Lesson 16: The Law

Let's start with words from the Latin root ARBITER, meaning 'judge' or 'witness.' These words deal with making decisions, sometimes based on whims and other times with official authority.

Key Words

📝Example Usage:

• The teacher's decision to assign extra homework felt arbitrary because it wasn't based on the students' performance. (Refers to a decision made without a clear principle.)
• When my two friends argued over who saw the movie first, I was asked to arbitrate and settle the dispute. (Refers to acting as a judge to resolve a conflict.)

🧠Memory Trick

• The judge, acting as an arbitrator, made an arbitrary decision that surprised everyone in the courtroom.

Next up are words from HORTOR, which means 'to urge' or 'to encourage.' Both of these words are about strongly persuading someone to take action.

Key Words

📝Example Usage:

• The coach gave a hortatory speech before the championship game, inspiring the team to play their best. (Describes something that is strongly encouraging.)
• The guide will exhort the hikers to keep moving, even when the trail becomes difficult. (Refers to the act of vigorously urging someone.)

🧠Memory Trick

• With a hortatory tone, the leader began to exhort the crowd to demand change.

This group comes from the related roots JUDEX ('judge') and JUDICO ('to judge'). They focus on the act of making wise judgments or settling legal matters.

Key Words

📝Example Usage:

• Making a budget is a judicious way to manage your finances and avoid overspending. (Means showing good sense and judgment.)
• A special committee was formed to adjudicate the claims of plagiarism between the two authors. (Means to act as a formal judge in a case.)

🧠Memory Trick

• A judicious person must adjudicate matters with careful thought and fairness.

Here are words from JURO, meaning 'to swear.' These words relate to making or breaking oaths, giving solemn commands, and even creating things as if by magic.

Key Words

📝Example Usage:

• The defendant was warned that lying under oath would be considered perjury. (Refers to the crime of lying after taking an oath.)
• In his speech, the king will adjure his subjects to remain loyal during the difficult times. (Means to command or urge solemnly.)
• To get out of the alliance, the spy had to formally abjure his past loyalties. (Means to formally renounce something.)

🧠Memory Trick

• The judge will adjure the witness to not commit perjury and instead abjure her false story, which she seemed to conjure out of thin air.

Our final group comes from ROGO, meaning 'to ask.' These words have evolved to cover concepts like abolishing laws, taking power, having special rights, and even being a substitute or a scoundrel.

Key Words

📝Example Usage:

• The new government decided to abrogate the unfair laws passed by the previous regime. (Means to officially cancel or repeal a law.)
• The director has the prerogative to make the final casting decisions for the play. (Refers to a special right or privilege.)
• The dishonest manager tried to arrogate the power to fire employees, even though it wasn't his responsibility. (Means to seize power or rights without permission.)

🧠Memory Trick

• The rogue tried to arrogate the queen's prerogative to abrogate the old law, hoping to install a surrogate ruler.