Essential Greek and Latin Roots for Ninth Grade Students: dic, dict, List 1

Practice this list of English words derived from the Latin roots dic and dict, which mean "say" or "declare."
11 words 210 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. abdicate
    give up power, duties, or obligations
    After the uprisings, Qatar’s emir abdicated, replaced by his younger, less experienced son. Los Angeles Times (Jun 15, 2017)
  2. addiction
    being dependent on something habit-forming
    He had been fond of apple pie all his life, and it certainly seemed like an innocent enough addiction. Various
  3. benediction
    a blessing or ceremonial prayer invoking divine protection
    We waited for him to speak, like a congregation expecting the minister’s benediction. Fever 1793
  4. contradict
    prove negative; show to be false
    It would appear to contradict earlier evidence suggesting a much more ancient origin for many key frog groups. BBC (Jul 3, 2017)
  5. contradiction
    opposition between two conflicting forces or ideas
    There are many versions of this paradox but they are essentially equivalent: one would get contradictions if one were free to change the past. A Brief History of Time: And Other Essays
  6. dictate
    determine, order, or control how something is done
    Maryland law dictates that car windows should be no more than 65% opaque. Economist (Jun 22, 2017)
  7. dictator
    a ruler who is unconstrained by law
    The starkest difference between dictatorships and democracies is that democracies are ruled by laws, and dictatorships are ruled by dictators. Salon (Apr 15, 2017)
  8. dictatorship
    a form of government in which the ruler is unconstrained
    “This is a democracy. It’s not a dictatorship and it never will be.” The House of the Spirits: A Novel
  9. diction
    the manner in which something is expressed in words
    Bergquist was friendly and talkative, with an above-normal interest in Norway, where he had roots, and pronounced every Norwegian place name with careful diction. New York Times (Mar 11, 2015)
  10. dictionary
    a reference book containing an alphabetical list of words
    They consulted dictionaries to look up correct information about word meanings and grammatical constructions. The Sense of Style
  11. dictum
    an authoritative declaration
    You have probably often heard this business dictum: “Time is money!” Forbes (Jul 18, 2014)
Created on Tue Jun 17 18:48:47 EDT 2025

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