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1.0: Sanskrit/Hindi Roots Its said that Sanskrit and Vedic civilization are the mothers of respectively all the languages and

cultures in the world, a fact that gets validated when one studies the amazing similarities between

Sanskrit and English. A simple case in point is the days of the week:

In Sanskrit/ Hindi, Sunday is ravivar (ravi means Sun); Monday is somvar (som is moon in Sanskrit

written as mon in Monday); Tuesday is mangalvar (mangal and tue is planet Mars); Wednesday is

budhvar (budh and wedn is planet mercury); Thursday is guruvar (guru and thurs is Jupiter); Friday

is shukravar (shukra and fri is Venus); Saturday is shanivar (both shani and satur is Saturn).

Another case in point is the name of the South American country Argentina. Argen in Argentina is

nothing but Sanskrit word Arjun. Arjun means something white as silver; Argentina was named so

after Europeans found abundance of silver reserves at that place in the 17th century. In fact the root

arg is used in many languages to mean silver. Moreover the chemical symbol of silver is ag only!

Further, the official Chinese language "mandarin" is from the Sanskrit word mantri, meaning

minister. This language is so named because it was originally used as a language of the Chinese

empire to be spoken only by the empires officials/ministers.

Many other such discoveries on Sanskrit as the origin to other languages is underway.

This chapter is divided into two sections: section one consists of those Sanskrit/ Hindi words which

give rise to many English words and section two consists of those through which only one/ two

English words are made.

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SECTION-1

1. AGNI

Sanskrit word Agni, meaning fire, is used in English language in many different words.

For instance ignite and igneous; IGNI of both these words is nothing but agni; ite and eous are

suffixes added to them. Ignite means to produce fire and Igneous means something connected to fire,

produced by fire. AGNI becomes Agony

i. Agony Since time immemorial fire has been the symbol of violence, struggle, intense

emotions and even pain and suffering. Thats why agony means pain, suffering,

emotional excitement, struggle, violence etc.

Poor chap was agonized with the itching that he was doing since morning.

ii. Agonist It is used for a person or a thing in agony i.e. in pain, suffering, struggle etc. It is also

used for muscles in pain. It can even be used for competitors as they are in

competition or conflict with somebody else; somebody who starts a conflict/

struggle.

Take care of your agonist muscle.

iii. Protagonist This word is a combination of proto and agony. Since proto means first as in proto

type, proto model etc, protagonist means the first person in agony. But with time it

has only been used for first person in struggle or conflict i.e. a person who starts the

struggle or the one who is the leader of the struggle. With time it has evolved to mean

the leading/main character in drama, movies, clubs, organizations or literary anything

depicting some struggle.

Mangal Pandey was the protagonist of the Indian freedom struggle as he started it

in 1857 and Gandhi was a protagonist as he was the most important leader.

iv. Antagonist In this word agonist is preceded by the prefix anti meaning against. So antagonist

means a person who goes against the protagonist or the struggle movement. In short it

means the villain.

Osama Bin Laden has been the worlds most notorious antagonists in these times.

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2. AMBER

In Sanskrit amber means sky. Amber is used in English in the form of UMBRA. As sky is nothing

but a huge cover, a shadow over the planet Earth, Umbra, in a lot of languages including English,

is connected to a cover or a shadow only.

Umbrella- a device which covers us or provides us shadow from rain or sun- is also made on

this root only.

The following words will either be connected to cover or shadow.

i. Penumbra This word is a combination of pen and umbra. Pen means almost

or partial, so penumbra means the partial or imperfect shadow that

exists on the boundary of the main/ complete shadow or the lighter

outring of the main shadow.

They have a penumbra of agents, lawyers and image-makers.

ii. Umbre This means a shadowy figure, which further means a shadowy

appearance such as a ghost.

Many reported seeing umbers in the nearby forest.

UMBER as characteristics of shadow iii. Umbrage Since shadow is dark and darkness is connected to negativity, casting shadow

on somebody would mean casting negativity such as of suspicion, doubt,

hostility, offence, annoyance, displeasure on somebody.

