SUB means “under.

” So a subway runs under the streets, and a submarine moves under the ocean's
surface. A subject is a person under the authority of another. A movie's subplot is lower in importance
than the main plot. Subscribe once meant “to write one's name underneath,” so subscription was the act
of signing a document or agreement.

subconscious (adj) Existing in the mind just below the level of awareness. Example: After dropping three
dishes in a week, she began thinking there might be some kind of subconscious agitation behind her case
of butterfingers. Etymological Explanation: We're rarely aware, or at least fully aware, of our
subconscious mental activity. But subconscious thought does affect our feelings and behavior, and it's
often revealed in dreams, artistic expression, and slips of the tongue. The subconscious mind can be a
hiding place for anxiety, a source of creativity, and often the reason behind our own mysterious behavior.

subjugate (v) To bring under control and rule as a subject; conquer, subdue. Example: The country's
government claimed it was just trying to protect national security, but some saw its actions as an
attempt to subjugate the news media. Etymological Explanation: Since jugus means “yoke” in Latin,
subjugate means literally “bring under the yoke.” Farmers control oxen by means of a heavy wooden
yoke over their shoulders. In ancient Rome, conquered soldiers, stripped of their uniforms, might
actually be forced to pass under an ox yoke as a sign of submission to the Roman victors. Even without
an actual yoke, what happens to a population that has come under the control of another can be every
bit as humiliating. In dozens of countries throughout the world, ethnic minorities are denied basic rights
and view themselves as subjugated by their country's government, army, and police.

subliminal (adj) Not quite strong enough to be sensed or perceived consciously. Example: A few worried
parents claimed that some heavy-metal songs contain subliminal messages—in the form of words
recorded backwards—that urge young fans to take up devil worship. Etymological Explanation: Since the
Latin word limen means “threshold,” something subliminal exists just below the threshold of conscious
awareness. The classic example of a subliminal message is “Eat popcorn” flashed on a movie screen so
quickly that the audience doesn't even notice it consciously. Actually, no such advertising has ever been
shown to work. But ordinary ads, both in print and on TV, do contain all kinds of images that shape our
response to the product being advertised even when we don't realize it. Try looking carefully at some ads
that you like, in order to discover how many ways they may be subliminally affecting you.

subversion (n) (1) An attempt to overthrow a government by working secretly from within. (2) The
corrupting of someone or something by weakening their morals, loyalty, or faith. Example: It's
sometimes easier for a government to combat attack from outside than subversion from within.
Etymological Explanation: Subversion is literally the “turning over” of something. In the 1950s and '60s,
many people worried about communist subversion of the U.S. government, though they often saw
subversive activities where none existed. Nondemocratic governments often claim that anyone who
disagrees with them or joins a demonstration is a subversive. But subversion isn't always quite so serious
a matter; when words like weekend, sandwich, job, and camping started being used by the French, for
example, some of them began claiming that America was subverting their language.
 HYPER is a Greek prefix that means “above or beyond,” so hyper- often means about the same thing as
super- . Hyperinflation is inflation that's growing at a very high rate. To be hypercritical or hypersensitive
is to be critical or sensitive beyond the normal. And if you hyperextend a knee or elbow, it means you're
actually bending it backward.

hyperactive (adj) Excessively active. Example: Stephen King's hyperactive imagination has produced
dozens of fantastical stories, not to mention countless nightmares in his readers. Etymological
Explanation: For doctors and psychologists, hyperactive describes a condition with unpleasant
consequences. Hyperactive children usually have a very short attention span and can't sit still, and
hyperactivity can lead to difficulty in learning or just get them in trouble for disturbing their classes. But
not every high-spirited child is hyperactive. Having a high energy level is pretty normal for children, and
some parents think that prescribing drugs for hyperactivity is mostly just good for the drug companies.

