Root: a/ab/abs

About this Root

Core idea: Latin ab- (also a- before some letters) means away from, off, or not. It often signals removal, reversal, or distance from a norm.

How it shows up on the GRE

Many high-level words are built from familiar stems plus ab-: think normal → aberrant, jure (swear) → abjure. If you spot the prefix, ask whether the word means “away from” the root idea.

Quick hooks from this list

• Abject — cast down, degraded.
• Abridge — shorten by cutting away.
• Abscond — run off (steal away).