INTRODUCTION
to the Second Edition
Merriam-Webster's Vocabulary Builder is designed to achieve two goals: (1) to add a large
number of words to your permanent working vocabulary, and (2) to teach the most useful of the
classical word-building roots to help you continue expanding your vocabulary in the future.
To achieve these goals, Merriam-Webster's Vocabulary Builder employs an original
approach that takes into account how people learn and remember. Some vocabulary builders
simply present their words in alphabetical order; some provide little or no discussion of the
words and how to use them; and a few even fail to show the kinds of sentences in which the
words usually appear. But memorizing a series of random and unrelated things can be difficult
and time-consuming. The fact is that we tend to remember words easily and naturally when they
appear in some meaningful context, when they've been shown to be useful and therefore worth
remembering, and when they've been properly explained to us. Knowing precisely how to use a
word is just as important as knowing what it means.
Greek and Latin have been the sources of most of the words in the English language (the
third principal source being the family of Germanic languages). All these words were added to
the language long after the fall of the Roman empire, and more continue to be added to this day,
with most new words—especially those in the sciences—still making use of Greek and Latin
roots. A knowledge of Greek and Latin roots will not only help you remember the meanings of
the words in this book but will help you guess at the meanings of new words that you run into
elsewhere. Remember what a root means and you'll have at least a fighting chance of
understanding a word in which it appears.
The roots in this book are only a fraction of those that exist, but they include almost all the
roots that have produced the largest number of common English words. All these roots
(sometimes called stems) formed parts of Greek and Latin words. Some are shown in more
than one form (for example, CRAC/CRAT), which means that they changed form in the original
language, just as buy and bought are forms of the same English word.
Each of the more than 250 roots in this book is followed by four words based on the root.
Each group of eight words (two roots) is followed by two quizzes. Every fifth group of words is a
special eight-word section which may contain words based on classical mythology or history,
words borrowed directly from Greek or Latin, or other special categories of terms. Each set of
40 words makes up a unit. Thus, the 30 units in the book discuss in detail a total of 1,200 words.
In addition, the brief paragraphs discussing each word include in italics many words closely
related to the main words. So mastering a single word (for example, compel) can increase your
vocabulary by several words (in this case, compelling, compulsion, and compulsive).
The words presented here aren't all on the same level of difficulty—some are quite simple
and some are truly challenging—but the great majority are words that could be encountered on
the SAT and similar standardized tests. Most of them are in the vocabularies of well-educated
Americans, including professionals such as scientists, lawyers, professors, and doctors. Even
the words you feel familiar with may only have a place in your recognition vocabulary—that is,
the words you recognize when you see or hear them but don't actually use in your own speech
and writing.
Each main word is followed by its most common pronunciation. Any pronunciation symbols
unfamiliar to you can be learned easily by referring to the Pronunciation Symbols table on page
vii.
The definition comes next. We've tried to provide only the most common senses or
meanings of each word, in simple and straightforward language, and no more than two
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