Ancient Greek word root · Number & Measure

mega-: great, large

mega- is an Ancient Greek root meaning “great, large”. Learn its variants and explore 7 connected words.

Meaning and variants

Meaning: great, large

Root forms: mega-, megalo-

Source word: μέγας — big; large

Word family and examples

• megaphone

  a cone-shaped device for amplifying and directing the voice

• megalomaniac

  One affected with or exhibiting megalomania.

• megalithic

  Of or pertaining to megaliths, to the people who made them, or to the period when they were made.

• megaman

  A very large or powerful man.

• megalopolis

  A large conurbation, where two or more large cities have sprawled outward to meet, forming something larger than a normal metropolis.

• megalodon

  A species of extinct shark that lived during the Miocene and Pliocene epochs (†Otodus megalodon).

• cytomegalovirus

  Any of several herpes viruses, of the genus Cytomegalovirus, that infect the salivary glands of certain primates, including humans.

Root connections help with vocabulary recall. They are not a complete etymological history, and a spelling match alone does not prove a relationship.

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