ACRO = “height, tip, initial; extremity”

Greek ἄκρος
(View Greek text as a graphic)

The Common Thread

These words all have to do with something that is extreme: either at the highest height, or at the farthest tip, or the initial letter of a word; also the extremities (limbs) of the body.

Level One

[dict] acrobat a person who performs (literally "walks") high in the air, such as trapeze or tightrope

[dict] acronym [ONYM] a word (or "name") formed from the the initials of the words in a phrase, such as NASA for National Aeronautics and Space Administration

[dict] acrostic a poem in which the initial letter of each successive line spells a word or is in alphabetical order

Level Two

[dict] acrophobia [PHOB] fear of heights

[dict] acropolis [POLIS] the highest, most fortified part of a Greek city, most famously in Athens

[dict] Akron a city in Ohio, located at the highest point along the Ohio and Erie Canal, also in Summit County

Level Three

[dict] acro- a combining form for many, many words referring to conditions involving the extremities (arms, hands, fingers; legs, feet, toes)

[dict] acrocarpous [CARP] bearing fruit at the tips

[dict] acrocyanosis [CYAN] [OSIS] an abnormal condition in which the extremities turn blue

[dict] acrodendrophilous [DENDR] [PHIL] preferring (literally "loving") to live in the highest portions of trees

[dict] acrolith [LITH] a Greek sculpture in which the extremities are made of stone while the torso is made of wood

[dict] acrophyte [PHYT] a plant that grows at high altitudes

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