rog

The root rog comes from Latin rogāre, 'to ask.' But this was no ordinary asking. In the Roman Republic, the most important kind of rogāre happened in the public assembly: a magistrate would stand before the citizens and put a proposed law to them, asking, 'Do you wish it, do you command it?' That formal request was a rogatio — a bill. So from the very start, rog lived in the world of law, politics, and authority. To ask was to propose; to propose was to legislate.

This political DNA explains the whole family, and you can read each word by combining the prefix with 'ask/propose':

- inter- (between, back and forth) + rogāre → interrogate: to ask someone again and again. The 'between/repeatedly' force turned plain questioning into relentless questioning — an interrogation.
- prae- (before, first) + rogāre → prerogative: literally 'asked before others.' In Rome, certain tribes (the praerogativa) voted first, and their lead often decided the rest. The right to be consulted first became the right that belongs to you alone — a privilege of rank or office.
- sub- (in place of, under) + rogāre → surrogate: to propose someone to stand in place of another. The Latin surrogare meant to name a substitute, especially a replacement official. Today a surrogate stands in for a parent, a teacher, or a missing person.
- ab- (away) + rogāre → abrogate: to propose a law away — to repeal it entirely. de- (down, partly) + rogāre → derogate: to propose a law down — to weaken or partially repeal it. From 'chipping away at a law' came the everyday sense of belittling someone: derogatory remarks chip away at a person's standing.
- ad- (to, toward oneself) + rogāre → arrogate: to ask something to yourself — to claim a right you have no business claiming. The same verb, arrogāre, gives us arrogant: a person who arrogates importance to himself, who takes for granted that he deserves more.
- pro- (forward, prolong) + rogāre → prorogue: originally 'to ask for an extension,' now to suspend (prolong the recess of) a parliamentary session without dissolving it.

The through-line: every rog word is a kind of formal request or proposal made to power. Interrogators demand answers, prerogatives demand precedence, abrogation demands repeal, the arrogant demand more than their share. Once you see rog as 'to put a formal question/proposal,' the family stops looking like random hard words and starts looking like a courtroom and a senate.