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Latin words in English

A-Z of English Words with Latin Origins

Hi there EnglishXP readers, I hope your momentum to improve your English fluency has not waned. I have a quick one for you today. I was working on a website and I had to use some placeholder text. Anyone that is into web development or graphic arts would be familiar with the “Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit” type text. Some trivia for you. It turns out that the words are not meaningless. This interesting article explains its origins. Anyway, I thought about all the Latin terms used from my favorite one ceteris paribus which means all things being equal to persona non grata which means someone who is not to be reckoned with.  I decided to share a list of the most popular Latin words with English derivatives. This list is certainly unexhaustive. I hope you enjoy it.

A)     Abdomen:

Origin

“abdomin-“

Meaning

Belly

Other uses

abdominal, abdominous

B)  Benefactor:

Origin

“ben”

Meaning

‘well’

Other uses

Benefactor, Benefit, Benign

C)      Camera:

Origin

“Camer-“

Meaning

“Vault”

Other uses

Camera, Bicameral

D)      Dexterous:

Origin

“dextr-)

Meaning

‘right’

Usage

Ambidextrous, dexterity

E)      Exterior:

Origin

“Exter”

Meaning

“Outer”

Other uses

External, Extreme

F)       Fungus:

Origin

“fung-”

Meaning

“mushroom”

Other uses

Fungal, fungicidal

G)     Generate

Origin

“Gener-“

Meaning

Birth, offspring

Other uses

Generic, generous

H)     Herbivore

Origin

“herb-“

Meaning

Grass

Other uses

Non-herbal, herbicide

I)        Human

Origin

“homin-“

Meaning:

Man or human being 

Other uses:

Inhuman, homage

J)        Jocular

Origin

“joc-“

Meaning:

Jest

Other uses

Jocular, joke

L)       Lacuna

Origin

“lac-“

Meaning:

“hollow”

Other uses

 Lacuna, lake

M)    Magnificent

Origin

“magn-“

Meaning:

“big”

Other uses

Magnate, magnitude

N)     Neutral

Origin

“neutr-”

Meaning:

“neither”

Other uses

Neutral, neuter

O)     Opaque

Origin

“opac”

Meaning:

“Shady”, “Not Transparent”

Other uses

Opacity, Opaque

P)      Particular

Origin

“part-”

Meaning

“piece”

Other uses

Counterpart, `particle

Q)     Quarter

  Origin

      “quart-“

  Meaning:

      “fourth”

  Other uses

      Quartile, squad

R)      Primrose

Origin

“ros-“

Meaning:

“rose” 

Other uses

Primrose. Rosette

S)       Sauce

Origin

“sal-”

Meaning

“salt”

Other uses

Desalinate, salsa

T)      Terminate

Origin

“termin-“

Meaning

“boundary”

Other uses

Determinant, terminator

U)     Ulcer

Origin

“ulcer-”

Meaning

“sore”

Other uses

Ulcerous, ulcerate

V)      Vanity

Origin

“van-“

Meaning

“empty”

Other uses

Vanish, vaunt      

   

  

I hope you enjoyed this article and put any new words you learnt to use. If you found it useful, I encourage you to share it with your loved ones. I have many more articles like this guiding you on your path to English fluency. From an English learning roadmap to the reviews on the English learning programs you can take.