LET’S PRACTISE ENGLISH – Chapter X

10. WORDS

IN THIS LAST CHAPTER OF LET'S PRACTISE ENGLISH WE ARE GOING TO SEE "WORDS" THAT ARE COMMONLY USED IN SCIENTIFIC LANGUAGE

(I) WORD LIST // (II) FALSE FRIENDS // (III) LATIN NAMES AND EXPRESSIONS


(I) WORD LIST

A
a- (prefix): lacking in: asymmetry, amoral.
About, on: about is used to talk about ordinary, more general things: ‘A book for children about Brazilian animals’. On suggests that a book, lecture a talk, etc. is serious or academic: ‘A lecture on forestry’
Absorption, adsorption: absorption is the process of taking up by capillary, osmotic, chemical, or solvent action; adsorption is the holding of something by the surface of a solid or liquid through physical or chemical forces.
Actually: really, in fact.[See FALSE FRIENDS]
Accuracy: degree of correctness of a measurement or a statement; do not confuse with precision; precision: degree of refinement with which a measurement is made or stated; do not confuse with accuracy ;e.g. the number 3.43 shows more precision than 3.4, but it is not necessarily more accurate.
Agenda: as singular noun, an outline of subjects to be discussed, a plan of procedure; plural agendas.
Air-condition (verb); air-conditioned (adjective); air conditioner (noun).
Also, as well, too: they have similar meanings but they go in different positions: ‘She not only knows maths; she also knows chemistry’. ‘He not only plays the piano; he plays the violin as well’ ‘And he plays the guitar too’. Notice the expression as well as, which means ‘not only...but also’: ‘I have to feed the animals as well as to water the plants’
Alternate(ly), alternative(ly): alternate(ly) means ‘first one and then the other’: ‘I am alternately happy and depressed’. Alternative(ly) is similar to ‘different’, ‘instead’, ‘on the other hand’: ‘You could go by bus, or alternatively, you could go by walking’.
Altogether, all together: altogether means ‘completely’ or ‘everything considered’: ‘The glassware cost U$1,000 altogether’. And all together usually means ‘everybody’ or ‘everything together’: ‘Put the Petri dishes all together in the sink’.
Ambience: (noun): surrounding atmosphere or environment.
Ambient: as noun, environment or encompassing atmosphere; as adjective, surrounding or encompassing.
Ampersand: the ampersand is a convenient symbol of and (&) (= ‘and per se and’). It was formed by a combination of the letters e and t (of the Latin et, meaning and).
Analyse (BrE); analyze (AmE).
Anesthesia: preferred to anaesthesia.
Ante (before) and anti (against).
Antero and postero: situated toward the front and the opposite, respectively (combines without hyphen: ‘anteroparietal’).
Any, not any, no: any suggests an indefinite amount: ‘You never give me any help’ / ‘If you find any pipette tips, keep some for me’. Not any gives the negative sense to any: ‘She hasn’t got any friends’. And no is more emphatic: ‘She’s got no friends’. Not any cannot begin a sentence; instead we use no: ‘No cigarette is harmless’ (= ‘Any cigarette is harmful’).
Apparent, apparently: these words have tricky use: apparent means ‘evident, obvious’: ‘His disapproval is quite apparent’. It also means ‘likely, probable’ (= seeming, that appears to the mind or senses): ‘His real merit, and apparent fidelity, gained the confidence of the people’. Apparently means ‘visibly, evidently’ to the understanding: ‘His delay was apparently due to the difficulty he had to get there’.
Appear: it can be used to say how things look (= seem): ‘He appears / seems (to be) hungry’. It also means ‘come into sight’: ‘It suddenly appeared on the surface’.
Autolysate, autolysis (nouns); autolyze (verb).
Autopsy = necropsy: postmortem examination.

