Grade 7 College Vocabulary, Week 6

Definition: the act of ending something completely, especially by law.

From the reading: "Wilberforce first sought the abolition of the slave trade, and later of slavery itself in the British colonies."

Synonyms:

ending, elimination, repeal

Antonyms:

establishment, continuation, institution

Root:Latin abolitio, from abolere, "to destroy, do away with."

Definition: successful, especially in making money; thriving and well-off.

From the reading: "Wilberforce was born in 1759 in Hull, a port on the Yorkshire coast, into a family of prosperous merchants."

KJV: "...for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success" (Joshua 1:8). The Lord tells Joshua that true prosperity comes from keeping His law.

Synonyms:

wealthy, flourishing, thriving

Antonyms:

poor, struggling, impoverished

Root:Latin prosperus, "favorable, fortunate," perhaps from pro spere, "according to one's hope."

Definition: great brilliance, magnificence or grandeur.

From the reading: "For all his splendor, said Romilly, Napoleon’s rest would be troubled by the blood of his wars"

Synonyms:

magnificence, grandeur, glory

Antonyms:

plainness, drabness, squalor

Root:Latin splendor, from splendere, "to shine."

Definition: the state of being forced to live away from one's own country; (also) a person who has been banished.

From the reading: "The emperor died in exile, and the statesman died in honor."

Context: In Ivanhoe, King Richard comes home in disguise after a long captivity abroad. If Prince John had had his way, Richard would have lived out his days in exile.

Synonyms:

banishment, expulsion; (person) outcast, émigré

Antonyms:

return, homecoming, repatriation

Root:Latin exilium, "banishment," from exul, "one banished."

Definition: the condition of being a slave, or of being completely under another person's control.

From the reading: "...discovered the fatal badge of servitude, the silver collar round his neck."

Context: In Ivanhoe, Gurth and Wamba wear collars of brass and silver that name them thralls of Cedric of Rotherwood.

Synonyms:

bondage, slavery, subjection

Antonyms:

freedom, liberty, independence

Root:Latin servitudo, from servus, "slave, servant."

Definition: to set free from slavery or from any kind of bondage or control.

Context: Cedric touches Gurth with a wand and gives him a hide of land, which emancipates the faithful swineherd. Gurth at once calls for a smith to file away his collar.

Synonyms:

free, liberate, release

Antonyms:

enslave, subjugate, bind

Root:Latin emancipare, "to release from a father's power" (e-, "out of" + manus, "hand" + capere, "to take"): to let go from the hand that holds.

Definition: To buy back or set free by paying a price; to make up for faults (as in "a redeeming quality," a common test sense).

From the reading: "Would to heaven that the shedding of mine own blood, drop by drop, could redeem the captivity of Judah!" (Rebecca)

KJV: "...I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments" (Exodus 6:6).

Synonyms:

ransom, deliver, rescue; (sense 2) offset, make up for

Antonyms:

forfeit, abandon, condemn

Root:Latin redimere, "to buy back" (red-, "back" + emere, "to buy").

Definition: a person who gives help to another person or to a cause, especially money or protection.

From the reading: "Nay, would to God it could avail to set free my father, and this his benefactor, from the chains of the oppressor!"

Context: Rebecca is speaking of the wounded Ivanhoe, who earlier saved her father, Isaac, from robbers.

Synonyms:

patron, helper, supporter

Antonyms:

enemy, persecutor; beneficiary (the one who receives the help)

Root:Latin bene, "well" + factor, "doer": one who does well by others.

Definition: faithfulness and steadiness; the quality of staying firm in purpose or loyalty.

From the reading: "...but for the constancy of the archers in the barbican, who ceased not to shower their arrows upon the battlements"

Context: Wilberforce's constancy kept him bringing his motion before Parliament year after year.

Synonyms:

loyalty, faithfulness, steadiness

Antonyms:

fickleness, inconstancy, wavering

Root:Latin constantia, from constare, "to stand firm" (con-, "together" + stare, "to stand").

Definition: unwilling or unable to change or bend; rigid. The word can praise someone who holds firm to a good purpose, or blame someone who is stubborn and proud.

From the reading: "...high in my views, steady and inflexible in pursuing them." (the proud Templar, Brian de Bois-Guilbert)

Context: The Templar's inflexible pride leads him to ruin. Wilberforce was inflexible only in a just cause, and he stayed gentle toward the men who opposed him.

Synonyms:

rigid, unyielding, uncompromising

Antonyms:

flexible, pliant, adaptable

Root:Latin in-, "not" + flexibilis, "able to bend," from flectere, "to bend."

