1.Introduction

Etymology is the study of the history of words.

Words are  made up of prefix, suffix, and root.

1) Prefix: a prefix is an affix which is placed before the stem of a word. A word part added at the begging of a base word to change the meaning of that word.

• de- means negative, remove
•  di- means two
• dis- negative, remove

2) Suffix: a suffix (also sometimes termed postfix or ending) is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Also added to the end of a word to make a new word.

•  ast participle-enp
• -er comparative
• -est superlative

3) Root: a root as its name suggests, is a word or word part from which other words grow, usually through the addition of prefixes and suffixes. 

2.十分鐘讀懂英文史 The History of English in Ten Minutes Chinese(trad.) Subtitled

Chapter 1. Anglosaxon
Chapter 2. The Norman Conquest
Chapter 3. Shakespeare
Chapter 4. The King James Bible
Chapter 5. The English of Science
Chapter 6. English and Empire
Chapter 7. The Age of Dictionary
Chapter 8. American English
Chapter 9. Internet English
Chapter 10. Global English 

3.Samuel Johnson

an English writer who made lasting contributions to English literature as a poet, essayist, moralist, literary critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer. Johnson was a devout Anglican and committed Tory, and is described by the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography as "arguably the most distinguished man of letters in English history". He is also the subject of perhaps the most famous biography in English literature, namely The Life of Samuel Johnson by James Boswell.

4.Today's Words

1) bene-: a combining form occurring in loanwords from Latin, where it meant “well”: benediction.

eg. benefactor, benediction, benefice

2)male-: a combining form meaning “evil,” occurring in loanwords from Latin:malediction.malevolent:

 evil; harmful; injurious.  

eg. maleness, malefactor, malefic

3)dis-: a Latin prefix meaning “apart,” “asunder,” “away,” “utterly,” or having a privative, negative, or reversing force (see de-, un-); used freely, especially with these latter senses, as an English formative: disability; disaffirm; disbar; disbelief; discontent; dishearten; dislike; disown.

eg. discalceate, dispassionate, distill

4)ad-: a prefix occurring in loanwords from Latin, where it meant “toward” andindicated direction,

 tendency, or addition: adjoin. Usually assimilated tothe following consonant;

eg. adage, adagio, adulteration