Greek and Latin in Scientific Terminology, Lecture 9
 Andrew Dunning
 6 November 2014

Your Next Test
What is included?
•	All vocabulary (cumulative) up to and including lecture 10; the focus will be on Latin.
•	Basic questions on articles for lectures 6 through 10 (this is not cumulative).
•	There will be a question asking you to take words from a paragraph of a scientific article; it will follow the format of today’s practice quiz.
X-ray Synchrotron Microtomography of a silicified Jurassic Cheirolepidiaceae (Conifer) cone
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•	Look over the passage on the page: identify ten words of Greek or Latin origin and provide their roots.
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We document a new species of ovulate cone (Pararaucaria collinsonae) on the basis of silicified fossils from the Late Jurassic Purbeck Limestone Group of southern England (Tithonian Stage: ca. 145 million years). Our description principally relies on the anatomy of the ovuliferous scales, revealed through X-ray synchrotron microtomography (SRXMT) performed at the Diamond Light Source (UK).
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This study represents the first application of SRXMT to macro-scale silicified plant fossils, and demonstrates the significant advantages of this approach, which can resolve cellular structure over lab-based X-ray computed microtomography (XMT).
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The method enabled us to characterize tissues and precisely demarcate their boundaries, elucidating organ shape, and thus allowing an accurate assessment of affinities. The cones are broadly spherical (ca. 1.3 cm diameter), and are structured around a central axis with helically arranged bract/scale complexes, each of which bares a single ovule.
Suffixes II
-ent (-ient), -ant (-iant)
•	equivalent to the English present participle ending, ing (-ens, -ans); this suffix often forms words which are used as nouns meaning ‘person who’, ‘that which’
•	eloquent, innocent, dormant, vigilant, agent, current, inhabitant
-ile
•	‘able to be’, ‘able to’, ‘tending to’ (-ilis)
•	fragile, ductile, agile, docile
•	NB: Distinguishable from the other -ile by the fact that it is attached to verbal roots.
-able, -ible
•	‘able to be’, ‘able to’, ‘tending to’ (-abilis, -ibilis).
•	durable, adaptable, incredible, flexible, adaptability, flexibility
•	NB: When this suffix is followed by another suffix, it becomes -abil-, -ibil-.
-id
•	‘tending to’, ‘inclined to’ (-idus)
•	fervid, frigid, vivid
-tude
•	forms abstract nouns (-tudo)
•	beatitude, solitude
-uous
•	‘tending to’, ‘inclined to’ (-uus, -uosus)
•	continuous, assiduous, impetuous
-ulous
•	‘tending to’, ‘inclined to’ (-ulus)
•	incredulous, tremulous, garrulous
-ive
•	‘tending to’, ‘inclined to’ (-ivus)
•	active, aggressive, adhesive
-ory
•	‘tending to’, ‘serving for’ (-orius)
•	preparatory, introductory, excretory
-itious
•	‘tending to’, ‘characterized by’ (-icius)
•	fictitious, excrementitious
-acious
•	‘tending to’, ‘inclined to’ (-ax)
•	vivacious, audacious, loquacious
-ory (-orium)
•	‘place for’, ‘apparatus’
•	dormitory, lavatory, auditorium, sanatorium
-ary (-arium)
•	‘place for’, ‘apparatus’
•	mortuary, library, infirmary, aquarium, sanitarium, herbarium
-y (-ia)
•	‘quality of’, ‘state of’, ‘act of’
•	misery, modesty, perjury, neuralgia, insomnia, asonia
Diminutives
-ule, -ole, -le
•	‘little’ (-ulus, -ula, -ulum; -olus, -ola, -olum; -leus, -lea, -leum)
•	globule, granule, arteriole, circle, scruple, gladiolus, formula, cupola, capitulum
-el
•	‘little’ (-ellus, -ella, -ellum)
•	tunnel, scalpel, morsel, lamella, flagellum, capitellum, cerebellum
-cule, -cle
•	‘little’ (-culus, -cula, -culum)
•	molecule, muscle, particle
-il
•	‘little’ (-illus, -illa, -illum)
•	codicil, pupil, fibril, fibrilla, Priscilla, armadillo
-uncle
•	‘little’ (-unculus)
•	carbuncle, avuncular, furnuncle, pedunculus, ranunculus
-ette, -et
•	‘little’ (of French origin, but attaching to Latin roots)
•	statuette, cornet, lancet
Early-Modern Scientists and Terminology
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I learn more from the anatomy of an ant or a blade of grass … than from all the books which have been written since the beginning of time. This is so, since I have begun … to read the book of God … the model according to which I correct the human books which have been copied badly and arbitrarily and without attention to the things that are written in the original book of the Universe.
