Essential Greek and Latin Roots for Ninth Grade Students: geo

Learn these words that come from the Greek root geo, meaning "earth."
10 words 137 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. geocentric
    having the earth in the middle
    In the 17th century, observations of reflected “earthshine” on the moon — in which the earth reflects the sun’s light upon the lunar surface — challenged the Aristotelian geocentric model of the solar system. Washington Post (Jul 11, 2019)
    geo + centric (suffix meaning "centered on")
  2. geode
    a hollow rock with an interior cavity lined with crystals
    The wooden coffee table in her living room has a massive, cracked geode slice embedded in its center. The Sea in Winter
  3. geography
    study of the earth's surface
    The freezing point “is the most critical threshold among all temperatures,” said David A. Robinson, New Jersey state climatologist and professor at Rutgers University’s department of geography. Washington Post
    geo + graphy (suffix forming names of descriptive sciences)
    Geography covers not only the physical features of the earth, but also climate, population, natural resources, and other related topics.
  4. geologic
    of or relating to the study of Earth and its structure
    Summers he worked for scientists conducting geologic research in Antarctica or escorted climbers into New Zealand’s Southern Alps. Into Thin Air
  5. geologist
    a specialist in the history of the Earth recorded in rocks
    The story begins in the early 1950s when a bright young geologist named Eugene Shoemaker paid a visit to Meteor Crater in Arizona. A Short History of Nearly Everything
  6. geology
    science of the history of the earth as recorded in rocks
    Stratigraphy is the branch of geology that studies rock layers, or strata, and it is stratigraphers who work on the timescale directly. The Guardian (May 30, 2019)
    geo ("earth") + logy (suffix meaning "science")
    In the 14th century, the study of geology included much more than topography (the Greek topos means "place"). Geology was once the opposite of theology and examined earthly things, such as laws.
  7. geometry
    the mathematics of points and lines and curves and surfaces
    In geometry, we learned about angles and degrees, and I remembered builders in the trading center using such terms. The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
    geo + metry (suffix meaning "process of measuring")
  8. geopolitics
    influence of location, demographics, etc. on foreign policy
    Oil has been at the epicenter of the geopolitics of the Middle East for longer than the living memory of most people on earth today.   Forbes (Mar 30, 2015)
    geo + polites ("citizen") + ics (suffix forming names of disciplines)
  9. geosphere
    the solid part of the Earth
    Geological processes occur in the geosphere and include volcanoes, earthquakes, and formation of rock. Miller & Levine Biology
  10. geothermal
    of or relating to the heat in the interior of the earth
    Solar, wind, geothermal and hydropower are providing vast new energy resources, replacing carbon-intensive fossil fuels, and eliminating the greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change. US News (Aug 13, 2015)
    geo + therm ("heat") + al (suffix forming adjectives)
Created on Tue Jun 17 18:52:36 EDT 2025

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