Y09W17VC Word Roots — -fid/-feder- (trust/faith)

Feeling or showing certainty about something or belief in one's own abilities; assured.

Word Breakdown: con- (prefix meaning 'with' or 'fully') + -fid- (root meaning 'faith' or 'trust') + -ent (suffix meaning 'characterised by')

Example: A confident argument presents its claims clearly and supports each one with specific, well-chosen evidence.

Synonyms: assured, certain, self-assured

Collocations: feel confident, quietly confident, confident in

Relating to a system of government in which power is divided between a central authority and a number of regions or states.

Word Breakdown: -feder- (root meaning 'treaty' or 'league of trust', from Latin foedus meaning 'covenant') + -al (suffix meaning 'relating to')

Example: The federal government retains responsibility for immigration and defence, while education is shared with state governments.

Synonyms: national, central, union-based

Collocations: federal government, federal system, federal policy

Faithfulness or loyalty to a person, cause or set of beliefs; also the accuracy with which something is reproduced.

Word Breakdown: -fid- (root meaning 'faith' or 'trust') + -ity (suffix meaning 'the quality or state of')

Example: A biopic's fidelity to historical fact is always in tension with the need to create a compelling narrative.

Synonyms: faithfulness, loyalty, accuracy

Collocations: historical fidelity, fidelity to the text, high fidelity

To represent or depict a person, character or situation in a particular way in a text, artwork or performance.

Word family: portrayal (n.), portrait (n.)

Example: The novel portrays the female protagonist not as a victim but as an agent who actively shapes her own fate.

Synonyms: depict, represent, characterise

Collocations: portray as, portray sympathetically, portray realistically

To show or represent something or someone in a picture, text or performance.

Word Breakdown: de- (prefix meaning 'from' or 'down', here indicating completion)

Word family: depiction (n.)

Example: The film depicts the lives of working-class families in 1970s Melbourne with unflinching honesty.

Synonyms: portray, show, represent

Collocations: depict reality, depict as, vividly depicted

To describe or define the distinctive qualities of something; to portray a person in a particular way.

Word family: characterisation (n.), character (n.)

Example: Critics have characterised the government's response as inadequate given the scale of the humanitarian crisis.

Synonyms: describe, define, portray

Collocations: characterise as, characterise the argument, typically characterise

To build or create something deliberately, especially an idea, argument or representation.

Word family: construction (n.), constructed (adj.)

Example: Gender is not innate but socially constructed through language, media representation and cultural norms.

Synonyms: build, create, develop

Collocations: construct an argument, socially constructed, construct meaning

To act or speak on behalf of someone; or to depict and portray something or someone in a particular way.

Word family: representation (n.), representative (adj.)

Example: Literature has historically failed to represent the diversity of experience within Australian communities.

Synonyms: depict, portray, stand for

Collocations: represent fairly, represent a group, misrepresent

Used in academic writing to signal that the point being made can be seen or supported by a specific example.

Example: The author consistently privileges the dominant culture's perspective; this is evident in the language used to describe non-Western characters.

Synonyms: as seen in, this can be seen in, this is demonstrated by

Collocations: this is evident in the way, this is evident throughout, this is particularly evident in