(Tommaso Campanella, quoted in Eisenstein 2005, 218)
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Philosophy is written in this grand book, the universe which stands continually open to our gaze. But the book cannot be understood unless one first learns to comprehend the language and read the letters in which it is composed. It is written in the language of mathematics.
(Galileo, quoted in Eisenstein 2005, 265)
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Why did printing matter?
•	Books today might seem as if they restrict science, but the opposite is true if one takes a long view of history.
•	Elizabeth Eisenstein of the first scholars to make a thorough argument for the printing press as an actual means of change in a book published in 1979; it is a somewhat controversial book, but very influential.
•	The chapter from her 2005 book on the optional reading list is condensed from her 1979 work; most of the material from today’s lecture is reacting to it.
A case study: Vesalius
•	Andries van Wesel, 31 December 1514–15 October 1564
•	The Fisher library owns a copy of Vesalius’s De humani corporis fabrica (first published 1543) with annotations from the author himself.
•	In general, see Ivanová and Holomáňová (2001); Musil et al. (2014) discuss his contributions to the naming of the skelatal muscles.
•	Historical background: clip from BBC series Blood and Guts.
Roots, Part I
AUD-, AUDIT-
•	‘to hear’
•	AUDIT-orium, AUDIT-ion; AUDIO-meter, an instrument for measuring the acuity and range of hearing; AUDIT-ive or AUDIT-ory, pertaining to heard sounds or the sense of hearing
CAMER-
•	‘chamber’ (camera)
•	CAMERA; CAMER-ation, division into a number of separate chambers; UNI-CAMER-al, having only one cavity or chamber
CAD-, (-CID-), CAS-
•	‘to fall’, ‘to befall’
•	CAD-ence; de-CAD-ent; de-CID-uous; in-CID-ence, the act or manner of falling upon; the way in which one body strikes another, as angle of incidence
CAP- (-CIP-), CAPT- (-CEPT-)
•	‘to take’, ‘to seize’
•	CAPT-ive; re-CEPT-ion; CON-CEPT-ion; EXTERO-CEPT-or, a receptor which receives stimuli from outside the body
CREPIT-
•	‘to creak’, ‘to crackle’
•	de-CREPIT; de-CREPIT-at-ion, the breaking up or crackling of certain crystals on heating; CREPIT-at-ion or CREPIT-at-io or CREPITUS, the grating of fractured bones, or the crackling of a joint
GRAV-
•	‘heavy’ (gravis)
•	in-GRAV-esc-ent, increasing in weight or severity; GRAVI-GRADE, any of several large, heavy-footed mammals, as elephants; PRIMI-GRAV-ida, a woman who is pregnant for the first time
JAC-
•	‘to lie’
•	ad-JAC-ent, lying nearby, having a common border; sub-JAC-ent, lying beneath
LAB-, LAPS-
•	‘to slip’, ‘to fall’, ‘to glide’
•	LAPSE; col-LAPSE; re-LAPSE; LAB-ile, unstable, readily changing, moving from place to place; LAB-il-ity, in psychiatry, very rapid fluctuation in intensity and modality of emotions
MOLL-
•	‘soft’ (mollis)
•	MOLL-ities, softness; MOLL-SOL, surface layer of permanently frozen ground in which ice melts during the summer; e-MOLL-ient, a substance used externally to soften the skin
MORB-
•	‘disease’ (morbus)
•	MORB-id; MORB-ose; morbus anglicus, rickets; morbus divinus or morbus caducus, epilepsy; morbus hungaricus, typhus
MOV-, MOT-
•	‘to move’
•	pro-MOTE; de-MOT-ion; OCULO-MOT-or, causing movements of the eyeball (applies to the third cranial nerve); VENO-MOT-or, causing veins to contract or dilate
