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What Is Vocabulary?

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VOCABULARY

What is Vocabulary?

a sum or stock of words employed by a language, group, individual, or work or in a field of


knowledge

The word vocabulary can have at least three different meanings:

1. All of the words in a language

New words are constantly being added to the vocabulary of English.

2. The words used in a particular context

If you want to do an MBA you need to improve your business vocabulary.

My neighbour is a doctor so he has an extensive medical vocabulary.

I've just bought a book on the vocabulary of slang.

3. The words an individual person knows

The teacher says that my vocabulary is good.

How to improve Vocabulary?

Use New Words

Use a word immediately after you learn it. Try to make a game out of using a new word as
soon as you learn it. Every day, try to slip in a new word into the conversation, a journal
entry, an assignment or an email to a friend. Do this as often as possible, and repeat the
word to yourself.

Read Every Day

Once you’re out of school, word drills and assigned reading become things of the past. While
these were tools for building your vocabulary repertoire while you were young, it doesn’t
mean you should abandon reading. Try to read a well-written and edited essay, magazine
article, book or news article every day. Nonfiction and technical books will quickly teach you
new ways to think and speak with words you may be unfamiliar with, but any type of reading
will help you along. The more you read -- especially novels and literary works, but also
magazines and newspapers -- the more words you'll be exposed to. As you read and uncover
new words, use a combination of attempting to derive meaning from the context of the
sentence as well as from looking up the definition in a dictionary.

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Learn Roots

Learn the roots of words. Most words in the English language are built from a common root,
prefix, and suffix, usually with an origin in the Greek or Latin language. Once you learn a
root, you’ll begin to understand more words that use the same root. For example, -duc-
(Latin root word) means to lead or to make, such as in the words produce or deduce.

‘grapho/graph/graphy’ which means to record or write.

Some words from the same root are:

Graphologist: a specialist who studies handwriting.

Holograph: Handwritten book or document (the root ‘holo’ stands for ‘hand’

Lexicographer: A compiler or writer of a dictionary

Let’s explore 30 of the most common Greek and Latin roots used in the English language.

Root Word Meaning Origin Related Words

       

Abyss- something in-depth or profound


A/n not, without Greek Achromatic –something which is colourless
Anhydrous –No water

Amble – Stroll
Ambulant – move around
Ambul walk, move Latin
Ambulance – a vehicle that moves a sick or injured
people to and from hospital

Animal – a living organism which has all the 5


senses as well as nervous system
Anim life, spirit Latin
Animate – Having life
Equanimity –a quality or condition of being cool

Anniversary –a ceremony in which an event is


Ann/enn year Latin
remembered

Astro outerspace Greek Astronaut – a person travelling to space

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Autonomy: condition of being self ruled
Auto self, same, one Greek
Autobiography: personal life story

Benefit: gain
Bene good, well Latin
Benevolent –big heartedness

Biochemistry: branch of science relating to


life, living
Bio Greek chemicals
matter
Biophilia: rapport of human with natural world

Cardiovascular –damage to hearts major blood


Cardi /o Heart Greek vessels
Cardiologist – a heart doctor

Carn /i flesh, meat Latin Carnivorous –meat eating; carnival: annual festival

Anachronism- A person or a thing who/that seems


to be displaced in time.
Chron/o Time Greek Chronological – arrangement of events in a time-
wise order
Synchronize – occurring at the same time

Homicide – murder
Insecticide – a chemical used to kill insects
Cide, cise cut, kill Latin Patricide- killing of father
Matricide- killing of mother
Suicide- killing yourself

Circumnavigate- travel around, in a ship or a plane


Circumscribe – to draw a line around something
Circum around, about Latin Circumspect – looking around cautiously
Circumlocution- An indirect way of speaking
something

Cogn/i know Latin Cognizant: having knowledge

democracy – government of the people;


Dem/o people Greek
Demolish- destroy

Dermatologist – a doctor for the skin; dermatitis:


Derm/a skin Greek
Eczema

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Perennial –continuous; long lasting
Enn/i, Anni years Latin
Biennial: happening every 2 years

Equidistant – an equal distance from two


Equ/i equal, equally Latin
points; Equation – a statement of equality.

Fid faith Latin Confide – trust someone, fidelity – faithfulness;

Geocentric: representing earth as the


earth, soil,
Geo Greek centre; Geometry: branch of maths related to
global
shapes and dimensions.

