Grade 6 College Vocabulary, Week 28

Definition: something, such as a monument, a stone, or a special day, set up to keep a person or an event in memory.

From the reading: "and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever."

KJV link: The lesson's verse is Joshua 4:7. Israel's twelve stones from the Jordan were a memorial, and the lesson says a memoir is a stone of remembrance too.

Synonyms:

monument, remembrance, commemoration

Antonyms:

oblivion, forgetfulness

Root:Latin memorialis, from memoria, "memory," from memor, "mindful." Memoir comes from the same family of words.

Definition: barely seen, heard, or felt; weak or dim.

From the reading: "On the fourth I lifted my eyes to the faint scratch the marker had left, and the tractor followed my eyes as if it had been waiting for me to look up."

KJV: "they shall walk, and not faint" (Isaiah 40:31).

Synonyms:

dim, slight, indistinct

Antonyms:

distinct, clear, bold

Root:Old French feint, "sluggish, pretended," from feindre, "to pretend" (Latin fingere, "to shape"). Feign has the same root.

Definition: cheerfully hopeful; confident that things will turn out well.

From the reading: "Ernest was ... delighted and sanguine." (Fritz has just remembered the rope ladder that will let the two brothers finish their secret grotto passage.)

Synonyms:

optimistic, hopeful, confident

Antonyms:

pessimistic, gloomy, hopeless

Root:Latin sanguis, "blood." Old physicians believed a person with a ruddy, blood-rich temperament was naturally cheerful.

Definition: so sad that nothing can comfort one.

From the reading: "I should have been wholly ... disconsolate, but that Francis was left to me, and he was continually ... praying me to live for his sake." (The mother, carried off from the island, takes heart because her youngest son is still with her.)

KJV link: When Jacob thought Joseph was dead, "he refused to be comforted" (Genesis 37:35). He was disconsolate.

Synonyms:

inconsolable, heartbroken, grief-stricken

Antonyms:

cheerful, comforted, consoled

Root:Latin dis- (not) + consolatus, "comforted," from consolari, "to comfort."

Definition: wise care and good judgment, especially in planning ahead. In the classical Christian tradition it is one of the four cardinal virtues.

From the reading: "...prudence, foresight, and presence of mind in danger, such ... as their good mother had displayed, produced more miracles than magic."

KJV: "I wisdom dwell with prudence, and find out knowledge of witty inventions" (Proverbs 8:12).

Synonyms:

wisdom, good sense, discretion

Antonyms:

imprudence, rashness, folly

Root:Latin prudentia, shortened from providentia, "foresight" (pro- "ahead" + videre "to see").

Definition: careful not to waste money, goods, or effort.

From the reading: "...begged her to be very economical, as these ... seeds were of great value"

Synonyms:

thrifty, sparing, careful

Antonyms:

wasteful, extravagant, lavish

Root:Greek oikonomia, "household management," from oikos (house) + nomos (law, management).

Definition: absolutely necessary; impossible to do without.

From the reading: "A voyage to the vessel is indispensable, if we wish to ... save our cattle"

Synonyms:

essential, vital, necessary

Antonyms:

unnecessary, optional, dispensable

Root:Latin in- (not) + dispensare, "to weigh out, to do without."

Definition: usefulness; the quality of being useful.

From the reading: "...which at first tempted us, but were speedily relinquished for ... objects of real utility." (On the wreck, Father passes over the money and takes young fruit trees instead.)

Synonyms:

usefulness, benefit, practicality

Antonyms:

uselessness, futility

Root:Latin utilitas, from uti, "to use."

Definition: needed for a particular purpose; required.

From the reading: "...I was now enabled to make the ... requisite observations, and direct my course." (A telescope from the ship lets Father steer the tub-boat.)

Synonyms:

required, necessary, essential

Antonyms:

optional, unnecessary, superfluous

Root:Latin requisitus, from requirere, "to seek again, to need."

Definition: the means of staying alive, such as food and shelter; bare survival.

From the reading: "We did not feel less, however, the mercy of God, who ... had preserved us, and given us a home, with a prospect of subsistence ... and safety."

