Grade 7 College Vocabulary, Week 3

Definition: comfort given to someone after loss, sorrow or disappointment; also a thing that gives such comfort.

From the reading: "yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph."

KJV: Simeon was "just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel" (Luke 2:25).

Synonyms:

comfort, solace, relief

Antonyms:

distress, grief, affliction

Root:Latin consolatio, from con- (with) + solari (to comfort).

Definition: of the sky or of heaven; heavenly, divine.

From the reading: "...it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated."

KJV: "There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another" (1 Corinthians 15:40).

Synonyms:

heavenly, divine, ethereal

Antonyms:

earthly, terrestrial, mundane

Root:Latin caelestis, from caelum, "sky, heaven."

Definition: cruel and unjust rule by someone who governs for himself and by fear instead of by law.

From the reading: "Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered"

KJV link: Solomon paints the tyrant in two pictures: "As a roaring lion, and a ranging bear; so is a wicked ruler over the poor people" (Proverbs 28:15).

Synonyms:

despotism, oppression, autocracy

Antonyms:

liberty, freedom, just rule

Root:Greek tyrannos, "absolute ruler."

Definition: a great victory or success; to win or prevail.

From the reading: "...the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph."

KJV: "Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ" (2 Corinthians 2:14).

Synonyms:

victory, conquest, success

Antonyms:

defeat, failure, rout

Root:Latin triumphus, the parade a Roman general led through the city after a great victory.

Definition: lacking courage; timid and quick to lose heart.

KJV: "What man is there that is fearful and fainthearted? let him go and return unto his house, lest his brethren’s heart faint as well as his heart" (Deuteronomy 20:8). Moses shows that cowardice spreads from one man to the rest.

Synonyms:

timid, timorous, spiritless

Antonyms:

bold, stouthearted, valiant

Root:faint (Old French feint, "sluggish, feigned") + heart: a heart that gives way.

Definition: cowardly; lacking the courage or resolve to face danger or difficulty.

Context: Paine's summer soldier is pusillanimous: he serves while the sun shines and slips home when the snow and the danger come.

Synonyms:

cowardly, craven, spineless

Antonyms:

brave, valiant, magnanimous

Root:Latin pusillus (very small) + animus (spirit): "small-souled." It is the opposite of magnanimous (Week 1), "great-souled."

Definition: contemptibly cowardly; lacking even the least courage.

Context: In The Hiding Place, the craven choice would have been to turn away the Jewish neighbors who came to the ten Booms' door. Instead, the family took them in.

Synonyms:

cowardly, pusillanimous, fainthearted

Antonyms:

brave, bold, dauntless

Root:Middle English cravant, "defeated, overthrown," probably from Old French cravanter, "to crush."

Definition: brave and determined, especially in battle or hardship.

KJV: "only be thou valiant for me, and fight the LORD’s battles" (1 Samuel 18:17).

Context: The valiant men in Washington's boat pushed through the river ice on Christmas night when they could have gone home.

Synonyms:

courageous, valorous, heroic

Antonyms:

cowardly, craven, pusillanimous

Root:Old French vaillant, from Latin valere, "to be strong."

Definition: acting hastily and boldly without thinking about danger or results.

From the reading: "Courage stands between cowardice and rashness."

Synonyms:

recklessness, impetuosity, foolhardiness

Antonyms:

caution, prudence, deliberation

Root:Middle English rasch, "quick, hasty," from a Germanic word.

Definition: reckless boldness; a nerve that ignores danger or good manners. Tests often use it in the phrase "had the temerity to..."

Context: A soldier who charges the enemy alone just to be seen shows temerity, not courage. In your commonplace, the contrary should praise the steady man instead.

Synonyms:

audacity, effrontery, recklessness

Antonyms:

timidity, caution, circumspection

Root:Latin temeritas, from temere, "blindly, by chance."

Definition: the act of abandoning one's post, duty or friends, especially a soldier leaving the army without leave.

From the reading: "Choose a coward whose desertion harms others"

Synonyms:

abandonment, defection, flight

Antonyms:

loyalty, faithfulness, constancy

Root:Latin desertus, from deserere, "to abandon" (de- "un-" + serere "to join"): to unjoin oneself.

Definition: fearless and determined; not able to be discouraged.

Context: In The Hiding Place, Betsie ten Boom's faith stayed dauntless through prison and camp, and her sister drew strength from it.

Synonyms:

fearless, undaunted, intrepid

Antonyms:

timid, fainthearted, craven

Root:daunt (Old French danter, from Latin domitare, "to tame") + -less: one who cannot be tamed by fear.

Definition: cruel and continued mistreatment of people because of who they are or what they believe.

Context: The ten Booms watched the persecution of their Jewish neighbors in occupied Haarlem and chose to shelter them at great risk.

KJV: "Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:10).

Synonyms:

oppression, harassment, maltreatment

Antonyms:

protection, kindness, shelter

Root:Latin persequi, "to pursue to the end" (per- "through" + sequi "to follow").

Definition: the lack of things needed for life, such as food, warmth and rest; hardship.

Context: In prison and in the camp, Corrie and Betsie endured hunger, cold and every kind of privation, yet they kept reading their hidden Bible to the women around them.

Synonyms:

hardship, deprivation, want

Antonyms:

plenty, abundance, comfort

Root:Latin privatio, "a taking away," from privare, "to deprive."

Definition: help given in a time of need or distress; to give such help.

KJV: "For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted" (Hebrews 2:18).

Context: The ten Booms' house became a place of succor for hunted strangers.

Synonyms:

aid, relief, assistance

Antonyms:

hindrance, neglect, abandonment

Root:Latin succurrere, "to run to help" (sub- "under, up to" + currere "to run").

Definition: steady, continued effort toward a goal in spite of difficulty or delay.

KJV: "watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints" (Ephesians 6:18).

Context: Corrie's perseverance in prayer did not depend on how the war was going.

Synonyms:

persistence, endurance, constancy

Antonyms:

quitting, inconstancy, irresolution

Root:Latin perseverare, "to continue steadfastly" (per- "thoroughly" + severus "strict, serious").

Definition: Setting two opposite ideas side by side in balanced words; the direct opposite of something (a common test sense).

From the reading: "What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly"

Context (sense 2): Cowardice is the antithesis of courage, and rashness is its counterfeit.

Synonyms:

contrast, opposite, converse

Antonyms:

likeness, similarity, parallel

Root:Greek antithesis, from anti- (against) + tithenai (to set): "a setting against."

Definition: to abandon or desert; to give up completely.

KJV: "for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee" (Hebrews 13:5). See also Deuteronomy 31:6: "he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee."

Synonyms:

abandon, desert, renounce

Antonyms:

keep, uphold, stand by

Root:Old English forsacan, "to deny, refuse" (for- "away" + sacan "to contend").

Definition: shameful failure to do one's duty, often in the phrase "dereliction of duty."

Context: The sentry who walked away from his post at two in the morning, leaving two hundred men asleep and unguarded, was guilty of dereliction of duty.

Synonyms:

neglect, negligence, delinquency

Antonyms:

faithfulness, diligence, devotion

Root:Latin derelinquere, "to abandon completely" (de- + re- + linquere "to leave").

Definition: loyal, firm and dependable in support of a person or cause.

Context: Old Casper ten Boom was a staunch friend to the Jewish people of Haarlem and did not waver even when it cost him his freedom.

Synonyms:

steadfast, loyal, unwavering

Antonyms:

disloyal, wavering, unreliable

Root:Old French estanche, "watertight": a staunch ship does not leak, and a staunch friend does not give way.