B
Base line (noun); base-line (adjective).
Beside, besides: beside is a preposition meaning ‘at the side of’, ‘by’, ‘next to’: ‘He is sitting beside my teacher’. Besides can be used as a preposition meaning ‘as well as’ to add information: ‘Besides chemistry, he knows physics’. Notice the other use of besides: ‘It’s too late to go to the field now; besides, it´s starting to rain’.
Big, large, great: big and large are used for concrete nouns that you can see, touch etc.: ‘There are big trees in front of the large house’ / ‘Brazil is a big / large country’. Big is also used with countable abstract nouns (informally): ‘I’ve made a big mistake’. Great is used mostly with abstract nouns: ‘You are making a great mistake’ / ‘She is a great woman’.
Bioassay: noun or verb.
Blender: a mechanical device for blending materials; Waring blender: is now acceptable.
Border line (noun); borderline (adjective).
Breakdown (noun).
Break up (verb); breakup (noun).
Breath-holding (noun or adjective).
Brewer’s yeast: or brewers’yeast.
Broad, wide: broad is mostly used in abstract expressions: ‘The members of the Department had a broad agreement (= on most important points)’. Wide is used for the physical distance: ‘We live in a very wide street’. Notice: ‘His theory is widely known’.
Büchner funnel: (a capital B) (after Ernst Büchner).
Build up (verb); buildup (noun); built-up (adjective); built-in (adjective).
Burette or buret.
By, near: by means ‘just at the side of’: ‘He lives by the sea’ (= we can see it). Near means that something is less close to you: ‘We live near the sea’ (= perhaps 5km away).
Bypass (noun or verb); but by-product, by-reaction.

C
Cactus: in italics and with a capital C is the scientific name of a genus; cactus: common name (plural: cacti or cactuses).
Catalogue, cataloguer, catalogued, cataloguing (BrE); catalog, cataloged, cataloging (AmE).
Catalysis: noun; catalyze: verb.
Changeover: noun; change over: verb.
Chi-square: noun or adjective.
Chloroacetic: preferred to chloracetic.
Coauthor: noun or verb.
Coordinate: noun or verb.
Cutoff: noun or adjective; cut off: verb.

D
Dark-eyed, dark-haired, long-tailed: adjectives.
Dark field: noun; dark-field: adjective; darkroom.
Daylight: noun or adjective.
de-: negatory prefix : to reverse action: defrost, demineralize (both verbs); deforestation (noun).
Deep-rooted, deep-seated: adjectives.
Desoxy: BrE; deoxy: AmE.
Detoxication = detoxification.
Diagramed = diagrammed; diagraming = diagramming; but diagrammatic.
Die-away: noun or adjective; die away: verb; die-off: noun; die off: verb.
Dilatation: the act or anatomic result of dilating; dilation: the act of dilating [speak or write about something for a long time]
dis- (prefix): similar to un-: disconnect, discontent.
Disc: BrE; disk: AmE.
Double cross: noun; double-cross: verb.
Due to (past participle) = owing to (present participle).

E
Each, every: they are both used with singular nouns, without much difference of meaning: ‘The business makes less money each / every year. But: Each is used to talk about two or more people or things: ‘She had a child holding on to each hand’. Every is used to talk about three or more: ‘Every one of the children was crying’ / ‘The doctor gave every patient the same medicine’. In negative statement: ‘Not every kind of bird can fly’. It is also used before a plural noun referring to intervals: ‘I measured the temperature every few hours’ / ‘I had to stop and rest every ten steps’. Notice: ‘In everyday life you don’t find a vampire bat’ and ‘You don’t see jaguars every day’ / ‘I go to the Atlantic forest every single day’ / ‘He goes to the beach every other Saturday’ (= ...every second Saturday).
Earache, earlobe / ear lobe (in the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary), earmark, earwax; but ear snail, ear tree, ear trumpet.
East, eastern; north, northern etc.: eastern, northern etc., are preferred when talking about vague, indefinite areas: ‘The northern part of the country’. Therefore east, north etc. would refer to more clearly defined places: ‘The north of the National Park’ / ‘We live in east Paraíba State’. Notice the use of an initial capital letter: ‘He lives in North Carolina and his wife lives in Western Australia’ / ‘North and South Korea’ / ‘North-east (or Northeast) Brazil’ / ‘Farmers of Southern Africa went to Pretoria, the capital of South Africa’.
Economy, economics, economic, economical: the examples show the differences: ‘The world economy is in recession’. ‘I’m studying politics and economics’. ‘The economic aspects of having children’. ‘It is economical to buy food straight from the growers’.
Efficient, effective: to be efficient means that he / she / it works in a well-organized way without wasting time or energy: ‘He’s not efficient because he works very slowly’ / ‘The telephone system is more efficient than the postal service’. If something is effective, it has the right ‘effect’: ‘I think these tablets are effective for strong headaches’.
Electric: note electric potential, electric shock, electric wave; but electrical drainage, electrical engineer [a good dictionary will be quite useful!]. [See –ic, -ical, suffix].
Else, elsewhere: else means ‘other’ or ‘more’ after many words like ‘somebody, someone, something, somewhere, anybody/one/thing/where, who, what, when, whenever’, etc.: ‘I got books and equipment from the federal government. And what else did you get’? / ‘Whatever else he may be, he’s not a mathematician’ / ‘Information on this method you can see elsewhere’.
Enable: it is not a substitute of permit: ‘Insulin enables the body to use and store sugar’.
Ensure: to make sure or guarantee.
Envelop: verb; envelope: noun.
Enzymatic = enzymic.
Especial(ly), special(ly): they can often be used with the same meaning but: Especial(ly) is used to mean ‘above all’, and special(ly) is used to mean ‘for a particular purpose’: ‘These are special pens for writing on white boards and I like especially the blue and black pens’.
Estrogen (AmE); oestrogen (BrE).
Oestrus (noun, BrE) and oestrous (adjective, BrE); estrus (noun, AmE) and estrous (adjective, AmE).
Eventually (see FALSE FRIENDS).
Even: it is used to express surprising extremes: ‘Even a child can do that’ / ‘He eats anything, even raw potatoes’. It is used instead of ‘also’ in surprising extremes: ‘Everybody helped with the packing, even the little child’. It is also used before ‘if’ and ‘though’: ‘Even though I didn’t know anybody in the Congress, I had a nice time’ / ‘Even if I become a famous scientist, I shall always be a socialist’.
Ever: it is used mainly in questions meaning ‘at any time’: ‘Do you ever go to Rio de Janeiro on holiday’?. It also means ‘always’ in compound expressions: ‘Evergreen forests’ / ‘Ever-increasing debt’. Notice this meaning: ‘It’s the largest lake ever seen in an arid region’ / ‘She’s the only student ever to have captured an anaconda’.
Experiment, experience: an experiment is a test: ‘We did an experiment in the chemistry lesson’. An experience is something that happens to you in life: ‘I had a lot of interesting experiences during my years in the Amazon’.
Extracapsular = extracellular.
Eyeball, eyepiece micrometer; but eye colour, eye lens.

