Grade 7 College Vocabulary, Week 5

Definition: to attempt or try something, especially something hard.

From the reading: "To write the praises of Agesilaus in language equalling his virtue and renown is, I know, no easy task; yet must it be essayed"

Synonyms:

attempt, undertake, venture

Antonyms:

shirk, abandon, avoid

Root:Old French essayer, "to try," from Late Latin exagium, "a weighing." The school essay is an "attempt" to weigh a subject in words.

Definition: a repayment or return for something, whether a reward for good or a punishment for wrong.

From the reading: "...it were but an ill requital of pre-eminence, that, on the ground of his perfection, a good man should forfeit the tribute even of imperfect praise."

KJV link: Children are to "learn first to shew piety at home, and to requite their parents: for that is good and acceptable before God" (1 Timothy 5:4).

Synonyms:

repayment, recompense, return

Antonyms:

ingratitude, neglect

Root:re- (back) + quite, an old form of quit, from Old French quiter, "to pay off, settle."

Definition: to bring forward or cite something as evidence or proof.

From the reading: "...what weightier, what nobler testimony can be adduced than this one fact?"

Synonyms:

cite, present, offer

Antonyms:

withhold, conceal, suppress

Root:Latin adducere, "to lead to," from ad- (to) + ducere (to lead): you lead your proof up to the hearer.

Definition: to deny or contradict; to speak against.

From the reading: "Nor is it open to the gainsayer to contend that they were kings indeed but of some chance city."

KJV: "For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist" (Luke 21:15).

Synonyms:

deny, dispute, contradict

Antonyms:

affirm, confirm, admit

Root:Old English gegn- (against) + secgan (to say): to say against.

Definition: the state of being first in rank, importance or authority.

From the reading: "...they hold, not primacy over the second best, but among leaders they have leadership"

KJV link: Christ is "the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence" (Colossians 1:18).

Synonyms:

supremacy, superiority, precedence

Antonyms:

inferiority, subordination

Root:Medieval Latin primatia, from Latin primus, "first."

Definition: a person's line of descent from his ancestors; family line.

From the reading: "What is his name and lineage?" (asked of the mysterious Disinherited Knight who won the tournament).

KJV: Joseph went to Bethlehem "(because he was of the house and lineage of David:)" (Luke 2:4).

Synonyms:

ancestry, descent, pedigree

Antonyms:

(none exact) descendants, posterity (the line going forward rather than back)

Root:Old French lignage, from Latin linea, "line, thread."

Definition: a descendant or heir of a notable family; (also) a young shoot cut from a plant for grafting.

From the reading: Cedric resolved, "at every risk to himself, to save that last scion of Saxon royalty."

Synonyms:

heir, descendant, offspring

Antonyms:

ancestor, forebear, progenitor

Root:Old French cion, "a shoot, twig." A young heir is a new branch growing from an old family tree.

Definition: famous and admired for great deeds or high rank.

From the reading: Bois-Guilbert fears for "the illustrious name which has grown yet more so under my wearing."

Synonyms:

distinguished, eminent, celebrated

Antonyms:

obscure, unknown, infamous

Root:Latin illustris, "bright, lit up," from in- + lustrare (to make bright): a name that shines.

Definition: property or tradition inherited from one's father or forefathers; a heritage.

From the reading: "His brother sits in the seat, and usurps the patrimony, of a better race"

Synonyms:

inheritance, heritage, birthright

Antonyms:

(none exact) acquisition, earnings (what one gains for oneself)

Root:Latin patrimonium, from pater, patris, "father."

Definition: to raise, train and care for a child or young thing so that it grows well; (noun) upbringing and training.

Context: The upbringing head of an encomium praises how a person was nurtured: who taught him, what habits he learned and what books he read.

KJV: "And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord" (Ephesians 6:4).

Synonyms:

rear, foster, cultivate

Antonyms:

neglect, abandon, stunt

Root:Old French norture, from Latin nutrire, "to nourish, feed." (Tests often pair nature and nurture: what one is born with and how one is raised.)

Definition: having fallen below the worth or standard of one's ancestors; declined in character or quality.

From the reading: "Think on the freedom of England, degenerate Prince!" said Cedric (rebuking Athelstane for preferring his ease to his duty).