Heterogeneous –different
Hetero different, other Greek Heteronyms – words with same spelling but
different meanings

between, International – involving two or more countries


Inter Latin
among, jointly Intersection – place where lines come together

Lactate – to give milk


Lact/o milk Latin
Lactose – the sugar contained in milk

Eloquent – speaking beautifully and forcefully


Loqu, locu speak Latin Loquacious –  talkativeness
Elocution – art of public speaking

Macroevolution – large scale evolution


Macro large, great Greek
Macromolecule – a large molecule;

Malnutrition:lack of proper nutrition


Mal/e bad, ill, wrong Latin
Malodorous:foul smelling

Nominal – being something in name


Nom/in name Latin
Nominate – to elect

Omnipresent: present everywhere
Omni all Latin
Omnivorous eating all foods.

Pan all, any, Greek Panacea – a remedy for disease


everyone Panache:a stylish, original, and very confident way

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of doing things that makes people admire you

Retrograde: to move backwards.


Retro backward, back Latin
Retrospect – the remembering of past events.

Pay attention to prefixes and suffixes:

A prefix

Prefix is a letter or a group of letters that appears at the beginning of a word and changes
the word’s original meaning

A suffix

Suffix is a letter or a group of letters that is usually added at the end of words, to change the
way a word fits into a sentence grammatically.

To understand the meaning of a long word, you can often divide the word into parts.

Look at the word unjustifiable.

To better understand its meaning, you can divide the word into three parts:

un = not

justify = (verb) to give a good reason for

able = can; have the ability to

unjustifiable = (adjective) not having the

ability to give a good reason.

Killing innocent people is unjustifiable.

The word unjustifiable is created out of three parts:

un is a prefix. (It comes before the main part of the word.)

justify is the root. (It is the main part of the word.)

able is a suffix. (It comes after the main part of the word; like many suffixes, it changes the
part of speech; e.g., verb Æ adjective.)

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Here is a list of the most common prefixes:

PREFIX MEANING EXAMPLES

ante- Before antenatal, anteroom, antedate

anti- against, opposing antibiotic, antidepressant, antidote

circum- Around circumstance, circumvent, circumnavigate

co- With co-worker, co-pilot, co-operation

de- off, down, away from devalue, defrost, derail, demotivate

dis- opposite of, not disagree, disappear, disintegrate, disapprove

em-, en- cause to, put into embrace, encode, embed, enclose, engulf

epi- upon, close to, after epicentre, episcope, epidermis

ex- former, out of ex-president, ex-boyfriend, exterminate

extra- beyond, more than extracurricular, extraordinary, extra-terrestrial

fore- Before forecast, forehead, foresee, foreword, foremost

homo- Same homosexual, homonuclear, homoplastic

hyper- over, above hyperactive, hyperventilate

il-, im-, in-, ir- Not impossible, illegal, irresponsible, indefinite

im-, in- Into insert, import, inside

infra- beneath, below infrastructure, infrared, infrasonic, infraspecific

inter-, intra- Between interact, intermediate, intergalactic, intranet

macro- Large macroeconomics, macromolecule

micro- Small microscope, microbiology, microfilm, microwave

mid- Middle midfielder, midway, midsummer

mis- Wrongly misinterpret, misfire, mistake, misunderstand

mono- one, singular monotone, monobrow, monolithic

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PREFIX MEANING EXAMPLES

non- not, without nonsense, nonentity, nondescript

omni- all, every omnibus, omnivore, omnipotent

para- Beside parachute, paramedic, paradox

post- After post-mortem, postpone, post-natal

pre- Before prefix, predetermine, pre-intermediate

re- Again return, rediscover, reiterate, reunite

semi- Half semicircle, semi-final, semiconscious

sub- Under submerge, submarine, sub-category, subtitle

super- above, over Super food , superstar, supernatural, superimpose

therm- Heat thermometer, thermostat, thermodynamic

trans- across, beyond transport, transnational, transatlantic

tri- Three triangle, tripod, tricycle

un- Not unfinished, unfriendly, undone, unknown

uni- One unicycle, universal, unilateral, unanimous

Use Mnemonics

Mnemonic techniques are memory tricks you can use to remember new words. You may
remember a word by sounding it out and thinking of a funny sentence that matches the
meaning, such as turning egregious (extremely bad) into “Don’t let that smelly rotten egg
reach us!”

How to solve questions based on synonym and antonym?


What are Synonyms?
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When two pair of words mean exactly same in their meaning or nearly same or similar are
termed as Synonyms. Thereby a single word can carry many synonyms. For example; Simple,
Smooth, Easy are Synonyms of each other.

The formations of synonyms changes as per the changing form, let it be either verb,
adjective, adverb, preposition etc. On can understand better with the help of examples.

Verb: Walk and Stroll

Adjective: Beautiful and Charming

Adverb: Easily and Comfortably

Preposition: On and Upon

Given below are a few handful tips which shall be helpful to you to solve synonyms.

