Grade 6 College Vocabulary, Week 11

Definition: a formal statement or announcement; an account set forth plainly.

From the reading: "Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us" (Luke 1:1).

Synonyms:

statement, announcement, proclamation

Antonyms:

silence, denial, concealment

Root:Latin declarare, "to make clear," from de- (thoroughly) + clarare (to make clear), from clarus, "clear."

Definition: the state of being sure; a fact that is settled beyond doubt.

From the reading: "That thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed."

Synonyms:

assurance, sureness, conviction

Antonyms:

doubt, uncertainty, misgiving

Root:Latin certus, "settled, sure," from cernere, "to decide."

Definition: to take on a task or duty and begin to do it; (also) to promise to do something.

Context: Luke says that "many have taken in hand" (Luke 1:1) to write of Christ; that is, many had undertaken the task. Luke undertook it too, and did it with care.

Synonyms:

attempt, take on, embark on

Antonyms:

abandon, decline, neglect

Root:Middle English under + taken, "to take upon oneself."

Definition: done in a careful, orderly, step-by-step way.

Context: Luke was a methodical historian: he gathered the accounts of eyewitnesses and wrote them down "in order" for Theophilus.

KJV link: "Let all things be done decently and in order" (1 Corinthians 14:40).

Synonyms:

systematic, orderly, thorough

Antonyms:

haphazard, careless, disorganized

Root:Greek methodos, "a way of inquiry," from meta- (after) + hodos (way): following a road step by step.

Definition: a violent uprising against those in authority; a revolt.

From the reading: "...made insurrection with one accord against Paul..." (Acts 18:12).

Synonyms:

revolt, uprising, riot

Antonyms:

order, obedience, peace

Root:Latin insurgere, "to rise up against," from in- (against) + surgere (to rise).

Definition: agreement or harmony; "with one accord" means all together, as with one mind.

From the reading: "...made insurrection with one accord against Paul..." (Acts 18:12).

Synonyms:

agreement, harmony, unity

Antonyms:

discord, conflict, disagreement

Root:Latin ad- (to) + cor, cordis (heart): hearts brought together.

Definition: a court of justice, or the seat where a judge sits to hear a case.

Context: In Acts 18:12 Paul was brought to "the judgment seat," the Roman tribunal at Corinth where Gallio sat as judge.

Synonyms:

court, bench, judgment seat

Antonyms:

(none exact) a private quarrel settled without a judge

Root:Latin tribunal, the raised platform where a Roman tribunus (tribune) or magistrate sat.

Definition: not caring or concerned about something; showing no interest either way.

Context: Gallio would not judge a quarrel about Jewish law, and when a riot broke out before his seat, he was indifferent to it.

KJV: "And Gallio cared for none of those things" (Acts 18:17).

Synonyms:

unconcerned, apathetic, detached

Antonyms:

concerned, eager, attentive

Root:Latin in- (not) + differre (to differ): to someone indifferent, it makes no difference.

Definition: a belief, custom or story handed down from one generation to the next.

From the reading: "An old tradition says Luke was a painter"

KJV: "Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle" (2 Thessalonians 2:15).

Synonyms:

custom, heritage, inheritance

Antonyms:

novelty, innovation

Root:Latin traditio, "a handing over," from tradere, "to deliver." Compare Luke 1:2: the eyewitnesses "delivered them unto us."

Definition: A region of a country or empire with its own governor; an area of knowledge or duty ("Music is her province").

From the reading: "The Roman governor of a province such as Achaia (southern Greece)."

KJV: "...he asked of what province he was. And when he understood that he was of Cilicia..." (Acts 23:34).

Synonyms:

region, territory, district; (second sense) field, domain

Antonyms:

(first sense) capital, center of empire

Root:Latin provincia, a territory under Roman command.

Definition: to explain something fully and in detail.

Context: When the learned Apollos knew only part of the truth, Aquila and Priscilla took him aside and explained the rest.

