Grade 6 College Vocabulary, Week 10

Definition: To set apart for a holy or solemn purpose; to give oneself or one's time wholly to a task or cause.

From the reading: "a cemetery for Union soldiers was dedicated at Gettysburg"

KJV: "Behold, I build an house to the name of the LORD my God, to dedicate it to him" (2 Chronicles 2:4).

Synonyms:

consecrate, devote, commit

Antonyms:

neglect, abandon, profane

Root:Latin dedicare, "to proclaim, set apart," from de- (away) + dicare (to declare solemnly).

Definition: A statement put forward to be considered, argued or proved; a plan or offer.

From the reading: "conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal."

Synonyms:

statement, claim, premise; (second sense) proposal, offer

Antonyms:

(first sense) denial, rejection

Root:Latin propositio, "a setting forth," from pro- (forward) + ponere (to put).

Definition: a written copy of something, made from another document or from spoken words.

From the reading: "The model below is from an old transcription; its first paragraph follows the earliest copy."

Synonyms:

copy, transcript, reproduction

Antonyms:

original, autograph

Root:Latin trans- (across) + scribere (to write): writing something across from one page to another.

Definition: a false document, signature or work of art made to pass as genuine; (also) the crime of making one.

From the reading: "they show real documents, not a single copied forgery."

Synonyms:

counterfeit, fake, sham

Antonyms:

original, genuine article

Root:Old French forgier, "to shape metal at a forge," from Latin fabricare, "to make." Something shaped by hand to look real.

Definition: a person who keeps, sorts and studies old records and documents.

From the reading: "in 1952 an archivist, Josephine Cobb, found Lincoln in a photograph of the crowd taken that day."

Synonyms:

record keeper, curator, keeper of records

Antonyms:

(none exact) destroyer of records

Root:Greek archeion, "town hall, public office," from arche, "government." Archives were first the papers kept by rulers.

Definition: a document or book written by hand; (also) an author's text before it is printed.

From the reading: "only two sentences that match a manuscript copy."

Synonyms:

handwritten copy, document, autograph

Antonyms:

printed copy, typescript

Root:Latin manu (by hand) + scriptus (written).

Definition: (noun) a record of events set down in the order they happened; (verb) to record events in that way.

KJV: "are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?" (1 Kings 15:31). The kings' deeds were set down in official records, so readers could check them.

Synonyms:

history, annals, record; (verb) record, document

Antonyms:

(verb) omit, overlook

Root:Greek chronika, "annals," from chronos, "time."

Definition: a difference or lack of agreement between two things that ought to match.

Context: The five copies of the Gettysburg Address show small discrepancies, such as "upon this continent" against "on this continent," but they agree on everything that matters.

Synonyms:

difference, inconsistency, variance

Antonyms:

agreement, consistency, harmony

Root:Latin discrepare, "to sound out of tune," from dis- (apart) + crepare (to rattle).

Definition: traveling from place to place, especially to work.

Context: Adam's father, Roger, is an itinerant minstrel who earns his bread by singing in castles, inns and market towns all over England.

Synonyms:

wandering, traveling, roving

Antonyms:

settled, stationary, resident

Root:Latin iter, itineris, "journey, road."

Definition: a short stay in a place that is not one's home; to stay for a time.

KJV: "And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there" (Genesis 12:10). "For I am a stranger with thee, and a sojourner, as all my fathers were" (Psalm 39:12).

Context: Adam's sojourns at a castle, an inn and a monastery are pleasant, but none is home without his father and his dog.

Synonyms:

stay, visit, stopover

Antonyms:

residence, settlement

Root:Old French sojorner, from Latin sub- (under) + diurnus (of a day): to spend the day somewhere.

Definition: a journey to a holy place for devotion; (also) any long journey with a serious purpose, including the Christian's journey through life.

KJV: "The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years" (Genesis 47:9).

Context: On the roads of medieval England, Adam meets pilgrims journeying to holy places, and his own search becomes a kind of pilgrimage.

Synonyms:

journey, quest, expedition

Antonyms:

(none exact) idleness, staying put

Root:Latin peregrinus, "foreigner, traveler," from per (through) + ager (field, country).

Definition: faithfulness and loyalty to a person, duty or promise; (also) exactness in copying, as in "fidelity to the original."

KJV: "Not purloining, but shewing all good fidelity" (Titus 2:10).

Context: Nick the spaniel's fidelity to Adam and Adam's fidelity to his father carry the whole story. A careful copyist shows the second kind of fidelity.

Synonyms:

faithfulness, loyalty, devotion; (second sense) accuracy

Antonyms:

disloyalty, treachery, infidelity

Root:Latin fidelitas, from fides, "faith, trust."

Definition: to leave secretly and in a hurry, usually to escape the law or to get away with something stolen.

Context: When a dishonest minstrel absconds with Nick, Adam's long search begins.

Synonyms:

flee, bolt, decamp

Antonyms:

remain, stay, surrender

Root:Latin abscondere, "to hide away," from abs- (away) + condere (to put, store).

Definition: sad and low in spirits; discouraged.

KJV link: "Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God" (Psalm 42:5). Dejected means, word for word, "cast down."

Context: Alone on the road with no father and no dog, Adam is often dejected, but he does not give up.

Synonyms:

downcast, despondent, crestfallen

Antonyms:

elated, cheerful, buoyant

Root:Latin deicere, "to throw down," from de- (down) + iacere (to throw).

Definition: never stopping or easing; steady and persistent.

Context: Adam's search is relentless: he walks from town to town asking everyone he meets for word of Roger and Nick.

Synonyms:

unceasing, persistent, unflagging

Antonyms:

halfhearted, intermittent, yielding

Root:re- (back) + lent (from Latin lentus, "soft, slow") + -less: one who never softens or slows.

Definition: very happy and excited; filled with joy.

Context: At the end of his long road, Adam is elated to be with his father and his faithful dog again.

Synonyms:

overjoyed, jubilant, exultant

Antonyms:

dejected, downcast, crestfallen

Root:Latin elatus, "lifted up," from efferre (to carry out, raise).

Definition: to find out for certain by careful checking.

KJV link: Luke wrote "That thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed" (Luke 1:4). To ascertain is to arrive at that certainty.

Context: Historians ascertained the date of the Address from newspapers, letters and Lincoln's own copies.

Synonyms:

determine, establish, discover

Antonyms:

guess, overlook, assume

Root:Old French acertener, "to make certain," from a- (to) + certain.

Definition: arranged in the order in which events happened.

KJV link: Luke set out "to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus" (Luke 1:3).

Context: In chronological order, Everett spoke first, about two hours, and then Lincoln spoke for about two minutes.

Synonyms:

sequential, consecutive, in order

Antonyms:

random, jumbled, disordered

Root:Greek chronos (time) + logos (word, account): an account arranged by time.

Definition: settling a question beyond reasonable doubt; decisive.

Context: Thousands of witnesses, five handwritten copies and a photograph together give conclusive proof that Lincoln spoke at Gettysburg.

Synonyms:

decisive, definitive, convincing

Antonyms:

inconclusive, doubtful, questionable

Root:Latin concludere, "to shut up, close," from con- (together) + claudere (to shut): an argument that closes the case.

Definition: dealing with facts as they really are, not shaped by one's own feelings or wishes.

Context: A good historian stays objective: he reports what the sources say, even when a later story would be more exciting.

Synonyms:

impartial, unbiased, fair-minded

Antonyms:

subjective, biased, prejudiced

Root:Latin objectum, "a thing put before" (the mind), from ob- (before) + iacere (to throw).