It's Greek to Me!

Philosophy

Greek Root: -philo-, -phil-

Basic Meaning: having a strong affinity or love for

Greek Root: -sophos

Basic Meaning:wisdom

The noun philosophy means the study of "proper" behavior, and the search for wisdom.

The original meaning of the word philosophy comes from the Greek roots philo- meaning "love" and -sophos, or "wisdom." When someone studies philosophy they want to understand how and why people do certain things and how to live a good life. In other words, they want to know the meaning of life. Add the suffix -er to philosophy, and you get a word for someone whose job it is to think these big thoughts...Rationalizer

Greek Suffix: -ism...Rationalism

Basic Meaning: forms nouns and means the act, state or theory of

Greek Suffix: -ist...Rationalist

Basic Meaning: forms agent nouns from verbs ending in -ize or nouns ending in -ism and is used like -er

Greek Suffix: -ize...Rationalize

Basic Meaning: forms verbs from nouns and adjectives