NASC-, NAT-
•	‘to be born’
•	NAT-ive, NAT-ure; NAT-ion; ad-NATE, congenitally attached or united; in-NATE, inherited, present from birth; ante-NAT-al, occurring or existing before birth, prenatal
PATI-, PASS-
•	‘to suffer’, ‘to endure’
•	PATI-ent; PASS-ion, an intense emotion; com-PAT-ibil-ity, congruity; the power of a medicine or a substance in a medicine to mix with another without deleterious chemical change or loss of therapeutic power; refers also to blood types
PLAN-
•	‘flat’ (planus)
•	PLANE; de-PLAT-ate, levelled, flattened; PLAN-at-ion, a process of erosion that produces flat surfaces; PLAN-ula, very young, flat-bodied larva or free-swimming coelenterates
PRUR-, PRURIT-
•	‘to itch’
•	PRURITUS, itching; anti-PRURIT-ic, relieving or preventing itching; PRUR-igo, a chronic inflammatory disease of the skin characterized by itching
REG- (-RIG-), RECT-
•	‘to make straight’, ‘to rule’; RECT-, ‘straight’, ‘rectum’ (rectus)
•	REG-ent; di-RECT; ar-RECT-or a muscle which erects; para-RECT-al, beside or near the rectum; REG-imen, a systematic plan or course to maintain or improve health
RUMP-, RUPT-
•	‘to break’, ‘to burst’
•	ab-RUPT; inter-RUPT; ab-RUPT-ion; RUPT-ure, a forcible tearing of a part, or a hernia; RUPT-io, rupture of a vessel or organ
SCIND-, SCISS-
•	‘to cut’, ‘to split’
•	re-SCIND; SCISS-ile, separating, easily split; ab-SCIND, to cut off; dis-SCISS-ion, state of being torn apart
TANG- (-TING-), TIG-, TACT-
•	‘to touch’
•	con-TACT; con-TING-ent; TACT-ile, pertaining to the sense of touch; a-TACT-ia, loss of the tactile sense; MYO-TACT-il-ic, relating to the muscular sense
VESIC-
•	‘bladder’, ‘blister’ (vesica)
•	VESIC-le, a small bladder, especially a small sac containing fluid, a small bulla; peri-VESICUL-itis, inflammation around a seminal vesicle; VESIC-at-ion, the formation of a blister, or a blister
Roots, Part II
AMBUL-
•	‘to walk’
•	AMBLE; AMBUL-ance; AMBUL-ant or AMBUL-at-ory, walking or able to walk, designating a patient not confined to bed but requiring medical care; SOMN-AMBUL-ism, sleepwalking
CED-, CESS-
•	‘to go’, ‘to yield’
•	con-CEDE; intro-CESS-ion, a depression, as of a surface; pro-CESS, a prominence or outgrowth; suc-CED-an-eous, relating to or acting a substitute; pertaining to that which follows after, as a permanent tooth replacing a deciduous tooth
DEXTR-
•	‘right hand’ (dexter)
•	DEXTRO-DUCT-ion, movement of the visual axis toward the right
FAC- (-FIC-), FACT- (-FECT-)
•	‘to do’, ‘to make’
•	FACT-ory; FACT; FICT-ion; ef-FIC-acious, having the power to bring about a desired effect; FAC-ul-tat-ive, voluntary, optional; having the power to do or not do a thing
FID-, FISS-
•	‘to split’
•	FISS-ure; FISS-ion; FISS-ile, fissionable; FISSI-ROSTR-al, with deeply cleft beak; PENTA-FID, divided in five divisions or lobes
GUST-
•	‘to taste’
•	dis-GUST; GUST-at-ion, the sense of taste, the act of tasting; de-GUST-at-ion, the act of tasting; GUSTO-meter, an apparatus used to determine taste thresholds
INSUL-
•	‘island’ (insula)
•	INSUL-ate; PEN-INSULA; INSULA, that portion of the cortex overlying the corpus striatum INSUL-oma, a tumour arising from the cells of the islets of the pancreas; INSUL-in, the antidiabetic hormone arising from the islets of Langerhans
JUNCT-
•	‘to join’; JUG-, ‘yoke’ (jugum)
•	JUNCT-ion; sub-JUG-ate; con-JUG-at-ion, the temporary union or complete fusion of two gametes or unicellular organisms, or the pairing of chromosomes; dis-JUNCT-ion divergence of paired chromosomes at anaphase
