English Words Derived from Greek

The question runs the other way round

You have probably been told that English words can help you remember Greek ones. That is true and it is useful, but it is not what this question asks, and students lose marks by answering the version they were taught rather than the one on the paper. Look at what you are actually given. ⚠️ THE GREEK WORD IS ALREADY IN FRONT OF YOU, PRINTED IN THE PASSAGE. You are not being asked to remember it. You are asked to produce an English word that came from it. ⭐ SO THIS IS NOT A VOCABULARY TEST. IT IS A TEST OF WHETHER YOU CAN SHOW THAT A GREEK WORD YOU CAN SEE IS SITTING INSIDE AN ENGLISH ONE. And that changes what counts as a good answer in one particular way that catches people out every year. Take the example the specification itself uses. The Greek ἵππος (hippos) means horse. The English word derived from it is hippopotamus. ⚠️ NOW NOTICE THE OBVIOUS OBJECTION. A HIPPOPOTAMUS IS NOT A HORSE. It is not even slightly a horse, and a student who knows that may well cross the answer out. ⭐ THAT WOULD BE A MISTAKE, AND UNDERSTANDING WHY IS THE WHOLE POINT OF THIS MODULE. The word is built from two Greek words joined together: ἵππος horse, and ποταμός (potamos) river. A river horse. ⚠️ THE GREEK IS GENUINELY IN THERE. WHAT DID NOT SURVIVE IS THE FULL MEANING, and the question never asked it to. Hold that idea, because it is the difference between the two answers you might give. ⚠️ A DERIVATIVE CARRIES SOMETHING FROM ITS ORIGIN. IT DOES NOT HAVE TO CARRY EVERYTHING.

Five words for talking about it

Five terms, each defined by what it is. No examples are given here; those come next.

Match each Greek word to the English word built on it

The animal that is not a horse

A student is asked for an English word derived from the Greek for horse. They think of hippopotamus, then cross it out because a hippopotamus is not a horse. Why was crossing it out a mistake?

• Because a derivative carries something from its origin rather than everything, and the Greek word for horse is genuinely one of the two words the English is built from
• Because a hippopotamus really is a kind of horse, despite appearances
• Because the English spelling is close enough for the examiner to accept it anyway
• Because it is the only English word that comes from that Greek word

What survived, and what did not

Five English words with their Greek parts. Read the second column against the third and notice how often they are not the same thing.

Two that follow from the examples

Select the TWO statements that are true of English words derived from Greek.

• A derivative can keep only part of the original meaning, or shift it, and still be a genuine derivative
• Many English words derived from Greek are built from two Greek words joined together
• If an English word sounds like a Greek word, it is derived from it
• A derivative must still mean the same as the Greek word it came from

What to actually write down

The question is worth marks for a reason, and the reason is not that you know an English word. ⚠️ NAME THE ENGLISH WORD AND SHOW THE LINK. BOTH. Writing "hippopotamus" on its own answers half of it. Writing that the Greek word means horse, and that the English word begins with that Greek word, shows the examiner what you actually understood. One extra clause, and it is the clause the mark is for. ⚠️ PICK THE DERIVATIVE WHOSE LINK YOU CAN SEE, NOT THE CLEVEREST ONE YOU CAN THINK OF. A word where the Greek letters are still visible is far easier to justify than one where they have worn away. The obvious answer is usually the right one to give. ⭐ AND THE TRAP THAT COSTS THE MOST: DO NOT ANSWER FROM SOUND ALONE. Two words resembling each other proves nothing, and English is full of coincidences. If the only thing you can say is that they sound a bit alike, you have not got a derivation and you should choose a different word. Now the part that makes this skill worth having beyond the exam. ⚠️ WHEN YOU MEET AN ENGLISH WORD YOU DO NOT KNOW, TAKE IT APART AND LOOK FOR GREEK YOU DO KNOW. Many long English words, particularly in science and medicine, are two Greek words stuck together, and translating each half gives you a usable guess at the whole. It will not always be exact, because meanings drift. ⚠️ BUT A ROUGH MEANING ARRIVED AT BY REASONING BEATS NO MEANING AT ALL, and this is the only question on the paper that rewards you directly for doing it.

