Random Mode Keyboard shortcut: Command/Ctrl + Shift + R
thumbnail

Latin and Greek Word Roots

Can you guess these English words that are formed by combining two Greek or Latin roots?
Example: Life + Write = Biography
Disclaimer: These are not exact translations - you have to guess the word based on the clue
Quiz by Quizmaster
Rate:
Last updated: April 4, 2020
You have not attempted this quiz yet.
First submittedFebruary 1, 2011
Times taken53,220
Average score58.3%
Rating4.40
7:00
Enter English word here:
0
 / 24 guessed
The quiz is paused. You have remaining.
Scoring
You scored / = %
This beats or equals % of test takers also scored 100%
The average score is
Your high score is
Your fastest time is
Keep scrolling down for answers and more stats ...
Roots
English Word
Hundred + Foot
Centipede
Many + Marriage
Polygamy
Two + Year
Biannual
Life + Study of
Biology
Small + View
Microscope
Self + Kill
Suicide
One + God
Monotheism
People + Rule
Democracy
Roots
English Word
Eight + Angle
Octagon
Before + War
Antebellum
Book + Love
Bibliophile
Steal + Crazy
Kleptomania
Star + Sailor
Astronaut
Foreign + Fear
Xenophobia
Pressure + Measure
Barometer
Father + Kill
Patricide
Roots
English Word
Meat + Eat
Carnivore
Three + Foot
Tripod
All + Powerful
Omnipotent
Before + Birth
Prenatal
Water + Fear
Hydrophobia
False + Name
Pseudonym
Fire + Crazy
Pyromania
Same + Sound
Homophone
+4
Level 44
Sep 16, 2013
Cool
+38
Level 68
Sep 16, 2013
Astronaut = star sailor. Very poetic.
+2
Level 61
Mar 23, 2016
Yeah, beautiful.
+1
Level 66
Dec 12, 2018
I dont htink I knew that one. I the question was the other way around though I would have gotten it (meaning I would ve sad star and sailor). Strange how that works
+5
Level 85
Apr 8, 2020
Starsailor is the name of a 1970 Tim Buckley album and is also a band.
+2
Level 70
Jun 30, 2020
I kept trying to find a Latin combination: stellamarina? ugh couldn't find traction in greek...
+1
Level 70
Jan 7, 2021
I tried "astromariner" before it dawned on me.
+1
Level 65
May 17, 2022
Astronaut is a latin combination: Astrum + Nauta.

Also, "marina" means "of the sea", not "sailor" (maybe you were thinking of "marinaio" in Italian?)

+1
Level 75
Jun 30, 2020
I remembered it from the movie The Right Stuff. Gus Grissom was told that it mean "star voyager" and he liked the sound of that.
+2
Level 32
Sep 16, 2013
Can you accept "barometry"?
+2
Level ∞
Dec 9, 2015
Okay
+3
Level 29
Sep 16, 2013
"microscopic"?
+2
Level ∞
Dec 9, 2015
That will work now
+1
Level 31
Nov 30, 2015
Awesome quiz! And just like beetboy12 I learned a new word (pseudopod as well).
+3
Level 35
Mar 23, 2016
Thunder Lizzard though...
+1
Level 44
Mar 24, 2016
Great quiz!
+2
Level 37
Oct 5, 2017
Name me one country on earth that is truly ruled by its people!
+10
Level 66
Apr 21, 2018
Technically they all are. North Korea is ruled by Kim Jong Un, who is one of North Kore's people. Therefor, North Korea is ruled by its people.
+5
Level 86
Apr 4, 2020
ruled by its *person
+1
Level 67
Dec 8, 2020
Andorra may be the one exception then.
+1
Level 65
May 17, 2022
HAHAHA

That and Vatican City

+5
Level 40
Jan 9, 2019
Loved this!! etymology is cool
+3
Level 74
Jan 22, 2021
The Online Etymology Dictionary deserves some love. Great project and better entries than the rest of the online etym rabble :) https://www.etymonline.com/
+12
Level 76
Apr 4, 2020
I think it would be fair to also accept sarcophagus for Meat + Eat
+3
Level 72
Apr 4, 2020
Having looked it up, that's a great shout - and I've learnt something new!
+1
Level 66
Apr 5, 2020
It indeed means basically the same, flesh devourer, but it is from greek origin. (And I remember from biology classes that something phagous ate your dead skincells, could be I looked up the meaning myself. But always remembered it. Phagocytes I meant)

btw have you noticed carnivorous is a synonym of coronavirus?

+1
Level 66
Apr 5, 2020
Coronavirus would be something like crown+poison.

I already knew corona, the origin of virus is harder to track. Seems to have been a combination of sticky, foul smelling, bad tasting, slimy and poisonous. So basicily disgusting goo which could make you ill ;) The word viscous seems to have an atleast partially shared path, ooze as well actually

dutch vies and german fies, seem to have a relation (the furthedt back I could track virus was "vis", both meaning disgusting, dirty, foul, gross etc though their origins are listed as unclear.

