Also, it might be helpful to know the meaning of the word roots, prefixes and suffixes, especially if they have a Greek or Latin origin. Even if you encounter a long unfamiliar word, it will be easy to define its meaning if you know the general meaning of its parts. For example, if you come across the word “philanthropy”, it won’t be difficult to guess what it means if you know that anthropo means “human” and philo- — “loving”.