F
Far, a long way: in questions and negatives we use far: ‘How far did you walk’? / ‘The youth hostel is not far from the Pontal dos Seixas’. In affirmative it is used a long way: ‘We walked a long way’ / ‘The bus station is a long way from here’.
Farther, further: both forms can be used of distances: ‘Curitiba is farther / further than São Paulo or Rio de Janeiro’ / ‘Curitiba is the farthest / furthest’. Further is used to mean ‘additional’, ‘extra’, ‘more advanced’: ‘Further supplies will be soon available’ / ‘For further information, go to the reception desk’.
Feedback: noun.
Female, feminine; male, masculine: Female and male are used to indicate the sex of people, animals and plants: ‘A female fox is called a vixen’ / ‘A male duck is called a drake’ / ‘He is a typical Latin American male’. Feminine and masculine are used for ‘qualities’ and ‘behaviour’ of people: ‘She’s a very masculine laugh’ / ‘It is a very feminine bathroom’. ‘The word for “moon” is feminine in French and masculine in German’.
Fingerprint, fingertip, but finger fracture, finger grass, finger-shaped.
Fit, suit: fit refers to ‘size’ and ‘shape’: ‘The lab coat doesn’t fit me’. Suit refers to style, colour: ‘This style doesn’t suit you very well’ / ‘Friday would suit me for an English lesson’.
Flow chart, flow line, but flowmeter.
-fold (suffix): (adj. and adv.) multiplied by; having the specified number of parts, e.g. tenfold, twofold; with an arabic numeral it forms a hyphenated term, e.g. 10-fold.
Foot-binding, foothill, foot louse, footnote, footstalk: noun; footloose: adjective.
Forebrain, forehead, forefoot, foreleg, foreword, but fore wing.
Former and latter: used with only two antecedents / [see Late, later, latter].
Free: as verb or adjective, followed by with or of; as suffix used with a hyphen, but germfree and carefree.
Freeze-dry (and freeze-dried): verb; not froze-dried or frozen-dried; freeze dryer: noun; freezing point: noun; freezing-point: adjective.
-ful (suffix): having ...: useful; giving ...: helpful.
Fungal or fungus: adjective.

