Definition of "root word" []

• A prefix in an English word derived from Greek or Latin. (noun)
• Alternative form of root. It is the primary lexical unit of a word, which carries the most significant aspects of semantic content and cannot be reduced into smaller constituents. Inflectional stems often derive from roots. (noun)

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• "The words “prize,” “praise,” “price,” “appreciate,” and “depreciate” are all related—they come from the same Latin root word pretium, meaning “value.”"
• "It’s a basic root word in Nostramic, the protolanguage that underlies what we speak today."
• "“The root word for ‘befuddled’ is fudd,“ goes facetious ad copy on the Warner Brothers Web site, “and the prefix for fudd is Elmer.”"