词根词缀：a-, an-

【来源及含义】Greek: prefix; no, absence of, without, lack of; not

【相关描述】These prefixes are normally used with elements of Greek origin, a- is used before consonants and an- is used before vowels.

It affects the meanings of hundreds of words.

There are too many words that use these prefix elements to list all of them on this site; however, there are significant examples listed in this and the other units where they exist.

【同源单词】abacterial, abaptism, abarognosis, abasia, abiocoen, abiogenesis

词根词缀：-aceous, -acea, -aceae, -aceaen, -aceus

【来源及含义】Latin: a suffix; having the quality of, of the nature of, characterized by, belonging to, resembling

【相关描述】There are hunderds of words that utilize the -aceous suffix which are not shown here; however, the following will present important examples.

A suffix that forms adjectives and is used with technical combinations, especially in biological terms: "pertaining or belonging to, of the nature of, or characterized by; to be full of, to possess abundantly". The suffix -acea usually denotes "orders and classes in zoology" while the suffix -aceae usually denotes "orders and families in botany" and -aceaen is used to denote members of "orders of the animal kingdom".

【同源单词】acanthaceous, -aceous, alliaceous, ampullaceous, amygdalaceous, amylaceous

词根词缀：-acity

【来源及含义】Latin: suffix; quality of

【相关描述】A suffix that forms nouns of quality or state. There are hundreds of other -acity suffixes; however, the following will present significant examples.

【同源单词】audacity, bellacity, bibacity, capacity, carnivoracity, contumacity

词根词缀：aeolo-, aeol-

【来源及含义】Latin: air, wind; rapid, quick

【相关描述】The combining form aeolo- is used to denote musical-wind instruments; however, it also refers to "air" or "wind". This element comes from Aeolus; "the god of winds" in Greek and Latin mythology, with the literal Greek meaning of "rapid, quick".

【相关词根词缀】 Cross references of word groups that are related, directly or indirectly, to: "air, wind": aello-; aero-; anemo-; atmo-; austro-; flat-, flatu-; phys-; pneo-, -pnea; pneumato-; turb-; vent-; zephyro-.

【同源单词】aeolation, aeolian deposit, aeolian

词根词缀：belli-, bell-

【来源及含义】Latin: war; fight, fighting

【相关描述】Too many wars have been fought and too much blood has been shed and terrible wide-spread suffering has resulted; however; sometimes, it is the only means of stopping aggressive attacks by inhumane leaders!

【相关词根词缀】 Related "war, war-like" or "battle" word units: areo-; -machy; milit-.

【同源单词】antebellum, bellatrix, belle epoque, bellicism, bellicose, bellicosely

词根词缀：capit-, capt-, cap-, cep-, ceps-, chapt-, chef, cip-

【来源及含义】Latin: head; leader, chief, or first

【相关描述】It may be surprising to see that a "captain" and a "chef" both belong to the same word family; however, a captain is, of course, the "head of a company of military soldiers", and a "chef is the captain of a group of cooks".

A chef, especially to those who love good food, is not a lowly official; and when it is remembered that the old saying that "an army travels on its stomach", a chef is every bit as important as a captain.

When the French borrowed words from Latin, they frequently used soft sounds. These French words, with their softer sounds, then made their way into the English language. At the same time, English borrowed words directly from Latin. So it is that in English we often have two words which share the same root, but which have different, though related, forms and meanings.

Don't confuse the words in this capit-, capt- unit with those in the cap-, cip-, "catch, seize" unit.

【同源单词】a capite ad calcem, achieve, achievement, achiever, acid rain, alopecia capitis totalis

词根词缀：chim-, chimer-

【来源及含义】Greek: khimaira, fabled monster; unreal, fantastic, imaginary, fanciful, unrealistic; however, in medical and other scientific fields, characterized by two or more genetically distinct cell types in one organism

【同源单词】blood group chimerism, Chimera, chimera, chimeral, chimeraplast, chimeraplasty

词根词缀：herm-, herme-

【来源及含义】Greek: Hermes, the son of Zeus and Maia, the god of commerce and messenger of the gods in Greek mythology; identified by the Romans as Mercury; however, some of the words in this unit come from Hermes tris megistos, Hermes Trismegistus, literally, "Hermes, Thrice the Greatest" referring to the Egyptian god Thoth, who was identified with the Greek god Hermes, of science and arts

【同源单词】herm, Hermanubis, hermaphrodite, hermaphroditic, hermeneutic, hermeneutical

词根词缀：homo-, hom-, hum-

【来源及含义】Latin: human beings, mankind; literally, "man, men"; however, it now also includes, "woman, women" or all of humanity

【相关描述】This Latin homo- is related to humus, "earth" or "born" and so it is said to mean "earthly being" or "born of the earth" and it refers to all of humanity. Don't confuse this Latin homo- with the Greek homo- that means "same" or "equal".

【相关词根词缀】Links to other units that include the topic of "man", "mankind":
andro-; anthropo-; vir-.

【同源单词】ad hominem, Anno humanae salutis, Anno humanae salutis, argumentum ad hominem, Artes, Christo et humanitati

词根词缀：masto-, mast-, -mastia, -masty

【来源及含义】Greek: breast; the front of the human chest and either of two soft rounded organs on each side of the chest in women and men; however, with women the organs are more prominent and produce milk after childbirth; also, a milk-producing gland in mammals that corresponds to the human breast

【相关词根词缀】 Cross references of word families that are related, partially or totally, to: "breast, breasts, chest": mammill-; mammo-; mastoido-; mazo-; pectoro-; pleuro-; sterno-; stetho-; thorac-.

【同源单词】acromastitis, amastia, anisogynecomastia, anisomastia, bimastism, double mastectomy