>It comes from the greek word ἀπολογία, "speaking in defense". I just want to point out here that just because an English word comes from some Greek word, that

>It comes from the greek word ἀπολογία, "speaking in defense". I just want to point out here that just because an English word comes from some Greek word, that doesn't mean the English word actually means that today. You are correct about "apologist" (according to Wiktionary at any rate), it just means someone who speaks in defense of something, but there are other words where the meaning has changed over time. English is a language that is defined by its popular usage, and this can change over time so a word may not mean the same thing today as it did just 100 years ago. A good example is the word "pathetic". According to Wiktionary, it comes from Greek: 'παθητικός ‎(pathētikós, “subject to feeling, capable of feeling, impassioned”), from παθητός ‎(pathētós, “one who has suffered, subject to suffering”), from πάσχω ‎(páskhō, “to suffer”).' Obviously, those don't bear that much resemblance to the current popular meaning, which is: '1.Arousing pity, sympathy, or compassion.' or '2.Arousing scornful pity or contempt, often due to miserable inadequacy.' In fact, other European languages like German have this same word (I believe this is called a "cognate"; I am not a linguist), from the same root, but their meaning is entirely different and they get confused when they learn English and encounter this word since we use it in such a different manner. TL;DR: Greek or Latin roots are interesting from a historical and linguistic perspective, but they're no guarantee of the current definition of an English word.