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Contributor: Allison Crews. Lesson ID: 13518
Many words have common word parts, and from those parts (known as roots), many other words bloom. In this lesson, you'll learn about common Greek roots to improve your academic vocabulary.
Some common ones include claustrophobia, arachnophobia, acrophobia, and hydrophobia.
Phobia is a Greek root that means fear.
You may have guessed some of these common phobias based on the prefix (word part at the beginning of the word).
For example, hydro means water. This is a widespread Greek root used in words like hydration, hydraulic, and hydroelectric.
This lesson will help you recognize common Greek roots and expand your academic vocabulary!
You just saw examples of words with a common root.
Imagine root words as tree roots. From those roots, the tree grows branches and branches of different words.
When decoding words you've never encountered before (or don't know the meaning of), having a strong knowledge of word roots can help you figure out at least an idea of the word's meaning.
Knowing word roots also helps to expand your academic vocabulary, which makes reading information texts much easier.
Before diving into the list of common Greek roots in this lesson, see how well you can identify words that share a common root.
Drag each of the words below into the box with its root word.
Take a look at the word groups above again.
Keep reading to see if your guesses are correct!
The 12 words in that practice exercise share four common roots. Countless words share roots, and many of them come from Greek and Latin.
Here is a list of 25 common Greek roots.
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If you feel as wise as Athena about these Greek roots, click through to Got It? and test your knowledge!
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