How do you find the root of a word?

lanfranco

There is no hard and fast rule for this -- it takes practice and familiarity with prefixes and suffixes. That comes over time -- lots of reading, vocabulary tests, and looking words up in the dictionary or on online sites, if you prefer those. After a while, you can analyze a word, separating out the prefixes and suffixes and zeroing in on the root. For example, if you see the word "ursine," you should know that "ine" is a common suffix and that the root is "urs." It comes from Latin "ursus" for "bear," so the word means "of or having to do with bears," or "bear-like." I repeat, practice is all. Sep 13 07, 4:43 PM

myrab51

You can also cheat until you get better at it :D There is an online etymology dictionary at: http://www.etymonline.com/index.php Example from the site: etymology 1398, from Gk. etymologia, from etymon "true sense" (neut. of etymos "true," related to eteos "true") + logos "word." In classical times, of meanings; later, of histories. Latinized by Cicero as veriloquium. Sep 13 07, 5:03 PM

queproblema

I'm not sure if you mean etymological roots here or not, but they are found in the same way you find English roots. Example: the English root word of "unfailingly" is "fail." It's pretty hard to FIND an etymological root if you don't KNOW basic Latin and Greek roots, as well as French, Anglo-Saxon, etc. So you would want to familiarize yourself with those roots. Any good bookstore will have resources for you. If I'm not supposed to endorse a product, please delete, but I've used this with elementary students: http://www.cunepress.com/cunepress/ordering/nonfiction-practical/033-eftru.htm This is an old stand-by for adults: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/imageviewer.asp?ean=9780671741907 One "product" I'm sure I'm allowed to endorse is Word Wizard, here on this site, as well as many of the quizzes. http://www.funtrivia.com/word/ http://www.funtrivia.com/quizzes/humanities/english/etymology.html Sep 13 07, 7:08 PM

davejacobs

Surely the first place to look (if you can't simply work it out) is an etymological dictionary, whether on line or an actual book. For instance I have on my shelf behind me "The Concise Dictionary of English Etymology" by Walter W Skeat. Many dictionaries like the Oxford Dictionary also give the derivation as part of the definition of a word. Sep 14 07, 1:32 AM