College Vocabulary · Grade 12 · Week 11
20 words for the week · pairs with Composition lesson 3.3.
Reading: the Composition lesson 3.3, "The Mock Defense," and this week's literature book, Crime and Punishment (Dostoevsky, Garnett tr.), the section for Week 11 (public-domain text, Project Gutenberg).
Theme of the week: A practice panel that finds your weak points is a friend sharpening you for the real defense. "Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend." (Proverbs 27:17).
Rhythm: 4 words a day, Monday to Friday. Each day: read the entry aloud, copy the quoted sentence into the writing notebook, and write one sentence of your own. Friday: learn the last 4 words, then take the quiz.
Sources: ★ = quoted exactly from this week's reading (the lesson or the literature book) · ✝ = KJV (1769 text), quoted exactly · ◆ = quoted exactly from another work on the approved booklists (public-domain text) · ✎ = original example sentence
Part of speech: noun
Definition: A person, such as a monk or nun, who has made vows of dedication to religious service; a devoted follower.
From the reading: "Only superstition is now so well advanced, that men of the first blood, are as firm as butchers by occupation; and votary resolution, is made equipollent to custom, even in matter of blood." (Essays of Bacon)
Root:Latin votum, a vow.
Part of speech: adjective
Definition: Humorous in a playful, mischievous, or facetious manner.
From the reading: "As waggish boys in game themselves forswear, So the boy Love is perjur’d everywhere." (A Midsummer Night's Dream)
Root:from wag, a habitual joker.
Part of speech: noun
Definition: A wasteful or good-for-nothing person.
From the reading: "To err is common To all men, but the man who having erred Hugs not his errors, but repents and seeks The cure, is not a wastrel nor unwise." (The Oedipus Trilogy)
Root:from waste + -rel, diminutive suffix.
Part of speech: noun
Definition: Playfully quaint or fanciful behavior or humor.
From the reading: "With a wild whimsiness, he now used his coffin for a sea-chest; and emptying into it his canvas bag of clothes, set them in order there." (Moby-Dick)
Root:perhaps from whim-wham, a trinket.
Part of speech: adjective
Definition: Sad or miserable in appearance.
From the reading: "It had that woebegone, forsaken, tawdry appearance, which reminds one so much of a ball-dress, the morning after." (The Scarlet Pimpernel)
Root:Middle English wo, woe + begon, beset.
Part of speech: verb
Definition: To cause a large amount of damage or harm.
From the reading: "The folk-ruling hero, 25 Prince of the Weders, was planning to wreak him." (Beowulf)
Root:Old English wrecan, to drive out, avenge.
Part of speech: noun (also a verb)
Definition: A longing or yearning.
Context (original sentence): After years in the city he had a yen for the quiet of his father's farm.
Root:Cantonese yan, a craving (originally for opium).
Part of speech: adjective
Definition: Amusingly unconventional and idiosyncratic.
From the reading: "He will make some of your zany squires shake in their shoes, I reckon." (Lorna Doone)
Root:Italian zanni, a clown in commedia dell'arte (from Giovanni).
Part of speech: noun
Definition: The defining spirit or mood of a particular period of history as shown by the ideas and beliefs of the time.
Context (original sentence): Dickens's novels captured the zeitgeist of early industrial England.
Root:German Zeit, time + Geist, spirit.
Part of speech: noun
Definition: A soft, gentle breeze.
From the reading: "Euroclydon, nevertheless, is a mighty pleasant zephyr to any one in-doors, with his feet on the hob quietly toasting for bed." (Moby-Dick)
Root:Greek Zephyros, the west wind.
Part of speech: noun
Definition: The quality of being sparing or moderate, especially in eating and drinking.
From the reading: "“Their singular abstemiousness and temperance,” said De Bracy, forgetting the plan which promised him a Saxon bride." (Ivanhoe)
Root:Latin abstemius, sober (abs- + temetum, strong drink).
Part of speech: noun
Definition: Skill, cleverness, or expertness in using the hands or mind.
From the reading: "Marco himself sat and listened, enthralled by the adroitness of the imagination he displayed." (The Lost Prince)
Root:French a droit, rightly.
Part of speech: adjective
Definition: Cheerfully eager and ready.
Context (original sentence): The alacritous young page ran to fetch the knight's horse.
Root:Latin alacritas, liveliness.
Part of speech: verb (also a adjective)
Definition: To combine or unite to form one organization or structure.
From the reading: "In the Eastern States the instruction and practical education of the people have been most perfected, and religion has been most thoroughly amalgamated with liberty." (Democracy in America)
Root:Medieval Latin amalgama, an alloy of mercury.
