[Vocabulary Building] Unit 3

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AMBI/AMPHI means "on both sides" or "around"; ambi comes from Latin and amphi- from Greek.  An ambidextrous person can use the right and the left hand equally well.  An amphibian, such as a frog or salamander, is able to live and breathe both on land and in water.

ambiguous

ambient

ambivalent

amphitheater

EP/EPI comes from Greek and means variously "upon", "besides", "attached to", "over", "outer", or "after".  An epiphenomenon is a phenomenon that occurs as a result of the original phenomenon.  An epicenter is the portion of the earth's surface directly over the focus of an earthquake.  The epidermis is the outer layer of the skin, overlying the inner layer or "dermis". 

ephemeral

epiphyte

epitaph

epithet

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HYPO/HYP as a prefix can mean variously "under", "beneath", "down", or "below normal".  Many hypo-words are medical.  A hypodermic needle injects medication under the skin. 

hypochondriac

hypocrisy / hypocrite / hypocritic

hypothermia

hypothetical

THERM/THERMO comes from the Greek word meaning "warm".

thermal

thermocline

thermocouple

thermonuclear

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POLY comes from polys, the Greek word for "many".  Polysyllabic words, of which there are a few in this books, are words of many syllables.  Ploygamy is marriage in which one has many spouses, or at least more than the legal limit of one. A polygraph is an instrument for recording variations in many different bodily pulsations simutanously to reveal whether someone is lying.

polychromatic

polyglot

polymer

polyphony

PRIM comes from primus, the Latin word for "first". 

primal

primiparous / multiparous

primogeniture

primordial

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HOM/HOMO comes from homos, the Greek word for "same".  In an English word it can mean "one and the same" or "similar" or "alike".  A homograph is one of two or more words spelled alike but different in meaning or derivation or pronunciation.  A homosexual is a person who exhibits sexual desire toword others of the same sex.

homonym

homogeneous

homologous

homohpone

DIS comes from Latin, where it means "apart".  In English, its meanings have increased to include "do the opposite of"  (as in disestablish), "deprive of" ( as in disfranchise), "exclude or expel from"(disbar), "the opposite of absence of"(disunion, disaffection), "not" (disagreeable), and "completely"(disannul).  The original meaning can still be seen in a word like dissipate, which means "to break up and scatter".

diffraction

dissension

disseminate

dissipate

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Latin borrowings

ad hoc

ad hominem

alter ego

de facto

de jure

ex post facto

modus operandi

modus vivendi