Find the correctly spelt word:
Answer: B
It is assassination.
Two pairs of s's. The word comes through Arabic from hashishin, the sect said to have killed under the influence of hashish.
Please log in or register to report this question.
Find the correctly spelt word:
Answer: B
It is autonomous.
From the Greek autos and nomos, self and law. The ending of a Latin -ous adjective is never -ouse or -us.
Please log in or register to report this question.
Find the correctly spelt word:
Answer: A
It is admissible.
One d, two s's, and -ible rather than -able. Words from Latin verbs of the third and fourth conjugations, like mittere, generally take -ible.
Please log in or register to report this question.
Find the correctly spelt word:
Answer: D
It is adolescence.
The -escence ending marks a process of becoming, from the Latin adolescere, to grow up - the same ending as convalescence and effervescence.
Please log in or register to report this question.
Find the correctly spelt word:
Answer: C
It is aggravation.
Two g's, from the Latin ad plus gravis, heavy - to aggravate is literally to make heavier.
Please log in or register to report this question.
Find the correctly spelt word:
Answer: B
It is allegiance.
Two l's and -giance. The word comes from the Old French ligeance, the duty of a liege man to his lord.
Please log in or register to report this question.
Find the correctly spelt word:
Answer: B
It is amalgamation.
One m in the first syllable and one in the second. The word comes from the amalgam, an alloy of mercury with another metal.
Please log in or register to report this question.
Find the correctly spelt word:
Answer: C
It is annihilation.
Two n's, then -hil-: the word is from the Latin ad nihil, to nothing, and the h is easily dropped in writing.
Please log in or register to report this question.
Find the correctly spelt word:
Answer: B
It is auspicious.
From the Latin auspex, one who observed the flight of birds for omens - hence a favourable sign. The i before the -ous is what is usually lost.
Please log in or register to report this question.
Find the correctly spelt word:
Answer: D
It is barbarian.
Two a's in the first two syllables. The Greeks called foreigners barbaroi from the bar-bar sound their speech made to Greek ears.
Please log in or register to report this question.
