The word “conjunction” is comprised of parts meaning “with” and “join,” thus literally meaning “joined with.” The “con-” prefix, meaning “with,” is the same as found in the “com-” in “commune” and likewise is in the Spanish expression often used in English, “chili con carne,” which means “chili with meat.” The “-junction” portion of the word is related to “join,” but likewise is found in the identical word “junction,” which indicates the location of multiple things coming together. The word “conjunction” would be used in a sentence like, “The conjunction of the large paycheck with the significant medical bill was a happy occurrence, unexpectedly allowing Marge to pay for the accident without going into debt.”

The word “digression” is related to words like “regress” and “progressive.” It is comprised of two roots, both of which are likely familiar. The prefix “di-” here means “down from” or “away from.” The “-gress” comes from the Latin word for “to step.” The words “grade” and “gradual” both come from this same base, as do the aforementioned words. For example, “progression” is the process of “going forward (pro-).” The word “digression” means, “turning away from the path of an argument or discussion.” Often, we think of someone “digressing” into some topic that is unrelated to the one currently being discussed. Perhaps you have heard someone say, “But I digress.” When he or she says this, he or she means to say, “I acknowledge that I have gone off the topic, stepped away from the train of thought!” An example use of “digression” would be, “In the course of delivering his speech, the professor went off on a long digression to discuss the merits of coconut oil for the development of skin tissue. Nobody was quite sure why he was discussing this in an American literature class.”

The word relinquish is composed of the prefix “re-”, which here merely strengthens the sense of the base, and a base meaning “to leave or abandon.” The latter is related to words like “derelict,” “dereliction,” and “reliquary.” To “relinquish” something is to give it up freely. The word “renounce” means “to announce the abandonment of something.”

The word “migrate” is derived from the Latin root word for “to move or transport.” In the case of “immigrate,” the prefix “im-” is a form of “in”; therefore, the word means “to move into.” Immigrants are those persons who leave one area or country in order to settle in another. Among the options given, the only one that matches this general sense is “settle.” “Travel” and “perambulate” do not indicate the notion of “settling down” upon arrival, as would be the case with those who immigrate. Do not confuse this word with “emigrate,” which means “to move out of.” The same person can be an “immigrant” and an “emigrant.” He or she is called an “immigrant” when referring to the nation into which he or she is coming—e.g. “He immigrated into the United States after years of oppression.” The same person is said to “emigrate” with reference to the country that he or she had left—e.g. “He emigrated from his native country because of the dire oppression.”

The word “migrate” is derived from the Latin root word for “to move or transport.” In the case of “emigrate,” the prefix “e-” is a form of “ex,” meaning “out of”; therefore, the word means “to move out of.” Emigrants are those persons who leave a country. Among the options given, the only one that matches this general sense is “relocate.” “Travel” does not necessarily signify the idea of leaving a country in order to relocate somewhere else. Do not confuse this word with “immigrate,” which means “to move into.” The same person can be an “immigrant” and an “emigrant.” He or she is called an “immigrant” when referring to the nation into which he or she is coming—e.g. “He immigrated into the United States after years of oppression.” The same person is said to “emigrate” with reference to the country that he or she had left—e.g. “He emigrated from his native country because of the dire oppression.”

The word “permeate” is a combination of the prefix “per-”, here used to mean “through,” and the Latin root for “to go or pass.” It means to “go through” in the sense of something that fills a space. For example, one might say, “The smell of the fresh apple pie permeated the room, filling it with the wonderful odors of the autumnal dessert.” The word “perfuse” means “to pour through” in a sense close to that of “permeate.” Its “-fuse” portion is related to the same form that is found in “infuse” and “diffuse.”

The word “resuscitate” is derived from Latin roots meaning “to raise up again.” It is from this that we get the general sense of “resuscitate” as meaning “to bring back to life from a near death situation.” The word “revive” best signifies this, as it means “to bring back to life.” The “-vive” in “revive” is related to other words for life such as “vivify” and “survive.”

The “-merge” portion of this word is related to similar forms found in English words like “emerge” and “immersion.” It is derived from the Latin for “to dip.” The prefix “sub-” means “beneath” or “under,” as is used in the word “submarine” (meaning “beneath water”). When someone “submerges” something else, he or she “dips it under water.” Plunge is the best option among those given.

The “-merge” portion of this word is related to similar forms found in English words like “submerge” and “immersion.” It is derived from the Latin for “to dip.” The prefix “e-” is a form of “ex-”, meaning “out of” as used in the word “exit”—“to go out of.”   When someone or something “emerges” it “comes out of being dipped.” A better definition is “coming into view or becoming apparent.” When something “materializes,” it comes to exist actually. Often, this is used to describe something appearing as well.

The prefix “per-” often means “through,” but it likewise can function as an intensifier or as something implying completion. For example, the word “perfect” literally means “thoroughly or completely made.” The word “persist” is derived from this second usage of “per-” and a base derived from the Latin for “to stand.” The latter can be found in words like “resist,” “consist,” and “exist.” Someone who “persists,” stands firm through difficulties. Such a person could be said to persevere, which is nearly a perfect synonym.