Which latin root means to carry?

Q: What Latin root means drag or pull?

The Latin root word tract means drag” or pull.” This root word gives rise to many English vocabulary words, including attraction, subtract, and contract. Perhaps the easiest way to remember this root word is through the English word tractor, for a tractors main function is to drag” or pull” heavy equipment.

Today I’ll be discussing the relative importance of the Latin word root lat, which means to ‘carry.’

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What Latin root means drag or pull?
What is port in Latin?

The relationship that you develop with another person is how you ‘carry’ back and forth your interactions with him or her. Is it one of love? One of dislike? Or a mixture of both?

Speaking of relationships, you have learned in biology class that your relatives are those who are genetically ‘carried’ back to you. In turn, the relative importance of something is how strongly its influence is ‘carried’ back. When you hear your relatives relating stories to you, they are ‘carrying’ them back for your hopeful enjoyment.

When you collate papers, you ‘carry’ them together for purposes of organization. For instance, you might have to organize a recent translation, or the ‘carrying’ across of words from one language into another, that you have recently completed.

You might be elated, or ‘carried’ out of your normal emotional state to one of jubilation, by doing a great job on a project. Such a superlative job would have ‘carried’ that work over and above normal, everyday efforts.

Just what do legislators do? Yep, you guessed it, they ‘carry’ laws into our society.

A lesser known word that contains the root word lat is ablation, which refers to the ‘carrying’ away of something. Ablation can either be the slow erosion or ‘carrying’ away of parts of a glacier, or it can refer to a surgical procedure in which undesirable parts of the body are ‘carried’ away by cutting them out.

So as not to make you late for your latte, I shall relate no more about lat, lest this turn out to be as long as the commentary on Einstein’s Theory of Special Relativity, ‘carrying’ you too far away from present concerns!

relative: one ‘carried’ back to you
relate: ‘carry’ back
collate: ‘carry’ together
legislate: ‘carry’ laws to creation
translate: ‘carry’ across from one language to another
elated: ‘carried’ out of a normal emotional state
superlative: ‘carried’ over and above

I assisted a girl named Madalaine with her English homework, which was to write sentences that included the vocabulary words that she learned. When Madalaine showed me the words she learned in her notebook, my eyes widened with surprise because the vocabulary words were pretty advanced. She explained to me that the words stemmed from the Latin root word “port”, which meant to carry. I asked her what grade she is in and she told me that she is in fifth grade. Now I understood why she was learning words such as spectator and portable because fifth grade is the last grade of elementary school. There was one word that Madalaine asked me to define. The word was opportunity. I told her that opportunity is something that is given to you and you should take it to grow as well as improve. I don’t think my definition seemed clear to her, so I asked her if the A+ Academy was an opportunity for her to improve her math and science skills. She stared at me blankly and said she did not know. We eventually moved on to another word that was simpler and easier to write a sentence for. However, the word opportunity stuck with me because I wondered how the Latin root word applied to the word opportunity. Finding the answer on Google, I learned that opportunity came from the phrase ob portum veniens “coming toward a port”, which meant wind blowing ships into the harbor or favorable wind that came blowing towards someone. This is an insightful meaning because an opportunity is something favorable that comes toward a person, and the person has the choice to either grab it or let it go.

Learn how the Latin root “portare" (“to carry”) relates to the meanings of words like "report" (carried back) and "support" (carried under). The root "port" also has to do with doorways, as in "portal.”
More Latin Love, Volume I lists:
vocare, sci, struere, and via!
ELA Common Core State Standard: "Use common, grade-appropriate Greek or Latin affixes and roots as clues to the meaning of a word."

