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You may remember an interview we did last year with Katie Raynolds, a remarkable 10th grader and dedicated linguaphile from Seattle, Washington. Katie recently spent a busy week with us here at the VT's New York office as our editorial intern, and put together this list of SAT words -- with tips on how to remember them:
The SAT, of course, is one of the most important tests a student takes during their scholastic career. I can't help you with the math section, but I thought to give you a useful method for remembering tricky vocabulary. In the list below, I'll show you "memory hooks" you can find right within the word and its Latin root. I'll also share some cool linguistic histories!
| Dubious | |
| Root: | Dubious derives from the Latin word dubitare (to waver, to hesitate) |
| Relatives: | Doubt |
| Hook: | When you see the dub-, you should remember the word doubt. |
| Brevity | |
| Root: | Brevity comes from the Latin breve (short) |
| Relatives: | Abbreviation, brief, breve |
| Hook: | If you're more familiar with the word abbreviation, then you should see the brev- in brevity and remember short! |
| Discernible | |
| Root: | The main root you should concern yourself with is the Latin cernere (to separate, sift or distinguish) |
| Relatives: | Concern, secern, certify |
| Hook: | You should associate the root cern- with the idea of sense. To be concerned means that you are focusing your sense; similarly, to discern is to understand something using your senses. |
| Jocular | |
| Root: | Not surprisingly, jocular comes from the Latin word jocus (little joke) |
| Relatives: | Joke |
| Hook: | Okay, this is an easy one; just remember joke! If someone is joke-ular, then they're always in good humor and cracking jokes. |
| Succinct | |
| Root: | Succinct has an interesting history: it came from cingere which in Latin means "to gather up, to gird." Originally this word was used when talking about clothing, but in the 16th century the meaning changed; now instead of tightening a dress, we talk about tightening an explanation from something lengthy into a shorter account. |
| Relatives: | Cinch |
| Hook: | Remember the parallel that succinct has with its cousin cinch, and the idea of tightening. When you make something succinct instead of long, you are tightening the idea. |
| Repudiate | |
| Root: | The important root for you to find is Latin pudere (to feel shame, to make ashamed). The prefix of re- serves to intensify the action. |
| Relatives: | Impudent |
| Hook: | Associate the idea of shame with this word. I also find it helpful to remember the word impudent. If you are impudent, you may be repudiated! |
| Innocuous | |
| Root: | Innocuous comes from the Latin root nox- (harm). When you see the prefix in- before the main root, you know that it means not. So we can tell just from the roots of this word that it means "not harmful." |
| Relatives: | Noxious, innocent |
| Hook: | The easiest way to remember this word is to look at the innoc- at the beginning of the word and recall its relative innocent. While this comparison does not give you the exact definition of innocuous, it should jumpstart your brain if you're having trouble recognizing the word. |
| Precocious | |
| Root: | Precocious has a peculiar history: it derives from the Latin word praecoquere (to bake or ripen early) Look familiar? This Latin word looks just like pre-cooked. The meaning changed significantly in the 17th century, and now it usually applies to people, not fruit or cakes. |
| Relatives: | Precooked, cook |
| Hook: | When a child is precocious, they are unusually mature, either physically or mentally. They are like an early-ripened fruit, or a pre-cooked cake. |
| Tangential | |
| Root: | The most helpful root for tangential is the Latin root tang- (to touch). |
| Relatives: | Tangent, tangible |
| Hook: | If tangential comes from a word meaning "to touch," then you should think of tangential in this manner: if something is tangential, then it is barely touching upon the subject at hand. |
