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The "Standard of Ur" from ancient Mesopotamia

The "Standard of Ur" from ancient Mesopotamia

24 April 2009

Word play: double-duty prefixes

Some seemingly unrelated words that share prefixes actually are linked in some way. See whether you can guess the connection. (Answers are below the picture.)

  1. Astragalo-, astragal- means both dice and the ball of the ankle joint (clue at right).
  2. Lauro-, laur- means both lauric acid and the laurel tree.
  3. Angio-, angi- means both seedcase and blood vessel.
  4. Luteo-, lute- means both yellowish or orange-yellow and corpus luteum (a mass of endocrine cells that forms in an ovary after it releases an egg).
  5. Phello- means both cork and bark.
  6. Pinni-, pinn- means both wing and fin.
  7. Chromo-, chrom- means both color and chromium.
  8. Tera- means both a monster and a trillion.
  9. Osmo-, osm- means both a smell and the metal osmium.
  10. Bromo-, brom- means both stench and the element bromine.

(the mountains of California near the San Andreas fault)

  1. astragalo-astragal-: The first dice were made from bones in the ankle joint.
  2. lauro-, laur-: Lauric acid is found in the berries of the European laurel.
  3. angio-, angi-: Seedcases and blood vessels both are vessels; one carries seeds; the other, blood.
  4. luteo-, lute-: The corpus luteum is yellow.
  5. phello-: Cork is the outer bark of the cork oak tree.
  6. pinni-, pinn-: Both wings and fins are modified arms in which the fingers are no longer separated.
  7. chromo-, chrom-: Compounds of the metal chromium have very beautiful colors.
  8. tera-: A trillion is a monstrously large number.
  9. osmo-, osm-: Osmium is smelly.
  10. bromo-, brom-: Bromine has a bad smell.


Charles Gramlich said...

Interesting. I got the chromo and the bone one.

Lana Gramlich said...

I agree w/Charles, but I only got the first one.

Rae Ann Parker said...

Very interesting. I especially like the explanation for terra.

Michele said...

Very cool. I also liked the explanation for "tera." :)

Hope you're doing well!

Shauna Roberts said...

CHARLES, LANA, RAE ANN, and MICHELE, I'm glad you found the quiz fun. I wouldn't have gotten many right myself.