Lesson 7: 21. Cur (Curr, Curs), 22. Gress (Grad), 23. Ped, 24. Tact (Tang), 25. Prehend (Prehens)

Ready for a quick run-through? These words all share the Latin root CUR, CURR, or CURS, which means 'to run' or 'to flow'.

Key Words

• If you are consistently late for practice, you will incur the coach's frustration.
• Does your high school curriculum offer a class in personal finance?
• A complex scientific article requires much more than a cursory review to be fully understood.

The Latin root CUR, CURR, or CURS means “to run.” This idea of running or flowing appears in many contexts. It can mean literally running, like an electrical current, or figuratively, like ideas “running together” when people concur (agree). It can also describe things that happen hastily, like a cursory glance.

Let's take the next step in our vocabulary journey! All these words come from the Latin root GRESS or GRAD, meaning 'to step,' 'to walk,' or 'to go'.

Key Words

• Learning a new language is a gradual process; fluency won't happen overnight.
• When the concert ended, the crowd jammed the exits, making the egress from the arena very slow.
• The team knows they will be benched if they transgress the rules again.

The root GRESS or GRAD is all about movement, specifically meaning “to step,” “walk,” or “go.” This can refer to moving forward toward a goal (progressive), moving backward into a worse state (retrogression), or even just a slow, step-by-step change (gradual). It's the foundation for words describing progress and movement.

Get ready to put your best foot forward! The words in this group are built on the Latin root PED, which means 'foot'.

Key Words

• A good manager is supposed to expedite the team's work, not impede it with unnecessary meetings.
• For a smooth stop on your bike, press the brake pedal gently, not suddenly.
• The famous actor is said to have overcome a childhood speech impediment to achieve stardom.

This group stands on the Latin root PED, meaning “foot.” This connection is obvious in words like pedal (for your foot) or pedestrian (one who travels on foot). But it also extends to more abstract ideas, like when something stands in your way and becomes an impediment, literally “entangling the feet.”

Let's get in touch with a new set of words! These terms share the Latin root TACT or TANG, which means 'to touch'.

Key Words

• It would be very tactless to complain about your small raise to a coworker who was just laid off.
• Amazingly, the fragile vase survived the fall completely intact.
• Our trip to the beach is contingent on good weather; if it rains, we won't go.

The Latin root TACT or TANG, meaning “to touch,” is the common thread here. This can be a literal physical connection, like two contiguous states that share a border. It can also be abstract, like having the social grace or “sense of touch” known as tact, or a quality that is intangible—incapable of being touched.

Time to grasp some new vocabulary! The words below are all related to the Latin root PREHEND or PREHENS, meaning 'to seize' or 'to grasp'.

Key Words

• A good map provides a comprehensive view of the entire trail system.
• I was feeling apprehensive about the big test, even though I had studied for weeks.
• The police are working hard to apprehend the bank robbers.

The root PREHEND or PREHENS means “to seize” or “to grasp.” This can mean physically seizing something, like police apprehending a suspect, or mentally grasping an idea to make it comprehensible. The feeling of being “seized” by fear is where the word apprehensive comes from.