The Vocabulary of Vocabulary

Parts of Words

Synonym: (n) Latin. a word having the same or nearly the same meaning as another word (happy-joyful)

Antonym: (n) Latin. a word opposite in meaning to another word.

Homonym: (n) Latin. a word that is both a homophone (heir/air-same sound) and a homograph (same spelling) but different in meaning.

Prefix: (n) Old Middle English. a word placed before another word or another prefix to modify a word’s meaning. (un-, re-, pro-)

Suffix: (n) Latin. a word added to the end of a word. (-ly, -ed, -ing)

Analogy: (n) Greek. a similarity between like features of two things, on which a comparison may be based:heart is like pump as computer is like machine

Roots:(n) Greek. The source or

origin of a word.

Homograph: (n) Latin. a word of the same written form as another but of different meaning & usually origin, whether pronounced the same way or not, (bear “to carry; support” and bear “animal” or lead “to conduct” and lead “metal.”).

Connotation: (n) Latin. something suggested or implied by a word rather than its dictionary meaning. Small = compact (connotation). Pudgy = fat (connotation)

Denotation: (n). Latin. the dictionary meaning or direct meaning of a word. Wind = air in natural motion