ROOTS · The DNA of English words

Don’t memorise words.
Learn roots.

Over 60% of English words are built from Latin and Greek roots. Master one root and you read, remember, and even guess a whole family of words.

con-together, with
+
structbuild, construct, arrange
=construct
To build or assemble something (v.); something constructed or a concept (n.) click a block to dive in
COURSES · Guided paths

One path — learn it, practice it, keep it

One root per lesson — its story, its word family, and a quiz to lock it in. Follow a path to the end, own the families.

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Or, explore on your own

By root cluster, or by word list

No course required — roots and words are two angles on the same vocabulary: learn by family, or by exam target. Either path is yours.

By root cluster

Master one root, unlock a family

Understand one root, unlock a whole family. 596 roots sorted by output — learn deeper, read further.

Explore 596 roots
By word list

Target the exam, word by word

Bring a goal — pick an exam word list and learn one by one. Every list can switch into "by root" view at any time.

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ROOTS · The method

English isn’t a pile of isolated words —
it’s built from roots + affixes.

Over 60% of English words — and nearly 90% of academic and scientific vocabulary — rest on Latin and Greek roots. Understand the wiring, and word learning changes for good.

Remember deeper

Know port = "to carry", and import / export / transport all click — meaning, not memorisation.

Grow faster

Learn one root, claim a whole family. One port carries 131 words — your vocabulary compounds.

Crack long words

Strip prefix + root from an unknown long word and you already have the gist. No more freezing on the test.

Root page · in full

One root,
told in full

Not just a one-line gloss. Every root gets a full etymology, memory hook, and family map.

Etymology story — from Latin portāre to modern use
Memory tip — one line that stitches the family together
Family map — see every derivative at once
Related / confusable roots — fer, gest, part side by side
Deep dives on the most important words
Read the st page
stLatin

stand, set, place

From Latin stāre (to stand) and sistere (to cause to stand), with variant forms sist- and stat-. One of Latin's most fundamental roots — it underlies standing firm (resist, consistent), helping to stand (assist), and organized standing (system, systematize). Compounds are built by prefixes: against (resist), beside (assist), together (consistent).

Memory tip

Every st-/sist-/stat- word hides a person *standing*. Picture where they stand: resist = stand *against*, consist = stand *together*, assist = stand *beside* to help, exist = stand *out* into being, status = the *position* you stand in.

Start from the building blocks

Featured roots

Each root carries dozens of English words. Explore all 596 and grow your vocabulary naturally.

All 596

st

Latin

From Latin stāre (to stand) and sistere (to cause to stand), with variant forms sist- and stat-. One of Latin's most fundamental roots — it underlies standing firm (resist, consistent), helping to stand (assist), and organized standing (system, systematize). Compounds are built by prefixes: against (resist), beside (assist), together (consistent).

376 words

fac

Latin

From Latin facere (to make, do) and its past participle factum. One of the most fundamental roots in English, with variants fec-, fic-, fit-. Produces fact (a thing done), factory (a place for making), manufacture (make by hand), artifact (something made with skill), and factor (one who does/makes). Prefixes create endless combinations: per-fect, de-fect, ef-fect.

273 words

cap

Latin

From Latin capere (to take, seize) and its past participle captum. One of English's most prolific roots with many variant forms: ceiv- (receive, deceive), cept- (concept, exception), cip- (participate), cup- (occupy). Prefixes determine what is taken: ac- toward (accept), ex- out (except), re- back (receive), per- through (perceive).

163 words

gen

Latin

From Latin genus (birth, race, kind) and Greek genos. One of the most productive roots in English, spanning genetics (gene, genetic, transgenic), creation (genesis, generate), classification (genre, genus), and destruction by kind (genocide). The gn- variant appears in cognate and benign. Prefixes and suffixes endlessly extend this root: carcinogen, androgen, autogenous.

140 words

sp

Latin

From Latin specere (to look at, observe), past participle spectum. One of English's most prolific Latin roots, with many variant forms: spec-, spect-, spic-. Produces special (worth looking at), aspect (how something looks from a direction), respect (look back at, regard), suspect (look from below, distrust), inspect (look into), perspective, spectacle.

131 words

lect

Latin

From Latin legere (to gather, pick, choose, read), past participle lectus. The core image is picking things up one by one. From 'gathering' came 'choosing' (select, elect) and, by a beautiful leap, 'reading' (running your eyes along a line, picking up letters one after another: lecture, legible, legend). Prefixes steer it: col- (together) collect, se- (apart) select, e- (out) elect, neg- (not) neglect.

128 words

biology

gkcet4ky

The scientific study of living organisms

Root breakdown
biolife, living things
+
log
+
-ystudy of, science of

bio (life) + log (study, word) + -y = 'the study of life.' This is the template for the whole family: put bio- in front of a field name and you get the life-science version of it. biochemistry, biophysics, biotechnology all follow the same recipe.

Word page · more than a gloss

Every word,
fully unpacked

From breakdown to origin, from collocation to nuance — every entry is a real explanation, not a single translated line.

Bilingual definition + UK / US pronunciation
Root breakdown — every piece links into its root
Why this meaning — the path from root to sense
Forms · derivatives · synonym comparison
Common collocations + real examples
Confusable word notes — X vs Y at a glance
Read the biology entry
Guides · Show the way

Not sure where to start?

Curated paths that string scattered roots into a system. Start here — read as you learn.

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Your vocabulary

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