G
Gauge (noun or verb): associated with measurement; air gauge, pressure gauge.
Get: just a few meanings: it usually means ‘receive’, ‘fetch’, ‘obtain’, ‘catch’ or similar: ‘I got a letter this morning’ / ‘Can you come and get me at the station’? / ‘I got a headache last night’ / ‘If you get the 503 bus, it stops in front of my house’ / ‘Let me get you a drink’. It also means ‘become’, before an adjective: ‘As you get old, your memory gets worse’ / ‘My feet are getting cold’. Get + past participle: ‘get washed’, ‘get lost’, ‘get dressed’, ‘get drowned’, ‘get engaged/married/divorced ... . Get + object + past participle: ‘I must get my hair cut’ / ‘You ought to get your car repaired’.
Gnotobiotic: refers to laboratory animals specially reared and germfree except for known microorganisms with which they have been inoculated.
Gram stain or Gram’s stain: (with a capital G) after Hans C.J. Gram; but gram-negative, gram-positive: adjective.
Grey: BrE; gray: AmE.

H
Half time: noun; half-time: adjective.
Hear, listen: hear is the ordinary word to say that something ‘comes to our ears’: ‘I heard voices’ / ‘Can you hear me’?. Listen (to) is used to talk about ‘paying attention’ to sounds: ‘I heard them talking, but I didn’t really listen to what they were saying’ / ‘Listen to me’!
Heartbeat but heart block, heart failure.
Hemacytometer.
Hindbrain, hindfoot, hindgut but hind kidney, hind wing.

I
-ic, -ical, (suffix, see a good dictionary): note the difference economic botany and economical process. Some adjectives ending in –ic: academic, artistic, athletic, catholic, domestic, emphatic, energetic, fantastic, linguistic, majestic, neurotic, phonetic, public, semantic, syntactic systematic, tragic ...; some adjectives ending in –ical: biological, chemical, critical cynical, grammatical, logical, mathematical, mechanical, medical, musical, physical, radical, surgical, tactical, topical ... . Notice: ‘an electric motor’ (a particular machine); ‘electrical equipment’ and ‘electrical components’ (general words).
Incidence, prevalence: number of cases developing per unit of population per unit of time, e.g. ‘100 cases of tuberculosis per 100,000 persons per year’. It is different from prevalence: number of cases existing per unit of population at a given time.
Incipient, insipient: the former means a beginner and its verbal form denotes an uncompleted action; the latter, now rarely used, means lacking in wisdom, foolish.
Ill, sick: ill is often used to mean ‘unwell’ (in BrE): George didn’t come yesterday because he was ill. Many British people prefer to use sick: ‘He spent many years looking after his sick mother’. Be sick can also mean ‘vomit’: ‘She’s always sea-sick’.
Instead (of): as a preposition: ‘I’ll have tea instead of coffee’; as an adverb: ‘I didn’t do field work. Instead, I went to the library’.
Intend (v.), intent (adj., n.): intend, as a verb means to have a plan, result or purpose in your mind: ‘We finished later than intended’. Intent, as an adjective means showing strong interest and attention: ‘Are you intent upon destroying my reputation’?; intent as a noun, means intention: ‘She denies possessing the drug with intent to supply’.

K
Kjeldahl flask (with a capital K); kjeldahlize (verb).

L
Landfall, landfill, landholder, landmark, landowner, landslide, but land bridge, land crab, land lead, land measure, land snail, land tortoise: all nouns.
Last, latest: ‘She says her latest book is being published next week and she thinks it’s much better than her last one’.
Late(ly), later, latter: ‘The bus is late today’ [= after its proper time]. ‘Have you done any experiment lately’?. ‘I’ll do it later’ [= after some time]. ‘There were two Professors in the meeting, Professor Coler and Professor Gray: the latter was my PhD advisor’.
Lay (laying), laid, laid [regular verb]: it means to place in a position of REST ON THE GROUND or PUT DOWN FLAT; e.g. ‘I laid the papers on the table’ / ‘The cuckoo lays its eggs in other birds’ nests’.
Lie (lying), lay, lain [irregular verb]: it means BE DOWN or BE OR BECOME HORIZONTAL; ‘The animals lie on the ground nearly all day’ / ‘I lay down and closed my eyes’. Observation: lie also has several other meanings, as for example TO EXIST OR TO BE FOUND: ‘The problem lies in deciding when to intervene’; and also TO BE SITUATED IN A PARTICULAR POSITION (town, natural feature …): ‘The town lies on the coast’.
Lie (lying), lied, lied [regular verb]: it means to make a statement that is ‘untrue’: ‘You lied to me when you said you had finished to writing up your thesis’.
-less (suffix): without: helpless, careless, childless.
-let (suffix): small: booklet, leaflet, piglet.
Lifeboat, lifelong, lifework, but life buoy, life plant, life preserver; and life-form, life-size, life-span.
-like (suffix): having the qualities of: savannah-like, lifelike, eellike, shell-like.
Live trap: noun; livetrap: verb.
Lots, a lot, plenty, a great deal, a large number, the majority: ‘Lots of patience is needed to learn a language’. ‘A lot of time is needed to learn a language’. ‘There is plenty of shops where you can buy bike accessories’. ‘He stays silent for long periods, but when he does speak he says a great deal’. ‘I’ve thrown out a large number of rotten fruits’ [= a large amount of ...]. ‘The majority of the animals on the island was birds’ [= ‘Most of the animals ...].