LEV-
•	‘left hand’ (laevus)
•	LEVO-DUCT-ion, movement to the left, especially of the eye; LEVO-GYR-ate or LEVO-ROT-ary, rotating the plane of polarized light to the left
MACUL-
•	‘spot’ (macula)
•	im-MACUL-ate; MACCHI-ato; MACULA, a spot or patch of colour, or a small pit or depression; MACULA LUTEA, the yellow spot on the retina, the point of clearest vision; MACUL-at-ion, the arrangement of spots on a plant or animal
NOCT-
•	‘night’ (nox)
•	NOCTI-phobia, morbid fear of night; per-NOCT-at-ion, staying up all night; NOCT-VAG-ant, going about in the night, night-wandering
PAR-, PART-
•	‘to give birth to’, ‘to produce’
•	MULTI-PAR-ous, bearing more than one offspring at a time; BI-PAR-ous, having two young at a time; RAMI-PAR-ous, producing branches, OCTI-PARA, a woman who has been in labour eight times
PEND-, PENS-
•	‘to hang’, ‘to weigh’, ‘to pay’
•	de-PEND; im-PEND; ex-PENS-ive; com-PENS-at-ion, a psychic phenomenon in which strong of guilt or inferiority prompt excessive defensive reactions
PRED-
•	‘prey’ (praeda)
•	PRED-at-ism, the habit or practice of living by predation; PRED-acious, preying on other animals; PRED-ac-ity, quality or state of being predacious
ROT-
•	‘wheel’ (rota)
•	ROT-ate, shaped like a wheel, rotiform; ROT-ul-iform, shaped like a small wheel; MUTA-ROT-at-ion, a change in optical rotation of solutions of certain sugars
SALI- (-SILI-), SALT- (-SULT-)
•	‘to leap’, ‘to jump’
•	ex-ULT; re-SULT; con-SULT; in-SULT, trauma or other stress to tissues or organs; SALTI-GRADE, moving by leaps as some insects
SORB-, SORPT-
•	‘to suck in’
•	ab-SORPT-ion, in physiology, the taking up of fluids or gases through osmosis and capillarity, or infiltration into the skin, or incorporation into the body through blood and lymph
STRING-, STRICT-
•	‘to draw tight’
•	STRICT, stiffly upright, rigid, erect; a-STRING-ent, an agent that produces contraction of organic tissues or arrests haemorrhage, diarrhea, etc.
TEN- (-TIN-), TENT-
•	‘to hold’
•	TEN-ant; con-TIN-uous; de-TENT-ion; in-con-TIN-ent, not having the ability to control the natural evacuations, as the faeces or urine; sus-TIN-acul-ar, supporting (applies to connective tissue acting as a supporting framework for an organ
VIV-
•	‘living’ (vivus)
•	sur-VIVE; VIV-id; VIV-acious; VIVI-dif-FUS-ion, passage of diffusible substances from the blood of a living animal; VIV-PAR-ous, bringing forth the young alive
Roots, Part III
AC(U)-
•	‘sharp’, ‘sour’, ‘needle’ (acus)
•	ACU-PUNCT-ure; ACU-ol-ate, beset with small prickles; ACUTI-COST-al, having projecting ribs
ARE-
•	‘space’ (area)
•	ARE-ola, any minute interstice or space in a tissue; or a pigmented ring surrounding some central point or space, as a nipple or a pustule, or the part of the iris enclosing the pupil; ARE-ol-et, a small areola
AUR-
•	‘ear’ (auris)
•	end-AUR-al, pertaining to the inner surface or part of the external auditory canal; AUR-icle, any ear-like, lobed appendage, or the external ear, or the atrium, or anterior chamber, of the heart
CALC-
•	‘limestone’, ‘pebble’, ‘calcium’ (calx)
•	CALC-ulus; CALCI-COLE, a plant that thrives in soils rich in calcium salts; CALCI-FIC-at-ion, the deposition of lime salts in tissue; CALC-ar-eous, containing calcium carbonate (chalky)
CAPS-
•	‘box’ (capsa)