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deportment
the way a person behaves toward other people
He has been represented as a mild, peaceable person, and gentlemanly in deportment.Stark, James H.
When we speak of someone's deportment, we are speaking of the way that person acts in society, the way he carries himself: Does he slouch or stand tall? Is he rude or respectful? Does he seek attention or is he shy? Does he appear confident or unsure of himself? A person's manner of speech, dress, eating, and posture are all features of deportment. The prefix "de-" means "toward" in this word; the root "port-" means "carriage" and the suffix "-ment" makes this word a noun.
deport
expel from a country
He had immigrated illegally from Honduras and feared being deported.
Although the words "deport" and "deportment" are close relatives, they are close relatives who have taken very different paths in language. The verb "deport," having a negative connotation, means to be forced to leave a country if you are not a citizen. People who are deported are called "deportees." The process of deporting a person is called "deportation."
opportune
suitable or advantageous especially for a particular purpose
The opportune words were so amusing, that every one, Mr. Gilroy included, simply roared.Roy, Lillian Elizabeth
We say that events happen at "opportune" moments, or, moments when opportunity is at its best for those events. The opposite is "inopportune," meaning, to occur at a bad time, a time of no opportunity. We say that "opportunity knocks," and that is an appropriate saying, when you consider that the root "port-" means "doorway."
importune
beg persistently and urgently
A beggar, emerging from the darkness, importuned him: "Have pity on me, kind sir."Souvestre, Émile
The word "importune" is one of those words that has gone out of fashion for some reason. Instead of saying "importune" in conversation, we just say "beg" or "plead." But, in literature that was written at some in the past, we do encounter this word, along with "beseech," which means the same as "importune," and which is also out of fashion in modern conversation.
supportive
furnishing assistance
He was also a “friendly, supportive warm guy,” Zeelenberg said.
People can be supportive when they listen attentively, offer tactful suggestions, celebrate your victories and cheer you up and keep you going when you fail. A supportive person "carries" you by holding you up. The prefix "sup-" is another form of "sub-" and means the same thing, which is "under."
export
sell or transfer abroad
Bangladesh's garment industry accounts for 80 percent of the country's exports.
The prefix "ex-" means "out of," and since the root "port-" means "carry," we get "carried out of." "Export" can be a verb that takes a direct object (Costa Rica exports bananas.) In the example sentence, we see "export" used as a noun.
import
bring in from abroad
Power plants run on expensive imported fuel, mainly diesel.
"Import," being the opposite of "export" means "carry in." The opposite of imported goods would be domestic, or home-grown, goods. Consumers usually pay more for the goods that they import because of transportation costs and other costs of international trade.
rapport
a relationship of mutual understanding between people
The word " rapport" is pronounced as if it were French (ra-pore). We often hear this word used in business situations, where people act in a helpful and cordial manner to establish rapport, or, etymologically speaking, to open doors.
comport
behave in a certain manner

“If your wares comport with your manners,” she said, “you will be welcome at the palace.Tracy, Louis
Because the prefix "com-" means "with," and the root "port-" means "to carry," the word "comport," at its root, means "to carry with." We often use it to mean "to go along with," as in the example sentence. When we say that something "comports with" something else or someone, we mean that they are a good match.
portable
easily or conveniently transported
PC shipments are falling as customers delay upgrades in favor of fast-growing, more portable tablets.Forbes (May 8, 2013)
When something is "portable," it is easily carried.
porter
a person employed to carry luggage and supplies
Many think Sherpas are just porters, which is not true.
A porter is, simply, a person who carries things for another person. A golf caddie is a kind of porter. In the example sentence, we see that a Sherpa is more than a porter. Sherpas are skilled guides and assistants to those who climb the Himalayas in Tibet and Nepal.

Created on May 15, 2013 (updated October 8, 2013)

What Latin root means drag or pull?

The Latin root word tract means “drag” or “pull.” This root word gives rise to many English vocabulary words, including attraction, subtract, and contract. Perhaps the easiest way to remember this root word is through the English word tractor, for a tractor's main function is to “drag” or “pull” heavy equipment.

What is port in Latin?

Etymology 1 From Old English port, borrowed from Latin portus (“port, harbour”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pértus (“crossing”) (and thus distantly cognate with ford).