M
mal- (prefix): it means bad(ly): malfunction, maltreat.
Mean [noun and verb], by no means: notice the difference of mean: ‘The means obtained in all the experiments mean that the procedure we used is correct’. In the sense of ‘intend’ or ‘plan’: ‘I mean to find out what’s going on’ / ‘I didn’t mean to destroy your work’. By no means: ‘Galileo was by no means the first person to use a telescope’.
Microphotograph: a photograph on a greatly reduced scale, as on microfilm, using a ‘macro’ lens; do not confuse with photomicrograph, a photograph taken through a microscope.
Midday, midline, midpoint, midrib, but mid-latitudes, mid-carpal.
mis- (prefix): wrongly: misunderstand; astray: misconduct.
Mollusc (BrE), molusk (AmE).
Mould: BrE; mold: AmE.
Mucous: adjective; mucus: noun.

N
Necropsy (see autopsy)
Neither, nor; not ... either; not ... nor: ‘Neither the trees nor the grasses presented high transpiration rates’. ‘You said he can not swim, but I can not either’. ‘The plant did not transpire that day, nor the next day’.
-ness (suffix): state or quality: hardness, darkness, blindness.
Nessler’s reagent or test (with a capital N); nesslerize: verb.
NGO: non-governmental organization, that is independent of government and business.
Non (prefix): as an English prefix combines without a hyphen, except before a capital letter and a hyphenated word, e.g. non-British and non-self-governing, respectively; some authors use the hyphen between non and a word beginning with n.
O
Oestrus, oestrous: see estrus
Off-colour: adjective; offshot: noun; offshore: adverb or adjective.
Optimal, optimum: adjectives; optimum: noun.
Orient (verb, BrE); orientate (verb, AmE).
out- (prefix): to do something faster, longer ... than: outrun, outline.
over- (prefix): too much: overheat, overestimation (see under-).
Owing to: (see due to).

P
Part, partly; partially: ‘Part of the glassware was missing’. ‘Partly of it was missing’ [part of the whole]. ‘It is made partially of iron and partially of copper’ [in the sense of ‘a limited degree’].[The distinction between partly and partially is not an absolute one]. N.B. Partly is often followed by because or due to: ‘We couldn’t do our fieldwork partly because of the weather’.
Parameter: has a special meaning in mathematics; do not use loosely for variable, quantity, quality, determinant, or feature.
Pathological: of the field of pathology; pathologic: having the qualities studied in pathology, abnormal (see -ic, -ical).
Petri dish = petri dish: after Julius R. Petri (German bacteriologist).
Photomicrograph (see Microphotograph)
Physical chemistry (noun); physicalchemistry (adjective); it is very common the use of physico-chemical (adjective, which means: of/pertaining to physical chemistry.
Physiological (see -ic, -ical).
Policy, politics: policy refers to a plan of action agreed/chosen by a political party, a business etc.; it is also a principle that you believe in that influences your behaviour. Politics refers to the activities in getting and using power in public life and being able to influence decisions that affect a country, people etc.; it is also a person’s political views/beliefs.
Poly-, post-, pre- (prefixes): most words formed are solid, e.g. polymorphous, polyunsaturated, postgraduate, postnatal, prefabricate, preconception, precursor; exceptions are those containing proper nouns or their derivatives, e.g. pre-Christian, pre-Darwinian.
Precision (see Accuracy).
Prevalence (see Incidence)
Privative: having the quality of depriving a person or thing; characterized by the absence of a quality.

R
Rhythmic: marked by pronounced rhythm; rhythmical: pertaining to or involving rhythm (see -ic, ical).
Ringer’s or Ringer solution (with a capital R).
Rule of three: a method of finding a fourth number from three given numbers, of which the first is in the same proportion to the second as the third is to the unknown fourth.
Rule of thumb: a general principle or a method derived from practice or experience rather than theory.

