Grade 7 College Vocabulary, Week 2

Definition: opposite in nature or direction. In rhetoric, the contrary is the head that first shows the opposite virtue, so the vice looks darker beside it.

From the reading: "in a finished commonplace it comes right after the contrary, so the two stand side by side."

Synonyms:

opposite, opposing, counter

Antonyms:

like, similar, consistent

Root:Latin contrarius, "opposite," from contra, "against."

Definition: a short turn away from the main subject in speaking or writing.

From the reading: "The digression must still be honest."

Synonyms:

aside, departure, tangent

Antonyms:

focus, directness

Root:Latin digressio, from digredi, "to step aside" (dis- "apart" + gradi "to step").

Definition: an earnest request or appeal; in a court, a person's answer to a charge.

From the reading: "Setting up a weak plea for pity that no one would really make, so the answer proves nothing."

Synonyms:

appeal, entreaty, petition

Antonyms:

demand, refusal

Root:Old French plaid, "lawsuit, agreement," from Latin placitum, "a decision; that which pleases."

Definition: thought out and planned beforehand; done on purpose, not by accident.

Context: In the model, the intention head proves the theft was premeditated: "He watched the farm for a week, he chose the night when the dog was sick, and he brought a cart."

KJV: "...take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate" (Mark 13:11). Here Christ tells His disciples to trust the Holy Ghost for their words when they are on trial.

Synonyms:

deliberate, intentional, calculated

Antonyms:

accidental, spontaneous, unplanned

Root:Latin praemeditari, "to think over beforehand" (prae- "before" + meditari "to ponder").

Definition: deserving blame; guilty of a wrong.

Context: A man who stumbles into harm by accident is less culpable than one who plans it, which is why the law of Moses treated the two differently (Numbers 35:22–25).

Synonyms:

blameworthy, guilty, at fault

Antonyms:

blameless, innocent, guiltless

Root:Latin culpabilis, from culpa, "fault, blame." Compare the old confession mea culpa, "my fault."

Definition: freedom from punishment or bad results.

Context: The final head asks what happens if a thief acts with impunity, and the model answers with a question: "And if it goes unpunished, who will plant a field next spring?"

Synonyms:

exemption, freedom from punishment, license

Antonyms:

accountability, liability, punishment

Root:Latin impunitas, from in- "not" + poena "penalty."

Definition: making a wrong seem less serious, or partly excusing it. It is most often used in the phrase "extenuating circumstances."

Context: The defender will offer the thief's poverty as an extenuating circumstance, and the rejection of pity answers him: many are poor and do not steal.

Synonyms:

excusing, mitigating, justifying

Antonyms:

aggravating, worsening

Root:Latin extenuare, "to make thin" (ex- + tenuis, "thin"). An extenuating reason "thins out" the guilt.

Definition: to make something less severe, painful or harsh.

Context: Solomon grants that hunger may mitigate our scorn for a thief, but it does not cancel his debt. He must still restore sevenfold (Proverbs 6:30–31).

Synonyms:

lessen, ease, soften

Antonyms:

aggravate, intensify, worsen

Root:Latin mitigare, "to soften," from mitis "mild" + agere "to make."

Definition: sorry for one's sin and turning away from it.

From the reading: "the difference between excusing a wrong and forgiving a repentant sinner"

KJV: "...there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth" (Luke 15:10).

Synonyms:

penitent, remorseful, sorry

Antonyms:

unrepentant, impenitent, defiant

Root:Old French repentir, from Latin re- + paenitere, "to regret."

Definition: deeply sorry for one's wrongdoing; humbled by guilt.

KJV: "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise" (Psalm 51:17).

Context: Zacchaeus was contrite. He did not only weep but restored fourfold (Luke 19:8).

Synonyms:

penitent, remorseful, repentant

Antonyms:

unrepentant, proud, shameless

Root:Latin contritus, "ground to pieces," from conterere (con- + terere, "to rub, grind"). A contrite heart is a heart crushed by sorrow for sin.

Definition: mercy or leniency, especially from a judge or ruler toward someone who deserves punishment.

Context: The model shows where clemency rightly belongs: "Mercy belongs to the one who confesses and restores, not to the one who weeps only because he was caught."

