As a Greek-American, I found that it was easier for me to learn "scientific jargon" that may have been intimidating for my fellow classmates because so many scientific words are derived from the Greek language! As Toula's father in my favorite movie, "My Big Fat Greek Wedding," would say, "Give me a word, any word, and I will show you that the root of that word is Greek." He even managed to explain how the word "kimono" is actually a Greek word! (It was a clever attempt.)
I should also mention that while many scientific words have Greek roots, there are also many that have Latin roots (including the word "science" itself). However, the benefit of knowing Greek roots of scientific words is that Greek is still a language spoken today! At the same time, if you are familiar with a Romance language like Spanish, then sometimes you can still understand Latin roots of words without knowing Latin: one of my favorite examples is that the word "vaccine" is derived from the fact that the first actual vaccine that was administered was to give people cowpox, in order to create an immunity for the much more severe smallpox; in Spanish, the word for "cow" is "vaca", so that's how you can understand the origin of "vaccine"!
Below I have listed some of my favorite examples for Greek roots of scientific words. It's interesting to note that some of these words have Ancient Greek origins and are not based on the Modern Greek translation; also, the pronunciation in Greek is usually quite different than how we say the word in English:
1. "eco-": This comes from the Ancient Greek word "oikos," which means "home" (the modern Greek word is "spiti").
2. "-logy"": This is derived from the word "logos," which means "word"; so when you think about "ecology," this really means that we are studying the "home" of all living things, which is the natural world around us.
3. "chrome-" or "chromato-": These are derived from "xroma" and "xromata," which mean "color" and "colors."
4. "proto-" and "deutero-": These words come from "protos" and "defteros," which mean "first" and "second." My favorite words in developmental biology are "protostome" and "deuterstome," which refer to animals where the mouth develops either first or second; since "stome" comes from "stoma," which means "mouth," this is a pretty easy translation from Greek!
5. "heme-": This comes from "aima", which means "blood."
6. "helio-": This comes from "ilios", which is "sun" (nuclear fusion occurs on the Sun, which is when 2 hydrogen atoms are combined to form helium, so that's how "helium" got its name; "hydrogen" got its name because "hydra" means "water" - modern Greek word is "nero" - and there are 2 hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom in a molecule of water).
7. "atom-": This is an interesting one: it is derived from "a" and "tomos," which basically means "uncuttable." Also, these words are the basis for another Greek word, "atomo," which means "individual." Now it makes sense why an "atom" was described as the smallest unit of matter!
8. "erythro-" and "leuko-": "erythro-" comes from "erythros," which means "red" (modern Greek word is "kokkinos"), and "leuko-" comes from "levkos," which means "white" ("aspros" in modern Greek"); now it makes sense that erythrocytes are red blood cells and leukocytes are white blood cells, right?
9. "telo-": This word is derived from "telos," which means "end"; it's no wonder that "telomeres" are the segments of DNA at the ends of chromosomes ("chromosome" comes from "chroma" and "soma", meaning "colored body," which is how chromosomes were described when doing karyotypes, and "karyotype" has the root "karidi", which means "nut" because the nucleus was thought to look like a nut - see, this can go on and on forever!) , and also "telophase" is the final part of mitosis ("mitosis" comes from the word "thread," referring to the thread-like spindle that forms to separate the chromosomes to either side of the cell; interestingly, "meoisis" comes from the word "subtract" because you end up with half as many chromosomes - again, this can go on forever!)
10. "-graph": This comes from "grafo," which means "to write" (although today we make graphs on the computer!).
... and many, many more!
I should also mention that while many scientific words have Greek roots, there are also many that have Latin roots (including the word "science" itself). However, the benefit of knowing Greek roots of scientific words is that Greek is still a language spoken today! At the same time, if you are familiar with a Romance language like Spanish, then sometimes you can still understand Latin roots of words without knowing Latin: one of my favorite examples is that the word "vaccine" is derived from the fact that the first actual vaccine that was administered was to give people cowpox, in order to create an immunity for the much more severe smallpox; in Spanish, the word for "cow" is "vaca", so that's how you can understand the origin of "vaccine"!
Below I have listed some of my favorite examples for Greek roots of scientific words. It's interesting to note that some of these words have Ancient Greek origins and are not based on the Modern Greek translation; also, the pronunciation in Greek is usually quite different than how we say the word in English:
1. "eco-": This comes from the Ancient Greek word "oikos," which means "home" (the modern Greek word is "spiti").
2. "-logy"": This is derived from the word "logos," which means "word"; so when you think about "ecology," this really means that we are studying the "home" of all living things, which is the natural world around us.
3. "chrome-" or "chromato-": These are derived from "xroma" and "xromata," which mean "color" and "colors."
4. "proto-" and "deutero-": These words come from "protos" and "defteros," which mean "first" and "second." My favorite words in developmental biology are "protostome" and "deuterstome," which refer to animals where the mouth develops either first or second; since "stome" comes from "stoma," which means "mouth," this is a pretty easy translation from Greek!
5. "heme-": This comes from "aima", which means "blood."
6. "helio-": This comes from "ilios", which is "sun" (nuclear fusion occurs on the Sun, which is when 2 hydrogen atoms are combined to form helium, so that's how "helium" got its name; "hydrogen" got its name because "hydra" means "water" - modern Greek word is "nero" - and there are 2 hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom in a molecule of water).
7. "atom-": This is an interesting one: it is derived from "a" and "tomos," which basically means "uncuttable." Also, these words are the basis for another Greek word, "atomo," which means "individual." Now it makes sense why an "atom" was described as the smallest unit of matter!
8. "erythro-" and "leuko-": "erythro-" comes from "erythros," which means "red" (modern Greek word is "kokkinos"), and "leuko-" comes from "levkos," which means "white" ("aspros" in modern Greek"); now it makes sense that erythrocytes are red blood cells and leukocytes are white blood cells, right?
9. "telo-": This word is derived from "telos," which means "end"; it's no wonder that "telomeres" are the segments of DNA at the ends of chromosomes ("chromosome" comes from "chroma" and "soma", meaning "colored body," which is how chromosomes were described when doing karyotypes, and "karyotype" has the root "karidi", which means "nut" because the nucleus was thought to look like a nut - see, this can go on and on forever!) , and also "telophase" is the final part of mitosis ("mitosis" comes from the word "thread," referring to the thread-like spindle that forms to separate the chromosomes to either side of the cell; interestingly, "meoisis" comes from the word "subtract" because you end up with half as many chromosomes - again, this can go on forever!)
10. "-graph": This comes from "grafo," which means "to write" (although today we make graphs on the computer!).
... and many, many more!
so happy to find good place to many here in the post, the writing is just great, thanks for the post. Biology
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