Align | Vocabulary
About this video
The word align is a verb with two meanings: to put things in a straight line, and to support or agree with someone. It comes from the Latin lin, meaning line, which also appears in words like linear and delineate. The silent g comes from French, and adding -ment makes the noun alignment.
You'll be able to
- give both meanings of align.
- use align literally and figuratively in a sentence.
- name other words built from the Latin root lin.
Key words
- align
- A verb meaning to put things in a straight line, or to support or agree with someone.
- lin
- A Latin root meaning line.
- linear
- In a straight line.
- delineate
- To describe in detail or to draw out borders.
- figuratively
- Used in a non-literal way, like saying people are 'aligned' when they agree.
- alignment
- The noun form of align, made by adding -ment; being lined up or in agreement.
Transcript
- [David] Hey, there, Wordsmiths. This video is about the word align, align. This word has two definitions. The first is to support, ally or associate with someone. And the second definition is to put things in a straight line. That's its literal definition. It comes from the Latin lin, which means line.
It's a very useful little word and it is a verb. Now, I'm gonna throw y'all a ten second music break and in that time, see how many words you can come up with that use lin. Please, Mr. Music, won't you play? (bright upbeat music) Here are some words I came up with earlier, cooking show style.
Linear, which means in a straight line, to delineate, which means to describe in detail or draw out borders and perhaps, obviously, the word line itself. But let's dive into align because if you're anything like me, you're wondering about that G, why isn't it align?
I will spare you the lecture and say simply that it came from French. Don't worry about it. We just don't say it, in the same way we don't say the G in sign, or, at least, we don't say it as a /g/ sound. I find this stuff fascinating. I could basically keep talking about this forever, but I'm trying to keep these videos short and snackable.
So let's use align in some sentences. You can use it literally, right? Like, all lined up. When the planet's aligned, are powers we're at their greatest, right? You can draw a straight line from Neptune straight through to the sun, straight enough. The planets aligned, but you can also use it figuratively, non literally to say that people agree.
Jamelle and I aligned on the fact that the cereal milk is the best part of breakfast. Here we are, in fact, in agreement, in alignment, in fact, I'll write that down. So this is the noun form. We've added -ment to turn it into a noun, in alignment. And one last sentence.
Supriya had to align with the other rebels. She had to get in line, they had to link up. So I hope you and I are all aligned on the meaning of this word, because I am out of time. Until the next one, you can learn anything. David, out.
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