WORD STUDY Crossroads Middle School

1. WORD STUDYCrossroads Middle School • Year Two • Trimester Three

2. Root: caust / caut • Language of Origin: Greek • Definition: To burn • Words: • caustic • holocaust • cauterize

3. caustic • Adjective • Definition: capable of burning or eating away • Sentences: • 1) The caustic chemicals were locked in a safe place so the children couldn’t hurt themselves. • 2) Jeremy was so upset and angry that he didn’t care about how painful his caustic tone was with everyone.

4. holocaust • Adjective • Definition: Total devastation, especially by fire • Sentence: • 1) The holocaust of the forest has caused many birds and other wildlife to lose their homes.

5. cauterize • Verb • Definition: To burn with a hot instrument. • Sentence: • 1) The doctor cauterized the wart so it would stop spreading and causing infections.

6. Root: ceed / cess / ced • Language of Origin: Latin • Definition: Go, yield • Words: • precede • incessant • exceed

7. precede • Verb • Definition: to go before • Sentences: • 1) My reputation had preceded me, so everyone already knew how warm and giving I was. • 2) In the alphabet, “A” precedes “B”.

8. incessant • Adjective • Definition: Constant, never ending • Sentences: • 1) His incessant talking about his shoelace collection made her realize this was not her soul mate. • 2) Adam’s incessant belief that there were snakes in his bed caused him to lose many hours of sleep.

9. exceed • Verb • Definition: To go beyond expectations • Sentences: • 1) When the benchwarmer entered the game and scored 20 points, he exceeded everyone’s expectations. • 2) If the temperature exceeds 100 degrees, they are not going to allow us to go outside for gym class.

10. Root: greg • Language of Origin: Latin • Definition: Herd, flock, mob • Words: • congregate • segregate • gregarious

11. congregate • Verb • Definition: to gather together • Sentences: • 1) The students would all congregate in the hallway to avoid being the first one in the classroom. • 2) The protesters congregated outside of the courthouse to show their anger over the verdict.

12. segregate • Verb • Definition: to separate from the crowd, set apart • Sentences: • 1) In the South during the 1950s, black children were segregated from white children in public schools. • 2) I was segregated from my team and forced to sit in the stands because I had missed three practices.

13. gregarious • Noun • Definition: associating with others; enjoying companionship • Sentence: • 1) The gregarious students lingered in the hall before class, chatting and laughing. • 2) My doctor is a gregarious man and often loses track of time while he visits with his patients.

14. Root: medi • Language of Origin: Latin • Definition: half; middle • Words: • mediator • median • intermediate

15. mediator • Noun • Definition: one who comes between opposing parties • Sentences: • 1) The mediator was brought in to help the Board of Education and the teachers come to an agreement on their contract. • 2) Since the two seventh graders couldn’t settle their differences on their own, Mrs. Robey had to act as a mediator for them.

16. median • Noun • Definition: the middle or midpoint • Sentences: • 1) I wasn’t toward the front or back of the lunch line, I was just stuck in the median, going nowhere. • 2) In the middle of Route 1, there is a concrete median that keeps cars from crashing into oncoming traffic.

17. intermediate • Adjective • Definition: occurring or situated between two points or places; in between • Sentence: • Many people live in central New Jersey because it is a good intermediate location between two major cities, New York City and Philadelphia.

18. Root: chron • Language of Origin: Greek • Definition: time • Words: • chronological • chronic • synchronize

19. chronological • Adjective • Definition: arranged in time order • Sentences: • 1) The teacher told the students to line up in chronological order, so the youngest kid was at the front and the oldest kid was at the back. • 2) In social studies, we learn events in chronological order because it is easier to then understand the timeline of how things happened.

20. chronic • Adjective • Definition: lasting for a long time • Sentences: • 1) From all his years getting tackled playing college football, David has chronic back pain. • 2) Gretchen had been smoking cigarettes for 30 years and now she has a chronic cough.

21. synchronize • Verb • Definition: do or happen at the same time • Sentences: • 1) We synchronized all of the alarm clocks in the house so they would go off at the same time. • 2) In the synchronized diving event at the Olympics, they receive a higher score for landing in the water at the same time.

22. Root: auto • Language of Origin: Greek • Definition: self • Words: • 1) autonomous • 2) autobiography • 3) automotive

23. autonomous • Adjective • Definition: independent; able to make decisions by oneself • Sentences: • 1) Many teenagers believe their parents should stay out of their business and let them be completely autonomous. • 2) While the President of the United States of America has the right to make autonomous decisions, he often consults with his advisors for their input.

24. autobiography • Noun • Definition: The story of one’s life • Sentence: The autobiography of Mark Twain is the most accurate story of his life since it is actually in his own words.

25. automotive • Adjective • Definition: self-moving • Sentence: • 1) The automotive industry capital in this country has always been Detroit, Michigan.

26. Root: bell • Language of Origin: Latin • Definition: war • Words: • 1) belligerent • 2) rebellion • 3) bellicose

27. belligerent • Adjective • Definition: hostile, ready to fight • Sentence: • 1) The belligerent sports fanatic would go to the game and look for fans of the opposing team.

28. rebellion • Noun • Definition: organized resistance to authority • Sentence: • 1) There was a rebellion that formed in the South and over the issue of slavery.

29. bellicose • Adjective • Definition: inclined to start a war • Sentence: • 1) Rather than reaching a truce and peace agreement, the two opposing sides became more bellicose and the peace talks ended.

30. Root: tele • Language of Origin: Greek • Definition: distant, over a distance • Words: • 1) telescope • 2) teleport • 3) telecommute

31. telescope • Noun • Definition: an instrument used to make distant items appear larger and closer. • Sentence: • 1) Jon used his telescope to look at the stars and search for constellations that he learned about in science class.

32. teleport • Verb • Definition: An imaginary way of traveling through space instantaneously. • Sentences: • 1) The spaceship teleported from Earth to Mars in five seconds. • 2) Sometimes during my math class, I wish I could teleport back to home to my bed.

33. telecommute • Verb • Definition: to work from a remote location using technology. • Sentence: • 1) With increased gas prices and improved technology, many businesses have their workers telecommute on some days, allowing them to work from their computers at home.