Definition: never tiring; able to keep working without growing weary.

Context (KJV idea): "And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not" (Galatians 6:9). Wilberforce was indefatigable: for twenty years he lost again and again, and he kept on.

Synonyms:

tireless, unflagging, untiring

Antonyms:

weary, flagging, lethargic

Root:Latin in-, "not" + defatigare, "to tire out" (de-, "completely" + fatigare, "to tire").

Definition: Quiet acceptance of something hard that cannot be avoided; the act of giving up an office or job.

From the reading: "...there was such an exquisite mixture of courage and resignation in her look" (Rebecca, brought to her unjust trial)

Context: Christian resignation does not mean giving up. It means trusting God while still doing what is right.

Synonyms:

acceptance, submission, patience

Antonyms:

resistance, rebellion, defiance

Root:Latin resignare, "to unseal, give back" (re-, "back" + signare, "to seal").

Definition: a formal written request, often signed by many people, that asks an authority to act; (as a verb) to make such a request.

From the reading: "Give due credit to Clarkson, to the Clapham friends and to the many Christians, black and white, who signed petitions, refused slave-grown sugar and told what they had suffered."

KJV: "...the God of Israel grant thee thy petition that thou hast asked of him" (1 Samuel 1:17).

Synonyms:

appeal, plea, request

Antonyms:

demand, command, refusal

Root:Latin petitio, from petere, "to seek, ask."

Definition: to support or plead for a cause or a person in public; (as a noun) a person who does so.

Context: Wilberforce advocated in Parliament for men and women who had no voice there.

KJV: "And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous" (1 John 2:1).

Synonyms:

champion, defender; (verb) support, urge

Antonyms:

opponent, critic; (verb) oppose, resist

Root:Latin advocatus, "one called to help," from ad-, "to" + vocare, "to call."

Definition: the act of speaking or pleading to someone on behalf of another person, especially in prayer.

From the reading: "...if thy intercession with thine ally the Templar shall avail to procure the freedom of his daughter." (Locksley to Prior Aymer)

KJV: "...and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors" (Isaiah 53:12).

Synonyms:

mediation, pleading, entreaty

Antonyms:

accusation, opposition, indifference

Root:Latin intercessio, from intercedere, "to come between" (inter-, "between" + cedere, "to go").

Definition: to set right a wrong or an injustice; (as a noun) the setting right of a wrong.

From the reading: "...the stay of the oppressed, the redresser of grievances, the curb of the power of the tyrant" (Ivanhoe, praising true chivalry)

Context: In the 1780s and 1790s, petitions asked Parliament to redress a great wrong.

Synonyms:

remedy, correct, rectify

Antonyms:

worsen, aggravate, ignore

Root:Old French redrecier, "to set upright again" (re-, "again" + drecier, "to straighten").

Definition: a very great number of people or things; (also) the common crowd.

From the reading: "Napoleon in those same years made himself master of Europe by the sword; Wilberforce, with no weapon but the truth, set multitudes free."

KJV: "Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil" (Exodus 23:2).

Synonyms:

host, throng, crowd

Antonyms:

handful, few, scattering

Root:Latin multitudo, from multus, "many."

Definition: generous giving of money and effort to help other people and do them good.

From the reading: "...he gave away a large part of his income, much of it in secret."

KJV link: "But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth" (Matthew 6:3). Wilberforce's secret giving was philanthropy of this kind.

Synonyms:

charity, generosity, benevolence

Antonyms:

selfishness, miserliness, greed

Root:Greek philanthropia, "love of mankind" (philein, "to love" + anthropos, "man").

Definition: kindness; a wish to do good to others.

From the reading: "...whether from unwillingness to hold more close communication with the object of his benevolence, or from a wish to draw near to the upper end of the table, seemed uncertain."

Context: In Cedric's hall no one makes room for Isaac, so the disguised Palmer gives the old man his own place and supper.

Synonyms:

kindness, goodwill, generosity

Antonyms:

malevolence, ill will, cruelty

Root:Latin bene, "well" + volens, "wishing": wishing another well.

Definition: Not honorable in character or purpose; base, shameful; of low rank or humble birth.

From the reading: "...conducted him with more haste than ceremony to an exterior and ignoble part of the building"

Context: The slave trade was an ignoble business, though rich men called it necessary, and Wilberforce helped to show that it could be ended.

Synonyms:

base, dishonorable, shameful; (sense 2) lowly, humble

Antonyms:

noble, honorable, worthy

Root:Latin ignobilis, "unknown, of low birth" (in-, "not" + nobilis, "known, noble").