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Name:__________________
OBJECTIVES: Students will be discover ways to figure out the parts of words
based on each part’s meaning and other clues. More specifically, they will learn
that even though roots may be spelled the same, they can have different
meanings. This exercise will help them identify Latin and Greek roots of words
and will expand their vocabulary.
STEP 1: REVIEW
Remember that words with the root pan in them can be related to the Greek root
pan.
Pan -- god of fields, forests, wild animals. Part man/part goat, he often
caused serous trouble. When he was nearby, people ran in terror.
Pan is the root of the English words pandemonium and panic, because the
meanings of these words are related to the meanings associated with the god’s
name, meanings that have to do with being scared or terrified.
There are, however, a lot of other words in English that have the root word pan in
them, and these roots don’t have the same meaning, even though they are all
spelled the same.
Each of the following words has the root pan in it, but this pan is not the same
root as the god’s name pan.
Separate each word into parts. The first example is done for you.
pan + _demic______
pan + ____________
pan + ____________
d. panHellenic = of or pertaining to all Greek people
pan + ____________
pan + ____________
pan + ____________
pan + ____________
pan + ____________
pan + ____________
pan + ____________
STEP 3. What does pan mean in these words? Write down a definition.
______________________________
Now let’s see if we can figure out the meanings of the other parts of the words in
STEP 2. There is a hint given (in bold) for each underlined root word. Write
down any words you think might be related in meaning to that root. The first
example is done for you.
There are even more pan roots in English than the two we’ve discussed so far. Is
the following pan root one of the Greek ones you already know?
panfry (to fry in a pan) pancake panfish (fish fried in a pan)
The word panhandle is actually related to the ones above. Why do you think that
is? What does panhandle have to do with a frying pan?
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STEP 6:
You now have three meanings for the root pan. Are the uses of pan in the
following words related to any of those three meanings?