LIST OF GREEK AND LATIN ROOTS

a-, an-	Greek	not; without; negative: asexual, abiogenesis, atrophy	
ab-	Latin	off; from; away: abduct	
ad, af 	Latin	to; toward: adductor, adrenal, adhere, afferent	
amphi 	Greek Latin	both; double: amphibian, amphioxus, amphitheater	
ana 	Greek	through: anaphase, anatomy, anabolic	
angio 	Greek	vessel: angiotensin,angiogenesis	
annul 	Latin	ring: annelida, annular	
ante 	Latin	before; the front: anterior	
anti 	Greek	opposite; against: antigen, antifreeze	
apex 	Latin	the tip: apex, apical	
archae 	Greek	ancient: archenteron, archaeology, archaic	
aster 	Greek	star: asteroid, aster, disaster	
auto 	Greek	self: autonomic, autosome, autograph, automobile	
avis 	Latin	bird: avian, Class Aves, aviator, aviation	
bi  	Latin	two:bisexual, binary, biweekly, biennial, bicycle	
bio 	Greek	life; live: biology, biogenetic, biography, biometry	
blast 	Greek	producer; creator: chondroblast, osteoblast, blastula	
brachium 	Latin	arm: brachial, brachiopod, brachiocephalic	
branch 	Greek	gill: branchial, pleurobranch, branchiomere, Branchiostoma	
capil 	Latin	hair: capillary	
cardio 	Greek	heart: cardiac, cardiovascular	
carn 	Latin	fIesh; meat: carnivore, chili con carne	
cata 	Greek	downward; inferior: catabolism, catalyst	
caud 	Latin	tail: caudal, caudate	
cecum 	Latin	pouch; pocket; sac: cecum	
centa 	Greek	1/100: centimeter	
cephal 	Greek	head: cephalothorax, telencephalon, cephalic	
cerv 	Latin	neck: cervix, cervical	
chlor 	Greek	green: chlorine, chloroplast, chiorphylll, chlorotic	
chondr 	Greek	cartilage: chondroblast, chondrocyte, chondrichthian	
chrom 	Greek	color: chromatin, chromatic, chromium, chromosome	
cilio 	Latin	hair: cilium, ciliate, ciliophoran	
circa 	Latin	around; approximately: circle, circumnavigate, circa	
coel 	Greek	holloW; cavity: celom, blastocoel, coelenterate, celiac (the "0" often dropped)	
			
cyst	Greek	pocket or capsule: statocyst, trichocyst, blastocyst	
cyt 	Greek	cell: cytology, erythrocyte, chondrocyte, osteocyte, cytoplasm	
deca 	Greek	ten: decimal, decameter, decathalon	
dendr 	Greek	tree: dendrite, dendrology	
derm 	Greek	skin: dermis, ectoderm, hypodermic	
di 	Greek	two, second, or double: dihybrid, dimer, diploid, diencephalon (but not dissect)	
dis 	Latin	separating from or parting from: dissect, dismiss, discover, disaster	
dorm 	Latin	sleep: dormant, dormatory	
dorso 	Latin	the back: dorsal, dorsum	
ect 	Greek	outer: ectoderm, ectoplasm	
ef, ex 	Latin	away; from; outward: efferent, exoskeleton, excretion	
end 	Greek	inner: endoderm, endoplasm, endopodite	
enter 	Greek	gut; intestine: archenteron, coelenterate, enteric	
epi 	Greek	upon; above: epithelium, epidermis, epibranchial, epimere	
erg 	Greek	energy; work: ergonomic, endergonic, exergonic	
erythro 	Greek	red: erythrocyte, erythroblast	
eu 	Greek	good; well; real; true: eukaryotic, euchromatin, eugenic, eutherian,	
eutrophic fer 	Latin	bearing; carrying; possessing: seminiferous, afferent, poriferan	
gam 	Greek	marriage: polygamy, gamete, gemetogenesis	