KJV: "...they took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly" (Acts 18:26).

Synonyms:

explain, interpret, set forth

Antonyms:

obscure, confuse, muddle

Root:Latin exponere, "to set out," from ex- (out) + ponere (to put).

Definition: free from fault or guilt; innocent of wrongdoing.

Context: Luke names real people and places. Right after his preface he tells of the priest Zacharias and his wife Elisabeth.

KJV: "And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless" (Luke 1:6).

Synonyms:

innocent, faultless, upright

Antonyms:

guilty, culpable, blameworthy

Root:blame (Old French blasmer, from Latin blasphemare, "to speak evil of") + -less, "without."

Definition: too trusting because of a lack of experience; easily fooled.

Context: In Adam of the Road, young Adam is slow to suspect the friendly minstrel Jankin, and his trust costs him his beloved dog, Nick.

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

Synonyms:

innocent, unsuspecting, credulous

Antonyms:

shrewd, worldly, suspicious

Root:French naïf, from Latin nativus, "native, natural": as one was born, untaught by the world.

Definition: full of danger or risk.

Context: The roads of thirteenth-century England could be perilous for a boy traveling alone, yet Adam found many kind strangers along the way.

KJV link: Paul, who traveled far more than Adam, was "In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers" (2 Corinthians 11:26).

Synonyms:

dangerous, hazardous, risky

Antonyms:

safe, secure, harmless

Root:Latin periculum, "trial, danger."

Definition: the complete loss of hope; to lose all hope.

Context: Separated from his father and robbed of his dog, Adam had every reason to despair, but he kept searching.

KJV: "We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair" (2 Corinthians 4:8).

Synonyms:

hopelessness, desperation, dejection

Antonyms:

hope, confidence, optimism

Root:Latin desperare, from de- (without) + sperare (to hope).

Definition: full of great joy, especially at a success or a happy ending.

Context: After his long search across England, Adam's jubilant reunion with those he had lost is the joy the whole story has waited for.

KJV link: The shepherd who finds his sheep is jubilant: "Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost" (Luke 15:6).

Synonyms:

joyful, elated, exultant

Antonyms:

sorrowful, dejected, despairing

Root:Latin jubilare, "to shout for joy."

Definition: words carved or written on stone, metal or another hard surface.

From the reading: "Explain how the Gallio inscription confirms Acts 18."

KJV link: Christ, holding a Roman coin, asked, "Whose is this image and superscription?" (Matthew 22:20).

Synonyms:

engraving, carving, epigraph

Antonyms:

(none exact) erasure

Root:Latin inscribere, from in- (on) + scribere (to write).

Definition: the study of the past by digging up and examining what people left behind.

Context: Archaeology at Delphi turned up a stone witness from outside the Bible that agrees with Luke about Gallio.

KJV link: God told Israel to set up stones at the Jordan so that children would ask, "What mean ye by these stones?" (Joshua 4:6).

Synonyms:

excavation, study of antiquities

Antonyms:

(none exact) neglect of the past

Root:Greek archaios (ancient) + -logia (study).

Definition: a small piece broken off from something larger; an incomplete part.

From the reading: "The Delphi fragments were published in the early 1900s and are the main fixed point for dating Paul's stay in Corinth (Acts 18)."

KJV: "Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost" (John 6:12).

Synonyms:

piece, shard, scrap

Antonyms:

whole, entirety

Root:Latin fragmentum, from frangere, "to break."

Definition: having to do with an empire or an emperor; (also) majestic, commanding.

From the reading: "a letter of Claudius naming Gallio as proconsul, dated by its imperial titles to about A.D. 51–52."

KJV link: Luke dates Christ's birth by an imperial order: "there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed" (Luke 2:1).

Synonyms:

royal, sovereign, regal

Antonyms:

humble, lowly, common

Root:Latin imperium, "command, empire," from imperare, "to command."