+9
Level 74
Apr 5, 2020
And carnivorous is an anagram of coronavirus :-)
+4
Level 85
Apr 8, 2020
Seven minutes? Too much time in my opinion!
+2
Level 81
Apr 11, 2020
Baros means 'weight' in greek, NOT pressure, get your facts straight!
+4
Level 72
Apr 18, 2020
I think you could have allowed "prepartum" for before + birth. For some strange reason I didn't come up with prenatal instead.
+4
Level 28
Apr 22, 2020
Didn't know that's what antebellum meant. Great quiz!
+1
Level 76
Apr 22, 2020
Yes - nothing to do with your navel. ;)
+1
Level 79
Apr 22, 2020
I've never heard of 'pyromania' before. That and astronaut missed I.
+1
Level 52
Jul 2, 2020
What about pyromaniac
+2
Level 78
Jul 3, 2020
Pyromania is a great album by Def Leppard.
+2
Level 54
Apr 22, 2020
Could you accept "barometric"?
+1
Level 66
Jun 25, 2020
Accept bibliophillia?
+1
Level 82
Jun 30, 2020
Easy but fun.
+3
Level 73
Jun 30, 2020
Maybe "biennale" could also be accepted?
+4
Level 50
Jun 30, 2020
"Aquaphobia" should be accepted for "Hydrophobia", hmm?
+1
Level 82
Jun 30, 2020
What's aquaphobia?
+3
Level 75
Jun 30, 2020
Not to be confused with aquafaba "water bean", the vegan egg white/meringue/whipped cream concoction made from the liquid of canned chick peas or other beans. (Helpful for people with egg allergies.)
+3
Level 68
Aug 30, 2022
Let me google that for you:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquaphobia

+1
Level 67
Aug 30, 2022
I agree it should be an acceptable alternative. So stuck, I kept trying to spell it different ways.
+2
Level 70
Jun 30, 2020
mixing latin and greek in the same word used to be a big no-no, still is imo
+1
Level 64
Jun 30, 2020
makes sense, but I think there must be counter examples
+7
Level 85
Sep 18, 2021
If you are a hyperactive, monolingual, beatnik vexillologist who watches television after having a tonsillectomy, at which you arrived in an automobile using petroleum, don't be such a sociopath as to complain about mixing Greek and Latin roots.
+1
Level 63
Jun 30, 2020
Gross picture, but good quiz!
+2
Level 64
Jun 30, 2020
goddamn, missed antebellum!

Easier for a Europan though, I suppose.

Thanks!

+3
Level 53
Jul 2, 2020
I have only ever heard antebellum used in the context of the American civil war, so I think it would be easier for Americans, but not necessarily Europeans.
+2
Level 76
Sep 30, 2020
It is, considering the repeated use of the word in European history teaching.
+1
Level 67
Jun 30, 2020
Fun quiz
+1
Level 81
Jul 1, 2020
Antepartum?
+1
Level 53
Jul 1, 2020
Could you accept manometer or totipotent?
+1
Level 62
Jul 2, 2020
Any chance you may make c/kosmonaut an acceptable answer for "star sailor"? Just to make it easier for our comrades who may not have heard the term astronaut.
+4
Level 83
Jul 11, 2020
The root 'cosmo' doesn't mean 'star' though, it comes from a word meaning 'universe'
+2
Level 52
Jan 22, 2022
as Greek-speaking i would propose these changes:

fire + obsession (instead of fire + crazy)

weight + meter (instead of pressure + meter although i know that this device measures pressure. Baros has a different meaning in modern Greek)

+3
Level 59
Aug 30, 2022
not me accidentally writing homophobe and not homophone 💀
+1
Level 50
Aug 30, 2022
Could you make microscopy work as well?
+1
Level 67
Aug 30, 2022
Tried monotone, monotonal, for same sound, never thought of homophone.
+2
Level 57
Aug 30, 2022
Mono means one not the same, so that’s why monophone wouldn’t work.
+1
Level 62
Aug 31, 2022
Love this quiz! But carnivorous not accepted? Or carnival?
+2
Level 22
Dec 7, 2022
The "-val" in "carnival" does not mean eating; it's thought to come from Latin "carnem levare" -- "removal of meat" -- referring to the traditional fast during the period of Lent immediately following the date of the carnival.
+1
Level 59
Sep 2, 2022
Just done a bit of research, and I think that Aquaphobia and Hydrophobia are both classified as a fear of water but with different causes. Could it not then be accepted as an alternative?
+1
Level 71
Nov 30, 2022
Could you accept "homophonic" please? :)
+2
Level 54
Oct 9, 2023
Aquaphobia had me stunned, should be added as a correct answer
+1
Level 68
Nov 7, 2023
In French, "centipede" translates as "mille-pattes", a thousand paws.
+1
Level 56
Dec 7, 2023
Can misnomer be accepted for pseudonym?
+1
Level 63
Dec 7, 2023
Preconception for prenatal?
+1
Level 59
Dec 7, 2023
Prepartum should be accepted for before+birth
+1
Level 88
Dec 8, 2023
Can you accept homophony or homophonic?
+1
Level 81
Dec 10, 2023
I feel as though 'aquaphobia' should be allowed. Hydrophobia is the physical condition that causes an aversion to water - what happens during rabies and as such it is more medical. Meanwhile, aquaphobia is the psychological fear of water but either way I think both meet the definition of 'water + fear'.

Anyway - great quiz!