English Vocabulary and Eytmology(Week17)

Ethnic group

An ethnic group or ethnicity is a category of people who identify with each other based on common ancestral, social, cultural or national experience. Unlike most other social groups, ethnicity is primarily an inherited status. Membership of an ethnic group tends to be defined by a shared cultural heritage, ancestry, origin myth, history, homeland, language and/or dialect, symbolic systems such as religion, mythology and ritual, cuisine, dressing style, art, and physical appearance.
Ethnic groups, derived from the same historical founder population, often continue to speak related languages and share a similar gene pool. By way of language shift, acculturation, adoption and religious conversion, it is possible for some individuals or groups to leave one ethnic group and become part of another (except for ethnic groups emphasizing racial purity as a key membership criterion).
Ethnicity is often used synonymously with ambiguous terms such as nation or people.

Harriet Tubman

An African-American abolitionist, humanitarian, and, during the American Civil War, a Union spy. Born into slavery, Tubman escaped and subsequently made some thirteen missions to rescue approximately seventy enslaved family and friends, using the network of antislavery activists and safe houses known as the Underground Railroad. She later helped abolitionist John Brown recruit men for his raid on Harpers Ferry, and in the post-war era was an active participant in the struggle for women's suffrage.

The History of English

Prefix / Root / Suffix

ab-: away from

abandon (v.) to give up; discontinue; withdraw from
example: The broken bike was found abandoned by the river side.

aboriginal (adj.) original or earliest known; native; indigenous
example: Spence is the leader of an aboriginal community called Attawapiskat in northern Ontario.

ad-: toward

adventure (n.) an exciting or very unusual experience
example: The storm madeour hike a real adventure.

adroit (adj.) cleverly skillful, resourceful, or ingenious
example: He is adroit at making excuses.

Vocabulary

henpeck (v.) to browbeat, bully, or intimidate (one's husband, boyfriend, etc.)
example: My mother always henpecks my father.

checkmate (n.) an act or instance of maneuvering the opponent's king into a check from which it cannot escape, thus bringing the game to a victorious conclusion
example: His efforts to escape met with a checkmate.