Question

Sort the words according to the meanings of their shared roots.
Cave, cavity, cavernous, circumstance, circumnavigate, circumflex
Is it hollow or around

Answer 1

They split cleanly into two root-meanings:

Hollow (from Latin cavus / caverna = “hollow, cave”)
- cave — a hollow or grotto (from Latin caverna)
- cavity — a hollow space (from Latin cavitas, “hollowness”)
- cavernous — full of cavities or like a cave (from Latin cavernōsus)

Around (from Latin circum = “around”)
- circumstance — originally “that which stands around” (circum + stare = stand); now means the surrounding conditions
- circumnavigate — sail or travel around (circum + navigare = sail)
- circumflex — bent or curved around (circum + flectere = bend); an accent that “bends” over a letter

So each word is either from the “hollow” root or the “around” root.