College Vocabulary · Grade 12 · Week 12
20 words for the week · pairs with Composition lesson 3.4.
Reading: the Composition lesson 3.4, "The Public Defense," and this week's literature book, Crime and Punishment (Dostoevsky, Garnett tr.), the section for Week 12 (public-domain text, Project Gutenberg).
Theme of the week: This year’s faith verse: Paul wrote it near the end of his life, after his “first answer” before the Roman court (2 Timothy 4:16); it reminds you to finish your course faithfully and give thanks. "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:" (2 Timothy 4:7).
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: adjective
Definition: Made of or having the color of gold; (of language) highly ornamented or elaborate.
Context (original sentence): The court poet's aureate verses were heavy with jewels, thrones, and sunsets.
Root:Latin aureus, golden (aurum, gold).
Part of speech: noun
Definition: Senseless talk or writing; nonsense.
From the reading: "Such unscientific balderdash,” added the doctor, flushing suddenly purple, “would have estranged Damon and Pythias.”" (Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde)
Root:of unknown origin, 16th century; originally a frothy liquid or jumbled drink.
Part of speech: adjective
Definition: Not operating on a refined or elevated level; mundane and merely utilitarian.
Context (original sentence): He despised banausic labor and wanted only to write poetry.
Root:Greek banausikos, of artisans (banausos, mechanic).
Part of speech: noun
Definition: A scene of uproar and confusion (from Bethlem, an old London hospital for the insane).
Context (original sentence): When the pig escaped into the church, the service dissolved into bedlam.
Root:Middle English Bedlem, the Hospital of St. Mary of Bethlehem in London.
Part of speech: verb
Definition: To cause to become unable to think clearly; to confuse.
Context (original sentence): The maze of country lanes befuddled the travelers until long after dark.
Root:be- + fuddle, to intoxicate.
Part of speech: adjective (also a verb)
Definition: Puzzled, confused, or bewildered.
Context (original sentence): He gave a bemused shrug when asked why the goat was in the parlor.
Root:be- + muse, to ponder.
Part of speech: adjective (also a verb)
Definition: Made to order; custom-made.
Context (original sentence): The squire wore bespoke boots from a cobbler in London.
Root:past participle of bespeak, to order in advance.
Part of speech: noun
Definition: A large group of people or things of a particular kind.
Context (original sentence): A bevy of children followed the organ grinder down the lane.
Root:Middle English bevey, a company of larks or ladies.
Part of speech: noun
Definition: Cheerful friendliness; geniality.
From the reading: "His address is frank, and his whole manner noticeable for bonhomie." (The Works of Edgar Allan Poe)
Root:French bonhomme, good man.
Part of speech: verb (also a noun)
Definition: To carry out a task badly or carelessly.
Context (original sentence): The apprentice botched the joint, and the chair collapsed.
Root:Middle English bocchen, to patch.
Part of speech: noun (also a verb)
Definition: A pirate, originally one preying on Spanish colonies in the West Indies; a reckless adventurer.
From the reading: "The spirit of the old sea-kings lived again in Drake and his bold buccaneers, who swept the proud Spaniards from the seas." (The Faerie Queene, Book I)
Root:French boucanier, one who cooks meat on a boucan (a grill).
Part of speech: noun
Definition: Behavior that is ridiculous but amusing; clowning.
From the reading: "Sambo, I see!” he said, speaking approvingly to a burly negro who was performing tricks of low buffoonery, which occasioned the shouts which Tom had heard." (Uncle Tom's Cabin)
Root:Italian buffone, a jester (buffa, a joke).
Part of speech: noun
Definition: A person who does something clumsily or incompetently.
From the reading: "Hoary Time is a beginner, Life a bungler, Death a dunce." (Poems of Chesterton)
Root:perhaps Scandinavian, compare Swedish bangla, to work ineffectually.
Part of speech: verb
Definition: To make a continuous murmuring noise; to speak in an unintelligible or silly way.
Context (original sentence): The brook burbled over the stones beneath the footbridge.
Root:imitative, Middle English burblen.
Part of speech: adjective
Definition: Reluctant to give information owing to caution or suspicion.
