Pre-AP Root Word List

There are more new words in Biology than the first year of a foreign language. These are your short-cuts to
mastering all of that vocabulary.
In general, a quiz will be given every Friday over the next 10 words. The quizzes are cumulative. This means Quiz
#1 will be over 1-10. Quiz #2 will be over 1-20, etc.
A test will be given over the first 100 words in the 2
nd
nine weeks. In the 4
th
nine weeks, a test will be given over
all of the words.
These words are on Zondle to study.
How to Use Root Words
Many words in Biology and in English have Greek or Latin roots. Words can be divided into parts to determine
the meaning of the word.
Example:
Autotroph: auto=self, troph=feeder
An autotroph is an organism that self-feeds, meaning it produces its own energy

Binomial nomenclature : bi=two, nom=name, nomen=naming, clature=system
Binomial nomenclature is a two-name naming system for species.

WARNING: Not all words break down this easily.
# Root Meaning Vocab/Example Notes
1 a, an without abiotic, anaerobic
2 ab away, off abnormal
3 adi, lip fat adipose tissue
4 aero air, oxygen aerobic, anaerobic
5 ameb change amoeba
6 amphi on both sides amphibian
7 ana up, away anaphase
8 andro male androgen
9 anti against anticodon, antibiotic
10
archaea,
paleo old
archaebacteria,
paleontology
11 arthro joint arthritis, arthropod
12 ase (enzyme) polymerase, helicase
13 aster star aster (mitosis)
14 atmo, spira breath respiration
15 auto self autotroph
16 avi bird Class Aves
17 bene good, well beneficial
18 bi, di two
diploid,
binomial nomenclature,
diversity, dichotomy
19 bio, viv life biotic,survive
20 blast embryo blastocyst
21 bry grow bryophyte
22 calori heat calorie
23 cap take, get carrying capacity
24 capilli hair capillaries
25 carcin, onco cancer carcinogen, oncogene
# Root Meaning Vocab/Example Notes
26 cardio heart cardiovascular
27 carni flesh carnivore
28 cata break, down catalyst
29 ced, cess sit, go, yield succcession
30 cephalo head cephalopod
31
cerebro,
cranio brain cerebrum
32 chemo chemical biochemical
33 chloro green chloroplast, chlorophyll
34 chondro cartilage Class Condritchythes
35 chromo color chromosome
36 cide kill insecticide, pesticide
37 co, com, con together codominance, community
38 cocco berry, grain, round coccus
39 coel hollow, cavity coelomate
40 corp body corpse
41 crypt hidden encryption
42 cuti, derm skin cuticle, epidermis
43 cyano dark blue cyanobacteria
44 cyclo round cycle
45 cyst bladder, pouch blastocyst
46 cyto cell cytokinesis, cytoplasm
47 de down, away, from
decomposer, dehydration
synthesis
48 deca, deci ten decimeter
49 dent, dont tooth dentist
50 dif through, apart, across diffusion
51 diplo double diploid
52 dis not nondisjunction
53 domin master dominant, codominance
54 dorm, hypno sleep dormant
55 e, ex, exo, ec out exocytosis, extinct
56 echino spiny echinoderm
57 eco house, habitat ecology, ecosystem
58 ecto outside ecotherm
59 endo, en within endotherm
60 epi on, over epidemic, epidermis
61 erythro red erythrocyte
62 eu true eukaryote
63 extra beyond extracellular
64 fer carry transfer
65 fy, fi do, make artificial, classify
66 gastro stomach gastrointestinal
67 gen birth, race, produce
gene, pathogen, genotype,
antigen
68 gen created gene, genotype
# Root Meaning Vocab/Example Notes
69 geo earth geotropism
70 gest to carry gestation
71 gluco, sacc sugar glucose, saccharide
72 gymno naked gymnosperm
73 gyn woman gynecology
74 halo salt halophile
75 haplo single haploid
76 hemo blood hemoglobin
77 hepato liver hepatitis
78 herb, phyto plant herbivore, bryophyte
79 hetero other, different heterozygous, heterotroph
80 hex six hexagon
81 hiberna winter hibernate
82 homo similar, man homozygous
83 hormono excite hormones
84 hydro, aqua water hydrolysis, aquatic
85 hyper over, above, more hypertonic
