ANIM comes from the Latin anima, meaning "breath" or "soul." So, for exmaple, an animal is a living, breathing thing--though human animals have often argued about whether other species actually have souls.

FIG comes from a Latin verb meaning "to shape or mold" and a noun meaning "a form or shape." So a figure is usually a shape. A transfiguration transforms the shape or appearance of something. And a disfiguring injury changes the appearance of part of the body for the worse.

ANN/ENN comes from Latin annus, meaning "year." An annual event occurs yearly. An anniversary is an example of an annual event, although the older you get the more frequent they seem to be.

EV comes from the Latin aevum, "age" or "lifetime." Though the root occurs in only a few English words, it's related to the Greek aion, "age," from which we get the word eon, meaning "a very long period of time."

CORP comes from corpus, the Latin word for "body." A corpse is a dead body. A corporation is also a kind of body, since it may act almost like an individual. And a corps is a "body" of soldiers.

TANG/TACT comes from the Latin words tangere, "to touch," and tactus, "sense of touch." So, for instance, to make contact is to touch or "get in touch with."

CODI/CODE comes from the Latin codex, maning "trunk of a tree" or "document written on wooden tablets." A code can be either a set of laws or a system of symbols used to write messages. To encode a message is to wrtite it in code. A genetic code, transmitted by genes, is a set of instructions for everything from blood type to eye color.

SIGN comes from the Latin noun signum, "mark or sign." A signal is kind of sign. Your signature is your own personal sign. And an architect's design marks out the pattern for a building.

Number Words

QUADR/QUART comes from Latin words meaning "four" or "fourth." In English, a quart is one-fourth of a gallon, just as a quarter is one-fourth of a dollar. A quadrangle has four sides and angles but isn't necessarily square. And quadruplets are four babies born at the same time.

TETR comes from the Greek word for "four." In the immensely popular video game Tetris, for example, each of the pieces the game is played with has four segments. But the root usually shows up in long chemical names.