S
See, look (at), watch [a good dictionary will show the several meanings of these three verbs]: we use see when something ‘comes to our eyes’ (whether or not we are paying attention): ‘Suddenly I saw something strange’ / ‘I can see a light at the end of the tunnel’. We use look in the sense of ‘concentrating’ or ‘paying attention’: ‘I looked at the photo but I didn’t see anybody I knew’ / ‘Look again through the microscope and try to see a cell with blue particles’. Watch is similar to look at but it suggests that something is happening or going to happen: ‘Watch that animal and see when it catches the prey’ / ‘I am watching TV’.
Setup (noun); set up (verb).
Shade, shadow: the protection from the sun is shade: ‘The temperature is 30 degree Celsius in the shade’. Shadow is the ‘picture’ made by an unlighted area: ‘You can estimate how tall a tree is from the length of its shadow as compared to the length of a shadow of a known stick, by using the rule of three’ [see the entry Rule of three].
-ship (suffix): status or condition: friendship, relationship.
Sign, signal: they have very similar meanings. Sign is usually something that you ‘can find’ or ‘see’: ‘Early signs of the disease’ / ‘The first signs of spring’. Signal is something ‘done intentionally’ or suggesting that you ‘should take some action’: ‘His visit was a clear signal that he supports our project’ / ‘I got a faint signal from the internet’.
Sizeable = sizable.
Skillful = skilful (adjective); skillfully = skilfully (adverb).
Small, little: small simply refers to size and little not only refers to size, but also expresses some kind of emotion: ‘A pretty little house in the country, close to a small village’. ‘That plant is too small to be counted as a tree’. ‘A poor little animal’.
So: degree: ‘It was so cold that the animal did not come out of the cave’. Before adjectives: ‘The cheetah run so fast that it caught the prey in a few seconds’. Notice the difference between very (simply giving information) and so (referring to information which has already been given): ‘It was very warm’ / ‘If we had known it would be so warm, we would have taken lighter clothing’. Emphatic use: ‘You’re so right’! So and that: ‘It was so cold that we stopped walking’. So ... a: ‘I had never seen before so loveable [= lovable] a pet’. Substitute word: ‘The weather is stormy and will remain so over the weekend. So much: ‘The other side of the river is so much steeper’.
So that, in order that: informal: ‘I’ve put it in the oven so that it’ll be ready in one hour’. Formal: ‘We send them monthly reports in order that they may have full information on the project’.
Some time, sometime, sometimes: Some time [stresses in the two words] means ‘a considerable amount of time’: ‘It will take some time to repair the spectrophotometer’. Sometime refers to ‘an indefinite time’: ‘The equipment will be ready sometime next week’. Sometimes means ‘in some occasion’, ‘more than once’: ‘It gave sometimes signs of life’ / ‘Sometimes, in the long winter, the birds flew into my house’.
Sporebearer, sporeformer, sporeforming; but spore ball, spore case, spore fruit, spore sac.
Steam distillation (noun); steam-distill (verb).
Stop bath, stop clock, stop valve; stop-off; stopback (see a dictionary).
Sub (prefix): lower than, less than, usually combines to form a solid word (without hyphen): subhuman, subway; exceptions: sub-clan and sub-society (nouns); sub-zero, sub-Atlantic: adjectives.

T
Tapeworm, tape grass, tape measure.
Taproot, tap water, tap screw.
Threefold (see -fold).
Trademark, trade name.
Travel, journey, trip, voyage: Compare: ‘He is only interested in travelling’ [travelling in general] / ‘She always spends lots of money on her travels’. Journey is the act of travelling: ‘Did you have a good journey’? [you talk about your experience] / ‘How long is your journey to work’ [an act of travelling from one place to another] / ‘Amundsen made his journey to the South Pole in 1911’. Trip is a journey to a place and back (especially short): ‘A business trip’. Voyage is a long journey especially by sea or in space: ‘The Titanic sank on its first voyage’.
Twofold (see -fold).

U
U shape (noun); U-shaped (adjective).
Ultra, prefix: most words with this prefix are solid, ultracentrifuge, ultraviolet; but ultra-atomic.
un- (prefix): negatory prefix: unfair, unexpected; it also refers to reverse action: unscrew, undo; most words beginning with this prefix are solid (see the exceptions in a dictionary).
under- (prefix): too little: undercook, underestimation (see over-).

V
Various: of different kinds or aspects.
Varying: = changing = causing to change.

