con-[...] 📖

Today I was reading a programming book, and I came accross the term 'concrete class', look, in practice I know what a concrete class is — now, but for some reason I got stuck on the word concrete. Could the word concrete share the same morpheme as convict, or convince, or conflict? So I decided to look it up. This is what I found:

Morphological Structures:

Convict:

con- (meaning "together" or "with") + -vict (meaning "conquer" or "overcome").

Concrete:

con- (meaning "together" or "with") + -crete (meaning "grown together" or "hardened").

Convince:

con- (meaning "together" or "with") + -vince (from the Latin "vincere," meaning "to conquer" or "to win").

Conflict:

con- (meaning "against" or "opposite") + -flict (from the Latin "fligere," meaning "to strike").

Discovery:

The prefix or root word "con-" seems contradictory given the above words. In the first three words it means "together" or "with", yet again in the last word it means "against" or "opposite". Why is that?

It turns out that the contradiction arises from the historical development of the word "con" and it's roots in Latin.

In many cases, "con-" is derived from Latin "cum," which means "with" or "together." This usage implies cooperation, unity, or combination. For example, in words like "connect," "converge," or "cooperate," the prefix "con-" indicates coming together or working in tandem.

In other cases, "con-" has evolved from the Latin "contra," which means "against" or "opposite". In words like "contradict," "contend," or "confront," the prefix "con-" signifies opposition or conflict.

This duality is not unique to "con-"; many prefixes and words in the English language have evolved over time, and their meanings have diversified based on historical usage and adaptation from various source languages like Latin, Greek, and Old English.

What is the lesson here? Well, I think context is. To keep an ear open for words that might have the same soundinging root words but have completely different meanings.