ACER/ACR meaing "sharp" or "sour." Grapefruit and limes have an acid taste; acid can also describle a person's sense of humor (other words for it might be sharp or biting). The acidity of the soil often indicates whether it's good for growing certain crops.

STRICT meaing "to draw tight, bind, or tie." So the English word strict means "tightly controlled." And when someone begin a sentence "Strictly speaking,..." you know he or she is going to be talking about a word or idea in its most limited sense, "drawing tight" the meaning till it's as narrow as possible.

STRU/STRUCT meaning "to put together, build, arrange." A structure is something that's been constructed,--that is, built or put together. Instructions tells how the pieces should be arranged. Something that obstructs is a barrier that's been "built" to stand in your way. And something destructive "unbuilds."

PROP/PROPRI meaning "own." A proprietor is an owner, and property is what he or she owns.

TORT meaning "to twist, wind, or wrench." In torture, parts of the body may be wrenched or twisted or stretched; so those "Indian sunburns" that schoolkids give by twisting in different directions on some unlucky guy's wrist stay pretty close to torture's original meaning.

VIV meaning "to live or be alive." A survivor has lived through something terrible. A revival brings something back to life, whether it's an old film, interest in a long-dead novelist, or religious enthusiam in a group, may be in a huge tent in the countryside.

SERV means "to be subject to." A servant is the person who serves you with meals and provides other necessary services.

CLUS meaning "to close." Words based on the Latin verb often have forms in which the d becomes an s. So, for example, include, which once meant "to shut up or enclose" and now means "to contain," has the releated word inclusive, which means "including everything."

Greek and Latin Borrowings