W
-wards (suffix): direction: upwards, downwards, onwards, backwards, eastwards.
Washout (noun); wash out (verb).
Water bath, water vapour (AmE vapor): but waterfowl, waterline; and water-resistant, water-soluble (see the dictionary).
Wave form, wave guide, wave height, wave number: nouns; wave-built, wave-worn (adjectives); wavelength, wavemeter (nouns).
Wildlife, wildfowl: but wild canary, wild duck.
Windbreak, windfall: but wind drift, wind tunnel.
-wise (suffix): in the manner of: clockwise (anticlockwise), crabwise; as far as: lengthwise.
Work curve, work load: but workboat, workday.
Write-off (noun); write off (verb).
Write-out = printout (noun); write out (verb).

X
X ray (noun): ‘the X ray of the solar radiation spectrum’; X-ray (verb and adjective): ‘the X-ray photograph’.

Y
Y form (noun); and Y-shaped (adjective).

Z
Zero drift, zero group, zero hour, zero time, zero potential (nouns); zerovalent (adjective).

(II) FALSE FRIENDS

FALSE FRIEND IS A WORD THAT ‘LOOKS’ (OR SOUNDS) SIMILAR TO A WORD IN YOUR OWN LANGUAGE
[“algumas palavras foram traduzidas para o português, entre colchetes”]

Abstract (n.): a piece of writing containing the main ideas in a document (= summary).
Actual (adj.) / Actually (adv.): real, existing in fact / really: ‘The actual cost was much higher than we had expected’ / ‘The food was not actually all that expensive’.
Adept (adj.): good at doing something that is quite difficult (= skilful). [“perito”]
Alias (adv., n.): used when a person, especially a criminal or an actor, is known by two names. [“cognome”]
Cargo (n.): the goods carried in a ship or plane/aircraft or other large vehicle. ‘The tanker spilled its cargo of oil’.
Casualty: a person who is killed or injured in war or in an accident.
Claim (v.): to say that something is true (although not proved and other people may not believe it). [“alegar”]
Commodity: something that can be traded, bought or sold. [“mercadoria, bem consumível”]
Comprehensive (adj.): including all, the items, details, facts, information etc., that may be concerned (= complete, full). [in England, Comprehensive School = secondary school for young people of all levels of ability. [“abrangente, amplo”]
Discrete (adj.): separate; distinct: ‘The organisms can be divided in discrete categories’.
Discreet (adj.): intentionally not attracting attention: ‘He’s always discreet about his successes’.
Discretion (n.): 1) The freedom or power to decide what should be done in a particular situation: ‘To tell the truth to terminally ill patients is left to the discretion of the doctor’. 2) Care in what you say or do: ‘This is confidential, but can I rely on your discretion’?
Disgust (n., v.): a strong feeling of dislike or disapproval for somebody or something. ´I can only feel disgust for these criminals´. [“nojo”]
Enrol (v.): to join (officially) a course, school etc. [“matricular-se”]
Eventual (adj.) and Eventually (adv.): happening at the end of a period of time or of a process: ‘War is possible to predict with the eventual lack of water in many parts of the world’. ‘The increasing emissions of CO2 will eventually cause global warming’.
Exit (n.): a way out of a public building or vehicle. ‘There is a fire exit on each floor of the library’. [“saída”]
Expansive (adj.): covering a large amount of space or a large subject area: ‘We’re looking for a more expansive definition of the term’.
Expensive (adj.): costing a lot of money: ‘Art books are expensive’.
Exquisite (adj.): extremely beautiful or carefully made; delicate and sensitive. ´An exquisite sense of timing´. [“refinado”]
Fabric (n.): material (cotton, silk, wool…) used for making clothes, curtains etc.
Facilities (n.): buildings, services, equipment…that are provided for a particular purpose. [“infra-estrutura, instalações, condições”]
Incipient (adj.) and Insipient (adj./n.): incipient: just beginning; insipient: lacking in wisdom, foolish.
Inexistent and Non-existent: inexistent means existing in something, inherent; non-existent means that does not exist.
Ingenuity (n.): the ability to invent things or solve problems in clever new ways. ‘Being a man of ingenuity, he soon repaired the machine’. [“engenhosidade]
Ingenious (adj.): (for objects, ideas…) that is very suitable for a particular purpose; and (for persons) having a lot of clever new ideas. [“engenhoso”]
Intend (v.): to have a plan, purpose or result in your mind. ´We finished later than we intended´. [“pretender, planejar”]
Journal (n.): a newspaper or magazine that deals with a particular subject or profession: ‘Journal of Ecology’. [“periódico”]. Journalist (n.): a person whose job is to write for newspapers, magazines, radio or TV.
Library (n.): a building with collections of books, tapes etc. for people to read or borrow. ‘There are not many books in the university library’.
Mayor (n.): the head of a town or city elected by the public [“prefeito”]
Notorious (adj.): well known for being bad: a notorious criminal.
Novel (n., adj.): a story (usually imaginary) long enough to fill a complete book. [“romance”]
Oil: 1) A thick liquid that is found in rock underground (= petroleum). 2) A form of petroleum that is used as fuel(= gasoline, AmE) and to make parts of machines move smoothly.
Parent (n.): [usually plural]: a person’s father and mother: ‘I live with my parents’.
Prejudice (n.): an unreasonable dislike of or preference for a person, group, custom, etc. especially when it is based on their race, religion, sex, etc.: ‘’A victim of racial prejudice’ / ‘Their decision was based on ignorance and prejudice’. Prejudice (v.): 1) To influence somebody so that they have an unfair or unreasonable opinion about somebody or something: ‘The lawyers tried to prejudice the jury against her’. 2) To have a harmful effect on something: ‘Any delay will prejudice the child’s welfare’.
Pretend (v.): to make other people to believe something that is not true. Used by children: not real, imaginary. [“fingir”] (see intend)
Private (adj.): belonging to or for the use of a particular person on group. ‘Private property. Keep out’!
Privative (adj.): denoting privation or absence of a quality or attribute.
Professor (n.): a teacher of the highest rank in department (in GB and USA): ‘Professor Stephen Hawking’.
Push (v.): to use your hands / arms / body to move somebody or something forward or away from you: ‘You push and I’ll pull’.
Resume (v.): it (an activity, conversation…) begins again or continues after an interruption. ´The noise resumed louder than before´. ´Then they resumed their conversation´. [“reiniciar, recomeçar”]
Scholar (n.): (FORMAL) a scholar is a person who studies an academic subject and knows a lot about it. ´The library attracts thousands of scholars and researchers´. [“intelectual, erudito”]
Sensible (adj.): ability to make good judgement: ‘Be sensible my son’! / ‘Say something sensible’! [“sensato”; “que tem juízo”]
Sensitive (adj.): 1) Aware of and able to understand other people. 2) To understand art, music etc.. 3) To be easily offended, upset ...; 4) Reacting quickly or more than usual to something (to cold etc.). [“sensível”]
Sort (n.): a group or type of people or things that are similar in a particular way (= kind). [“tipo”]
Sympathetic (adj.): showing that you understand and care for someone´s problems.[“compreensivo”]
Ultimate (adj.): 1) Final: ‘The ultimate decision is yours’. 2) Most extreme; best; worst: ‘This test will be the ultimate one of your academic life’. 3) Fundamental: ’The ultimate principles of ecology’. Ultimate (n.): the best, most advanced ...: ‘The ultimate in modern design’. Ultimately (adv.): 1) Finally: ‘A poor diet will ultimately lead to illness’. 2) At the most basic and important level: ‘All life depends ultimately on water’!
Vacant (n.): (of a seat, hotel room, house…) empty, not being used (=unoccupied). [“vaga, desocupado, vago”]
Vague (adj.): not clear in a person’s mind.

