Grade 12 College Vocabulary, Week 22

Definition: A railing supported by small ornamental pillars.

From the reading: "The people made way for the party respectfully, and the ushers seated them in easy speaking distance of each other down by the balustrade overlooking the arena." (Ben-Hur)

Synonyms:

railing, banister, parapet

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Italian balaustro, pillar shaped like a pomegranate flower.

Definition: A row of columns supporting a roof or entablature.

From the reading: "ROXANE (appearing on the steps, and seeing Le Bret go away by the colonnade leading to the chapel door): Monsieur le Bret!" (Cyrano de Bergerac)

Synonyms:

portico, arcade, row of columns

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Italian colonnato, from colonna, column.

Definition: A rounded dome forming or adorning a roof or ceiling.

From the reading: "The great oven is not so wide, by ten paces, as the cupola at St." (Gulliver's Travels, Parts I-II)

Synonyms:

dome, lantern, vault

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Latin cupula, little cask.

Definition: The upper part of a classical building supported by columns, including the architrave, frieze, and cornice.

From the reading: "Immediately a man climbed on the entablature at the west end of the division wall, and took down one of the conical wooden balls." (Ben-Hur)

Synonyms:

superstructure, frieze, cornice

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Italian intavolatura, boarding.

Definition: The triangular upper part of the front of a classical building.

Context (original sentence): The pediment of the library showed Minerva crowning the arts.

Synonyms:

gable, frontispiece

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:perhaps from periment, alteration of pyramid.

Definition: A structure of a roof supported by columns at regular intervals, attached as a porch to a building.

From the reading: "At once the vomitoria were thrown open, and all who could hastened to the portico outside where the restaurateurs had their quarters." (Ben-Hur)

Synonyms:

porch, colonnade, veranda

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Italian portico, from Latin porticus, porch.

Definition: A gallery or room with one or more open sides, especially one that forms part of a house.

Context (original sentence): The family took supper in the loggia overlooking the vineyard.

Synonyms:

gallery, arcade, veranda

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Italian loggia, lodge.

Definition: An antechamber or porch at the western entrance of a church.

Context (original sentence): The bride waited with her father in the narthex.

Synonyms:

vestibule, porch, entrance hall

Antonyms:

sanctuary

Root:Greek narthex, giant fennel, box.

Definition: The central part of a church building, where most of the congregation sits.

Context (original sentence): The nave was crowded on Christmas Eve.

Synonyms:

body of the church, aisle

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Latin navis, ship.

Definition: The part of a church near the altar, reserved for the clergy and choir.

From the reading: "In the chancel they found Dick waiting, attended by a few young men; and there were he and Joan united." (The Black Arrow)

Synonyms:

sanctuary, choir, presbytery

Antonyms:

nave

Root:Latin cancelli, lattice, railing.

Definition: A room in a church where a priest prepares for a service and where vestments are kept.

From the reading: "Nay, let the Night and Morning, let Lorenzo And Julian in the Sacristy at Florence, Prophets and Sibyls in the Sistine Chapel, And the Last Judgment answer." (Poems of Longfellow)

Synonyms:

vestry

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Medieval Latin sacristia, from sacer, holy.

Definition: The part of a bell tower in which bells are housed.

From the reading: "A man is sometimes tempted to jump out of a window or from a belfry." (Crime and Punishment)

Synonyms:

bell tower, campanile, steeple

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Old French berfrei, siege tower.

Definition: A tapering conical or pyramidal structure on the top of a building, typically a church tower.

From the reading: "The spire of Evian shone under the woods that surrounded it and the range of mountain above mountain by which it was overhung." (Frankenstein)

Synonyms:

steeple, pinnacle, flèche

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Old English spir, stalk, stem.

Definition: A vertical bar between the panes of glass in a window.

From the reading: "The room was very spacious, lighted on one side by three arched and mullioned windows, while opposite was a huge fireplace in which a pile of faggots was blazing merrily." (The White Company)

Synonyms:

upright, bar, division

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Old French moinel, middle.

Definition: Having battlements; notched at the top like a castle wall.

Context (original sentence): The crenellated walls of the castle rose above the moat.

Synonyms:

battlemented, embattled, notched

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Old French crenel, notch.

Definition: A strong, heavy grating sliding up and down in vertical grooves, lowered to block a gateway.

From the reading: "The wheels of the portcullis and drawbridge were oiled, as were the bolts and hinges of the gate." (In Freedom's Cause)

Synonyms:

grate, gate, barrier

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Old French porte coleice, sliding door.

Definition: A fence of wooden stakes or iron railings fixed in the ground, forming an enclosure or defense.

From the reading: "Some help to sink new trenches; others aid To ram the stones, or raise the palisade." (The Aeneid)

Synonyms:

stockade, fence, barricade

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:French palissade, from Latin palus, stake.

Definition: A stone pillar with a square or rectangular cross section and a pyramidal top.

From the reading: "Then rose the mighty monuments that cumber the river-bank and the desert—obelisk, labyrinth, pyramid, and tomb of king, blent with tomb of crocodile." (Ben-Hur)

Synonyms:

pillar, column, needle

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Greek obeliskos, small spit.

Definition: A building, especially a large and stately one, housing a tomb or tombs.

Context (original sentence): The family mausoleum stood on a hill above the estate.

Synonyms:

tomb, sepulcher, crypt

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Greek Mausoleion, tomb of King Mausolus.

Definition: A monument to someone buried elsewhere, especially one commemorating soldiers who died in war.

Context (original sentence): Wreaths are laid at the cenotaph every November.

Synonyms:

memorial, monument

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Greek kenos, empty + taphos, tomb.