Word Roots
2 roots • 8 wordsJECT
Root Meaning:
JECT comes from jacere, the Latin verb meaning “throw” or “hurl.” To reject something is to throw (or push) it back; to eject something is to throw (or drive) it out; and to inject something is to throw (or squirt) it into something else.
Etymology:
Latin
4 words derived from this root
Words from this root:
interject
/ˌɪn.tərˈdʒekt/
Definition:
To interrupt a conversation with a comment or remark.
Example:
His anger was growing as he listened to the conversation, and every so often he would interject a crude comment.
Explanation:
According to its Latin roots, *interject* ought to mean literally “throw between.” For most of the word's history, however, the only things that have been interjected have been comments dropped suddenly into a conversation.
conjecture
/kənˈdʒek.tʃər/
Definition:
To guess.
Example:
He was last heard of in Bogotá, and they conjectured that he had met his end in the Andes at the hands of the guerrillas.
Explanation:
Formed with the prefix *con-,* “together,” *conjecture* means literally “to throw together”—that is, to produce a theory by putting together a number of facts.
projection
/prəˈdʒek.ʃən/
Definition:
An estimate of what might happen in the future based on what is happening now.
Example:
The president has been hearing different deficit projections all week from the members of his economic team.
trajectory
/trəˈdʒek.tər.i/
Example:
Considering the likely range, trajectory, and accuracy of a bullet fired from a cheap handgun at 100 yards, the murder seemed incredible.
Explanation:
Formed with part of the prefix *trans-,* “across,” *trajectory* means a “hurling across.” By calculating the effect of gravity and other forces, the trajectory of an object launched into space at a known speed can be computed precisely.
TRACT
Root Meaning:
TRACT comes from trahere, the Latin verb meaning “drag or draw.” Something attractive draws us toward it. Something distracting pulls your attention away. And when you extract something from behind the sofa, you drag it out.
Etymology:
Latin
4 words derived from this root
Words from this root:
traction
/ˈtræk.ʃən/
Definition:
The friction that allows a moving thing to move over a surface without slipping.
Example:
The spinning wheels were getting no traction on the ice, and we began to slip backward down the hill.
Explanation:
A *tractor* is something that pulls something else. We usually use the word for a piece of farm machinery, but it's also the name of the part of a big truck that includes the engine and the cab.
retract
/rɪˈtrækt/
Definition:
(1) To pullback (something) into something larger. (2) To take back (something said or written).
Example:
She was forced to retract her comment about her opponent after it was condemned in the press.
Explanation:
The prefix *re-* (“back”) gives *retract* the meaning of “draw back.” Just as a cat retracts its claws into its paws when they aren't being used, a public figure may issue a *retraction* in order to say that he or she no longer wants to say something that has just been said.
protracted
/proʊˈtræk.tɪd/
Definition:
Drawn out, continued, or extended.
Example:
No one was looking forward to a protracted struggle for custody of the baby.
Explanation:
With its prefix *pro-*, “forward,” *protracted* usually applies to something drawn out forward in time. A protracted strike may cripple a company; a protracted rainy spell may rot the roots of vegetables; and a protracted lawsuit occasionally outlives the parties involved.
intractable
/ɪnˈtræk.tə.bəl/
Definition:
Not easily handled, led, taught, or controlled.
Example:
Corruption in the army was the country's intractable problem, and for many years all foreign aid had ended up in the colonels' pockets.
Explanation:
*Intractable* simply means “untreatable,” and even comes from the same root. The word may describe both people and conditions. A cancer patient may suffer intractable pain that doctors are unable to treat.