(III) LATIN NAMES AND EXPRESSIONS
addendum (pl. addenda): ‘thing that is to be added’ (addenda: ‘material added at the end of a book’).
ante meridiem (abbreviation a.m.): ‘before midday’.
circa (abbr.: ca.): about, approximately (with reference to a date or quantity).
cf. (abbrev. of confer): compare.
editio citato (abbr. ed. Cit.): edition cited.
et al. (abbrev. of et alii): ‘and others’.
et cetera (abbr. etc.): and so on, and so forth.
et sequens: and the following.
exempli gratia (abbr. e.g.): ‘for example’.
ibidem (abrev. ibid): ‘in the same passage, article etc previously mentioned’.
id est (abbr. i.e.): ‘that is’.
in loco: ‘in place’; ‘in the proper place’.
in loco citato (abbr. in loc. cit.): ‘in the place cited’.
in natura: ‘raw material’; ‘not industrialized’, ‘as it occurs in nature’.
in situ: ‘situated in the original, natural, or existing place or position’.
ipso facto: ‘by the fact itself’.
momentum: ‘importance, consequence’; ‘movement, moving power’.
Nota Bene (abbrev. N.B.): ‘observation’.
per se: by or in itself
post meridien (abbrev. p.m.): ‘after midday’.
postscriptum (abbrev. PS): or postcript, ‘an additional passage at the end of any text’.
viva voce: ‘examination or oral examination’.
viz. (abbrev. of videlicet; the z represents the contraction -et): ‘namely’; ‘that is to say’; ‘specifically’.