Tips & Tricks to solve Synonyms correctly in exam:

1. If one does not know the exact meaning of the word, try understanding it in the context
of the paragraph.

2. In case the meaning of the word is not clear, going through all the available options can
certainly be considered as a good idea. By doing so, one can start getting idea about the
given question & start negating the available options one after the other.

3. Sometimes it so happens that a particular word sounds more like a tongue twister, so try
& break it into meaningful parts. Chances are there that the full word might start making
more sense in this way.

4. One of the effective ways of knowing & scoring well in this section is to keep a regular tab
& enough involvement of reading synonyms & making one’s own list. Revising the list
regularly helps one in remembering the synonyms more often.

5. While replacing a particular word in sentence, using its synonym, please see to it that the
context does not change nor the whole meaning of the sentence.

Example: What is the synonym of Philanthropy?

a) injury

b) misappropriate

c) charity

d) endaemonism

e) cling

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The correct answer is option

c) charity.

Moving on to Antonyms. Let us understand what do we mean by saying Antonyms.

What are Antonyms?

Antonyms are the words, which mean opposite to the given word. Example: Antonym of
Benevolent is Malevolent or Unkind.

Given below are a few types of antonyms for better understanding of the students.

Types of Antonyms:

1. Gradable Antonyms: Both the words lie in a continuous spectrum. eg: hard and soft.

2. Complementary Antonyms: Over here, both the words do not lie in a continuous
spectrum. eg: push and pull

3. Relational Antonyms: Few kinds of antonyms are the ones, who make sense only when
they are read together. eg: teacher and pupil

In context of the examination, antonyms are being asked directly & at times based on the
paragraph.

Tips & Tricks to solve antonyms shall remain same as that of synonyms.

Let us take a look at the following passage for better understanding:

The railroad was not the first institution to impose regularity on society, or to draw
attention to the importance of precise timekeeping. For as long as merchants have set out
their wares at day break & communal festivities have been celebrated, people have been in
rough agreement with their neighbours as to the time of day. The value of this tradition is
today more apparent than ever. Were it not for public acceptance of a single yardstick of
time, social life would be unbearably chaotic: the massive daily transfers of goods, services,
information, would proceed in fits & starts the very fabric of modern society would begin to
unravel.

Question: In the above passage find out the antonym for the word stated in bold.

a) lawless

b) untidy

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c) jumbled

d) calm

The answer to the above question is

d) calm.

Exercise 1

In the following the questions choose the word which best expresses the meaning of the
given word.

1. CORPULENT

A. Lean

B. Gaunt

C. Emaciated

D. Obese

Answer: Option D

2.BRIEF

A. Limited

B. Small

C. Little

D. Short

Answer: Option D

3. EMBEZZLE

A. Misappropriate

B. Balance

C. Remunerate

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D. Clear

Answer: Option A

Explanation:

Main Entry: embezzle

Part of Speech: verb

Definition: steal money, often from employer

Synonyms: abstract, defalcate, filch, forge, loot, misapply, misappropriate, misuse, peculate,
pilfer, purloin, put hand in cookie jar, put hand in till, skim.

Antonyms : compensate, give, pay, reimburse, return

4. ADVERSITY

A. Failure

B. Helplessness

C. Misfortune

D. Crisis

Answer: Option C

Explanation:

Adversity is a very difficult or unfavourable situation.

5. INDICT

A. Condemn

B. Reprimand

C. Accuse

D. Allege

Answer: Option C

Explanation:

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Meanings: formally accuse of a crime (Law); accuse, charge, criticize

Choose the best antonym:

Example:

1. Restive:

A. Patient

B. Rigorous

C. Deceptive

D. Active

E. Cautious

Solution:

The word, restive, is tricky, because it sounds like it has something to do with rest.
Therefore, option (D) active would be the best antonym. However, this is a trick. Restive
actually means restless. So, the correct answer is patient, a good antonym for restless.

2. MELODIOUS

A. Harmonious

B. Tuneless

C. Odious

D. Mellifluous

Ans.(c)

Sol. Melodious: pleasant to listen to,

Odious: extremely unpleasant, horrible.

Mellifluous: pleasingly smooth and musical to hear.

Hence Melodious and Odious are antonyms to each other.

3. FIENDISH

A. Diabolical
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B. Devilish

C. Reimbursement

D. Friendly

Ans.(d)

Sol. Fiendish: cruel and unpleasant: extremely clever and complicated.

Friendly: Behaving in a kind and pleasant way showing kindness.

Reimbursement: a sum paid to cover money that has been spent or lost.

Hence Fiendish and Friendly are antonyms to each other

What are Verbal Analogies?

In general, an analogy is a similarity that is drawn between two different, but sufficiently
similar events, situations, or circumstances. A verbal analogy draws a similarity between one
pair of words and another pair of words.