KJV: "Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me?" (Jeremiah 2:21).

Synonyms:

corrupt, debased, declined

Antonyms:

noble, worthy, upright

Root:Latin degenerare, from de- (away from) + genus (race, kind): fallen away from one's kind.

Definition: all the generations that come after; future people.

From the reading: Scott says Richard's adventures afforded "none of those solid benefits to his country on which history loves to pause, and hold up as an example to posterity." (A true encomium praises solid deeds, not only dazzling ones.)

KJV link: "One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts" (Psalm 145:4).

Synonyms:

descendants, future generations, heirs

Antonyms:

ancestors, forebears, antiquity

Root:Latin posteritas, from posterus, "coming after."

Definition: great skill or courage, especially in battle; superior ability.

From the reading: Fitzurse says Richard will wander in adventure, "trusting the prowess of his single arm, like any Sir Guy or Sir Bevis"

Synonyms:

valor, skill, expertise

Antonyms:

cowardice, ineptitude, incompetence

Root:Old French proesce, from prou, "valiant, worthy."

Definition: skill and ease in using the hands or body; (also) quickness of mind.

From the reading: "The dexterity with which he managed his steed, and something of youthful grace which he displayed in his manner, won him the favour of the multitude"

KJV link: "Blessed be the LORD my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight" (Psalm 144:1). David credits his dexterity to God.

Synonyms:

deftness, agility, adroitness

Antonyms:

clumsiness, awkwardness, ineptness

Root:Latin dexter, "on the right hand," and so "skillful."

Definition: to boast about or praise oneself proudly; (noun) a boast.

From the reading: Ivanhoe to the Templar: "remember thy proud vaunt in the halls of Rotherwood"

KJV: "Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up" (1 Corinthians 13:4).

Synonyms:

boast, brag, flaunt

Antonyms:

belittle, downplay, disclaim

Root:Old French vanter, from Late Latin vanitare, from vanus, "empty" (as in vanity): empty talk about oneself.

Definition: deserving praise; commendable.

From the reading: "The knight, in order to follow so laudable an example, laid aside his helmet"

KJV link: "...if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things" (Philippians 4:8).

Synonyms:

praiseworthy, admirable, commendable

Antonyms:

shameful, blameworthy, disgraceful

Root:Latin laudabilis, from laus, laudis, "praise" (as in laud and applaud).

Definition: serving to honor and keep alive the memory of a person or event.

From the reading: "To the commemorative list of famous ancestry is added to-day the name" of Agesilaus. (Xenophon traces the king back to Heracles, as Spartan kings claimed. That is the ancient boast, not history.)

KJV link: "...and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever" (Joshua 4:7).

Synonyms:

memorial, honorary, celebratory

Antonyms:

(none exact) forgetful, dismissive

Root:Latin commemorare, "to bring to mind," from com- (together) + memorare (to remind).

Definition: wise and shrewd in judgment; having keen insight.

From the reading: Cedric's dogs, "with the sagacious knowledge of physiognomy peculiar to their race, forbore to intrude upon the moody silence of their master"

Synonyms:

wise, shrewd, discerning

Antonyms:

foolish, obtuse, imprudent

Root:Latin sagax, "keen-scented," and so "quick to perceive." The word fits Scott's hounds very well.

Definition: a public speech or poem of high praise.

From the reading: "One sent forth the praises of Athelstane in a doleful panegyric; another, in a Saxon genealogical poem, rehearsed the uncouth and harsh names of his noble ancestry." (The second minstrel is praising origin.)

Synonyms:

encomium, eulogy, tribute

Antonyms:

invective, denunciation, criticism

Root:Greek panegyrikos, "fit for a public assembly," from pan- (all) + agyris (gathering).

Definition: a speech or essay that praises the good qualities and deeds of a person or thing. It has six parts: prooemium, origin, upbringing, deeds, comparison, epilogue.

Context: Xenophon's Agesilaus is one of the oldest prose encomia that survives, written by a soldier who served with the king.

KJV link: "Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her" (Proverbs 31:28). Proverbs 31 is an encomium of the virtuous woman.

Synonyms:

panegyric, eulogy, tribute

Antonyms:

invective, censure, condemnation

Root:Greek enkomion, from en- (in) + komos (a festive procession): a song sung at a celebration of a victor.