Saw this thread, thought it was good.
I often remember words by remembering the little story of where they are from, or from the parts they're made up of. so now to post sth off topic - etymologies!
Here are a few, garnered (from latin granum 'grain', via french) from the dictionary. Feel free to look up others or add your own.
aposiopesis
apo- is a greek prefix meaning 'from, after'.
siope is from a greek root (σιγαω) meaning 'to be silent'.
-sis is from a greek suffix (-σις) making an action noun from a verb.
so literally 'to fall silent after'.
ameliorate
amelior is from 'melior', the latin for 'better'.
-ate is likely from the latin -atus suffix indicating a state from a past action.
literally 'to make better'.
erudite
e- is the latin prefix meaning 'out of'.
rud- is from the latin root rudis, meaning 'rough, wild'.
-ite is likely the same suffix as in ameliorATE, in disguise.
In Latin, this became 'erudire', meaning 'to educate', and eruditus, 'educated'.
literally 'to bring from the wild' -> 'educate' -> 'educated'.
anomie
a- is a greek prefix making a negative.
nomia is the greek word (νομος) meaning 'law'.
literally, 'without law'.
iconoclasm
icon- from the greek root (εικων) meaning 'likeness'.
-cla- from the greek root (κλαω, κλαν) meaning 'to break'.
-sm form the greek suffix (-σμος) indicating the result of an action.
literally, 'having broken images (of gods)'
serendipity
Horace Walpole made it up!
narcissism
Narcissus, the mythological young man who, cursed by Nemesis, fell in love with his own reflection.
-ism likely the same -sm as in iconoclasm.
enkindle
en- is a prefix which in this case likely indicates an intensifier
kindle is from a norse root kynda, meaning 'to light'
literally 'to set alight'
vacuous
from the latin root vacuus, meaning 'empty'.
negligent
neg- from a Latin prefix meaning 'not'
ligent from a Latin root legere, meaning 'to gather, pick out'
literally, 'not picking out'
mollifcation
molli from latin mollis, 'soft'
-fic- from latin facere, 'to make'
-ation from latin -atio, the result of an action
literally 'a making soft'
reiterate
re- from a Latin prefix meaning (here) again, anew
-iter- from a Latin root iterare, 'to do again'
-ate is the same suffix from ameliorate
literally 'to do over again'
butter
this is a good one.
from greek bous (βους), 'cow' and tyros (τυρος), 'cheese'
literally, 'cow cheese'