BENE is Latin for "well." A benefit is a good result or effect. Something beneficial produces good results or effects. The Latin root can be heard in other languages as well: "Good!" or "Fine!" in Spanish is "Bueno!"; in French, it's "Bon!"; and in Italian, just say "Bene!"

AM comes from the Latin amare, "to love." The Roman god of love was known by two different names, Cupid and Amor. Amiable means "friendly or good-natured," and amigo is Spanish for "friend."

BELL comes from the Latin word meaning "war." Bellona was the little-known Roman goddess of war; her husband, Mars, was the god of war.

PAC is related to the Latin words for "agree" and "peace." The Pacific Ocean--that is, the "Peaceful Ocean"--was named by Ferdinand Magellan because it seemed so clam after he had sailed through the storms near Cape Horn. (Magellan obviously had never witnessed a Pacific typhoon.)

CRIM comes from the Latin words for "fault or crime" or "accusation." It's obvious where the root shows up most commonly in English. A crime is an act forbidden by the government, which the government itself will punish you for, and for which you may be branded a criminal. A crime is usually more serious than a tort (see TORT), a "civil wrong" for which the wronged person must himself sue if he wants to get repaid in some way.

PROB comes from the Latin words for "prove or proof" and "honesty or integrity." A probe, whether it's a little object for testing electrical circuits or a spacecraft headed for Mars, is basically something that's looking for evidence or proof. And probable originally described something that wasn't certain but might be "provable."

GRAV comes from the Latin word meaning "heavy, weighty, serious." Gravity is, of course, what makes things heavy, and without it there wouldn't be any life on earth, since nothing would stay on earth at all. This doesn't stop us from yelling in outrage when the familiar laws of gravity cause something to drop to the floor and break.

LEV comes from the Latin adjective levis, meaning "light," and the verb leave, meaning "to raise or lighten." So a lever is a bar used to lift something, by means of leverage. And levitation is the magician's trick in which a body seems to rise into the air by itself.

Words from Mythology and History