Grade 6 College Vocabulary, Week 25

Definition: very great pain or suffering of body or mind.

From the reading: "The wave of coward agony that surged through me then came near dislocating every joint in me."

KJV: "And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground" (Luke 22:44). Christ in Gethsemane met His agony with prayer, not panic.

Synonyms:

anguish, torment, distress

Antonyms:

comfort, relief, ease

Root:Greek agonia, "a struggle," from agon, "contest." The word first meant the strain of an athlete in a contest.

Definition: to rush or swell forward suddenly and powerfully, like a wave; (noun) a sudden, strong increase.

From the reading: "The wave of coward agony that surged through me..."

Synonyms:

rush, swell, billow

Antonyms:

ebb, recede, subside

Root:Latin surgere, "to rise." The same root gives resurrection (a rising again).

Definition: To put a bone out of its proper place in a joint; to disturb or throw something out of its usual order.

From the reading: "...came near dislocating every joint in me."

Synonyms:

displace, disjoint; (sense 2) disrupt, upset

Antonyms:

set, reset; (sense 2) settle, order

Root:Latin dis- (apart) + locare (to place), from locus, "place": to put out of place.

Definition: to take hold of suddenly and firmly; to grab.

From the reading: "I seized the bell-rope; dropped it, ashamed; seized it again..."

Synonyms:

grasp, grab, clutch

Antonyms:

release, relinquish, let go

Root:Old French seisir, "to take possession of," from a Frankish word meaning "to put in place."

Definition: lacking strength; weak and faint.

From the reading: "...and pulled it so feebly that I could hardly hear the stroke myself."

KJV: "Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees" (Isaiah 35:3).

Synonyms:

weak, frail, faint

Antonyms:

strong, vigorous, robust

Root:Old French feble, from Latin flebilis, "to be wept over," from flere, "to weep."

Definition: to shake or tremble, especially from fear or from a great force.

From the reading: "I was quaking from head to foot..."

KJV: "The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt" (Nahum 1:5). The cub pilot quaked at a false call. The hills quake before their Maker.

Synonyms:

tremble, shudder, shake

Antonyms:

be still, steady, stand firm

Root:Old English cwacian, "to tremble, chatter (of teeth)."

Definition: Without strength or control; limp and powerless; in an older sense, calm and unafraid (a "nerveless" climber). Read the context to know which.

From the reading: "My hands were in a nerveless flutter."

Synonyms:

(sense 1) limp, powerless, feeble; (sense 2) cool, unflinching

Antonyms:

(sense 1) steady, firm, controlled; (sense 2) jittery, nervous

Root:nerve (Latin nervus, "sinew, strength") + -less: without sinew.

Definition: able to be understood; clear.

From the reading: "I could not ring a bell intelligibly with them."

Synonyms:

clear, comprehensible, understandable

Antonyms:

unintelligible, garbled, incomprehensible

Root:Latin intellegere, "to understand," from inter- (between) + legere (to choose, read): to choose between, and so to understand.

Definition: firm trust in someone or something, or in what one knows.

From the reading: "All my confidence in that crossing vanished."

KJV: "For the LORD shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken" (Proverbs 3:26).

Synonyms:

trust, assurance, certainty

Antonyms:

doubt, distrust, uncertainty

Root:Latin con- (thoroughly) + fidere (to trust), from fides, "faith."

Definition: to disappear suddenly and completely.

From the reading: "All my confidence in that crossing vanished."

KJV: "It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away" (James 4:14).

Synonyms:

disappear, fade, evaporate

Antonyms:

appear, emerge, materialize

Root:Latin evanescere, "to fade away," from ex- (out) + vanus (empty).

Definition: gloomy, deep and hollow, like something from a tomb.

From the reading: "Then came the leadsman's sepulchral cry..."

Context: The leadsman's voice sounded to the frightened cub like a call from the grave.

Synonyms:

funereal, somber, hollow

Antonyms:

cheerful, bright, lively

Root:Latin sepulcrum, "tomb," from sepelire, "to bury." The KJV's "sepulchre" is the same word.

Definition: weak and easily broken or harmed; not lasting.

KJV: "LORD, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is: that I may know how frail I am" (Psalm 39:4).

Context: On the pilothouse floor, young Sam Clemens learned how frail his courage was without trust in what he knew.

Synonyms:

fragile, delicate, feeble

Antonyms:

sturdy, robust, hardy

Root:Latin fragilis, "breakable," from frangere, "to break." Frail and fragile are twins.

Definition: a wise, trusted teacher and guide, usually older.

Context: In Little Britches, Ralph's father is his chief mentor, and he teaches him that a man's word must be good. Bixby is Twain's mentor on the river.

Synonyms:

guide, counselor, teacher

Antonyms:

pupil, protégé, apprentice

Root:Greek Mentor, the old friend of Odysseus. In the Odyssey, Athena takes Mentor's shape to guide young Telemachus.

Definition: strong enough to endure hard conditions, such as cold, heat or heavy work.

Context: Ranch life in early Colorado needed hardy people. Ralph grew hardy by working long days beside his father and the cowhands.

Synonyms:

sturdy, rugged, tough

Antonyms:

frail, delicate, feeble

Root:Old French hardi, "bold," from a Frankish word meaning "to make hard."

Definition: to make amends for a wrong; to set right what one has done wrong.

Context: When Ralph did wrong, his father did not let him make excuses. He expected Ralph to own the wrong and work to atone for it.

KJV link: The Old Testament speaks often of "an atonement for your souls" (Leviticus 17:11). Christians believe that Christ made the full atonement for sin.

Synonyms:

make amends, redress, expiate

Antonyms:

offend, transgress, wrong

Root:English at one: to make two parties "at one" again, that is, to reconcile them.

Definition: having lost a close relative or friend through death.

Context: At the close of Little Britches, the bereaved family must go on without the father, and young Ralph takes up a man's work.

Synonyms:

grieving, mourning, orphaned

Antonyms:

(none exact) consoled, comforted

Root:Old English bereafian, "to rob, deprive," from be- + reafian (to plunder). The same root gives reave and robber.

Definition: how fast or slow a story moves.

Context: Twain's panic lasted about a minute, but his slow pacing stretches it over a page, one call and one bell rope at a time.

Synonyms:

tempo, speed, rhythm

Antonyms:

(none exact) stillness

Root:Latin passus, "a step." A writer's pace is the length of the story's steps.

Definition: to draw out or lengthen in time.

Context: A memoir writer protracts a few seconds of fear so that the reader feels them as long as the writer did.

Synonyms:

prolong, extend, draw out

Antonyms:

shorten, curtail, abbreviate

Root:Latin pro- (forward) + trahere (to draw, drag). The word tractor shares this root.

Definition: a short, vivid scene or sketch in writing that captures one moment or person.

Context: The leadsman's calls in chapter 13 form a vignette of river life before the Civil War.

Synonyms:

sketch, scene, episode

Antonyms:

(none exact) saga, epic, full history

Root:French vignette, "little vine," from the vine-leaf designs once printed around small pictures in books.

Definition: the act of remembering; a memory of something past.

Context: A memoir is built from honest recollection, like the stones of remembrance Israel set by the Jordan (Joshua 4).

Synonyms:

memory, remembrance, reminiscence

Antonyms:

forgetfulness, oblivion

Root:Latin re- (again) + colligere (to gather): to gather the past together again.