It’s wonderful to peruse the Latin dictionary in order to review those root words from which so many English words are derived. We can see that our language truly goes back long before Old English was spoken or written. Additionally, we can see how Latin began much earlier than it was used in the Roman empire. As a member of the Indo-European languages, it is a “younger cousin” to many other ancient languages.
One can see the family resemblance when one looks at how many commonly used words are so similar. For example, the word for “mother” is “mater” in Latin, “matar” in Sanskrit, “meter” in Greek, and “mathair” in Irish. Thousands of other words are similarly related. As we continue through our list of Latin root words beginning with “a,” keep in mind that these words go back thousands of years, and even farther with their ancient root sources. Each word carries with it an amazing history! (Welcome to Manuscribit, a unique way to learn English grammar through the Latin. It’s best to begin with the first post and work your way through. I want to remind new readers that while these lessons were created during the pandemic for homebound parents to teach to their children, they can be understand and taught by anyone at anytime. There is never a charge for subscription.)
alacritas: Promptness, liveliness, joy, rapture alacritous, alacrity
albus: White, bright alb*, albite, albinism, albino (In the Catholic Church, an alb is a white tunic worn by the priest underneath the vestments when celebrating Mass.)
alia, alias: In another way, at another time alias
alibi: Elsewhere, otherwise alibi
alienare, alienus: To transfer or estrange, of another alien, alienate
alimentum: Nourishment, food alimentary
alimonium: Supplementation alimony
alter, alternare: The other, to do by turns alter, alteration, alternate, alternative
altus: High, deep altimeter, altitude
alucinatus: To talk wildly, To have one’s mind wander hallucinate, hallucination
amare: To love amiable, amorous
ambigere, ambiguus: To be in doubt or wander about, changeable or unreliable ambiguity, ambiguous Note that this comes directly from the Greek prefix ambi which means “both sides,” and used in words like ambidextrous.
ambire, ambitiosus: This literally means “to go round in circles” but was figuratively used in Latin to mean “to court for favor.” Similarly, the adjective was used to mean ostentatious or long-winded. In politics, it meant to go around canvassing for votes. One can see how this eventually came to mean ambitious—one who went above and beyond to achieve a particular goal. ambit (a circuit), ambition, ambitious.
amicus: Friend amicable, amity
amplificare, amplus: To increase or make larger, abundant ample, amplification, amplify
amputare: To cut off amputate, amputation
ancilla: Servant ancillary
anquirere: To search for enquiry, inquire
antiquus: Ancient, old antiquated, antique
anxius: Troubled, disquieted anxiety, anxious
apparere: To come into sight appear, appearance
aptare: To fit apt, aptitude
aqua: Water aquarium, aquatic, aqueous (and many more)
arbitror: To be a witness of arbiter, arbitrate
arbor: Tree arboreal, arboreous, arboretum
argentus: Of silver argentine
arguere: To prove, make known argue, argument, argumentative
aspirare: To breathe, to blow aspiration, aspire, aspiring
audire: To hear audible, audio, audit, auditorium (and many more)
augere: To increase or enrich augment, augmentation
aureus: Gold or golden, glowing aura, aureate
avertere: To turn aside aversion, avert
These are just some of the many words to be found under this letter. In the next post, we will cover words under the letter “b.” Until then, may God’s peace be with you.