Taking two long words apart

Start with a word you have known since you were small, and pretend you have never seen it. Telephone. ⚠️ SPLIT IT WHERE IT WANTS TO SPLIT: tele and phone. τῆλε (tele) means far off. φωνή (phone) means voice. So a telephone is, literally, a far voice. ⭐ NOTICE THAT NOBODY WHO SPOKE GREEK EVER SAW ONE. The word was assembled from Greek parts long afterwards by people who needed a name for something new, which is why so many scientific words look Greek without being ancient. Now one where the halves are less familiar. Autograph. αὐτός (autos) means self, and γράφω (grapho) means I write. ⚠️ SELF-WRITING: SOMETHING WRITTEN BY THE PERSON THEMSELVES, which is exactly what an autograph is. That one barely drifted at all. And now the reason this is worth practising, rather than just interesting. Suppose you meet the English word chronometer and have no idea what it is. You may well know χρόνος (chronos) means time. And μέτρον (metron) means a measure. ⚠️ A TIME MEASURER. YOU HAVE JUST WORKED OUT THAT IT IS SOME KIND OF CLOCK WITHOUT EVER HAVING MET THE WORD. ⭐ THAT IS THE SKILL. NOT REMEMBERING A LIST OF DERIVATIONS, BUT BEING ABLE TO TAKE A WORD APART AND USE THE GREEK YOU ALREADY HAVE. ⚠️ AND A WARNING TO FINISH. The word chronic also comes from χρόνος, but a chronic illness is not a measured one: it is a long-lasting one. Same Greek word, and the English has taken it somewhere else entirely.

Assemble a full-mark answer

The passage contains δῆμος (demos), meaning the people. Build the answer an examiner is looking for.

Order the steps for answering it

Put the steps in order, from finding the Greek word in the passage to writing your answer down.

• Find the Greek word the question points to and be sure what it means
• Say its letters to yourself and look for an English word that starts the same way
• Check that the link is a real one rather than words that merely sound alike
• Decide what part of the meaning survived into the English word
• Write the English word down and state the link in the same sentence

The derivation run

Five questions on finding and justifying English words from Greek. Three lives.

Spot the true derivation facts

Tap the TWO statements that are true.

• An English word can be genuinely derived from a Greek word while meaning something quite different
• Many long English words are two Greek words joined, so splitting them at the join gives a rough meaning
• Two words that sound alike must share an origin
• Naming the English word on its own is a complete answer to a derivation question

Complete the derivation facts

An English word formed from a word in another language is a _____. The part of a word carrying its core meaning, before anything is added at either end, is its _____. A word built by joining two separate words together is a _____. A word that resembles another purely by coincidence, sharing no origin with it, is a _____.

Three answers in the exam room

Three moments in the comprehension paper. In each case the mark is in the reasoning, not the word.

• The passage contains the Greek for star. A student writes "astronomy" and moves on. What have they left on the table?
• Asked for a word derived from the Greek for water, a student offers "wet", saying the two words both start with a similar sound. Is that acceptable?
• A student meets the English word "chronic" in an English-language question and knows the Greek word it comes from means time. They conclude it must mean something measured in time. What would you tell them?

Explain how to answer a derivation question

A student in the year below thinks this question is asking them to remember English words. Write them an explanation of what it actually asks and how to answer it.

• Explain what the question gives you and what it asks you to produce
• Give one Greek word and an English word derived from it, showing the link between them
• Explain why the English word does not have to mean the same as the Greek word, using an example
• Explain why an answer based only on two words sounding alike will not be credited
• Finish by explaining how splitting a long English word into its Greek parts can give you a rough meaning for a word you have never met