Grade 12 College Vocabulary, Week 29

Definition: The scope, extent, or bounds of something.

Context (original sentence): The question lies outside the ambit of this inquiry.

Synonyms:

scope, compass, range

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Latin ambitus, circuit.

Definition: A system of government by one person with absolute power.

From the reading: "If we wish particularly to assert the idea of a generous balance against that of a dreadful autocracy we shall instinctively be Trinitarian rather than Unitarian." (Orthodoxy)

Synonyms:

despotism, absolutism, tyranny

Antonyms:

democracy

Root:Greek autos, self + kratos, power.

Definition: Seeking to impose a doctrine in all circumstances without regard to practical considerations.

From the reading: "No wonder that mankind have been in the habit of calling statesmen of this class pedants, sophisters, doctrinaires, visionaries." (The Republic)

Synonyms:

rigid, dogmatic, inflexible

Antonyms:

pragmatic, flexible

Root:French doctrinaire, from doctrine.

Definition: A principle or set of principles laid down by an authority as incontrovertibly true.

From the reading: "He puts the seed of dogma in a central darkness; but it branches forth in all directions with abounding natural health." (Orthodoxy)

Synonyms:

doctrine, creed, tenet

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Greek dogma, opinion, decree.

Definition: An alphabetical list of the principal words in a book, with their locations; agreement.

Context (original sentence): She used a concordance to find every verse that mentions the word shepherd.

Synonyms:

index; agreement, harmony

Antonyms:

discord

Root:Latin concordare, to agree.

Definition: A container in which metals are melted; a severe test or trial.

From the reading: "Anderson has in the furnace a very hot crucible,—I am about to throw into it some zinc filings, and they will burn with a flame like gunpowder." (The Chemical History of a Candle)

Synonyms:

melting pot; trial, test

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Medieval Latin crucibulum, night lamp.

Definition: A statue much bigger than life size; a person or thing of enormous size or importance.

From the reading: "The colossus of crime leaned over to the little rustic priest with a sort of sudden interest." (The Innocence of Father Brown)

Synonyms:

giant, titan, monument

Antonyms:

dwarf

Root:Greek kolossos, gigantic statue.

Definition: A system in which members are ranked one above another according to status or authority.

From the reading: "The three Divine are in this hierarchy, First the Dominions, and the Virtues next; And the third order is that of the Powers." (The Divine Comedy)

Synonyms:

ranking, order, chain of command

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Greek hierarkhes, high priest.

Definition: The branch of philosophy that deals with the first principles of things, such as being, substance, and cause.

From the reading: "This was a case of metaphysics, at least as difficult for Joe to deal with as for me." (Great Expectations)

Synonyms:

ontology, first philosophy

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Greek ta meta ta physika, the works after the Physics.

Definition: A form or process of civil government; an organized society or state.

From the reading: "Socrates proceeds: I have now to prove that this scheme is advantageous and also consistent with our entire polity." (The Republic)

Synonyms:

state, commonwealth, constitution

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Greek politeia, citizenship, government.

Definition: To suggest or assume the existence or truth of something as a basis for reasoning.

From the reading: "And then I heard: “The ancient and the new Postulates, that to thee are so conclusive, Why dost thou take them for the word divine?”" (The Divine Comedy)

Synonyms:

posit, assume, propose

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Latin postulare, to demand.

Definition: A preliminary statement, especially the introduction to a formal document.

From the reading: "Don Martin!” interrupted the prince, who had been beating the ground with his foot impatiently during this stately preamble." (The White Company)

Synonyms:

introduction, preface, prologue

Antonyms:

conclusion, epilogue

Root:Latin praeambulus, going before.

Definition: The system of theology and philosophy taught in medieval universities, based on Aristotelian logic and the Church Fathers.

Context (original sentence): Scholasticism trained students to answer every objection before stating their own view.

Synonyms:

Thomism, medieval philosophy

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Latin scholasticus, of a school.

Definition: A group of three powerful people.

From the reading: "But, he feigned not to notice the two strangers, and fell into discourse with the triumvirate of customers who were drinking at the counter." (A Tale of Two Cities)

Synonyms:

trio, threesome, troika

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Latin trium virorum, of three men.

Definition: A teacher, especially a strict or pedantic one.

From the reading: "Abreast, like oxen going in a yoke, I with that heavy-laden soul went on, As long as the sweet pedagogue permitted;" (The Divine Comedy)

Synonyms:

teacher, schoolmaster, tutor

Antonyms:

pupil

Root:Greek paidagogos, slave who led a boy to school.

Definition: A teacher of rhetoric; an eloquent or showy speaker.

From the reading: "The manners are clumsy and inferior; the hand of the rhetorician is apparent at every turn." (The Republic)

Synonyms:

orator, speaker, teacher of speech

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Greek rhetor, speaker.

Definition: A wealthy and influential person, especially in business.

From the reading: "At about this limit of mental anarchy Father Brown’s view was obscured altogether; for the City magnate in front of him rose to his full height and thrust his hands savagely into all his pockets." (The Innocence of Father Brown)

Synonyms:

tycoon, mogul, baron

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Latin magnas, great man.

Definition: The pope; a chief priest.

From the reading: "The man who called himself Kalon was a magnificent creature, worthy, in a physical sense, to be the pontiff of Apollo." (The Innocence of Father Brown)

Synonyms:

pope, bishop, high priest

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Latin pontifex, bridge maker.

Definition: The practice of begging.

Context (original sentence): The friars lived by mendicancy, owning nothing of their own.

Synonyms:

begging, beggary, alms-seeking

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Latin mendicare, to beg.

Definition: A list of errors in a printed book, with their corrections.

Context (original sentence): The printer added a page of errata at the back of the book.

Synonyms:

corrections, corrigenda

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Latin errata, errors.