She took umbrage at her neighbors inquiries about her sons

imprisonment.

iv. Somber This word is a combination of sub and umbra. However, with time the word got

compressed to its present form. The presence of sub doesnt change the meaning much.

This word refers to the characteristics of a shadow: gloomily dark, dimly lighted, dull,

extremely serious.

The guard resides in a somber looking cottage at the main entrance to the cemetery.

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3. DENT/DANT

Dent is a Sanskrit word meaning tooth.

Simple words such as Dentist the doctor of teeth and Denture artificial set of teeth are made on

this root only.

DENT as gap, hole etc

Digging teeth can create a mark or a gap at the point of contact.

Thats why following words take into account this effect of teeth. For instance

dent; it means a hollow or depression in a surface, as from a blow or a mark of

injury.

i. Indentation It is a variant of dent and it simple means a ditch, gap, notch, recess etc.

The logo of the famous brand is an apple with an indentation.

ii. Indent It is the verb from of Indentation. It means to create a dent, notch, gap

etc. Micro soft word uses indent as a tool to create gaps as shown in the

adjoining figure.

DENT as control

Digging teeth into something signifies binding or taking control of that object. Imagine a tiger having

dug its teeth in the body of the deer!

iii. Indenture The word means to bind as in an official contract, deed or written agreement.

For instance someone binded by an official contract to serve in an organization

for a year is essentially under the control of that organization for that particular

period. A copy of an old indenture is shown in the adjoining picture.

I was forced to sign an indenture before I could join them.

The government has banned indented labor across the country.

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4. JANAM

Janam is birth and Janana is the giving of birth in Sanskrit. Jan is the word

root which is used as GEN in English with the meaning of birth, origin,

creation etc.

The simplest of the words on GEN is Genes a basic physical unit of heredity

which gets transferred to the newly born from the parents. In fact the word

Genius is also made from this root only. It originally meant a person who has

ability to create a new thing. Now it means an exceptional natural capacity for

anything creative.

All the following words are connected to birth, origin etc.

i. Genesis It means creation, origin or beginning.

The genesis of the problem started last year when we noticed some problem in

the accounts.

ii. Genitals These are the organs that help in the process of reproduction or birth.

Genitals of all animals are covered with pubic hair.

iii. Congenital It refers to a disease, mark, habit or any other thing from the time of birth.

However the use of the prefix con is unexplainable.

Most of his habits are congenital. He hasnt learnt anything from the family.

iv. Progeny Pro means forward, so progeny means to produce or give birth

forward which directly means future generations or off springs.

He wants his progeny to enter the same field of profession as his.

v. Progenitor It is the producer of progeny i.e. the parents.

Hindus maintain a record of their progenitors at Haridwar.

vi. Primogenitor Since primo is a variant of primary, this word means the primary parents

which can essentially mean the forefathers.

Apes are said to be the primogenitors of human beings.

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vii. Eugenic Eu means good, thats why eugenic means good genes i.e. good inherited characteristics.

The eugenic desire is pushing the science of selective breeding.

viii. Genealogy It is the study of birth givers or ancestors; a record or account of the ancestry and

descent of a person, family, group; the study of family ancestries and histories.

Icelanders are known for their passion for genealogy.

ix. Indigenous Indi is a variant of endo which means in, within, so indigenous means

born within. The meaning born within can be taken in two ways:

(a) Born within one self i.e. natural, inherited:

His indigenous traits are responsible for his success.

(b) Born within ones country i.e. native:

Indigenous musical instruments are still prevalent at many places.

GEN as ability to create/ invent x. Ingenious Ingenious is an extension of the word genius. Whereas genius is a person who is

talented enough to create or invent new things, ingenious is a person

characterized by cleverness, smartness of invention or creation.

Atul has turned out to be one ingenious chap who is ready with solutions to

almost anything that is asked to him.

Its not GEN The following words are though not based on Gene, but carry almost the same meaning, so it makes

sense to list them here for the sake of easy memorization.

xi. Germinate It means to begin to take birth, grow or develop.

The idea germinated when I was in London.

xii. Germinal It means the period after birth or being in earlier stages of birth.

The idea has still to go a long way; it is still in the germinal phase.

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5. JAN

Jan apart from birth also means people in Sanskrit. It has many variants such as zen, gen in

English.

