Etyma: Word Roots & Vocabulary
可文 麦 Education iPhoneiPadiPod touch
Etyma: Word Roots & Vocabulary is a free Education app for iPhone and iPad by 可文 麦. Rated 5.0/5 from 4 ratings. Requires iOS 17.0.
- Rating
- 5.0
- 4 ratings
- Price
- Free
- on the App Store
- Size
- 56 MB
- Age 4+
- Updated
- Sep 15
- 2026 · v2.1
Screenshots
About Etyma: Word Roots & Vocabulary
Note: the app interface is available in English, while word explanations, definitions and example translations are in Simplified Chinese. Etyma helps you learn English words through etymology. Master roots and affixes and you'll decode the meaning of new words, spell them correctly by their parts, and make fewer spelling mistakes — instead of memorizing letter by letter. Once you grasp building blocks like spect (to see), port (to carry), and vis (to see), hundreds of derived words fall into place. ■ Why start from roots & affixes · Decode meaning — break a new word into its parts and infer what it means. · Spell it right — remembering chunks like in + spect sticks better than letter-by-letter. · Fewer mistakes — knowing patterns like -tion / -sion and ad- assimilation helps you avoid common misspellings. ■ Features · Roots & Affixes Library Roots and affixes organized by origin (Latin, Greek, Old English, French and more), each with meaning, IPA, etymology, mnemonics and derived words. · Smart Decomposition Type any word and see it broken into root + affixes to understand how it's built. · Spaced Repetition Reviews scheduled by the SM-2 algorithm, reminding you right before you forget for maximum efficiency. · Daily Challenge Ten questions a day across four formats to reinforce and test your mastery. · Etymology Reading Meet the roots you've learned in real context — highlighted and tappable for instant breakdown. · Stats & Achievements A 28-day heatmap, origin distribution, day streaks and 12 achievements make progress visible. · Mistake Bank Wrong answers are collected automatically; answer correctly twice in a row to graduate them. ■ Pricing 7-day free trial of all features. The first 5 roots, affixes and related words are free forever. A one-time purchase unlocks everything permanently — no subscription, no renewals. ■ Privacy All data is stored on your device and works fully offline. Start learning vocabulary the etymological way, and give every word a story you can trace.
What’s new
Version 2.1 · Updated September 15, 2026
2.1 puts words back where they're actually used. · Scene English — 285 real-life scenes: airports, cafés, hospitals, job interviews. Each scene comes with a visual map, grouped dialogues, and short readings, and every word in it opens to its root breakdown. You learn when a word gets used, not just what it means. · Examples grouped by sense — when a word carries several meanings, its examples are now split into groups, each labeled with the sense it illustrates. No more guessing which sentence goes with which meaning. · Fuller Chinese definitions — senses split out for 3,934 polysemous words (9,141 senses in all), each tagged with its part of speech. · Sharper breakdowns — a letter absorbed by the preceding part now shows as a superscript (expect = ex- + (s)pect); fragments that belong to no morpheme explain why they are there instead of being forced into one; parts of speech are unified as n. / adj. · Make it yours — a new Paper theme with 11 accent colors, plus a full custom palette editor. · Nothing lost on a new phone — word-family practice and quiz records now sync via iCloud. · Smoother to use — jump back to the top of any long list; long-press the app icon for Today / Review / Decode / Daily Challenge; lookup keeps a browsing history; shake anywhere to send the developer a note. · English definitions are now optional — word details no longer show them by default, keeping the page cleaner. Turn them back on anytime under Me > Show English definitions.
App privacy
The developer, 可文 麦, reported these privacy practices to Apple.
Data Not Collected
The developer does not collect any data from this app.
Alternatives to Etyma: Word Roots & Vocabulary
Looking for apps like Etyma: Word Roots & Vocabulary? Here are 6 similar apps on the App Store. The highest rated is wordDNA: Etymology Dictionary (5.0/5), and all 6 are free to download.
-
wordDNA: Etymology Dictionary
5.0
-
词根单词
5.0
-
拆拆单词
-
S-RootWords – Learn Vocabulary
5.0
-
茶米英语 - 自然拼读和词根词缀
-
词根背单词
4.8
| App | Rating | Price | Last updated | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Etyma: Word Roots & Vocabulary | 5.0 / 5 (4 ratings) | Free | September 15, 2026 | |
| wordDNA: Etymology Dictionary | 5.0 / 5 (5) | Free | Oct 16, 2026 | Compare |
| 词根单词 | 5.0 / 5 (2) | Free | Jan 13, 2026 | Compare |
| 拆拆单词 | – | Free | Oct 19, 2026 | Compare |
| S-RootWords – Learn Vocabulary | 5.0 / 5 (2) | Free | Oct 15, 2026 | Compare |
| 茶米英语 - 自然拼读和词根词缀 | – | Free | Sep 5, 2024 | Compare |
| 词根背单词 | 4.8 / 5 (17) | Free | Apr 16, 2026 | Compare |