DictionaryRoot: com-
Latin

com-

with, together; sometimes thoroughly

Forms

  • com-
  • con- — Used before many consonants in Latin.
  • col- — Used before l in Latin.
  • cor- — Used before r in Latin.
  • co- — Shortened especially before vowels.

Origin

Reconstructed Proto-Indo-European *kom, ‘with; beside.’

Note

In some formations, togetherness shades into completeness; the prefix’s exact contribution can be uncertain.

252 / 301
Strong hands twist a soft rubber tube into a sharply distorted corkscrew shape, faint original straight outline beside it.
verb

contort

kun-TORT/kənˈtɔːrt/

To twist or bend out of a natural shape.

Etymology

The Latin verb meant to whirl or twist together, with the prefix perhaps intensifying the twisting. English focuses on twisting that wrenches something out of its normal shape or position.

Full entry

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