hyperbole (n) Extreme exaggeration. Example: The food at Chez Pierre was good, but it couldn't live up
to the hyperbole of the restaurant critics. Etymological Explanation: Advertisers and sports
commentators make their living by their skillful use of hyperbole. Presenting each year's Superbowl as
“the greatest contest in the history of sports” certainly qualifies as hyperbole, especially since the final
scores are usually so lopsided. Equally hyperbolic are advertisers' claims that this year's new car model is
“the revolutionary vehicle you've been waiting for” when it's barely different from last year's—which of
course was once described in the same glowing terms. Politicians love hyperbole too; some of them
seem convinced that calling a new bill “the worst bill ever passed by Congress” or comparing the
president to Hitler is a great way to win votes.

hypertension (n) High blood pressure. Example: Pregnancy is often accompanied by mild hypertension
that doesn't threaten the mother's life. Etymological Explanation: You might have thought that
hypertension was what a movie audience feels near the climax of a thriller, but you would have been
wrong. High blood pressure—that is high pressure against the walls of your veins and arteries caused by
blood flow—often occurs when the arteries or veins become blocked or narrowed, making the heart
work harder to pump blood. But many cases seem to be the result of smoking or taking in too much salt,
and many are genetically caused. Hypertension is serious, since it can lead to heart attacks and strokes.
Though it often produces no warning symptoms, your blood pressure can be checked quickly and easily
by a nurse. If it's high, it can usually be controlled by stopping smoking, losing weight, lowering your salt
intake, and exercising—and if all else fails, by medication.

hyperventilate (v) To breathe rapidly and deeply. Example: They laughed so hard they began to
hyperventilate and feel giddy. Etymological Explanation: Hyperventilating can be a response to fear and
anxiety. A test pilot who panics and hyperventilates faces a dangerous situation. When the level of
carbon dioxide in your blood goes down and the oxygen level goes up, blood vessels constrict because of
the chemical changes and the body can't get enough oxygen (even though it's there in the blood), and
the pilot can become lightheaded and may even faint. To guard against this, pilots are taught to control
their breathing. On the ground, the usual remedy for hyperventilation is breathing into a paper bag,
which raises the level of carbon dioxide and restores normal breathing.
 PRE, one of the most common of all English prefixes, comes from prae, the Latin word meaning “before”
or “in front of.” So a prediction forecasts what will happen before it occurs. The 5:00 TV news precedes
the 6:00 news. And someone with a prejudice against a class of people has judged them before having
even met them

preclude (v) To make impossible beforehand; prevent. Example: If we accept this cash offer from the
company, that will preclude our joining in the big suit against it with the other investors. Etymological
Explanation: Preclude is often used in legal writing, where it usually refers to making something legally
impossible. A new law may be passed by Congress to preclude any suits of a certain kind against a
federal agency, for example. Some judges have found that the warnings on cigarette packs preclude any
suits against the tobacco companies by lung-cancer sufferers. But there are plenty of nonlegal uses as
well. Bad weather often precludes trips to the beach, and a lack of cash might preclude any beach
vacation at all.

precocious (adj) Showing the qualities or abilities of an adult at an unusually early age. Example:
Everyone agrees that their seven-year-old daughter is smart and precocious, but she's also getting rather
full of herself. Etymological Explanation: Growing from a child to an adult is like the slow ripening of fruit,
and that's the image that gave us precocious. The word is based on the Latin verb coquere, meaning “to
ripen” or “to cook,” but it comes most directly from the adjective praecox, which means “ripening early
or before its time.” Precocity can occasionally be annoying; but precocious children don't come
precooked, only “preripened.”

predispose (v) (1) To influence in advance in order to create a particular attitude. (2) To make one more
likely to develop a particular disease or physical condition. Example: Growing up in a house full of sisters
had predisposed her to find her friendships with other women. Etymological Explanation: Predispose
usually means putting someone in a frame of mind to be willing to do something. So a longtime belief in
the essential goodness of people, for example, will predispose us to trust a stranger. Teachers know that
coming from a stable family generally predisposes children to learn. And viewing television violence for
years may leave young people with a predisposition to accept real violence as normal. The medical sense
of the word is similar. Thus, a person's genes may predispose her to diabetes or arthritis, and
malnutrition over a long period can predispose you to all kinds of infections.

