ANTONYMS II

In next post , we shall learn about Analogy

ANTONYMS II (WORD ANALYSIS)

Word analysis (etymology) is the process of separating aword into its parts and then using the meanings of thoseparts to deduce the meaning of the original word. Take, forexample, the word INTERMINABLE. It is made up of threeparts: a prefix IN (not), a root TERMIN (stop), and a suffixABLE (can do). Therefore, by word analysis, INTERMINABLEmeans "not able to stop." This is not the literal meaning ofINTERMINABLE (endless), but it is close enough to find anantonym. For another example, consider the word RETROSPECT.It is made up of the prefix RETRO (back) and the root SPECT(to look). Hence, RETROSPECT means "to look back (in time),to contemplate."

Word analysis is very effective in decoding the meaning ofwords. However, you must be careful in its application sincewords do not always have the same meaning as the sum of themeanings of their parts. In fact, on occasion words can havethe opposite meaning of their parts. For example, by wordanalysis the word AWFUL should mean "full of awe," orawe-inspiring. But over the years it has come to mean justthe opposite--terrible. In spite of the shortcomings, wordanalysis gives the correct meaning of a word (or at least ahint of it) far more often than not and therefore is auseful tool.

Examples:

Indefatigable

Analysis: IN (not); DE (thoroughly); FATIG (fatigue); ABLE(can do)

Meaning: cannot be fatigued, tireless

Circumspect

Analysis: CIRCUM (around); SPECT (to look)

Meaning:to look around, that is, to be cautious

Antipathy

Analysis: ANTI (against); PATH (to feel); Y (noun suffix)

Meaning: to feel strongly against something, to hate