Context (original sentence): The farmer was cagey about where he had found the old coins.
Root:American, origin uncertain, 20th century.
Part of speech: adjective
Definition: Involving calamity; catastrophic or disastrous.
From the reading: "The doom of the Regent and Council shows singularly the total interruption of justice at this calamitous period, even in the most clamant cases of oppression." (Ivanhoe)
Root:Latin calamitas, disaster.
Part of speech: verb
Definition: To attract and hold the interest and attention of; to charm.
From the reading: "And we all know that Wickham has every charm of person and address that can captivate a woman.”" (Pride and Prejudice)
Root:Latin captivare, to take captive.
Part of speech: adjective
Definition: Having the plump, innocent, or childlike face of a cherub.
From the reading: "His hair was white and well brushed back like a German’s; his face was red, fierce and cherubic, with one dark tuft under the lower lip that threw up that otherwise infantile visage with an effect theatrical and even Mephistophelean." (The Innocence of Father Brown)
Root:Hebrew kerubh, a winged angelic being.
Part of speech: verb (also a noun)
Definition: To laugh in a breathy, gleeful way.
Context (original sentence): Grandfather chortled over the comic strips every Sunday.
Root:coined by Lewis Carroll (1871), blending chuckle and snort.
Part of speech: noun (also a verb)
Definition: A secret or disguised way of writing; a code; also, a person of no importance.
From the reading: "Fancy a man lugging with him a book of that description into this nowhere and studying it—and making notes—in cipher at that!" (Heart of Darkness)
Root:Arabic sifr, zero, empty.
Part A. Words in context (2 points each). Choose the meaning of the word as used in the sentence.
1. "His address is frank, and his whole manner noticeable for bonhomie." Here bonhomie most nearly means
A) To laugh in a breathy, gleeful way B) Reluctant to give information owing to caution or suspicion C) A person who does something clumsily or incompetently D) Cheerful friendliness
2. "Such unscientific balderdash,” added the doctor, flushing suddenly purple, “would have estranged Damon and Pythias." Here balderdash most nearly means
A) To carry out a task badly or carelessly B) Not operating on a refined or elevated level C) Senseless talk or writing D) A person who does something clumsily or incompetently
3. "He despised banausic labor and wanted only to write poetry." Here banausic most nearly means
A) Senseless talk or writing B) Having the plump, innocent, or childlike face of a cherub C) To laugh in a breathy, gleeful way D) Not operating on a refined or elevated level
4. "Grandfather chortled over the comic strips every Sunday." Here chortle most nearly means
A) A secret or disguised way of writing B) Made to order C) To laugh in a breathy, gleeful way D) To carry out a task badly or carelessly
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: burble, calamitous, bevy, buccaneer, cagey, aureate, cherubic, bedlam, buffoonery, bespoke
5. A ______ of children followed the organ grinder down the lane.
6. "His hair was white and well brushed back like a German’s; his face was red, fierce and ______, with one dark tuft under the lower lip that threw up that otherwise infantile visage with an effect theatrical and even Mephistophelean."
7. When the pig escaped into the church, the service dissolved into ______.
8. The farmer was ______ about where he had found the old coins.
9. The brook ______ over the stones beneath the footbridge.
10. "The spirit of the old sea-kings lived again in Drake and his bold ______, who swept the proud Spaniards from the seas."
11. The court poet's ______ verses were heavy with jewels, thrones, and sunsets.
12. "Sambo, I see!” he said, speaking approvingly to a burly negro who was performing tricks of low ______, which occasioned the shouts which Tom had heard."
Part C. Synonyms and antonyms (1 point each).
13. Synonym of bemused: (bewildered / captivate / befuddle)
14. Antonym of captivate: (aureate / calamitous / bore)
15. Synonym of befuddle: (bewilder / aureate / botch)
16. Antonym of bungler: (expert / buccaneer / bonhomie)
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: calamitous, bespoke, cipher.
1. D 2. C 3. D 4. C
5. bevy 6. cherubic 7. bedlam 8. cagey 9. burbled 10. buccaneers 11. aureate 12. buffoonery (distractors: calamitous, bespoke)
13. bewildered 14. bore 15. bewilder 16. expert
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.)