English Word Roots from Greek and Latin

Course description: Many English words mean what they mean. That is to say, they are of Anglo-Saxon (or “Germanic”) origin. But Anglo-Saxon, sometimes called Old English, is not our English. In fact, our daily conversations—even the thoughts swirling in our heads—are awash in a sea of Greek and Latin words, whose meanings are not fully available to us until we study whence they came and what they mean. In this class, students will gain robust knowledge of English words whose etymologies come from Greek and Latin. We will study how our language is but one of thousands of Indo-European languages, connected around the globe through cognates, prefixes, and suffixes. In this study, our vocabularies will expand dramatically. Words will gain meanings previously unknown to us. Many English words from Greek and Latin are metaphors unto themselves. In this calling, we will consider (literally “with the stars”) their ramifications (literally “from tree branches”) in our own language (literally “from the tongue”).

To view this course's syllabus, see the PDF below.