For instance Citizen- the people or inhabitants of a city, state or country is derived from jan only.

i. Denizen It means inhabitant, resident or a regular visitor of a place. Den means a place where somebody

Lives such as in the case of the den of the tiger!

Each of its denizens comes through with his own particular ways and means.

ii. Netizen It means a regular visitor to the internet.

There has been a rapid increase in the number of netizens across India in the last one year.

iii. Genocide Cide means killing, as in the word suicide. Genocide means killing of specific people, race, and

ethnic group.

Hitler committed the genocide of the Jews and many other races in Europe during the 2nd world

war.

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6. KEDARNATH

According to Hindu mythology, to bless Pandavas Lord Shiva appeared in the Himalayas in the form

of a giant bull with bulls face appearing at todays Pashupatinath temple- meaning ruler of cattle- at

Kathmandu, Nepal and the lower portion at Kedarnath- a temple in the Himalayas, India.

KED in Kedarnath means bottom, lower side, back side etc. KED/CAD in English is also connected

to the meaning of being low, down, back etc.

CAD as low, down, back etc

i. Cadence In earlier times cadence was used to refer to the slight fall in the pitch of the music,

song etc. But this low pitch regains its original level. So over the years cadence has

evolved to mean rhythmic rise and fall in the sounds or beats.

Porter was impressed by what he calls the rhythm and cadence of Smith's text.

ii. Cadenza It seems to be a combination of cad and stanza. Stanza means a paragraph, so

cadenza means the end part of a paragraph, which in todays time has extended to

mean the end part of a concert, song, speech etc.

jaye hai, jaye hai, jaye hai is the cadenza of the Indias national anthem.

iii. Occident A combination of oc, a variant of ob meaning towards and cid, a variant of

cad, occident means towards the down side or the side where the sun goes

down i.e. west.

The occidental countries have Christianity as their major religion.

CAD as CAT Cad over the years has changed to Cat with original meaning of low, down, back staying intact.

iv. Cataract It means water coming down over a steep surface or simply a waterfall.

With time cataract got connected to an eye problem, which is characterized

by pouring out of water from the eye frequently.

Lets go behind the cataract and see the cave.

Oriental is the

opposite of

occidental.

Oriental means

east. China, Japan,

Korea and

sometimes India

are called oriental

nations.

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v. Catapult This word is a combination of Cat and Pull, which together means

to pull back. A lot of objects are pulled back using a rope to provide

them a push. Catapult is a tool or an instrument that does that.

Little John uses a catapult to fling little plastic birds in the air.

He has made few moves to catapult himself to star status.

vi. Cataclysm Clysm means wash, so cataclysm means to wash down. This word

has always been used for devastating floods which have the capacity to

wash down everything coming in its way. With time its use extended to

anything having the potential to destroy.

The picture depicts cataclysm in the 17th century France.

vii. Catechist This is an interesting word formed by the combination of cate and

echi. Echi is sound/noise as can be seen in echo. So this combination

means down and speak, which can be taken in the sense of sitting and

speaking. In olden times classes were conducted in the open with

students sitting on the ground while teachers sitting on an elevated

platform. So catechist refers to such teachers appointed to instruct the

students especially on religious concepts; in short a teacher.

CAD as weak, decaying, dying etc

Something going down can mean something going weak or eventually dying. For instance

deciduous- a combination of de and cid, a variant of cad- are the trees which get decayed i.e. they

shed their leaves once in a year.

viii. Decadence/Decay It is a combination of the negative prefix de, root cad and suffix ence. Thats

why decadence means to lower down or to go down in the sense of worn out,

drying up, dying etc. A decayed apple is shown in the adjoining figure.

ix. Cadaver/Cadaverous It means a dead body or anything connected to dead bodies.

Cadaver organs are required to fill the growing needs of organ

transplantation.

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7. MN

Mn in Sanskrit means mind.

In fact mind itself is derived from mn only and so is remind. Many other words in English carry this

word root.

i. Reminiscence Min here is a variant of mn or mind. Since min is preceded by the prefix re,

reminiscence means remind, recollection or coming to mind again.

