Question

The Latin prefix in- means “not,” and the word sense comes from the Latin root sensus, meaning “to feel or perceive.” Use your knowledge of Latin roots and affixes as well as context clues provided in the passage to determine the meaning of insensibility in paragraph 4. Write your definition of insensibility here and explain how you figured it out.

Answer 1

Since, in means “not” and sense means “to feel,” this means that insensibility is when you are in the state of no feeling. You are unconscious and are not aware of what is going on. I used the Latin prefixes to figure out my meaning.

Answer 2

Using our knowledge of Latin roots, prefixes and suffixes can allow us to discover the meaning of unknown words when reading a text. In this case, if the prefix "in" means "not" and the word "sensus" means "to feel or perceive," then the word "insensibility" most likely means "unable to feel," and probably refers to someone who does not feel things very deeply.