Latin Roots: The Building Blocks of English

Over 60% of English words come from Latin. Once a student learns common Latin roots, they can unlock the meaning of hundreds of English words and make better guesses at unfamiliar vocabulary.

Latin roots are core word-pieces that Latin contributes to English vocabulary, like aqua for water, scrib or script for write, and port for carry.

Latin roots strengthen vocabulary across science, history, literature, and test preparation because many academic English words preserve their Latin building blocks.

High-yield roots include port for carry, spec or spect for look, scrib or script for write, dict for say, aqua for water, terra for earth, vid or vis for see, and rupt for break.

Yes. Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, and Romanian descend from Latin, so many roots appear across those languages with spelling and sound changes.

Latin roots come from classical Latin and dominate everyday English and law, while Greek roots are especially common in science and medicine.