The day is being marked by speeches, parties and reminiscences

ii. Amnesia This word is a combination of the negative prefix A and e root Mn, so amnesia

means without mind. The actual meaning that is accepted today is short memory

or forgetful.

Amnesia was a very popular concept in the old Hindi movies.

iii. Dementia This word is a combination of the negative prefix De and the root Mn. This

combination means without mind. Dementia, unlike amnesia, literally means

without mind or completely mad.

At the start of the study, none of the participants showed signs of dementia.

iv. Acumen This word is a combination of Acu and Mn. Acu means sharp as in acid,

acute etc, so acumen literally means sharp mind.

The girl has the right acumen to become a chess champion.

v. Maniac This is simply the root Man followed by the suffix iac. Maniac means getting

ones mind very badly on something or getting mad about something.

He is maniac about firecrackers; he can even burst them on his hands!

vi. Mnemonic In this word, the root Mn is combined with some unexplainable word emonic.

But anyhow, mnemonic means something intended to assist the memory.

There are many mnemonic devices that all of us use to easily memorize things.

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MN in Monitor Mn gives rise to another very common word in English: monitor. To monitor somebody is to

repeatedly remind him/ her about something.

v. Admonish Monish is a variant of monitor and its combination with ad means to warn,

caution, disapprove, advice, counsel etc

The man admonished his dog for barking a lot.

vi. Premonition Since pre means before, premonition means to warn beforehand, a feeling

of anticipation over a future event.

She has a premonition that she will soon die.

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2.0: English Roots Each section in this chapter starts with the reference to a simple word that is already known to the

reader. The root of this simple word is then used to further make more difficult words.

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1. AMBULANCE

This word is based on the root AMBLE, which means to walk.

The meaning of ambulance is a moving/ walking hospital.

i. Ambulatory It means pertaining to walking; able to walk etc.

This tribe has has always been ambulatory throughout its existence; it has

never stayed at one place for more than 100 years.

ii. Ramble It means to move around in a random leisurely manner without any aim.

He was rambling in the park when police came and pushed people out

of there.

iii. Somnambulant Since somn means sleep, somnambulant means to walk in sleep.

Lee has a habit of somnambulating during night; once he even got out of

the house!

iv. Preamble Since pre means before, preamble means to walk before an event, situation etc.

Preamble does not literary mean to walk, but walking here means a preliminary

action or event before the real event. It also means an introductory statement etc.

His childhood in the slums was a preamble to a life of crime.

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2. ANIMAL

This word is based on the word root ANIM which means life and its related characteristics such as

breathing, soul, spirit, mind, desires, passions, anger, feelings etc.

i. Animated It means full of life, excitement; lively etc.

Kindly dont behave in an over animated way in front of them.

Animated cartoons are the ones in which a cartoon character has

been shown moving like a living being.

ANIM as female and male energies

ii. Anima It is the female energy or the energy that is directed inside. It also refers to the

energy that connects to the soul, subconscious etc.

You can change the personality but not the anima of a person

The Delhi gang rape has proved that the collective anima of our society is

losing ground.

iii. Animus It is used for the male energy and is said to be directed outside. Since males are

considered to be more aggressive than females, animus means hostile attitude,

dislike, enmity etc. It also means strong spirit, will power, intention also as these

are the positives sides of male energy.

What began with affection or fascination turned into animus.

iv. Animosity It is directly derived from animus and means a feeling of strong dislike, ill will or

enmity. It picks up the negative side of male energy. Enemy is a variation of animosity

and means somebody opposed to you.

The animosity between India and Pakistan has taken a toll on the lives of many.

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ANIM as heart and mind As mentioned earlier Anim is also connected to heart, mind, desires, passions etc as these are very

important characteristics of life.

v. Equanimity It means equal mind, heart, spirit, feeling that essentially means being

mentally stable, calm and composed especially under pressure situations.

The customer regained her equanimity an argument with the shopkeeper.

vi. Pusillanimous Pusilla means small, thus pusillanimous means small mind, heart, spirit,

feeling etc, which essentially means lacking courage, resolution or being coward.

