Language/English/Vocabulary/Latin-Greek-Hybrid-Words
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Hello English learners 😀
In today's lesson, we will study some Latin/Greek hybrid words.
Many prefixes and suffixes in English are of Latin or Greek origin.
Some English words contain both a part of Greek origin and a part of Latin origin. We call them "hybrid words".
Here are a few examples:
| Hybrid word | Greek | Latin | Meaning | Origin | Non hybrid word |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antacid | ἀντι- (anti-) | acidus "acid" | this term dates back to 1732. | ||
| Aquaphobia | φοβία (phobia) "fear" | aqua "water" | this term is distinguished from the non-hybrid word hydrophobia, which can refer to symptoms of rabies. | ||
| Asexual | prefix a- "without" | sexus "sex" | |||
| Automobile | αὐτός (autos) "self" | mobilis "moveable" | |||
| Biathlon | ἆθλον (athlon) meaning "contest" | bis meaning "twice" | diathlon | ||
| Bigamy | γάμος (gamos) meaning "wedlock" | bis meaning "twice" | this term dates back to the 13th century. | ||
| Bigram | γράμμα (gramma) | bis meaning "twice" | digram | ||
| Chiral | χείρ (kheir) "hand" | adjectival suffix -ālis | The term was coined in 1894. | ||
| Bioluminescence | βίος (bios) "life" | lumen "light" | |||
| Chloroform | χλωρός (khlōros) "pale green" | formica "ant" (indicating formic acid here) | The term first appeared in 1830s. | ||
| Claustrophobia | φόβος (phobos) meaning "fear" | claustrum meaning "confined space" | This term was coined in 1879. | ||
| Democide | δῆμος (dēmos) "people" | cida "-killer" | |||
| Divalent | δύο (duo) meaning "two" | valens meaning "strong" | bivalent | ||
| Dysfunction | δυσ- (dys-) meaning "bad" | functio | |||
| Electrocution | ἤλεκτρον (ēlektron), "amber" | exsequere, "follow out" | a portmanteau of electricity | ||
| Eusociality | εὖ (eu) "good" | socialitas | |||
| Geostationary | γῆ (gē) meaning "Earth" | stationarius, from statio, from stare meaning "to stand" | |||
| Genocide | γένος (genos) meaning "race, people" | cīdere meaning "to kill" | |||
| Heteronormative | ἕτερος (heteros) meaning "different" | nōrma (via French norme) meaning "norm" | |||
| Hexadecimal | Greek ἕξ (hex), meaning "six" | decimus meaning "tenth" | sedecimal | ||
| Heterosexual | Greek ἕτερος (heteros) meaning "different" or "other" | sexus meaning "sex" | |||
| Hexavalent | Greek ἕξ (hex), meaning "six" | valens, meaning "strong" | |||
| Homosexual | ὁμός (homos) meaning "same" | sexus meaning "sex" | This example is remarked on in Tom Stoppard's The Invention of Love, with A. E. Housman's character saying "Homosexuals? Who is responsible for this barbarity?...It's half Greek and half Latin!". | ||
| Hypercomplex | ὑπέρ (hyper) meaning "over" | complexus meaning "an embrace" | |||
| Hyperactive | ὑπέρ (hyper) meaning "over" | activus | |||
| Hypercorrection | ὑπέρ (hyper) meaning "over" | correctio | |||
| Hyperextension | ὑπέρ (hyper) meaning "over" | extensio meaning "stretching out" | superextension | ||
| Hypervisor | ὑπέρ (hyper) meaning "over" | visor meaning "seer" | This word is distinguished from the non-hybrid word supervisor, which is software that manages multiple user programs; a hypervisor is software that manages multiple virtual machines | supervisor | |
| Liposuction | λίπος (lipos) meaning "fat" | suctio meaning "sucking" | |||
| Mattergy | ἐνέργεια (energeia, "energy") | materia ("material") | a "word for interchangeable matter and energy". Adjectival form: "matergetic". | ||
| Macroinstruction | μακρος (makros) meaning "long" | instructio | |||
| Mega-annum | μέγας (megas), meaning "large" | annum, "year" | |||
| Meritocracy | -κρατία (-kratia), meaning "government" | meritus meaning "deserved" | |||
| Microinstruction | μικρός (mikros) meaning "small" | instructio | |||
| Metadata | μετά (meta) | data meaning "given" from dare | |||
| Microvitum | μικρος (mikros) meaning "small" | pseudo-Latin vitum, from vita meaning "life" | |||
| Monolingual | μόνος (monos) meaning "only" | lingua meaning "tongue" | unilingual | ||
| Monoculture | μόνος (monos) meaning "only" | cultura | |||
| Multigraph | γραφή (graphē) | multus "many" | the non-hybrid word would be polygraph, but that is generally used with a different meaning | polygraph | |
| Neuroscience | νεῦρον (neuron), meaning "sinew" | scientia, from sciens, meaning "having knowledge" | |||
| Neonate | νέος (neos), "new" | natus, "birth" | |||
| Neurotransmitter | νεῦρον (neuron), meaning "sinew" | trans, meaning "across" and mittere meaning "to send" | |||
| Nonagon | γωνία (gōnia) meaning "angle" | nonus meaning "ninth" | enneagon | ||
| Oleomargarine | margarites meaning "pearl-like" | oleum meaning "beef fat" | |||
| Periglacial | περί (perí) | glaciālis | |||
| Pandeism | παν (pan) meaning "all" | deus meaning "god" | pantheism | ||
| Petroleum | πέτρα (petra), meaning "rock" | oleum, meaning "oil" | |||
| Polyamory | πολύς (polýs) meaning "many" | amor meaning "love" | |||
| Polydeism | πολύς (polýs) meaning "many" | deus meaning "god" | polytheism | ||
| Quadraphonic | φωνικός (phōnikós), from φωνή (phōnḗ) meaning sound | quattuor meaning four | tetraphonic | ||
| Quadriplegia | πληγή (plēgḗ) "stroke", from πλήσσειν (plḗssein) meaning "to strike" | quattuor meaning four | tetraplegia | ||
| Sociopath | (-pathes) meaning "sufferer" from πάθος páthos meaning "incident", "suffering", or "experience" | socius from sociare meaning "to associate with" | |||
| Sociology | λόγος (lógos) meaning "word", "reason", "discourse" | socius, "comrade" | |||
| Television | τῆλε (tēle) meaning "far" | visio meaning "seeing", from videre meaning "to see" | |||
| Tonsillectomy | εκτέμνειν (ektémnein), "to cut out" | tonsillae "tonsils" | |||
| Vexillology | suffix -λογία (-logia), meaning "study" | vexillum, meaning "flag" |
Source[edit | edit source]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hybrid_word
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