gaster 	Greek	stomach: gastric, gastrula, gastropod, gastrin	
gen, gem 	Latin	be born; create; produce: gene, genetics, progenitor, gemule	
glossa 	Greek	tongue: hypoglossal, glossary, glossopharyngeal	
gnath 	Greek	jaw. aganathan, gnathostome	
heme 	Greek	blood: hemocoel, hematology, hemoglobin	
herb 	Latin	grass; soft plant; plant: herbivore, herbaceous	
hetero 	Greek	different; other: heterochromatin, heterozygous, heterosexual	
hexa 	Greek	six: hexose, hexagon	
hist 	Greek	tissue: histology, histogenesis, histamine, antihistamine	
holo 	Greek	whole; entire: holoblastic, holozoic, holophytic	
homo 	Latin	human; man: Homo sapiens	
homo 	Greek	same; like; similar: homogenious; homologous; homosexual	
hydro 	Greek	water: hydrology, dehydration, hydration, hydrogen, hydrophilic,	
hypo 	Greek	under; less than: hypodermis, hypodermic, hypomere, hyposmotic	
karyo, caryo 	Greek	nucleus, kernel, nut: eukaryotic, megakaryocyte, karyotype	
kilo 	Greek	thousand: kilometer, kilogram	
infra 	Latin	below. infrared, inferior, infrastructure	
inter 	Latin	between; among: intercellular, interphase, interim	
intra 	Latin	inside; within: intracellular, intravascular	
Iso 	Greek	equal: isometric, isogamy, isoptera, isosmotic, isotonic	
lamella 	Latin	Iayer; leaf: lamella, delamination	
latus 	Latin	the side: lateral	
leuc, leuk 	Greek	white; bright: leucocyte, leukemia	
ling 	Latin	tongue: lingual, linguistic	
log 	Greek	study; discourse: biology, geology, zoology	
Iys 	Greek	losing; dissolving, breaking: hydrolysis, catalysis, plasmolysis, glycolysis	
macro 	Greek	Iarge: macromolecule, macroscopic, macroeconomics, macronucleus	
maxilla 	Latin	jaw. maxilla, premaxillary, maxilliped,	
medi 	Latin	middle: medial, mediate, intermedial	
mega 	Latin	great: megakaryocyte, megawatt	
mer 	Greek	part, piece; side: metamerism, epimere	
meso 	Greek	middle: mesoderm, mesonephros, mesencephalon	
meta 	Greek	after; beyond: metamerism, metatheria, metamorphosis	
micro 	Greek	small; tiny; 1/1,000,000: microscope, micrometer, microcomputer	
milli 	Latin	1/1,OOO: millimeter	
mito 	Greek	thread: mitosis, mitochondrion	
mono 	Greek	one; single: monosaccharide, monocular, mononuclear leucocyte	
morph 	Greek	form; appearance: metamorphosis, morphology, morphogenesis	
myco 	Greek	fungus: mycology, mycorrhiza	
myo 	Greek	muscle: myosin, myofibril, myotome, myocardium	
nano 	Greek	dwarf; 1/1,000,000,000: nanobiology, nanometer	
necro 	Greek	dead: necropsy, necrotic, necrology, necrophiliac	
nema 	Greek	thread: nematode, nematocyst, nemathelminth	
neo 	Greek	new. neotropical, nearctic, neolithic, neon	
nephro 	Greek	kidney: nepric, epinephrine, pronephros	
nom 	Latin	name: taxonomy, innominate, nomenclature	
noto 	Greek	dorsal; back: notochord, pronotum	
oid 	Latin	like; resembling: diploid, humanoid, anthropoid	
oo 	Greek	egg: oocyte, oogenesis, ootid (pronounced two long o's in sequence, as in "oh, oh")	
ornis 	Greek	bird: ornithology, ornithoptera	
ortho 	Greek	straight: orthoptera, orthodox, orthodontics	
ov 	Latin	egg: ovum, oviparous, oviduct	