Different types of relationship between the words:

There are many kinds of relationship which the question pair of words displays. If we are
able to decode the relationship between words, we will look to find out the pair of words
among the options where the first word is a tool for the second. Thus, reaching the correct
answer becomes easier.

List of Analogies:

P is a defining characteristic of Q.

Example: COURAGE : HERO (COURAGE is a defining characteristic of a HERO).

Lack of P is a defining characteristic of Q.

Example: HOPE: PESSIMISM (Lack of HOPE is a defining characteristic of PESSIMISM).

X is a type of Y.

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Example: ANGER: EMOTION (ANGER is a type of EMOTION.) ORANGE: FRUIT (An ORANGE is
a type of FRUIT).

X is a part of Y.

Example: LETTER : ALPHABET (A LETTER is a part of an ALPHABET).

X is the place for Y.

Example: CLINIC : NURSE (A CLINIC is the place for a NURSE).

Relationship of Degree.

Example: MOUNTAIN: HILL (A MOUNTAIN is a large HILL).

Tools used by professionals- Some analogies are based upon the connection between a
person and the tool that person uses or upon a tool and the result that it achieves.

Example: SCALPEL: SURGEON (A SCALPEL is the tool of a SURGEON).

X is a sign of Y.

Example: TREMBLING : FEARTREMBLING is a sign of FEAR.

Sequence- In this type of connection, one event follows another, either as a matter of logic
or sequence, or as an effect follows its cause. We also include in this category analogies in
which one event prevents or interrupts another.

Example: ENGAGEMENT: MARRIAGE (An ENGAGEMENT comes before a MARRIAGE.)

X is a spurious form of Y. In this type of analogy, one idea is a spurious or defective form of
the other.

Example: BRAVADO: BRAVERY (BRAVADO is spurious (or false) BRAVERY).

Exercise 2
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Verbal Analogies Questions:

Example 1:

Errata : Books : : Flaws : ?

A. Manuscripts

B. Metals

C. Speech

D. Charter

Solution: First identify the relation between the given pair. Here, errata is a list of mistakes
attached at the end of a book, after the book is published i.e. mistakes left in the finished
product. Similarly 'flaws' also means 'mistakes' and mistakes can be in manuscripts, speech
and charter also. But we cannot have three correct options. So the question is based on
secondary meaning of the words instead of primary meaning of the given words. 'Flaws' also
means 'impurities' left in the metal after it is purified. Now this is the perfect analogy. Hence
the answer is 'flaws : metals' i.e. option D. Errata is MISTAKES left after the book is published
and 'flaws' are the impurities left in the metal after it is purified.

Example 2:

TRIAL : JURY :: ?

dispute : arbiter

poll : contestant

championship : spectator

conference : speaker

Solution: As 'jury' settles the 'trial' similarly the job of the arbiter is to settle the 'dispute'.
Hence the answer is option A.

Example 3:

IMPLAUSIBLE : ABSURD :: ?

shadowy : illurninated

flamboyant : public

surprising : shocking

superfluous : truncated

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Solution: First try to figure out the relationship between the two words in the question pair.
Now the words 'implausible' and 'absurd' have almost the same meaning but the usage or
polarity is exactly opposite. While 'implausible' is used in positive sense, 'absurd' is used in
negative sense. Both have meaning used in the sense of 'unbelievable'. Similarly the option
C shows the same relationship. The words 'surprising' and 'shocking' means the same but
usage wise both are used in opposite sense(positive and negative respectively).

Example 4:

CUP : LIP :: BIRD : ?

A. BUSH

B. GRASS

C. FOREST

D. BEAK

Answer: Option D

Explanation:

Cup is used to drink something with the help of lips. Similarly birds collects grass with the
help of beak to make her nest.

Example 5:

Flow : River :: Stagnant : ?

A. Rain

B. Stream

C. Pool

D. Canal

Answer: Option C

Explanation:

As Water of a River flows similarly water of Pool is Stagnant.

Example 6:

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Paw : Cat :: Hoof : ?

A. Lamb

B. Elephant

C. Lion

D. Horse

Answer: Option D

Explanation:

As cat has Paw similarly Horse has Hoof.

Example 7:

Ornithologist : Bird :: Archealogist : ?

A. Islands

B. Mediators

C. Archealogy

D. Aquatic

Answer: Option C

Explanation:

As Ornithologist is a specialist of Birds similarly Archealogist is a specialist of Archealogy.

Example 8:

Peacock : India :: Bear : ?

A. Australia

B. America

C. Russia

D. England

Answer: Option C

Explanation:

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As Peacock is the national bird of India, similarly Bear is the national animal of Russia.

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