	against; toward	obtain, obtuse, occidental, offer, oppose
per-		through	perfect
pre-		before	predict
pro-	pur-	forward, before; in favor of	prospect, propose, purpose
re-		back	reduce
re-		again	reorganize
sub-	suc-, suf-, sug-, sum-, sup-, sur-, sus-	under	subscribe, suffer, suggest, summation, surround, support, suspect
trans-	tra-, tran-	across, over, beyond	transfer, trajectory

3 Latin & Greek plurals

Some Latin and Greek nouns exhibit changes in word endings, which were regular in Latin and Greek, but irregular or semi-regular in English. These are for many nouns ending in -a (Latin feminine nouns), -us (Latin masculine nouns), -um (Latin neuter nouns), and -on (Latin neuter nouns) [note: these “genders” are morphological categories of words, not usually actual biological gender].

1.	-a → -ae	pupa → pupae nova, aurora, alumna, antenna, formula, alumna
2.	-us → -i	syllabus → syllabi locus, alumnus, cactus, focus, octopus, hippopotamus, fungus, alumnus
3.	-um → -a	medium → media, datum → data honorarium, symposium, maximum, minimum, memorandum, addendum, forum
4.	-on → -a	criterion → criteria phenomenon, polyhedron, automaton

Sometimes the Latin plurals are preferred in scientific or technical contexts, while normal -s plurals are preferred in normal contexts (like cactus → cacti / cactuses).

A few nouns have the same form for singular and plural, like species and series.

3.1 Plurals from other languages

A few French irregulars exist, like beau → beaux. Hebrew words often add -im, as in seraph → seraphim, cherub → cherubim; a few Hebrew words have other endings like matzah → matzot. Some words from other languages don’t add plural endings, like samurai.

4 Noun stem changes

Some words undergo changes in the spelling and pronunciation of the stem (base, root word), due to their forms that changed in Latin and Greek.

4.1 Latin & Greek noun stems, singular → plural

Some Greek and Latin nouns change -is to -es (e.g., analysis → analyses), and some Greek and Latin nouns change -ex or -ix to -ices in the plural (e.g., index → indices, codex → codices). For those ending in -ex/-ix, the regular plural with -es is also usually possible in less formal English (indexes, apexes...).

-is → -es			-ix/ex → -ices
analysis antithesis axis basis crisis diagnosis diaeresis	emphasis ellipsis hypothesis metamorphosis nemesis neurosis oasis	parenthesis prognosis psychosis synthesis testis thesis	appendix cervix codex cortex helix	ibex index matrix radix vertex vortex

Another pattern in more technical words looks like this:

• stigma → stigmata
• schema → schemata

Other stem changes occur in nouns in technical vocabulary, e.g.,

• corpus → corpora
• genus → generaopus → opera

4.2 Noun stem changes in other words

Latin / Greek noun stem changes sometimes show up in different words derived from the same ancient root, especially in technical words. This becomes apparent in comparing noun stems with other nouns or adjectives derived from them.

base noun	derived noun / adj.		base noun	derived noun / adj.
chrome crime crux dogma genus homo (sapiens)	chromatic criminal crucifix dogmatic generic hominid		lemma lumen opus rex schema stoma theme	lemmatic illuminate opera regal schematic stomatic thematic

There are a few words from related stems in both Latin and Greek (as the two languages were close cousins), such as acute (Greek) and accuracy (Latin); coniferous (Latin, ‘cone-bearing’), metaphor (Greek, “carrying beyond”).

5 Verb stem changes

Stem changes in Latin (and also Greek) verb tenses and participle forms led to different variants of the word roots in English. The main stems are the present and the past perfect participle (similar to teach, taught in English). Occasionally, the simple past form yields some English words. Some stem changes occur when verbs are compounded (e.g., tacit – reticent). Below are some common Latin examples.

infinitive or present tense	meaning	derivatives from present forms	perfect tense form	derivatives from perfect forms
crescere	grow, increase	crescent	cretum	concrete
dicere	speak, say	abdicate	dictum	dictate, dictionary
facere	do, make	facile, suffice	factum	fact, faction
fere	carry, bear	transfer	latum (irregular)	translate
for, fari	speak, delcare	forensic; infant	fatum	fate
fingere	touch	figure	fictum	fiction
labi	fall, slide	labile	lapsus	relapse
nasci	be born	nascent, renaissance	natum	prenatal
oblivisci	forget	oblivious	oblitum	obliterate
petere	seek, ask	compete	petitum	petition, competition
pingere	paint, draw	impinge	pictum	depict
tacere	be silent	tacit; reticent	tacitum	taciturn
tangere	touch, cover	tangible	tactum	contact
tegere	cover, shield	tegmentum	tectum	tectum, protect
vincere	conquer	invincible	victum	victim, evict

The verb facere also spawned other English words through another verb form: the present passive fio/fieri ‘be made, become’ became the suffix -fy as in ‘pacify, sanctify’.

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