Root Word Lists

Words can be puzzling for students as they are often pieced together by many different word parts (morphemes). A single word might contain a prefix, a suffix, root, and a base or root word, each part holding important information. A root word can be defined as a basic standalone word in which affixes can be added to create new words. A root is the basis of a word and it typically does not stand alone. Teaching root words to kids can help increase students’ proficiency at identifying roots and forming complete words.

It is essential to start teaching root words to kids early so students can develop an understanding of root words, roots, and other morphemes in order to deconstruct words and build word meaning. Our root word spelling lists, used in conjunction with engaging root word games and exercises, are a great way to improve student understanding of how words are formed.

Morphemes, also referred to as word-part clues, are units of language that hold meaning, but cannot be broken down any further into smaller meaningful parts. Two basic types of morphemes exist: bound and free. Bound morphemes cannot stand alone and must be attached to other morphemes to form a word, acting as the building blocks of a word. Affixes (prefixes and suffixes) and Latin and Greek root words are bound morphemes. Free morphemes, on the other hand, can stand alone. Free morphemes include English root words, such as the root word “teach” in “teacher.” Two free morphemes can join to form a compound word, for example “dog” and “house” to form “doghouse.” Morphemes are imperative when teaching root words to kids, and our root words games, exercises, and word lists can help students master the puzzles of word creation.

Prefixes and suffixes can be added to a root word to form many new words and change word meaning. Often the term base word is used interchangeably with root word. When affixes are added to them, they serve as the anchor of the word because they hold the word’s principle meaning.

While there are many conflicting definitions of root words and base words, teachers need to keep in mind the importance of teaching these topics. Knowledge of morphemes, like word roots, helps with reading fluency, vocabulary development, and reading comprehension.

Latin & Greek Root Word Lists

Many words in the English language possess a Greek or Latin root. Below is a list of commonly used Greek and Latin roots, their meanings, and words containing them to use when teaching root words to kids.

Greek and Latin Root Words
Root Word	Meaning	Origin	Example
astro	star	Greek	astronaut
aud	hear	Latin	audio
auto	self	Greek	automatic
bene	good	Latin	benevolent
cred	believe	Latin	credible
dict	say	Latin	dictate
meter	measure	Greek	kilometer
micro	small	Greek	microscope
form	shape	Latin	formation
graph	write	Greek	autograph
hydr	water	Greek	dehydrate
liter	letter	Latin	literature
multi	many	Latin	multiple
pend	hang	Latin	appendix
port	carry	Latin	transportation
sect	cut apart	Greek	dissect
struct	build	Latin	construct
tele	from afar	Greek	telephone
therm	heat	Greek	thermometer
vac	empty	Greek	evacuate

English Root Word Lists

Root words are words in their own right, but are also the basis of many other words. Prefixes, suffixes, or both affixes may be added to expand upon a root word. Below are words containing English root words. To make teaching root words to kids easier than ever you can access additional word lists on VocabularySpellingCity and pair with root word games and exercises for engaging practice!

English Root Words
Root Word	Examples
appear	reappear, appearance, disappear
break	breakable, breaking, unbreakable
build	rebuild, builder, unbuild
care	caring, careful, careless
comfort	discomfort, comfortable, uncomfortable
count	counting, counter, countless
employ	unemploy, employment, unemployment
faith	faithful, faithfully, unfaithful
fear	fearless, fearful, fearing
friend	friendly, friendship, unfriendly
happy	happiness, unhappy, unhappiness
hope	hopeful, hopeless, hoped
joy	joyful, enjoyment, overjoyed
kind	unkind, kindness, unkindness
love	loveable, lovely, loved
pack	unpack, packed, packing
play	replay, playful, played
read	readable, reading, reader
use	misuse, useful, used
worth	worthy, unworthy, worthless

Use Our Root Word Lists to Create Engaging Root Word Games and Activities for Students of All Ages!