Synonyms:

mercy, leniency, pardon

Antonyms:

severity, harshness, ruthlessness

Root:Latin clementia, from clemens, "mild, merciful."

Definition: to look down on with contempt; to regard as worthless.

From the reading: "Men do not despise a thief, if he steal to satisfy his soul when he is hungry"

KJV: The same words are found in Proverbs 6:30.

Synonyms:

scorn, disdain, loathe

Antonyms:

admire, esteem, respect

Root:Latin despicere, "to look down on" (de- "down" + specere "to look").

Definition: secret and hidden; not openly shown.

Context: During the German occupation of Holland, the ten Boom family ran covert work out of their watch shop in Haarlem. They hid Jewish neighbors in a secret room behind a false wall in Corrie's bedroom.

Synonyms:

secret, hidden, undercover

Antonyms:

overt, open, public

Root:Old French covert, "covered," from covrir, "to cover" (Latin cooperire).

Definition: very careful to do what is right; exact and thorough down to small details.

Context: Corrie's sister Nollie was so scrupulous about honesty that she would not tell a lie even when soldiers came to her door. The family wrestled with how to keep both truth and mercy in such evil times.

Synonyms:

conscientious, principled, meticulous

Antonyms:

careless, unprincipled, dishonest

Root:Latin scrupulus, "a small sharp stone." It was the pebble in a shoe that keeps troubling the walker, as a careful conscience troubles a person.

Definition: extremely distressing; painful to go through or to hear about.

Context: After their arrest in 1944, Corrie and Betsie went through a harrowing series of prisons and camps that ended at Ravensbrück in Germany.

Synonyms:

agonizing, distressing, wrenching

Antonyms:

comforting, soothing, pleasant

Root:Middle English harwe, "a harrow." This farm tool drags iron teeth through the soil, and a harrowing ordeal tears at the heart in the same way.

Definition: very dirty and miserable from neglect or poverty.

Context: The barracks at Ravensbrück were squalid and crawling with fleas. Yet Betsie gave thanks even for the fleas, because they kept the guards out and let the sisters read the Bible to the women in peace.

Synonyms:

filthy, sordid, wretched

Antonyms:

clean, pristine, wholesome

Root:Latin squalidus, from squalere, "to be stiff with dirt."

Definition: wanting revenge; set on hurting someone who has caused harm.

Context: Corrie felt the pull of vindictive hatred toward the man who betrayed her family. She brought it to God in prayer, and in the end she wrote to tell him she forgave him.

KJV: "Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord" (Romans 12:19).

Synonyms:

vengeful, spiteful, unforgiving

Antonyms:

forgiving, merciful, magnanimous

Root:Latin vindicta, "vengeance, punishment."

Definition: deep, settled hostility; the state of being enemies.

KJV: "But if he thrust him suddenly without enmity, or have cast upon him any thing without laying of wait" (Numbers 35:22). The law of Moses weighed whether a man struck in enmity or by accident, just as the intention head does.

Context: Corrie would not let enmity toward the man who betrayed her family take root in her heart, because she believed Christ had come to make peace between enemies (Ephesians 2:16).

Synonyms:

hostility, animosity, antagonism

Antonyms:

friendship, goodwill, amity

Root:Old French enemistie, from Latin inimicus, "enemy" (in- "not" + amicus "friend").

Definition: to restore friendship between people who were divided; also, to make two ideas agree.

KJV: "...first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift" (Matthew 5:24).

Context: After the war Corrie spoke of God's forgiveness. When a former Ravensbrück guard held out his hand to her, she prayed for strength to forgive him and took it.

Synonyms:

reunite, make peace, harmonize

Antonyms:

estrange, alienate, divide

Root:Latin reconciliare, "to bring together again" (re- "again" + conciliare "to unite").

Definition: able to recover from hardship; springing back after being pressed down.

Context: Corrie's faith proved resilient. She came out of the camp grieving for Betsie and her father, yet she spent the rest of her life telling the world that God's love is deeper than the deepest pit.

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

Synonyms:

tough, buoyant, hardy

Antonyms:

fragile, brittle, weak

Root:Latin resilire, "to leap back" (re- "back" + salire "to jump").