•	CAPS-ule; en-CAPS-ul-at-ion, the process of surrounding a part with a capsule; de-CAPS-ul-at-ion, removal of a capsule or enveloping membrane
CAR(N)-
•	‘flesh’ (caro)
•	CARN-al; CARN-eous, flesh-coloured; in-CARN-at-ive, an agent which produces flesh or promotes granulation; CARNI-VOR-ous
CUT-
•	‘skin’ (cutis)
•	intra-CUT-aneous, within the skin substance (applied to the injection of substances into the skin); CUT-in, a substance allied to cellulose found in external layers of thickened epidermal cells
FIBR-
•	‘fibre’ (fibra)
•	FIBR-il, a component filament of a fibre, as of a muscle or a nerve; FIBR-in, the fibrous, insoluble protein in the network involved in blood clotting
FOLL(I)-
•	‘bag’ (follis)
•	FOLLI-cle, a capsular fruit which opens on one side only, or a cavity or sheath (as an ovarian or hair follicle), or a small secretory cavity or sac (as an acinus or alveolus); peri-FOLLI-cul-ar, surrounding a follicle
FUN-
•	‘rope’, ‘cord’ (funis)
•	FUN-ic, relating to or originating in the umbilical cord; FUNI-PENDUL-ous, suspended by a rope or cord
LOC-
•	‘place’ (locus)
•	LOC-al; al-LOC-ate; LOCO-MOT-ion; LOC-ellus, a small compartment of an ovary; BI-LOC-ul-ar, containing two cavities or chambers
LUN(A)-
•	‘moon’ (luna)
•	LUN-ate, crescent-shaped; SEMI-LUN-ar, half-moon-shaped; LUN-ette, the transparent lower eyelid of snakes
OST-
•	‘door’, ‘opening’ (ostium)
•	OSTIUM, any mouthlike opening, such as the opening of the fallopian tubes; OSTI-ole, the opening of a conceptacle, perithecium, stoma, or another sac, or the inhalant aperture of a sponge
PART-
•	‘part’, ‘to divide’ (pars)
•	PARTI-CIP-ate; PART-ic-ul-ar; BI-PART-ite, having two parts; DIGITI-PART-ite, having leaves divided in a hand-like pattern
PED-
•	‘foot’ (pes)
•	PED-al; im-PEDE; ex-PED-ient; PEDI-cel, any slender stalk, especially one that supports a fruiting or spore-bearing organ; SCUTI-PED, having the foot or part of the foot covered by scutella
PELL-
•	‘skin’ (pellis)
•	PELL-icle, a thin skin or film, such as a film on the surface of a liquid
PLUM-
•	‘feather’ (pluma)
•	PLUMI-GER-ous, feathered; PULVI-PLUME, a powder-down feather
RACEM-
•	‘cluster of grapes or berries’ (racemus)
•	RACEM-ose, arranged in a cluster, or bearing flowers in clusters; RACEM-ic acid, named from its being found in the juice of grapes
RIM-
•	‘crack’, ‘chink’ (rima)
•	RIM-ate, having fissures; RIM-iform, in the shape of a narrow fissure; BI-RIM-ose, having two clefts or slits
VOR-
•	‘to eat’
•	VOR-acious; HERBI-VOR-ous, living on vegetable food; FUNGI-VOR-ous, fungus-eating animals and plants; in-SECTI-VOR-ous, living on insects
Roots, Part IV
ANS-
•	‘jug handle’, ‘loop’ (ansa)
•	ANSA, loop, as of certain nerves; ANSA CERVIC-alis, a nerve loop in the neck
DIGIT-
•	‘finger’, ‘toe’ (digitus)
•	DIGIT-ule, any small, fingerlike process; SEX-DIGIT-ate, with six fingers or toes
FORMIC-
•	‘ant’ (formica)
•	FORMIC acid, a colourless acid occurring in ants and some plants; FORMIC-IDE, a substance used for destroying ants; FORMIC-at-ion, an abnormal sensation of insects crawling on the skin
HAUST-
•	‘to draw out’, ‘to drink’
•	ex-HAUST-ion; HAUST-ellum, a proboscis adapted for sucking; HAUST-orium, an organ of certain parasitic protozoa by which they attach themselves to the host
MENT-
•	‘mind’ (mens)
•	MENT-at-ion, the mechanism of thought, mental activity; de-MENT-ia, deterioration or loss of the intellectual faculties, the reasoning power, etc.
