Grade 12 College Vocabulary, Week 20

Definition: Decorative handwriting or handwritten lettering.

Context (original sentence): The certificate was written in elegant calligraphy.

Synonyms:

penmanship, lettering, script

Antonyms:

scrawl

Root:Greek kallos, beauty + graphein, to write.

Definition: An individual leaf of a manuscript or book; a book made of sheets folded once.

From the reading: "This line is given in the folio edition of 1609, but is wanting in the edition of 1590 and 1596." (The Faerie Queene, Book I)

Synonyms:

leaf, page, volume

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Latin folium, leaf.

Definition: A book size made by folding a sheet twice to form four leaves.

From the reading: "Then again, there is an imposing quarto, written by one Captain Colnett, a Post Captain in the English navy, entitled “A Voyage round Cape Horn into the South Seas, for the purpose of extending the Spermaceti Whale Fisheries.”" (Moby-Dick)

Synonyms:

volume, edition

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Latin in quarto, in a fourth.

Definition: The marking of a manuscript with red letters or headings.

Context (original sentence): The rubrication of the psalter made each new psalm easy to find.

Synonyms:

red lettering, illumination

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Latin ruber, red.

Definition: A stiff writing material made from the prepared skin of an animal.

From the reading: "On the table before him lay outspread a roll or volume of parchment inscribed with Hebrew characters; behind him, in waiting, stood a page richly habited." (Ben-Hur)

Synonyms:

vellum, skin, scroll

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Old French parchemin, from Pergamum, an ancient city.

Definition: A material made from the stem of a water plant, used in ancient Egypt for writing.

From the reading: "With a cunning twinkle of the eyes, he took the money, and gave the party in exchange a leaf of papyrus." (Ben-Hur)

Synonyms:

scroll, paper

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Greek papyros, the papyrus plant.

Definition: A person who copied out documents before printing was invented.

From the reading: "I’ve set before thee; henceforth feed thyself, For to itself diverteth all my care That theme whereof I have been made the scribe." (The Divine Comedy)

Synonyms:

copyist, clerk, writer

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Latin scriba, from scribere, to write.

Definition: A large letter, either capital or uncial, used in ancient manuscripts.

Context (original sentence): The oldest Bibles are written entirely in majuscules without spaces between words.

Synonyms:

capital, uppercase letter

Antonyms:

minuscule

Root:Latin majusculus, somewhat greater.

Definition: Extremely small; tiny.

Context (original sentence): The monk's minuscule handwriting fit a whole psalm on a single page.

Synonyms:

tiny, minute, diminutive

Antonyms:

huge, enormous

Root:Latin minusculus, rather less.

Definition: A book containing the texts used in the service of the Mass throughout the year.

From the reading: "By his bed a monk was seated, Who in humble voice repeated Many a prayer and pater-noster, From the missal on his knee;" (Poems of Longfellow)

Synonyms:

service book, prayer book

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Latin missale, from missa, Mass.

Definition: A copy of the biblical Psalms, especially for liturgical use.

From the reading: "Tell your beads, father, and con your psalter, but do not come between me and those whom the king has given to me!”" (The White Company)

Synonyms:

psalm book, hymnal

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Greek psalterion, stringed instrument.

Definition: A detailed written study of a single specialized subject.

From the reading: "I have, as you know, devoted some attention to this, and written a little monograph on the ashes of 140 different varieties of pipe, cigar, and cigarette tobacco." (The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes)

Synonyms:

treatise, study, dissertation

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Greek monos, single + graphein, to write.

Definition: A document kept as evidence of rights or titles.

Context (original sentence): The abbey's muniments proved its claim to the mill.

Synonyms:

title deed, record, charter

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Latin munimentum, fortification, defense.

Definition: A picture representing a word, syllable, or sound, as in ancient Egyptian writing.

From the reading: "Ben-Hur took the rings, and separating the tablets saw they bore rude hieroglyphs in Arabic, burned on the smooth surface by a sharp point of heated metal." (Ben-Hur)

Synonyms:

pictograph, symbol, character

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Greek hieros, sacred + glyphe, carving.

Definition: A letter of an ancient Germanic alphabet.

From the reading: "And one was singing the ancient rune Of Brynhilda's love and the wrath of Gudrun." (Poems of Longfellow)

Synonyms:

character, letter, symbol

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Old Norse run, secret, mystery.

Definition: The visual images and symbols used in a work of art, or the study of them.

Context (original sentence): In Christian iconography, a lamb often stands for Christ.

Synonyms:

imagery, symbolism

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Greek eikon, image + graphein, to write.

Definition: A picture or carving on three panels, usually hinged together, often used as an altarpiece.

From the reading: "Brother Luke hath given me some skill in damask work, and in the enamelling of shrines, tabernacles, diptychs and triptychs." (The White Company)

Synonyms:

altarpiece, three-panel painting

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Greek triptykhos, threefold.

Definition: A painting done rapidly in watercolor on wet plaster on a wall or ceiling.

From the reading: "These forms are more agreeable to the fancy and imagination than fresco paintings or other the most expensive furniture." (Walden)

Synonyms:

mural, wall painting

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Italian fresco, fresh.

Definition: An object surviving from an earlier time; a part of a holy person's body or belongings kept as an object of reverence.

From the reading: "Keep, O my country gods, our dwelling place, And guard this relic of the Trojan race, This tender child!" (The Aeneid)

Synonyms:

artifact, remnant, survival

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Latin reliquiae, remains.

Definition: A container for holy relics.

From the reading: "A golden chain, to which was attached a small reliquary of the same metal, hung round her neck." (Ivanhoe)

Synonyms:

shrine, casket, chest

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Old French reliquaire, from Latin reliquiae.