Synonyms:

sustenance, livelihood, survival

Antonyms:

starvation, destitution

Root:Latin subsistere, "to stand firm, to hold out" (sub- "under" + sistere "to stand").

Definition: good for the health of the body, mind, or character.

From the reading: "This satisfied me that the fruit was wholesome, and we ... regaled ourselves with some."

KJV: "A wholesome tongue is a tree of life" (Proverbs 15:4).

Synonyms:

healthful, nourishing, beneficial

Antonyms:

unhealthy, harmful, corrupting

Root:Middle English hole, "healthy, sound" (as in whole) + -some, "tending to."

Definition: a meal.

From the reading: "...most fervently did we thank Him, at the end of our repast, for all ... his mercies and blessings to us."

Synonyms:

meal, feast, refreshment

Antonyms:

fast

Root:Old French repaistre, "to feed," from Latin re- + pascere, "to feed." Pasture and pastor (one who feeds the flock) come from the same root.

Definition: a short trip taken for a purpose, after which one comes back home.

From the reading: "I projected an excursion with my eldest son, to explore the limits of ... our country"

Synonyms:

outing, expedition, jaunt

Antonyms:

(none exact) staying at home

Root:Latin excursio, from ex- (out) + currere (to run). Course and current come from the same verb.

Definition: careful to avoid danger or mistakes.

From the reading: "We were very cautious, for fear of reptiles or ... other dangerous animals"

KJV link: "A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself" (Proverbs 22:3). The prudent man is cautious.

Synonyms:

careful, watchful, guarded

Antonyms:

reckless, rash, careless

Root:Latin cautus, from cavere, "to beware." The legal word caveat ("let him beware") shares the root.

Definition: (of land) producing few or no plants; (in older usage) unable to have children; (figuratively) empty and unfruitful.

From the reading: "...traces of land, which, though wild and barren, was now the haven of my ... almost expiring hopes"

KJV: "He maketh the barren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children" (Psalm 113:9).

Synonyms:

bare, infertile, unproductive

Antonyms:

fertile, fruitful, lush

Root:Old French baraigne, "sterile"; its earlier origin is uncertain.

Definition: to be present in great numbers; to be richly supplied with something.

From the reading: "This was one of the most lovely and fertile parts we had yet seen ... of this country. Birds of all kinds abounded"

KJV: "A faithful man shall abound with blessings" (Proverbs 28:20).

Synonyms:

teem, overflow, flourish

Antonyms:

lack, be scarce, dwindle

Root:Latin abundare, "to overflow," from ab- (away, over) + unda (wave): waves spilling over.

Definition: fierce, savage, and violent.

From the reading: "A ferocious roar made us hope ... the bullets had taken effect" (Father and his sons have fired on a bear in its cave.)

Synonyms:

fierce, savage, vicious

Antonyms:

gentle, tame, docile

Root:Latin ferox, "wild, fierce," from ferus, "wild."

Definition: extremely hungry; greedy for food, or for prey.

From the reading: "I noticed amongst these ... ravenous birds the royal vulture"

KJV: "No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up" (Isaiah 35:9).

Synonyms:

famished, voracious, starving

Antonyms:

full, satisfied, sated

Root:Old French raviner, "to seize by force," from Latin rapina, "plunder." It is not related to the bird called a raven.

Definition: to stop doing something; to leave off.

From the reading: "...she begged me to desist" (A son plays a tune on his flute that reminds his captive mother of home. It makes her weep, and she asks him to stop.)

Synonyms:

cease, stop, refrain

Antonyms:

continue, persist, persevere

Root:Latin desistere, from de- (away) + sistere (to stand). It is a cousin of subsistence (word 10).

Definition: (noun) a cure, or a way of fixing a problem; (verb) to set right or correct.

From the reading: "...the water reached us warm and unrefreshing; but this I hoped ... to remedy in time, by using bamboo pipes buried in the earth."

KJV: "He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy" (Proverbs 29:1).

Synonyms:

cure, correct, rectify

Antonyms:

worsen, aggravate

Root:Latin remedium, from re- + mederi, "to heal." Medicine comes from the same verb.