paleo 	Greek	old; ancient: palearctic, paleobotany, paleontology, Paleocene	
para 	Greek	near; beside: parathryoid, parapodia, paragraph	
partheno 	Greek	virgin: parthenogenesis	
peri 	Greek	around: pericardium, perichondrium, perimeter	
phag 	Greek	eat: phagocyte, phagocytosis, euphagic	
phil 	Greek	attraction for; love for: neutrophil, philanthropy	
photo 	Greek	photograph, photon light: photosynthesis, photophorphoryation,	
phyll 	Greek	leaf: chlorophyll, phyllotaxy	
phyt 	Greek	plant: gametophyte, sporophyte	
plasma 	Greek	something formed; a fluid: cytoplasm, nucleoplasm, protoplasm	
pleur 	Latin	side: splanchnopleur, somatopleur, pleurisy	
ped 	Latin	Ieg, stock, or stem: milliped, pedicellaria, pedicle, pedestrian	
penta 	Greek	five: pentose, pentagon, pentamer	
pod 	Greek	leg; appendage: arthropod, endopodite, podiatry	
poly 	Greek	many: polymer, polysaccharide, polypeptide, polymorphonuclear	
post 	Latin	behind; after; rear: posterior, postmortem	
pro, proto 	Greek	first, for: protein, protoplasm, proton, prophase, proponent, promote	
pseudo 	Greek	false; fake: pseudopod, pseudocoel, pseudonym, pseudostratified	
pter 	Greek	wing; feather: Archaeopteryx, diptera, apterium	
ren 	Latin	kidney: renal, adrenalin, renin	
rhiz 	Greek	root: rhizome, Rhizopus, mycorhyza, rhyzoid	
sacchar 	Greek	sugar; sweet: monosaccharide, disaccharide, polysaccharide, saccharine	
sapro 	Greek	rotten: saprozoic, saprophytic	
sarco 	Greek	a muscle; flesh: sarcomere, sarcolem	
saur 	Greek	lizard: sauropod, dinosaur, saurischian	
scler 	Greek	hard: sclera, sclerotome, arteriosclerosis	
semi, hemi 	Latin	half: semicircle, semi-annual, hemisphere	
stom 	Greek	mouth: stomadeum, nephrostome, stomate	
syn, sym 	Greek	together: symbiosis, syncytium, synapse, synchrony, synthesis, symphony	
tax 	Greek	arrangement: taxon, taxonomy, ataxia	
tel 	Greek	end; far; distant: telencephalon, telophase, telophone, telomere, television	
tetra 	Greek	four: tetrose, tetramer	
theca 	Greek	sheath: theca, thecal, hydrotheca	
ther 	Greek	mammal; beast: prototherian, metatherian, eutherian	
therm 	Greek	thermometer, temperature; ectothermic, heterothermic, thermostat	
thromb 	Greek	clot: thrombosis, thrombin, thrombocyte	
tom 	Greek	piece; cut; section: anatomy, myotome, microtome, dermatome	
trema 	Greek	hole: trematode; post-trematic	
tri 	Latin	three: triose, tripeptide, triploid, tricycle	
troph 	Greek	food: eutrophic, stenotrophic, autotrophic, heterotrophic, trophoblast	
trop 	Greek	to turn toward; to go to: gonadotropin, tropism	
tunic 	Latin	a coat: tunica media, tunica interna, tunicate	
ultra 	Latin	beyond: ultraviolet, ultracentrifuge, ultramarine, ultrasound	
vas 	Latin	vessel: vascular, vas deferens	
vlvi 	Latin	alive: viviparous, vivid, vivisection, vivaceous	
vor 	Latin	eat: voracious, carnivore, omnivore, herbivore	
xero 	Greek	dry: xerophyte, xeroscape, xerography	
zo 	Greek	animal: zoology, protozoon, zoological garden (pronounced 2 long o's in succession)	
zyg	Greek	united; tied together: zygote, heterozygous, homozygous