Grade 6 College Vocabulary, Week 8

Definition: an argument or disagreement, especially a serious one about facts or rights.

From the reading: "...which turned a dispute about distance into a quarrel about shape."

Synonyms:

argument, controversy, debate

Antonyms:

agreement, accord, consensus

Root:Latin disputare, "to weigh, discuss," from dis- (apart) + putare (to reckon): to reckon a matter out point by point.

Definition: having much knowledge gained by long study; scholarly.

From the reading: "Many schoolbooks once said that in 1492 the learned men of Spain believed the earth was flat..."

Synonyms:

erudite, scholarly, well-read

Antonyms:

ignorant, unlettered, uneducated

Root:Old English leornian, "to learn." When it describes a person, the old two-syllable form is kept: a learned (LER-nid) man.

Definition: a person who has studied a subject deeply; a learned person.

From the reading: "First, the story is unclear: it never names one scholar who taught a flat earth." (The word unclear is in bold in the lesson.)

Synonyms:

academic, sage, authority

Antonyms:

ignoramus, dunce

Root:Latin scholaris, "of a school," from schola, from Greek schole, "leisure." Free time was spent in learning.

Definition: not following the rules of sound reasoning; having parts that contradict each other.

Context: The flat-earth story is illogical: it claims Spain's scholars taught a flat earth, yet their own schoolbook, Sacrobosco's On the Sphere, taught that the earth is a globe.

Synonyms:

irrational, unsound, contradictory

Antonyms:

logical, reasonable, coherent

Root:il- (not) + Greek logikos, "of reason," from logos, "word, reason."

Definition: to follow something back to where it began; to find by careful searching.

From the reading: "Notice how it uses the heads, adds a paragraph that traces the story back to Washington Irving, and ends by saying what is true."

Synonyms:

track, follow, uncover

Antonyms:

lose, overlook

Root:Old French tracier, "to follow a track," from Latin tractus, "drawn," from trahere, "to draw, drag."

Definition: to make something widely known or liked by ordinary people.

From the reading: Irving's 1828 life of Columbus "popularized the flat-earth version."

Synonyms:

spread, publicize, circulate

Antonyms:

suppress, conceal, hush up

Root:Latin popularis, "of the people," from populus, "people."

Definition: clever at tricking others; (older sense) skillful and well made.

From the reading: "For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ..." (2 Peter 1:16, the lesson's Scripture).

KJV link: The older sense of cunning is "skilled." Peter means that the apostles did not cleverly make up tales.

Synonyms:

crafty, wily, sly

Antonyms:

naive, guileless, artless

Root:Old English cunnan, "to know, be able." The word first meant "knowing, skilled" and later came to mean "skilled at deceit."

Definition: a person who saw an event with his own eyes and can tell about it.

From the reading: "...but were eyewitnesses of his majesty." (2 Peter 1:16)

KJV link: Luke wrote his Gospel from what was handed down by those "which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word" (Luke 1:2).

Synonyms:

witness, observer, onlooker

Antonyms:

hearsay (secondhand report)

Root:eye + witness, from Old English witnes, "knowledge, testimony," from wit, "to know."

Definition: seeming reasonable or likely to be true, though perhaps not true.

Context: The flat-earth tale sounded plausible to schoolchildren, because they did not know what the books of 1492 really taught.

KJV link: "He that is first in his own cause seemeth just; but his neighbour cometh and searcheth him" (Proverbs 18:17). The first story told often seems plausible until someone tests it.

Synonyms:

believable, credible, likely

Antonyms:

implausible, unlikely, far-fetched

Root:Latin plausibilis, "deserving applause," from plaudere, "to clap." The word came to mean "pleasing at first hearing."

Definition: Doubtful, not to be relied on; feeling unsure or hesitant.

Context: A story with no named witness and no first source is dubious, so a careful writer calls it a legend.

