CAT 2022 : Detailed List of Root Words

What does List of Root Words consists of?
Root Words are the building blocks of a word. Any word can be broken down into smaller roots or other constituents. This method of learning words through a list of root words is effective because it helps you to club words which are related to the same root together and this will be a great help for you to retain these words. English is an amazing language: it has literally borrowed from every language on the planet and build words these assimilations from different languages. The two most common language sources for word roots in English are Greek and Latin. So, in this article we present to you a list of root words which consists the root, its origin, its meaning and the most important part, the words that are made from these roots along with the meaning of those words.

List of Root Words and Their Meanings

Root Words	Greek/Latin Roots	Meaning of the roots in English	Words and Meanings
bio	life, living matter	Greek	biography– a life story written by another person; biology – the science of life; biosphere – Earth’s surface inhabited by living things
cand	glowing, iridescent	Latin	candid– free from bias, prejudice, or malice; candle– something that gives light; incandescent– white, glowing, or luminous with intense heat
centr/o/i	center	Greek	egocentric – self-centered; eccentric – not having a common center, not according to norm; centrifugal – moving outward from a center
cerebr/o	brain	Latin	cerebral – pertaining to the brain; cerebrate – to use the brain; cerebrospinal – pertaining to the brain and the spinal cord
chron/o	time	Greek	chronic – lasting for a long time; chronological – arranging events in time order, synchronize – happening at the same time
celer	fast	Latin	accelerate – to increase the speed of; decelerate – to reduce the speed of
circum, circle	around, about	Latin	circumference– the distance around ; circumscribe – to draw around; circumspect – looking around
claim, clam	shout, speak out	Latin	clamour – to shout and make noise; exclaim – to loudly cry out suddenly; proclamation – something announced officially in public
cide, cise	cut, kill	Latin	homicide – murder; incisor – a sharp tooth for cutting food; insecticide – a chemical used to kill insects
cline	lean	Latin	inclination – a leaning toward; incline – a surface that slopes or leans; recline – to lean back and relax
caust, caut	to burn	Latin Greek	cauterize – to burn with a hot instrument; caustic – capable of burning or eating away; holocaust – total devastation, especially by fire
clud, clus	close	Latin	conclusion – the end or last part; exclusion – shutting out, rejecting; seclude – to keep away from; to isolate
cede, ceed, cess	go, yield	Latin	exceed – to go beyond the limits; recede – to go back; accessible – easily entered, approached, or obtained;
Col	together, jointly	Latin	collaborate – to work together; collision – smashing together; colloquial – words formed by everyday interaction
capt, cept, ceive	take, hold	Latin	intercept – to stop or interrupt; perceive – to take notice of something; captivating – taking hold of
corp/o	body	Latin	corporation – a company recognized by law as a single body; corpse – a dead body; corporal – pertaining to the body
cosm/o	universe	Greek	cosmonaut – a Russian astronaut; cosmos – the universe; microcosm – a miniature universe
cranio	skull	Greek	craniology – the study of skull characteristics; cranium – skull of vertebrates; cranial – pertaining to the skull
cred	believe	Latin	credence – belief that something is true or valid; credulous – believing things too easily, gullible; incredible – unbelievable
cruc	cross	Latin	crucial-characteristic of or having the form of a cross ; crucifix– the cross itself as a Christian emblem; excruciating- so intense as to cause great pain or anguish
cogn/i	know	Latin	cognition – process of acquiring knowledge; incognito – disguised so no one knows you; recognize – to discover that one knows

How should you learn using List of Root Words?

We hope the detailed list of root words provided to you really helped you in understanding, remembering and using the above mentioned list of word roots you can easily build up your word knowledge and enhance your vocabulary.