HSPT Language Skills › Analogies: Prefixes from Latin
Fill is to permeate as satisfy is to __________.
satiate
enjoy
gorge
please
gratify
The prefix "per_-_" comes from the Latin meaning thorough. We see this in words like "perfect" and "pervade." When something permeates something else (e.g. a smell in a room), it completely fills it. Thus, permeate is a kind of "complete filling." To be "satiated" is to be satisfied completely. This is a kind of "complete satisfaction."
Vexed is to calm as after is to __________.
anterior
posterior
crafty
ingenuous
distracted
When someone is "vexed," he or she is annoyed. This is the opposite of being calm. Therefore, we are looking for a word that is an antonym for "after." he prefix "ante-" comes from Latin and means before. It is found in words like "antechamber" and "antecede." Something that is "anterior" is before something else. This is the opposite of being "after."
Defeat is to vanquish as finish is to __________.
perfect
fulfill
conquer
accept
submit
To "vanquish" someone is to completely defeat him or her. Therefore, we are looking for a word that intensifies the meaning of "finish," giving the sense of being wholly finished. The prefix "per-" is from a Latin root meaning throughout, though it often means "thoroughly" or "completely." When something is perfected, it is completely made—it is totally finished.
Juxtaposed is to location as instantaneous is to __________.
time
scheduling
position
response
answer
The prefix "juxta_-_" comes from the Latin meaning close. When two things are juxtaposed, they are bordering on each other (like neighboring plots of land). Just as juxtaposition is a close placement with regard to location, so is being "instantaneous" a kind of being close with regard to time.
Malicious is to benevolent as extraneous is to __________.
relevant
questionable
idiotic
wasteful
tedious
Someone who is malicious is not benevolent. Being benevolent means being "good-willed"—quite the opposite of someone with a malicious will, a bad will! Therefore, we are looking for something that is the opposite of "extraneous." The prefix "extra-" means outside of. Extraneous details are unimportant and irrelevant—as when someone tells you all about the recent weather when you ask him or her to give you an outline of the a class you missed. Therefore, extraneous details are not relevant.