Grade 12 College Vocabulary, Week 24

Definition: A person assisting the celebrant in a religious service; a follower or assistant.

From the reading: "The young acolyte who had served there must have heard wonderful legends." (The Lost Prince)

Synonyms:

assistant, server, follower

Antonyms:

leader

Root:Greek akolouthos, follower.

Definition: A literary or artistic assistant, especially one who takes dictation or copies manuscripts.

Context (original sentence): Blind Milton dictated Paradise Lost to an amanuensis.

Synonyms:

secretary, scribe, copyist

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Latin a manu, by hand (secretary).

Definition: A religious recluse who lives in a sealed cell.

From the reading: "When the song was ended, the anchorite emphatically declared it a good one, and well sung." (Ivanhoe)

Synonyms:

hermit, recluse, ascetic

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Greek anakhorein, to retire.

Definition: An intellectual or literary woman.

Context (original sentence): Hannah More was a bluestocking who wrote plays and religious tracts.

Synonyms:

intellectual, scholar, bookworm

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:from the Blue Stocking Society, 18th-century literary gatherings.

Definition: A person falsely claiming to have a special knowledge or skill.

From the reading: "I got this cordial at Rome, of an Italian charlatan—a fellow you would have kicked, Carter." (Jane Eyre)

Synonyms:

quack, fraud, mountebank

Antonyms:

expert

Root:Italian ciarlatano, from ciarlare, to babble.

Definition: An expert judge in matters of taste.

From the reading: "The figure of Rebecca might indeed have compared with the proudest beauties of England, even though it had been judged by as shrewd a connoisseur as Prince John." (Ivanhoe)

Synonyms:

expert, judge, authority

Antonyms:

novice

Root:French connoisseur, from connaître, to know.

Definition: A political leader who seeks support by appealing to popular desires and prejudices rather than by rational argument.

From the reading: "I was aware that my host had been a great leveller and an ardent demagogue forty years ago, and that his name was not unknown to fame." (Democracy in America)

Synonyms:

rabble-rouser, agitator, firebrand

Antonyms:

statesman

Root:Greek demos, people + agogos, leading.

Definition: The most respected or prominent person in a particular field.

Context (original sentence): The old professor was the doyen of classical scholars in England.

Synonyms:

dean, senior member, elder

Antonyms:

novice

Root:French doyen, dean.

Definition: A member of a Muslim religious order known for whirling dances.

From the reading: "And in dealing with those whose morbidity has a touch of mania, modern science cares far less for pure logic than a dancing Dervish." (Orthodoxy)

Synonyms:

ascetic, fakir

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Persian darvish, poor.

Definition: A fellow citizen or countryman.

From the reading: "Every compatriot of Lady Blakeney’s is doubly welcome for her sake . . . her friends are our friends . . . her enemies, the enemies of England.”" (The Scarlet Pimpernel)

Synonyms:

countryman, fellow citizen

Antonyms:

foreigner

Root:Latin compatriota.

Definition: A group of people banded together; an ancient Roman military unit.

From the reading: "The cohort halted; the guards leaped from their horses, and hastened to cover the chief with their shields." (Ben-Hur)

Synonyms:

group, band, company

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Latin cohors, yard, company.

Definition: A follower or underling of a powerful person, especially a servile one.

From the reading: "He heard her voice; Then let the strong hand, which had overthrown Her minion-knights, by those he overthrew Be bounden straight, and so they brought him in." (Idylls of the King)

Synonyms:

underling, lackey, henchman

Antonyms:

master

Root:French mignon, darling.

Definition: A medieval lyric poet who composed and sang songs about chivalry and courtly love.

From the reading: "Richard, a professed admirer of the joyous science in all its branches, could imitate either the minstrel or troubadour." (Ivanhoe)

Synonyms:

minstrel, bard, poet

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Provençal trobador, from trobar, to compose.

Definition: A medieval singer or musician who performed songs or recited poetry.

From the reading: "But no minstrel brought any word of Odysseus, of his death or of his appearance in any land known to men." (The Adventures of Odysseus and the Tale of Troy)

Synonyms:

bard, troubadour, musician

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Old French menestral, servant, entertainer.

Definition: A person who looks after a church and churchyard, ringing the bell and digging graves.

From the reading: "The combination was queerly suggestive of a sexton; but when Brown remembered the deaf servant who dug potatoes, he thought it natural enough." (The Innocence of Father Brown)

Synonyms:

caretaker, verger, gravedigger

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Anglo-Norman segerstaine, sacristan.

Definition: A member of the clergy engaged as assistant to a vicar or parish priest.

From the reading: "Men don't think it half so hard if Islam burns their kin and kith, Since a curate lives in Cardiff Saved by Smith." (Poems of Chesterton)

Synonyms:

clergyman, assistant priest

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Medieval Latin curatus, having care of souls.

Definition: In the Church of England, the incumbent of a parish; the head of certain colleges or schools.

From the reading: "At the age of one hundred and six, he was still Rector of the Great College." (Ben-Hur)

Synonyms:

parson, vicar, minister

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Latin rector, ruler.

Definition: An ordained minister below a priest; in some churches, a lay officer who assists the minister.

From the reading: "I says to myself, if a body can get anything they pray for, why don’t Deacon Winn get back the money he lost on pork?" (Adventures of Huckleberry Finn)

Synonyms:

minister, elder, cleric

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Greek diakonos, servant.

Definition: A member of a religious order of men who lived by preaching and begging.

From the reading: "A friar is not much regarded; and if I found a good fairy to lead me up, I may find another belike to carry me down." (The Black Arrow)

Synonyms:

brother, monk, mendicant

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Old French frere, brother.

Definition: One who believes in a creator who does not intervene in the world, rejecting revelation.

Context (original sentence): The deist denied that God speaks through Scripture.

Synonyms:

freethinker, rationalist

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Latin deus, god.