86 hypo under, below, less hypothesis, hypotonic
87 ictythes fish
Class Condritchythes,
Osteichythes
88 im, in, non not immune, nondisjunction
89 inter between interphase
90 intra within intraspecific
91 ism system organism, mutualism
92 iso, equi equal isotonic, equilibrium
93 it is inflamed heptatitis
94 junction join nondisjunction
95 kary nucleus
karyotype, eukaryote,
prokaryote
96 kinesis motion cytokinesis
97 lact milk lactose
98 latero side bilateral
99 loco place locomotion
100 log, logo, loc word, speak homologous structures
101 logy study of ecology, biology
102 lys, lyt, lysis dissolve, split hydrolysis, catalyst
103 macro, mega large macromolecule
104 mal bad malignant
105 mamm breast mammals
106 mela dark melanin
107 menigo membrane menigitis
108 mere part telomere
109 meso middle mesophyll
110 meta between, after, middle metaphase
111 meter measure thermometer, kilometer
# Root Meaning Vocab/Example Notes
112 micro small
microscope,
microorganism
113 migra wander immigration, migration
114 mis bad, hate missense
115 mono, uni one monomer, unicellular
116 morph form morphology
117 mort, necro dead post-mortem, necrosis
118 mot movement motile
119 multi, poly many multicellular, polymer
120 muta change mutation
121 myco fungi mycelium
122 neo new neophyte
123 neuro nerve neuron
124 nocti night nocturnal
125 nom name binomial nomenclature
126 nomy law taxonomy
127 nuc nut, center nucleus
128 oct eight octopus
129 omni all omnivore
130 ose names a sugar glucose, lactose
131 osteo bone osteoporosis
132 ova, oo egg ovule, oviduct
133 pan all, many, people pandemic
134 para beside compare, paramecium
135 path, pathy feeling, disease pathogen
136 ped, pod foot cephalopod
137 pent, quint five pentagon, quintuples
138 perm through, across permeable
139 phage eating
bacteriophage,
phagocytosis
140 pheno to show pehnotype
141 phile to love thermophile, halophile
142 phobia to fear thermophobe, halophobe
143 photo light
photosynthesis,
phototropism
144 phragm barrier diaphragm
145 phyll leaf mesophyll
146 pino drink pinocytosis
147 plasm fluid cytoplasm
148 ploid chromosome diploid, haploid
149 port carry transport
150 post behind, after post-mortem
151 pre, pro before prokaryote
152 prob, prov solve problem
153 proto, prim first
primary consumer,
primate
# Root Meaning Vocab/Example Notes
154 psuedo deceptive, false psuedopod
155 pulmno lung pulmonary artery
156 radia wheel radial symmetry
157 re again replication
158 retro backwards retrovirus
159 rhizo root rhizome
160 sapr, detri rotten detrivore, saprotroph
161 sci to know science
162 scope to see microscope
163 scrib, script to write transcribe
164 semi, hemi half semipermeable
165 sept, hept seven heptagon
166 somato body somatic cell
167 speci type species
168 sperm seed angiosperm, gymnosperm
169 stat, stasis balance homeostasis
170 stoma mouth stomata
171 sub under, below, less substrate
172 syn, sym with, make/produce synthesis, symbiosis
173 taxo arrangement taxonomy
174 telo, tele end, far telephase, telomere
175 tendo stretching tendon
176 tetra, quant four quaternary consumer
177 therm heat thermophile, thermometer
178 thesis place, put hypothesis, synthesis
179 thoracic chest thoracic cavity
180 trans across
transport, transcription,
translation
181 tri, tert three tertiary consumer
182 trop, volv turn, change tropism, evolution
183 troph feeder
heterotroph, autotroph,
trophic level
184 type print karyotype
185 ultra beyond ultra-virulent
186 vacci cow vaccine
187 vaso, angi vessel cardiovascular, angiosperm
188 vect carry vector
189 ver true diversity
190 vert, vort turn vertebrate
191 vis, vid seed visual, video
192 vir virus virus, virulent
193 vor eating
carnivore, omnivore,
detritivore, herbivore
195 zoo animal protozoa
196 zyg pair
heterozygous,
homozygous, zygote