Words with the root psych
psych means “mind, soul”, from Greekpsyche.
15 examples of the root “psych”
- psyche-ethe mind or soul itself
- psychic-icof or relating to the mind
- psycho-oinformal: mentally disturbed person
- psychology-logystudy of the mind
- psychosis-osissevere mental disease or disorder
- psychotic-oticrelating to severe mental disorder
- psychologist-logistone who studies the mind
- psychiatric-iatricrelating to treatment of mental illness
- psychiatry-iatrymedical treatment of mental disorders
- psychiatrist-iatristdoctor treating mental disorders
- psychopath-pathone with disordered antisocial mind
- psychotherapy-therapyhealing the mind through talk
- psychoanalysis-analysisdeep analysis of the unconscious mind
- psychosomatic-somaticmind influencing physical body symptoms
- psychedelic-delic (déloun, to manifest)revealing or expanding the mind
How psych works
The root 'psych' derives from Greek 'psychē' meaning soul or mind, and it typically begins words as a prefix, forming nouns, adjectives, and compound terms related to mental states or processes. No spelling assimilation occurs with this root, but it takes many suffixes (-ic, -osis, -logy, -iatry) that shift its grammatical role and nuance.
Watch out: The name 'Psyche' from Greek mythology is the direct source, so it is not a false friend, but the word 'psychology' is sometimes mistakenly broken as 'psycho-logy' with 'psycho' carrying a colloquial negative meaning that the root itself does not contain.
To see roots combine with other parts, try the word dissector and root builder, or test yourself in the vocabulary quiz.
Other Greek and Latin roots
- port · carry
- duct · lead
- scrib/script · write
- dict · say
- aud · hear
- vid/vis · see
- rupt · break
- mit/miss · send
- vert/vers · turn
- ped · foot
- man/manu · hand
- spec/spect · look
- cap/cept · take
- pos/pon · place
- fac/fact · make
- voc/vok · voice
- terr · earth
- aqua · water
- luc/lum · light
- nov · new
- temp · time
- mort · death
- gram/graph · write
- log/logy · word
- phon · sound
- bio · life
- chron · time
- geo · earth
- path · feeling
- hydr · water
- scope · look at
- therm · heat
- auto · self
- tele · far
- micro · small
Questions people ask
What does the root “psych” mean?
psych means “mind, soul”. It comes from Greek (psyche). The root 'psych' derives from Greek 'psychē' meaning soul or mind, and it typically begins words as a prefix, forming nouns, adjectives, and compound terms related to mental states or processes. No spelling assimilation occurs with this root, but it takes many suffixes (-ic, -osis, -logy, -iatry) that shift its grammatical role and nuance.
What are some examples of words with the root “psych”?
psyche, psychic, psycho, psychology, psychosis, psychotic, psychologist, psychiatric. The full list of 15 examples, with what each one literally means, is above.
Which words look like they have the root “psych” but don’t?
The name 'Psyche' from Greek mythology is the direct source, so it is not a false friend, but the word 'psychology' is sometimes mistakenly broken as 'psycho-logy' with 'psycho' carrying a colloquial negative meaning that the root itself does not contain.
What is a root word?
A root is the core of a word that carries its main meaning. Many English roots come from Latin or Greek and cannot stand alone, like port (“carry”) in transport and portable.