Aditya Rao created √WORD as an easy-to-use tool for spelling bee competitors; vocabulary, language, and etymology enthusiasts; and everyday students and adult learners who desire to improve their knowledge of the English language. After finishing nineteenth in the Scripps National Spelling Bee, Aditya worked on compiling the √WORD database for over two years based on his extensive knowledge of etymology and historical linguistics to provide any student to improve vocabulary and spelling in an easy and meaningful way. The vastly syncretic English language contains thousands of advanced words built from word roots from Latin, Greek, and other foreign languages which the √WORD database incorporates. Any student familiar with these roots can easily identify the underlying structure, meaning, and origin of tens of thousands of words.
√WORD is an application that includes a database of English prefixes, suffixes, and combining forms, with pronunciations, etymologies, definitions, examples, and various trivia. Unlike any dictionary or any compendium of roots, √WORD presents the roots in a format intended for learning. With thousands of examples, specific pronunciation and etymology details, and usage information, it’s impossible to find a substitute for √WORD.
Aditya is a senior at Phillipsburg High School in New Jersey, the valedictorian of his class, and a Davidson Young Scholar. Among his many extracurricular activities, he is actively involved in the Academic Team, Key Club, the Technology Student Association, and the Speech and Debate Team in which he was a New Jersey State Champion in Junior Varsity Public Forum debate event. He was one of five students from New Jersey selected to represent Team New Jersey at the 2016 USA World Schools Debate Invitational in Salt Lake City where his team finished in tenth place. In 2016, he and five other students competed at the National Academic Championship, where his team scored seventh out of sixty-six teams from around the nation. Aditya has also enjoyed playing the tabla, a classical Indian percussion instrument, since the age of seven, attending various summer camps and recitals.