Word Roots
2 roots • 8 wordsPATH
Root Meaning:
PATH comes from the Greek word pathos, which means “feeling” or “suffering.”
Etymology:
Latin
4 words derived from this root
Words from this root:
pathos
/ˈpeɪθɒs/
Definition:
(1) An element in life or drama that produces sympathetic pity. (2) An emotion of sympathetic pity.
Explanation:
*Pathos* comes directly from Greek. According to Aristotle, the persuasive power of public speaking relies on three elements: the speaker's authority, the logic of the speech, and the speech's pathos. Aristotle claims that pathos is the appeal to the audience's sense of right and wrong, and that it is this (unlike authority and logic) that moves the audience's emotions. Today we usually speak of pathos as an element in fiction, film, drama, music, or even painting, or the real-life pathos of a situation or personality. Since *pathos* is closely related to *pathetic*, it's not surprising that, like *pathetic*, *pathos* may occasionally be used a bit sarcastically.
apathetic
/ˌæpəˈθetɪk/
Definition:
(1) Showing or feeling little or no emotion. (2) Having no interest.
Explanation:
*Apathy,* or lack of emotion, is central to Albert Camus's famous novel *The Stranger,* in which the main character's indifference toward almost everything, including his mother's death, results in his imprisonment. We feel little *sympathy* for him, and may even feel *antipathy,* or dislike. The American voter is often called apathetic; of all the industrial democracies, only in America does half the adult population fail to vote in major elections. As you can see, *apathetic* isn't the opposite of *pathetic,* even though the *a-* that it begins with means “not” or “without.”
empathy
/ˈempəθi/
Definition:
The feeling of, or the ability to feel, the emotions and sensations of another.
Example:
Her maternal empathy was so strong that she often seemed to be living her son's life emotionally.
Explanation:
In the 19th century, Charles Dickens counted on producing an *empathetic* response in his readers strong enough to make them buy the next newspaper installment of each novel. Today, when reading a novel such as *A Tale of Two Cities,* only the most hard-hearted reader could fail to feel empathy for Sidney Carton as he approaches the guillotine. One who *empathizes* suffers along with the one who feels the sensations directly. *Empathy* is similar to *sympathy,* but empathy usually suggests stronger, more instinctive feeling. So a person who feels sympathy, or pity, for victims of a war in Asia may feel empathy for a close friend going through the much smaller disaster of a divorce.
telepathic
/ˌtelɪˈpæθɪk/
Definition:
Involving apparent communication from one mind to another without speech or signs.
Example:
After ten years of marriage, their communication is virtually telepathic, and each always seems to know what the other is thinking.
Explanation:
Since *tele-* means “distant” (see TELE), you can see how *telepathy* means basically “feeling communicated from a distance.” The word was coined around 1880, when odd psychic phenomena were being widely discussed by people hoping that researchers might find a scientific basis for what they believed they themselves were experiencing. Today, when people talk about extrasensory perception, or ESP, telepathy is usually what they're talking about. In recent years, the notion of *memes*—ideas that might somehow physically fly from brain to brain so that people all over the world might have the same idea at about the same time without any obvious communication— has been widely discussed. Even though scientists haven't been able to establish the existence of telepathy, about 30% of Americans continue to believe in it.
PEN/PUN
Root Meaning:
PEN/PUN comes from the Latin words poena, “penalty,” and punire, “to punish.”
Etymology:
Latin
4 words derived from this root
Words from this root:
penal
/ˈpiːnl/
Definition:
Having to do with punishment or penalties, or institutions where punishment is given.
Example:
The classic novels *Les Misérables* and *The Count of Monte Cristo* portray the terrible conditions in French penal institutions in the 19th century.
Explanation:
A state or country's *penal code* defines its crimes and describes its punishments. During the 18th and 19th centuries, many countries established penal colonies, where criminals were sent as punishment. Often these were unbearably severe; but it was to such colonies that some of Australia's and the United States' early white inhabitants came, and the convicts provided labor for the European settlement of these lands.
impunity
/ɪmˈpjuːnəti/
Definition:
Freedom from punishment, harm, or loss.
Example:
Under the flag of truce, the soldiers crossed the field with impunity.
Explanation:
Impunity is protection from punishment, just as immunity is protection from disease. Tom Sawyer, in Mark Twain's novel, broke his Aunt Polly's rules with near impunity because he could usually sweet-talk her into forgiving him; if that failed, he had enjoyed himself so much he didn't care what *punishment* she gave him.
penance
/ˈpenəns/
Definition:
An act of self-punishment or religious devotion to show sorrow or regret for sin or wrongdoing.
Example:
In the Middle Ages bands of pilgrims would trudge to distant holy sites as penance for their sins.
Explanation:
Penance as a form of apology for a mistake can be either voluntary or ordered by someone else. Many religions include penance among the ways in which believers can show *repentance* or regret for a misdeed. The Christian season of Lent, 40 days long, is traditionally a time for doing penance.
punitive
/ˈpjuːnətɪv/
Definition:
Giving, involving, or aiming at punishment.
Example:
The least popular teachers are usually the ones with punitive attitudes, those who seem to enjoy punishing more than teaching.
Explanation:
*Punitive* is an important word in the law. When you sue a person or company for having wronged you in some way, you normally ask for something of value equal to what you were deprived of by the other party. But when the defendant has done something particularly bad, you may also ask for *punitive damages,* money over and above the actual cost of the harm done, intended to teach the defendant a lesson. Punitive damages are fairly rare, but when they're actually granted they may be as much as four times the size of the basic damages.