Part of speech: verb
Definition: To pass criticism or censure on; to comment critically.
Context (original sentence): The reviewer animadverted on the author's careless grammar.
Root:Latin animadvertere, to turn the mind to (animus + advertere).
Part of speech: noun (also a verb)
Definition: (Usually plural) grotesque, foolish, or outrageous behavior.
From the reading: "Round us in antic order their crippled vices came-- Lust that had lost its laughter, fear that had lost its shame." (Poems of Chesterton)
Root:Italian antico, ancient, grotesque.
Part of speech: noun
Definition: A comment or brief reference that makes an illuminating or entertaining point.
Context (original sentence): The lecture was full of witty apercus about Victorian manners.
Root:French apercu, a glimpse (apercevoir, to perceive).
Part of speech: verb
Definition: To take or claim something for oneself without justification.
From the reading: "“The human and fallible should not arrogate a power with which the divine and perfect alone can be safely intrusted.”" (Jane Eyre)
Root:Latin arrogare, to claim for oneself (ad- + rogare, to ask).
Part of speech: adjective
Definition: Not in a straight or level position; awry.
From the reading: "And the village was deserted, the huts gaped black, rotting, all askew within the fallen enclosures." (Heart of Darkness)
Root:a- + skew, slanting.
Part of speech: adjective
Definition: Melancholy or ill-tempered.
Context (original sentence): The atrabilious critic found fault with every new book he read.
Root:Latin atra bilis, black bile.
Part A. Words in context (2 points each). Choose the meaning of the word as used in the sentence.
1. "The human and fallible should not arrogate a power with which the divine and perfect alone can be safely intrusted." Here arrogate most nearly means
A) Amusingly unconventional and idiosyncratic B) A soft, gentle breeze C) Melancholy or ill-tempered D) To take or claim something for oneself without justification
2. "He will make some of your zany squires shake in their shoes, I reckon." Here zany most nearly means
A) To combine or unite to form one organization or structure B) Not in a straight or level position C) Amusingly unconventional and idiosyncratic D) A comment or brief reference that makes an illuminating or entertaining point
3. "It had that woebegone, forsaken, tawdry appearance, which reminds one so much of a ball-dress, the morning after." Here woebegone most nearly means
A) To cause a large amount of damage or harm B) Sad or miserable in appearance C) To combine or unite to form one organization or structure D) Skill, cleverness, or expertness in using the hands or mind
4. "After years in the city he had a yen for the quiet of his father's farm." Here yen most nearly means
A) Grotesque, foolish, or outrageous behavior B) Sad or miserable in appearance C) A longing or yearning D) To take or claim something for oneself without justification
Part B. Sentence completion (1 point each). Each sentence comes from this week's entries; supply the word in the form used there. Word bank: askew, amalgamate, votary, alacritous, wreak, wastrel, apercu, whimsy, waggish, atrabilious
5. The ______ critic found fault with every new book he read.
6. "With a wild ______, he now used his coffin for a sea-chest; and emptying into it his canvas bag of clothes, set them in order there."
7. "To err is common To all men, but the man who having erred Hugs not his errors, but repents and seeks The cure, is not a ______ nor unwise."
8. "And the village was deserted, the huts gaped black, rotting, all ______ within the fallen enclosures."
9. "Only superstition is now so well advanced, that men of the first blood, are as firm as butchers by occupation; and ______ resolution, is made equipollent to custom, even in matter of blood."
10. The ______ young page ran to fetch the knight's horse.
11. "The folk-ruling hero, 25 Prince of the Weders, was planning to ______ him."
12. The lecture was full of witty ______ about Victorian manners.
Part C. Synonyms and antonyms (1 point each).
13. Synonym of adroitness: (votary / alacritous / dexterity)
14. Antonym of abstemiousness: (zeitgeist / gluttony / wastrel)
15. Synonym of zeitgeist: (alacritous / zephyr / spirit of the age)
16. Antonym of animadvert: (abstemiousness / woebegone / praise)
Part D. Analytical sentence (6 points). In two or three sentences, make a claim about this week's reading, quote it once, and use at least three of these words correctly: amalgamate, waggish, antic.
1. D 2. C 3. B 4. C
5. atrabilious 6. whimsiness 7. wastrel 8. askew 9. votary 10. alacritous 11. wreak 12. apercus (distractors: amalgamate, waggish)
13. dexterity 14. gluttony 15. spirit of the age 16. praise
Part D scoring: 2 for a clear claim, 2 for an accurate quotation, 2 for three week words used correctly. (8 + 8 + 4 + 6 = 26.)