NERV-
•	‘nerve’, ‘vein of insect wing or leaf’ (nervus)
•	TRI-NERV-ate, having three veins or ribs running from the bast to the margin of a leaf; ab-NERV-al, away from a nerve (of the direction of an electric current passing through muscle fibres away from the point of entrance of a nerve)
PECTOR-
•	‘breast’ (pectus)
•	PECTOR-al, pertaining to the chest, in the chest region; MEDIO-PECTOR-al, applies to the middle part of the sternum; ex-PECTOR-at-ion, ejection of material from the mouth
PIL-
•	‘hair’ (pilus)
•	PIL-ose, hairy, downy; PILI-FER-ous, bearing or producing hair; PILI-MIC-at-ion, the passing of urine containing hairlike filaments
PISC-
•	‘fish’ (piscis)
•	PISC-ine, of, relating to, having the characteristics of fish; PISCI-VOR-ous, fish-eating
PRESS-
•	‘to press’
•	de-PRESS-ion, im-PRESS-ion, re-PRESS, op-PRESS-ion; de-PRESSO-MOT-or, any nerve which lowers muscular activity
ROD-, ROS-
•	‘to gnaw’
•	ROD-ent; cor-ROS-ive, a substance which destroys organic tissue by chemical means or by inflammation; e-ROS-ion, an eating, gnawing or wearing away
SEB-
•	‘grease’, ‘tallow’ (sebum)
•	SEBUM, the oily secretion of the SEB-aceous glands which lubricates and protects the hair and skin; SEBO-RRHEA, a functional disease of the sebaceous glands, characterised by an excessive secretion or disturbed quality of sebum
SENS-, SENT-
•	‘to feel’, ‘to perceive’
•	SENT-ence; con-SENT; as-SENT; dis-SENT; SENS-ile, capable of affecting a sense; SENTI-ent, of cells that are sensitive and perceptive; SENS-illa, a small sense organ
SOL-
•	‘sun’ (sol)
•	SOL-arium; in-SOL-at-ion, exposure to the sun’s rays; SOL-ASTER-idae, a family of starfishes, typically brightly coloured and having numerous arms
SOMN-
•	‘sleep’ (somnus)
•	SOMNI-FACI-ent, a medicine producing sleep, a hypnotic; SOMNI-FUG-ous, driving away sleep; hyper-SOMN-ia, excessive sleepiness
SQUAM-
•	‘scale’ (squama)
•	SQUAMI-FER-ous, bearing scales; e-SQUAM-ate, having no scales; SQUAM-ul-ate, having minute scales
TER(R)-
•	‘earth’ (terra)
•	TERR-aneous, applies to land vegetation; TERRI-COL-ous, living in the earth
UTER-
•	‘womb’ (uterus)
•	UTER-ismus, uterine contraction of a spasmodic and painful character; UTERO-GEST-at-ion, the part of the gestation period passed in the uterus; UTRI-cle or UTRI-culus, an air bladder of aquatic plants, or the membranous sac of the ear labyrinth
VACU-
•	‘empty’ (vacuus)
•	VACUUM; VACU-ole, one of the spaces in cell protoplasm containing air, sap or partially digested food; VACU-ol-is-at-ion, the formation of vacuoles
VAS-
•	‘vessel’ (vas)
•	VASE; VAS-cul-ar, consisting of or containing vessels adapted for transmission or circulation of fluid; CARDIO-VAS-cul-ar, pertaining to the heart and blood vessels; VASO-di-LAT-ion, relaxing or enlarging the vessels