Word Roots
2 roots • 8 wordsVOR
Root Meaning:
VOR comes from the Latin verb vorare, “to eat,” and the ending -ivorous shows up in words that refer to eaters of certain kinds of food. Frugivorous (for “fruit-eating”), granivorous (for “grain-eating”), and graminivorous (for “grass-eating”) aren't too rare, but you won't run across phytosuccivorous (“plant-sap-eating”) every day.
Etymology:
Latin
4 words derived from this root
Words from this root:
carnivorous
/kɑrˈnɪvərəs/
Definition:
Meat-eating or flesh-eating.
Example:
He'd gotten tired of his vegetarian guinea pigs and decided he preferred carnivorous pets such as ferrets.
Explanation:
The order of mammals that Linnaeus named the Carnivora includes such families as the dogs, the bears, the raccoons, the weasels, the hyenas, the cats, and the seals. Most *carnivores* eat only meat in the wild, but some have varied diets; some bears, for instance, normally eat far more vegetation than meat. Carnivores have powerful jaws and complex teeth, and most are highly intelligent. Humans, like their ape cousins, are basically *omnivores*.
herbivorous
/hɜrˈbɪvərəs/
Definition:
Plant-eating.
Example:
In spite of their frightening appearance, marine iguanas are peaceable herbivorous animals that feed mostly on seaweed.
Explanation:
Many herbivorous animals, such as rabbits, deer, sheep, and cows, are noted for their gentle and passive ways. But such behavior is not universal among *herbivores.* Rhinoceroses and elephants, for instance, are capable of inflicting serious damage if threatened, and among dinosaurs, the herbivorous Diplodocus had a thick tail that could be used as a lethal weapon against attacking carnivores. Herbivorous humans are usually called *vegetarians*.
insectivorous
/ˌɪnsekˈtɪvərəs/
Definition:
Feeding on insects.
Example:
Their rather odd 12-year-old son kept insectivorous plants in his bedroom and fed them live flies.
Explanation:
A wide variety of animals could be called *insectivores*—most of the birds, for example, as well as the spiders. Of the amphibians, frogs and many lizards are largely insectivorous. Even some fish get much of their food from insects. The order of mammals called Insectivora contains the shrews, moles, and hedgehogs, though bats and anteaters are also insectivores. Many insects are themselves insectivores; the dragonfly, for instance, is a swift insectivorous terror that lives up to its name. But it's the insectivorous plants that tend to fascinate us; of the over 600 species, the best known are the Venus flytrap (which snaps shut on its prey), the pitcher plants (which drown insects in a tiny pool of water), and the sundews (which capture insects with their sticky surfaces).
voracious
/vəˈreɪʃəs/
Definition:
Having a huge appetite.
Example:
One of the hardest parts of dieting is watching skinny people with voracious appetites consume large amounts of food without gaining weight.
Explanation:
*Voracious* can be applied to people, animals, and even things, and doesn't always refer to consuming food. Thus, teenagers are voracious eaters; you may become a voracious reader on vacation; and Americans have long been voracious consumers. The most voracious bats may eat three-quarters of their weight in insects in a single night. Some countries have a voracious appetite for oil. Voracious corporations keep “swallowing” other companies through mergers.
CARN
Root Meaning:
CARN comes from a Latin word meaning “flesh” or “meat.” Carnation originally meant “the color of flesh,” which was once the only color of the flower we call the carnation. In Christian countries, Lent is the period when the faithful traditionally give up something they love, often meat. The days leading up to Lent are known as the carnival season, from the Italian carnelevare, later shortened to carnevale, which meant “removal of meat”— though during carnival, of course, people indulge in just about everything, and the removal of meat only comes later.
Etymology:
Latin
4 words derived from this root
Words from this root:
carnage
/ˈkɑːrnɪdʒ/
Definition:
Great destruction of life (as in a battle); slaughter.
Example:
Countries around the world appealed to all sides of the conflict to stop the carnage of the war in Bosnia.
Explanation:
This word was taken over straight from French (a Latin-based language), and has mostly referred to large-scale killing in wartime. But *carnage* needn't refer only to slaughter on the battlefield. With tens of thousands of people dying each year in automobile accidents, it's appropriate to speak of carnage on the nation's highways. And those concerned about the effects of the violence we see constantly on TV and movie screens may refer to that as carnage as well.
carnal
/ˈkɑːrnəl/
Definition:
Having to do with bodily pleasures.
Example:
The news stories about students on Spring Break tend to focus on the carnal pleasures associated with the annual ritual.
Explanation:
In Christianity in past centuries, *carnal* was often used as the opposite of *spiritual,* describing what are sometimes called “the pleasures of the flesh.” Thus, gluttony—the consumption of excessive food and drink—was a deadly carnal sin, whereas the holiest monks and hermits might eat hardly anything and never touch wine. Today *carnal* has a somewhat old-fashioned sound; when we use it, we generally mean simply “sexual.”
incarnate
/ɪnˈkɑːrnət/
Definition:
Given bodily or actual form; especially, having human body.
Example:
For the rest of his life, he would regard his childhood nanny as goodness incarnate.
Explanation:
*Incarnate* often has a religious ring to it, since for centuries it has been used in the Christian church, which regards Jesus as the *incarnation* of God—that is, as God made human. Surprisingly, neither word appears in Bible translations; instead, the Latin word *incarnatus* appears in the Christian creeds (basic statements of belief) and the Catholic Mass. Regardless, *incarnate* soon began to be used with various nouns: “the devil incarnate,” “evil incarnate,” etc. Notice that *incarnate* is one of the rare adjectives that usually, but not always, follows its noun. *Incarnate* is also a verb, though with a slightly different pronunciation: “This report simply incarnates the prejudices of its authors,” “For her followers, she incarnates the virtue of selflessness,” etc.
reincarnation
/ˌriːɪnkɑːrˈneɪʃən/
Definition:
(1) Rebirth in new bodies or forms of life. (2) Someone who has been born again with a new body after death.
Example:
Even as a child he struck everyone as a reincarnation of his grandfather, not in his features but in his manner and personality.
Explanation:
It's easy to make fun of people who claim to be the reincarnation of Cleopatra or Napoleon, but they don't come from a culture that takes reincarnation seriously. In Hindu belief, a person must pass through a series of reincarnations—some of which may be as insects or fish—before fully realizing that the bodily pleasures are shallow and that only spiritual life is truly valuable; only then do the reincarnations cease. For Hindus, an “old soul” is a person who seems unusually wise from early in life, and whose wisdom must have come from passing through many reincarnations.