Synonyms:

doubtful, questionable, suspect

Antonyms:

certain, reliable, trustworthy

Root:Latin dubius, "wavering, doubtful," related to duo, "two": in two minds.

Definition: slow to believe; wanting proof before accepting a claim.

Context: A good student is skeptical of a story that has no source, but he never doubts the record God has given.

KJV link: "The simple believeth every word: but the prudent man looketh well to his going" (Proverbs 14:15).

Synonyms:

doubtful, questioning, wary

Antonyms:

gullible, credulous, trusting

Root:Greek skeptikos, "inquiring," from skeptesthai, "to look about carefully."

Definition: to support a statement or story with more evidence; to confirm.

Context: No letter or diary from 1492 corroborates the claim that Spain's scholars thought the earth was flat.

KJV link: "In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established" (2 Corinthians 13:1).

Synonyms:

confirm, verify, support

Antonyms:

contradict, refute, disprove

Root:Latin corroborare, "to strengthen," from con- (together) + robur (oak, strength): to make a claim as strong as oak.

Definition: childishly cross and impatient; quick to sulk or complain.

Context: When Robin first falls ill and cannot walk, he is petulant with the people who try to care for him, until Brother Luke teaches him a better way.

Synonyms:

peevish, sulky, irritable

Antonyms:

patient, good-humored, gracious

Root:Latin petulans, "forward, saucy," from petere, "to seek, attack."

Definition: calm and peaceful; not easily upset or stirred up.

Context: Brother Luke stays placid even when the frightened boy is angry with him, and his calm, gentle answers slowly quiet Robin's temper.

KJV link: "A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger" (Proverbs 15:1).

Synonyms:

calm, serene, tranquil

Antonyms:

agitated, excitable, stormy

Root:Latin placidus, "gentle, quiet," from placere, "to please."

Definition: very skilled; expert.

Context: At the hospice Robin cannot run, but with steady practice he becomes adept at carving wood, reading, and swimming.

KJV link: "Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men" (Proverbs 22:29).

Synonyms:

skillful, proficient, deft

Antonyms:

clumsy, inept, unskilled

Root:Latin adeptus, "having attained," from adipisci, "to reach, obtain."

Definition: kindly; wishing and doing good to others.

Context: The benevolent friars take in a sick boy whose family is far away and nurse him as if he were their own.

KJV link: "The merciful man doeth good to his own soul: but he that is cruel troubleth his own flesh" (Proverbs 11:17).

Synonyms:

kind, charitable, generous

Antonyms:

malevolent, cruel, unkind

Root:Latin bene (well) + volens (wishing), from velle, "to wish."

Definition: a mistaken idea or belief.

Context: The lesson corrects a common misconception: the men of Columbus's day already knew the earth was round.

Synonyms:

error, misunderstanding, delusion

Antonyms:

fact, truth, understanding

Root:mis- (wrongly) + conception, from Latin concipere, "to take in, grasp."

Definition: a mistaken belief, or an error in reasoning that makes an argument unsound.

Context: It is a fallacy to think a story must be true because it is old and many people repeat it.

Synonyms:

error, flaw, misconception

Antonyms:

truth, sound reasoning

Root:Latin fallacia, "deceit, trick," from fallere, "to deceive."

Definition: to drive away or make disappear, especially a doubt, fear, or false idea.

Context: One clear fact about Sacrobosco's schoolbook is enough to dispel the flat-earth legend.

Synonyms:

banish, dismiss, scatter

Antonyms:

confirm, encourage, gather

Root:Latin dispellere, from dis- (apart) + pellere (to drive).

Definition: having no basis in fact; not supported by evidence.

Context: A fair-minded writer shows that a claim is unfounded without mocking the people who believed it.

Synonyms:

baseless, groundless, unsupported

Antonyms:

well-founded, proven, justified

Root:un- (not) + founded, from Latin fundare, "to lay a foundation," from fundus, "bottom."