What will he do with such a pusillanimous nature? He is even scared of a

spider!

vii. Magnanimous Mega/Magn means big, so magnanimous means a big heart, soul and mind

i.e. a person who is generous, forgives insult, noble, highly spirited etc.

The magnanimity shown by the minister is rarely shown by others of his class.

viii. Unanimity Un means one as in Numero Uno meaning number one, so the word means

one mind, heart, soul, feeling etc which essentially means everybody agreeing

with one mind, complete agreement.

Unanimity is rarely seen in the Indian parliament.

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3. ANNUAL

The word root is ANNU/ ENNI. It means one year.

i. Biennial Since Bi means two, biennial means happening every two years or lasting

for two years.

No other team has won the biennial tournament three consecutive times.

ii. Biannual It means happening twice in a year or happening every two years.

Filling of taxes should be made a biannual thing.

iii. Millennium Milli means thousand as in millimeter, milligram etc, so this word means a

period of thousand years.

iv. Perennial Per means complete, thats why perennial means something that lasts a full year,

a meaning which has evolved to mean everlasting, continuous, recurrent etc.

Ganga is a perennial river; it flows throughout the year.

v. Annals It means annual records, or records in yearly sequence. This meaning has evolved

to simply mean historical records.

The annals of companys records are all messed up.

Your successes will be recorded in the annals of sports.

vi. Annuity It is the yearly allowance given to employees by the company.

The annuity to be paid this year is way too less.

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4. ANNOUNCE

It is based on the root NUNTIARE, NUNCIO which means a public message.

In announce prefix An is Ad which means to. So announce means to send a message to the public

or simply to send a message all throughout.

i. Annunciate It is just a variant of announce and it also means to announce.

He annunciated that he loves her.

ii. Denounce De means down. So, denounce means to put somebody down publicly.

Both the press and public have become quicker to denounce the

misbehaviour of the politician.

iii. Renounce Re means back, so the word means to go back, leave, give up and disown

something publicly.

He renounced the position after he was found guilty of misconduct.

iv. Enunciate E means out, so enunciate means to speak out publically i.e. to declare,

proclaim publicly or Say or pronounce clearly, express (something) in clear

or definite terms.

He could anticipate what people wanted, even before they could

enunciate the need.

He enunciated that he is a gay.

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5. AMIABLE

AMY is the word root of this word. Amy means love.

Thats why amiable means being lovable. It also means a person having or showing pleasant, good

natured personal qualities due to which he/she is liked or loved by all.

Amicable is a variant of amiable. It means something characterized by lovable, good natured, friendly

qualities. Whereas amiable is used for persons, amicable is used for relationships and

interactions.

He is smart and amiable, yet careful about what he says.

We have come to an amicable conclusion on all matters.

i. Amour It is used for a love affair whether secretive, illicit or open and legal.

It also means a lover.

He was angry and enraged by the knowledge of his wifes past amours.

ii. Amity It means love for one another in terms of friendship, mutual understanding, harmony etc.

Amity is required between India and Pakistan; it has been too much of hatred.

iii. Amorous It is used for love or things pertaining to love such as a letter, gift, relationship etc.

She smiled and at once he became amorous of her.

iv. Paramour It is used for any lover, especially an illicit lover and that too of a married person.

She was killed by her paramour after she refused to marry him.

v. Enamor En is In. So the word means to fill with love, to charm.

I was enamored by the beauty of the snow capped mountains,

vi. Inimical Amy is replaced by imi in this word. It is preceded by the negative

prefix in, thats why inimical means unfriendly, hostile, enemy etc. Ajays behavior was absolutely inimical towards his colleague.

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6. ATOM

The word root in this word is TOM which means to cut, divide etc.

Toms combination with the negative prefix A means not divisible and that is what atom was

thought to be when it was discovered.

However the presence of tom in the word epitome cannot be explained, though the original

meaning of the word was connected to cutting only.

i. Dichotomy Dichotomy is a combination of di, cho and tom. Since di' means

two and tom means to cut, dichotomy means to divide into two.

However the use of cho cannot be explained.

There is a dichotomy in the country on the issue of FDI in retail.

Sam is leading a dichotomous life. He goes to the office in the morning and

then becomes a student in the evening.

