Greek and Latin Roots
As you may know English and French share lots of terms and expressions. Despite being a Germanic Language, English has been influenced by many Romance languages which derive from Latin, like French and Italian.
Latin and Romance influence in English vocabulary - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin_influence_in_English
Since French has also been influenced by Latin and Greek, this graph tells us that English shares 64% of its roots with French!
Latin
Let’s take a closer look at Latin. You are surely familiar with a number of Latin acronyms, commonly found in written texts. Few examples:
| Acronym | Latin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| etc. | et cetera | and so on |
| N.B. | nota bene | to note well |
| P.S. | post scriptum | after text |
| e.g. | exempli gratia | for the sake of an example |
But do you use Latin expressions in English conversation? Well, even though Latin is a dead language, it is not uncommon to borrow some Latin expressions in French conversation.
| Expression | Meaning | Usage in French |
|---|---|---|
| A priori | Theoratically | A priori, cette solution est possible |
| Ad vitam aeternam | Eternally, indefinitely | Il a attendu ad vitam aeternam ! |
| De visu | With one’s own eyes | J’ai constaté de visu que la porte était fermée |
| In extremis | At the last moment | Il a été sauvé in extremis |
| Intra muros | Within the walls | J’habite à Paris intra muros |
| Sine qua non | Essential condition | C’est la condition sine qua non à la réussite de ce projet |
| Mea culpa | Acknowledgment of one’s fault or error | Mes mots ont dépassé mes pensées, mea culpa |
Greek
In both French and English, the Greek heritage hasn’t left a lot of complete words but rather prefixes or suffixes. When thinking of Ancient Greece, we immediately think of its philosophers: Thalès, Pythagore, Socrate, Platon… It’s no wonder that today terms describing concepts, science or maths are deeply rooted to Greek.
Prefixes
Let’s see a few examples.
| Prefix | Meaning | Usage in English | Usage in French |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hyper | Over | Hyperactive | Hyperactif |
| Hypo | Under | Hypothesis | Hypothèse |
| Mega | Big | Megalopolis | Mégalopole |
| Demo | People | Demography | Démographie |
| Mono | Alone | Monopoly | Monopole |
| Pyro | Fire | Pyrography | Pyrogravure |
| Mytho | Legend | Mythology | Mythologie |