The process of vocabulary acquisition can be compared to putting together a jigsaw puzzle: taking small pieces that fit together, finding out which ones truly fit and which ones only seem to, building a frame, comparing the parts to the whole picture, and finally assembling a complete phrase, sentence, paragraph, dissertation, or thousand-page book. When you look at a completed puzzle, it seems like a smooth and seamless image, but if you look closer, the image can be broken down into many parts. In English (and other languages), many of those parts are the word roots: the origins of the words from the ancient Greek, Latin, or Sanskrit or, more recently, from Old Norse, Middle English, or Anglo-French, for example. When you spend time looking at the etymology of words, tracing them back to their beginnings, you can see how words are related to each other, and identify the components that will help you quickly recognize the meanings of new and unfamiliar words that share those same components.

As an example, the word recognize can be traced back to three Latin roots: re- (“again”), co- (“with”), and gnoscere (“to be acquainted”). By knowing these three roots, you could say that the definition of the word recognize is “to be acquainted with again” or “to know again.” While that may not be a precise literal translation of the word, think about how it’s used in context. If you recognize a person, or a place, it’s because you have had a previous connection, or acquaintance, with them. When you recognize them, you are reconnecting with them, reacquainting yourself with them. The meaning of the word comes through, even if the root-word translation doesn’t directly match up with a standard dictionary definition.

When you recognize word roots and are able to apply their meanings to help you get the sense of words you’ve never seen before, your reading and comprehension speed will increase, and you’ll be able to handle more complex and detailed documents on many different subjects.

Be careful, though, that you don’t assume that just because words seem to share the same root words that they indeed have the same basic sense. Many words do share the same etymological roots; these words are called cognates. But look at the word cognate itself. At first glance, it appears to share the same root gnoscere as the word recognize. Actually, cognate comes from the Latin root gnatus (“to be born”) along with the root co- (“with”). The word therefore can be translated as “to be born with, born together”, which accurately describes its meaning: words that share the same linguistic “parents” are cognates. In this case, recognize and cognate are called “false cognates” because they appear to share the same main root, but in fact do not.

Take time to research the roots of the words you’re studying, and you’ll be able to puzzle out the meanings of any new words that come your way.