Even the words you feel familiar with may only have a place in your recognition vocabulary-that is, the words you recognize when you see or hear them but don't actually use in your own speech and writing.Įach main word is followed by its most common pronunciation. Most of them are in the vocabularies of well-educated Americans, including professionals such as scientists, lawyers, professors, and doctors. The words presented here aren't all on the same level of difficulty-some are quite simple and some are truly challenging-but the great majority are words that could be encountered on the SAT and similar standardized tests. So mastering a single word (for example, compel) can increase your vocabulary by several words (in this case, compelling, compulsion, and compulsive). In addition, the brief paragraphs discussing each word include in italics many words closely related to the main words. Thus, the 30 units in the book discuss in detail a total of 1,200 words. ![]() Every fifth group of words is a special eight-word section which may contain words based on classical mythology or history, words borrowed directly from Greek or Latin, or other special categories of terms. Each group of eight words (two roots) is followed by two quizzes. Some are shown in more than one form (for example, CRAC/CRAT), which means that they changed form in the original language, just as buy and bought are forms of the same English word.Įach of the more than 250 roots in this book is followed by four words based on the root. All these roots (sometimes called stems) formed parts of Greek and Latin words. The roots in this book are only a fraction of those that exist, but they include almost all the roots that have produced the largest number of common English words. Remember what a root means and you'll have at least a fighting chance of understanding a word in which it appears. A knowledge of Greek and Latin roots will not only help you remember the meanings of the words in this book but will help you guess at the meanings of new words that you run into elsewhere. All these words were added to the language long after the fall of the Roman empire, and more continue to be added to this day, with most new words-especially those in the sciences-still making use of Greek and Latin roots. Greek and Latin have been the sources of most of the words in the English language (the third principal source being the family of Germanic languages). Knowing precisely how to use a word is just as important as knowing what it means. The fact is that we tend to remember words easily and naturally when they appear in some meaningful context, when they've been shown to be useful and therefore worth remembering, and when they've been properly explained to us. ![]() But memorizing a series of random and unrelated things can be difficult and time-consuming. ![]() Some vocabulary builders simply present their words in alphabetical order some provide little or no discussion of the words and how to use them and a few even fail to show the kinds of sentences in which the words usually appear. ![]() To achieve these goals, Merriam-Webster's Vocabulary Builder employs an original approach that takes into account how people learn and remember. Merriam-Webster's Vocabulary Builder is designed to achieve two goals: (1) to add a large number of words to your permanent working vocabulary, and (2) to teach the most useful of the classical word-building roots to help you continue expanding your vocabulary in the future. No part of this work covered by the copyrights hereon may be reproduced or copied in any form or by any means-graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or information storage and retrieval systems-without written permission of the publisher. Merriam-Webster's Vocabulary Builder, Second Edition.Īll rights reserved. It carries the reputation of a company that has been publishing since 1831 and is your assurance of quality and authority.Ĭopyright © 2010 by Merriam-Webster, Incorporated Merriam-Webster™ is the name you should look for when you consider the purchase of dictionaries or other fine reference books. It is used by a number of publishers and may serve mainly to mislead an unwary buyer. The name Webster alone is no guarantee of excellence.
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