A.W.A.D. - Words Made Using Combining Forms

This week's words are created using combining forms. What are combining forms? You can think of them as the Legos of language. As the name indicates, a combining form is a linguistic atom that occurs only in combination with some other form. This other form could be a word, another combining form, or an affix (a prefix or suffix). Unlike a combining form, an affix can't attach to another affix.

When coining a new word, these ready-made building blocks of the language come in handy. Let's say we need a new insult word, a fancy word to describe someone as brainless. We could start with ceno- (empty), add -cephalic (relating to the head) to it, and our new word is ready: cenocephalic.

This week we'll see words made using these combining forms: ceno- (empty), endo- (within), seti- (bristle), nocti- (night), and geo- (earth). Happy word crafting!

cenotaph
(SEN-uh-taf) noun

A tomb or a monument in honor of a person (or a group) whose remains are elsewhere.

[Via French and Latin, from Greek kenotaphion, from kenos (empty) +taphos (tomb).]

endogamy
(en-DOG-uh-mee) noun
The practice of marriage within a specific social group

[From endo- (within), from Greek endon (within) + -gamy (marriage), from Greek gamos (marriage).]

setiform
(SEE-tuh-form) adjective
Bristle-shaped or having bristles

[From Latin seti- (bristle) + -form.]

noctilucent
(nok-tuh-LOO-suhnt) adjective
Shining at night

[From Latin nocti- (night) + lucent (shining).]

geoponic
(jee-uh-PON-ik) adjective
Of or relating to agriculture

[From Greek geoponikos, from geo- (earth) + ponein (to toil).]