Vocabulary from Latin and Greek

Roots

Unit 14

Unit 14 Roots

Loc Latin Locus Place

Locus In Lieu Of Allocate

Pos Latin Ponere, Positum To put, place

Apposite Interpose Composite

Unit 14 Roots

Top Greek Topos Place

Utopian Dystopian Topical

Thet, Them Greek Thetos = Placed Thema = Thing

placed or set

Anathema Epithet

Latin Locus Place

Root: Loc

N. Specific place; especially, the center of an

activity or event The lovely stretch of beach was the locus of

the party scene in Linville.

Locus

Adv. Phrase In place of The victim’s family asked that money be sent

to a favorite charity in lieu of flowers.

In lieu of

V. To set aside for a special purpose The volunteers were stunned to learn that tax

monies allocated for charitable purposes had been used to pay for the new stadium.

Synonym: earmarked

Allocate

Latin Ponere, Positum To put, place

Root: Pos

Adj. Relevant or appropriate We could always count on Joe to come up with

the most apposite headline for an article. Synonym: pertinent

Apposite

V. To come between verbally; to insert a remark When his younger brothers began boasting of

the way they had fought off the wild animals all by themselves, Jeff quietly interposed that the older children had helped as well.

Interpose

N. A combination; a blend The innovative new school was actually a

composite of several previous education models.

Synonym: mixture

Composite

Greek Topos Place

Root: Top

Adj. Of an ideal nature; model The utopian community Kristen described

turned out to be the product of someone’s get-rich-quick scheme.

Synonym: idealistic

Utopian

Adj. Nightmarish; grim As the policeman told the story, he evoked

images of a dystopian society in which everyone was at war.

Dystopian

Adj. Dealing with current subject matter; relevant The late-night talk show host filled her

opening monologue with topical jokes.

Topical

Greek Thetos = Placed Thema = Thing placed or set

Root: Thet, Them

N. Something hated or strongly avoided Charging patients extra fees for services they

had not requested was anathema to the decent-hearted young doctor.

Anathema

N. A phrase or term that describes something or

someone The teacher was fond of a particular epithet

for Matthew, and it was not at all complimentary.

Epithet