TOM in medical terminology ii. Tome It is used for different cutting instruments.

Microtome It is the instrument for cutting material into extremely thin

sections for examination under a microscope.

Osteotome It is the instrument for cutting bones.

iii. Entomic Entomo means insects or related to insects because the body of the insect

is cut into three distinct parts- head, neck and abdomen that are clearly visible.

Entomology means the study of insects.

iv. Anatomy It means the structure of an organism seen after cutting the body or the science

of dissecting the body. It also means dissection of all or a part of the animal

or a plant in order to study its structure; a plant or an animal which has been

dissected or a model of such an organism.

The anatomy of the optical nerve shows that how the responses travel through it.

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TOM in literature terminology

v. Tom It refers to a book that is divided into many sections. In other words tom is a

very heavy book having many different sections.

Vikram Seths book a suitable child is a tom.

vi. Etymology Tom is present in the form of tym. This word is used for the process of cutting

or breaking the words to study/ learn their word roots.

Vocab Yogi is dedicated to etymological studies

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7. AGGREGATE

This word is a combination of Ag and Greg. GREG means crowds. Since Ag is Ad meaning to,

aggregate means to crowd up or to sum up.

The aggregate of all past experiences tell me that he is a stupid man.

i. Congregate Con means together. So congregate means coming together of the

crowds i.e. huge gathering of people.

Anna Hazares movement led to a congregation of people at the

Ramlila grounds in Delhi.

ii. Gregarious It means a person who likes staying in crowds or with people i.e. an

extrovert, outgoing, fun loving person.

We invite only the gregarious ones for the dinner.

iii. Segregate The prefix Se is to separate as in sector, section etc. Segregate means

to separate from the crowd or to form categories.

Some of us mix smoothly and some choose to segregate

iv. Egregious E means exit, so egregious means to send out of the crowd. A

person is sent/thrown out of the crowd (crowd means society here) only

when the person has done something extremely bad, thats why

egregious means an extremely bad act.

The Delhi rape case was an egregious act; such criminals should be

given death penalty.

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18. CLOSE

It is used in many English words with almost the same spellings as well as in the form of CLUDE.

For instance conclude means to put to a closure or an end.

The war concluded with the USA winning.

i. Cloister It is used for closed areas such as a covered walkway, a courtyard with boundary

walls or even a quiet, silent place away from noise.

The walls of the cloister have fallen before the cries of a rising womanhood.

ii. Claustrum It is an object to close something such as a barrier, bolt etc.

The claustrum to the revival in the value of rupee is the raised interest rates

in the USA.

iii. Claustrophobia Since phobia means fear, so clausetrophobia means fear of closed places.

He doesnt like to travel by lifts as he has claustrophobia.

iv. Recluse It is used for a person who likes to close himself/ herself from the outside world i.e. people who live in

areas away from regular lifestyles.

Her life, lived as a half recluse, gave rise to all sorts of stories related her.

CLOSE as CLUDE v. Preclude Since pre means before, preclude means to close beforehand may be to avoid trouble

or anything else.

His disability precludes him to become an athlete.

vi. Occlude It means to close, shut or stop.

Such a medical condition occurs when an object gets occluded in the lungs.

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39. FIRE

Fire is used in many words in the form of the word root FER. Fire is connected to warmth, intensity,

enthusiasm etc.

i. Fervor It means having or showing great warmth or intensity of spirit, feeling,

enthusiasm etc; it also means hot, burning, glowing.

He seems to be full of fervor on this issue.

The little boy seems to have a lot of fervor to go to the school.

ii. Fervid

It is the adjective form of fervor. It also means heated in spirit, burning, glowing, high spirited etc.

The students argue these and other points with fervid intensity.

iii. Fervent It is also an adjective form of fervor and a variant of fervid. It carries the same meanings.

Its my fervent desire to climb the Mount Everest.

Its not fire iv. Furtive Contrary to what it looks like furtive is not based on fire. It is actually made on the word fur, which

means the outer layer of the skin of the animals. Since the fur of animals hide/ protect them from cold,

and heat, furtive means something done in a secretive/ hidden manner.

This job was done furtively; otherwise how could he skip these important approvals.