Origins – Head and Tails
We can hardly close our book on the words suggested by ingenuous without looking at the other side of the coin. If ingenuous means frank, open, then disingenuous should mean…
Grammar – What is an Adjective?
Adjectives go with or ‘qualify’ or ‘modify’ nouns, and sometimes pronouns. They are often used to describe the thing that the noun refers to. Adjectives tend to turn up in…
Origins – What people believe in
Credo, to believe, is the origin of four other useful English words. 1.Credo – personal belief, code of ethics; the principles by which people guide their actions. 2.Creed – a…
Some Common Combining Forms – Words using syn-.
The Greek syn-, like the Latin com-, means ‘together’. Like many initial combining forms and prefixes, it may change slightly in form depending on what letter follows it. As syn-…
Origins – More about life
Latin vita, life, is the origins of: 1.Vital – essential to life; of crucial importance – a vital matter; also full of life, strength, vigour, etc. 2.Revitalize – revitalize is…
PREFIXES – Words with un-.
People tend to think that un- is solely a negative prefix. It is, of course, often used as such. And unlike most of the other negative prefixes it can be…
Origins – Getting back to God
Theos, God, is also found in: 1.Monotheism – belief in one God. (Monos, one, plus theos, God.) 2.Polytheism – belief in many gods, as in ancient Greece or Rome, (polys,…
PREFIXES – Words with per-.
The basic meaning of per- is ‘through’. If you perambulate the grounds of a stately home, you walk around or through them. The root here is ambul, from which English…