prerequisite (n) Something that is required in advance to achieve a goal or to carry out a function.
Example: In most states, minimal insurance coverage is a prerequisite for registering an automobile.
Etymological Explanation: Prerequisite is partly based on requirere, the Latin verb meaning “to need or
require.” So a prerequisite can be anything that must be accomplished or acquired before something
else can be done. Possessing a valid credit card is a prerequisite for renting a car. A physical exam may be
a prerequisite for receiving a life-insurance policy. And successful completion of an introductory course is
often a prerequisite for enrolling in a higher-level course.

PARA is a Greek prefix usually meaning “beside” or “closely related to.” So parallel lines run beside each
other. And a Greek paragraphos was originally a line written beside the main text of a play to show
where a new person begins speaking; today we just start a new paragraph on a new line.
 paraphrase (v) To restate the meaning (of something written or spoken) in different words. Example: She
started off the class by asking one of the students to paraphrase the Tennyson poem, to make sure
everyone understood its basic meaning. Etymological Explanation: When we paraphrase, we provide a
version that can exist beside the original (rather than replace it). We paraphrase all the time. When you
tell a friend what someone else has said, you're almost always paraphrasing, since you're not repeating
the exact words. If you go to hear a talk, you might paraphrase the speaker's main points afterward for
your friends. And when writing a paper on a short story, you might start off your essay with a paraphrase
of the plot. Paraphrasing is especially useful when dealing with poetry, since poetic language is often
difficult and poems may have meanings that are hard to pin down

. paralegal (adj) Of, relating to, or being a trained assistant to a lawyer. Example: Part of the firm's
business involved researching real-estate properties, which the senior lawyers regarded as paralegal
work. Etymological Explanation: Much of the work in a law office can be done by paralegal assistants,
also called legal aides or simply paralegals, who work alongside licensed lawyers. Often a paralegal is
trained in a narrow field and then entrusted with it. In this respect, paralegals are similar to
paraprofessionals in other fields, such as engineering. Paraprofessionals used to be trained in the office
itself, but today it's common to study for a paraprofessional certificate or degree at a community college
or university.

paramedic (n) A specially trained medical technician licensed to provide a wide range of emergency
services before or during transportation to a hospital. Example: Five ambulances had already arrived,
and a dozen paramedics were crouched over the victims with bandages and IVs. Etymological
Explanation: Inground warfare, wounded troops must usually be transported from the front lines back to
field hospitals, and trained paramedical personnel—that is, nondoctors, usually known as medics or
corpsmen —were first widely used in such situations. It took many decades for the wartime model to be
applied effectively to ordinary peacetime medicine. With advances in medical technology (such as
defibrillators, for restarting a heart after a heart attack), paramedics became an essential part of
emergency medicine, and today hundreds of thousands of people owe their lives to paramedics.
Paraprofessionals who work only in hospitals and clinics usually go by other titles.

Paramilitary (adj) Relating to a force formed on a military pattern, especially as a possible backup
military force. Example: In the country's most remote regions, the real power was held by large
landowners, who actually kept paramilitary forces, their own private armies, on their estates.
Etymological Explanation: This term paramilitary can take in a wide range of organizations, but is usually
applied to forces formed by a government. Groups opposing a government, even when organized along
military lines, are more often referred to as guerrillas or insurgents. In countries with weak central
governments (such as, in recent times, Afghanistan, Somalia, Iraq, or Congo), warlords may form their
own paramilitary forces and take over all local police and military functions. Paramilitary often has a
sinister sound today, since it's also applied to groups of off-duty military or police personnel who carry
out illegal violence, often at night, with the quiet support of a government.