# Never or rarely seen 'root' words **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 31, 2007, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/never-or-rarely-seen-root-words/406191 "2007-05-31T14:50:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2007, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/never-or-rarely-seen-root-words/406191/1 "2007-05-31T14:50:38Z")
While reading this week’s Newsweek, I came across the word “trammeled” – context sort of like “the Department of Justice must be free to operate without being trammeled.” Which struck me, because I don’t think I’d _ever_ seen that word in print (or even spoken) while ‘untrammeled’ pops up fairly often. Which then brought to mind that the only times I’ve heard/seen the word ‘couth’ it was being used in a mocking, “I realize this isn’t a word, I’m being silly” way. Are there many words like this? Ones where the ‘root’ word has basically vanished from use, and only lingers inside a un- or non- compound word? ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2007, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/never-or-rarely-seen-root-words/406191/2 "2007-05-31T14:53:25Z")
Funge. Lots of things are Fungible, but I’ve never heard of something actually being funged. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2007, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/never-or-rarely-seen-root-words/406191/3 "2007-05-31T14:54:01Z")
Plenty of them – I’ve seen jokes about “gruntled” people on the Board more than once. The word “pea” was actually back-formed from the ostensible plural, “pease”, which is never used anymore (now everyone writes “peas”, unless they’re quoting the nursery rhymes about “pease porridge”). ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2007, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/never-or-rarely-seen-root-words/406191/4 "2007-05-31T15:21:56Z")
Combobulated. Gusted. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2007, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/never-or-rarely-seen-root-words/406191/5 "2007-05-31T15:26:51Z")
Ertia. Pregnable. Veterate. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2007, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/never-or-rarely-seen-root-words/406191/6 "2007-05-31T15:30:17Z")
Lots of things are unkempt, but nothing is ever kempt. ---
**Author:** ![badbadrubberpiggy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/57b2e6/32.png) [@badbadrubberpiggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badbadrubberpiggy)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2007, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/never-or-rarely-seen-root-words/406191/7 "2007-05-31T15:33:48Z")
I’ve never been just “whelmed” ---
**Author:** ![citybadger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/45deac/32.png) [@citybadger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/citybadger)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2007, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/never-or-rarely-seen-root-words/406191/8 "2007-05-31T15:55:40Z")
Obligatory link to the famous New Yorker story: > **[Lost Positives](http://hertha1.blogspot.com/2007/01/lost-positives.html)** > > Many years ago, I bumped into the lost positive . Definition: \[Lost Positives\] are English coinages made by cutting off the negative prefixe... ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2007, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/never-or-rarely-seen-root-words/406191/9 "2007-05-31T16:05:10Z")
I’m as couth as anyone else. ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2007, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/never-or-rarely-seen-root-words/406191/10 "2007-05-31T16:05:55Z")
evitable. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2007, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/never-or-rarely-seen-root-words/406191/11 "2007-05-31T16:19:34Z")
[QUOTE=Malacandra] Ertia. Pregnable. Veterate. [/QUOTE] The “in” in \*inveterate \*isn’t a negative; it’s the Latin prefix _in_-, related to our preposition _in_, meaning “to become.” It’s the participle of _inveterare_, meaning “to grow old,” from _vetus_, “old.” When making these things up, one must take care to distinguish the negative in- from this type of in-, lest one’s jokes be peccable. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2007, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/never-or-rarely-seen-root-words/406191/12 "2007-05-31T16:47:01Z")
I am nonplussed by these sorts of words. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2007, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/never-or-rarely-seen-root-words/406191/13 "2007-05-31T17:09:14Z")
Damn. I’m not at the computer that has the list. I collect words like that. Maybe I can remember a few. Effable Wieldy Ruthfull That’s all I’ve got. (And I probably should have checked the New Yorker article.) Do phrases count? The City is not out of whack. I work for the City, and I can tell you that we have plenty of whack. We may be out of kilter. But I’m sure that the kilter is on back order and will be available soon. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2007, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/never-or-rarely-seen-root-words/406191/14 "2007-05-31T17:14:45Z")
Never heard of anything being described as “eluctable.” When Joyce wrote about the “ineluctable modality of the visible,” it was _perfectly_ eluctable - Stephen had his eyes closed. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2007, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/never-or-rarely-seen-root-words/406191/15 "2007-05-31T17:23:54Z")
[QUOTE=StarvingButStrong] While reading this week’s Newsweek, I came across the word “trammeled” – context sort of like “the Department of Justice must be free to operate without being trammeled.” Which struck me, because I don’t think I’d _ever_ seen that word in print (or even spoken) while ‘untrammeled’ pops up fairly often. Which then brought to mind that the only times I’ve heard/seen the word ‘couth’ it was being used in a mocking, “I realize this isn’t a word, I’m being silly” way. Are there many words like this? Ones where the ‘root’ word has basically vanished from use, and only lingers inside a un- or non- compound word? [/QUOTE] [\*\*\*trammel \*\*\* comes from the french meaning _to bind up a corpse_. :eek:](http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?l=t&p=17) ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2007, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/never-or-rarely-seen-root-words/406191/16 "2007-05-31T17:50:44Z")
[QUOTE=matt\_mcl] The “in” in \*inveterate \*isn’t a negative; it’s the Latin prefix _in_-, related to our preposition _in_, meaning “to become.” It’s the participle of _inveterare_, meaning “to grow old,” from _vetus_, “old.” When making these things up, one must take care to distinguish the negative in- from this type of in-, lest one’s jokes be peccable. [/QUOTE] Well, accidence will happen. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2007, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/never-or-rarely-seen-root-words/406191/17 "2007-05-31T17:55:31Z")
[QUOTE=matt\_mcl] .. . lest one’s jokes be peccable. [/QUOTE] I don’t know about peccable, but I’ve always wanted to be pecunious. (And I won’t say that I’m poverished, because that “im-” is the same as the “in-” in “inveterate”). ---
**Author:** ![Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cabin_fever_1/32/2908_2.png) [@Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabin_Fever_1)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2007, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/never-or-rarely-seen-root-words/406191/18 "2007-05-31T18:25:44Z")
How about “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”? Is there a regular califragilisticexpialidocious? Or is that a subset of fragilisticexpialidocious, which might be a subset of isticexpialidocious? 😃 I’m obviously not a linguist - I got nothing, except for prehensile. What is a hensile anyway? Could one make it to posthensile without corrective surgery? ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2007, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/never-or-rarely-seen-root-words/406191/19 "2007-05-31T19:19:35Z")
Fairly dependably, I have mnesia. ---
**Author:** ![Lynne\_kilii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d26b3c/32.png) [@Lynne\_kilii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynne_kilii)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2007, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/never-or-rarely-seen-root-words/406191/20 "2007-06-01T05:52:13Z")
[QUOTE=Cabin\_Fever] How about “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”? What is a hensile anyway? Could one make it to posthensile without corrective surgery? [/QUOTE] AHH! Were you there on Monday? My friend posed the question about what “posthensile” could mean! I have no clue. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/never-or-rarely-seen-root-words/406191.md?page=2)