These Are the Latin Words You Use Every Day Without Knowing It

Don’t call Latin a dead language—chances are you speak it all the time.

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Latin words
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The Latin Origin of “Audio”

Audire is a Latin verb meaning “to hear.” The first-person conjugation “audio” means “I hear.” And video? That’s “I see.” That’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Latin words!

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Doctor
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The Latin Origin of “Doctor”

How can someone be a doctor of philosophy? Because “doctor” means “teacher” in Latin.

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Exit
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The Latin Origin of “Exit”

In Latin, the verb exire means “to go out.” So “exit” means “he/she/it goes out.” As with so many words, we can partly thank Shakespeare for bringing “exit” to English, via the celebrated stage direction in A Winter’s Tale: “Exit, pursued by a bear.”

These English words are the hardest for non-native speakers to pronounce.

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Minus
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The Latin Origin of “Minus”

Latin is as simple as four minus two equals two. Seriously: “minus” means “less” in Latin.

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Plus
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The Latin Origin of “Plus”

As you may have guessed, “plus” is Latin for “more.”

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Reader's Digest Canada
Originally Published in Reader's Digest Canada

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