Grade 7 College Vocabulary, Week 8

Definition: to give up formally a claim, title or pleasure; to refuse to have anything more to do with something.

Context: Moses could have lived as a prince of Egypt, but he chose to renounce the title and stand with his own suffering people.

KJV link: "By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter" (Hebrews 11:24).

Synonyms:

give up, forswear, relinquish

Antonyms:

claim, embrace, keep

Root:Latin renuntiare, "to bring back word, to give notice against," from re- (back) + nuntiare (to announce).

Definition: lasting only a short time; passing away quickly.

Context: Moses weighed the transient pleasures of Pharaoh's court against a reward that would never pass away.

KJV link: "Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season" (Hebrews 11:25). Pleasures that last only "for a season" are transient.

Synonyms:

fleeting, brief, momentary

Antonyms:

lasting, permanent, enduring

Root:Latin transire, "to go across, pass by," from trans- (across) + ire (to go).

Definition: to overcome and bring under control; (also) to quiet or soften (a "subdued" voice is a quiet one).

From the reading: "subdued kingdoms, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire"

KJV: "Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions" (Hebrews 11:33).

Synonyms:

conquer, overpower, master; (second sense) tame, soften

Antonyms:

free, liberate, yield to

Root:Latin subducere, "to draw away," from sub- (under) + ducere (to lead). In Old French it took on the sense "to bring under."

Definition: to put out a fire; to satisfy a thirst; to stop or hold back something strong.

From the reading: "subdued kingdoms, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire"

KJV: "Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword" (Hebrews 11:34).

Synonyms:

extinguish, douse; (thirst) slake, satisfy

Antonyms:

kindle, ignite, inflame

Root:Old English cwencan, "to put out, extinguish."

Definition: The state of being unknown or unnoticed; the quality of being hard to understand.

From the reading: "...out of her village obscurity her name has climbed up like the sun and is visible from all corners of the land!"

KJV link: "God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty" (1 Corinthians 1:27). Joan rose out of obscurity, much as many of the elders of Hebrews 11 did.

Synonyms:

anonymity, insignificance; (second sense) vagueness

Antonyms:

fame, renown, prominence; (second sense) clarity

Root:Latin obscuritas, "darkness," from obscurus, "dark, covered."

Definition: never taught to read and write; not formally educated.

From the reading: "...Joan of Arc, a mere child in years, ignorant, unlettered, a poor village girl unknown and without influence..."

KJV link: The rulers saw "that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus" (Acts 4:13).

Synonyms:

illiterate, unschooled, untaught

Antonyms:

learned, educated, literate

Root:un- (not) + lettered (knowing letters), from Latin littera, "letter."

Definition: honest and direct; speaking openly, without hiding what one thinks.

From the reading: "gentle and simple little shepherdess, very candid, but not given to talking."

KJV link: "...let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation" (James 5:12).

Synonyms:

frank, forthright, sincere

Antonyms:

evasive, guarded, deceitful

Root:Latin candidus, "white, shining, pure." Someone candid has nothing to hide.

Definition: quick to see what matters and to use it to one's advantage; shrewd.

From the reading: "Did the astute Bedford, representative of the English crown? No."

Context: Even the astute Duke of Bedford, the English regent, missed how much it would matter to crown the French king at Reims, but Joan saw it plainly.

Synonyms:

perceptive, sharp, canny

Antonyms:

obtuse, dull, imperceptive

Root:Latin astutus, "crafty," from astus, "cleverness."

Definition: great courage, especially in battle.

From the reading: "...blow the breath of life and valor into the dead corpses of cowed armies and turn them into heroes."

KJV: "The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valour" (Judges 6:12), spoken to Gideon, who is named in Hebrews 11:32.

Synonyms:

bravery, courage, gallantry

Antonyms:

cowardice, timidity, fear

Root:Latin valor, "worth," from valere, "to be strong." (British and KJV spelling: valour.)

Definition: a willingness to take bold risks; (in a bad sense) rude or shameless boldness.

From the reading: "Then she spoke up with the old martial ring in her voice and the old audacity in her words..."

Synonyms:

boldness, daring, nerve; (bad sense) impudence, gall

Antonyms:

timidity, caution, meekness

Root:Latin audax, "bold," from audere, "to dare."

Definition: full of fear; shy and lacking confidence.

From the reading: "...Joan’s talk was fresh and free, sincere and honest, and unmarred by timorous self-watching and constraint."

KJV link: "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind" (2 Timothy 1:7).

Synonyms:

timid, fearful, faint-hearted

Antonyms:

bold, confident, audacious

Root:Latin timor, "fear," from timere, "to fear."

Definition: too strong to be captured or broken into; (of an argument) impossible to defeat.

From the reading: "...hurling masses of men against impregnable walls of stone, in defiance of the established laws and usages of war..."

Context: The English forts around Orleans seemed impregnable, yet they fell one after another in May 1429.

Synonyms:

unconquerable, invincible, unassailable

Antonyms:

vulnerable, defenseless, assailable

Root:Old French imprenable, from in- (not) + prendre (to take): "not able to be taken."

Definition: to waver between opinions or choices; to be unable to decide.

From the reading: "Tremouille was getting in his sly work with the vacillating King, you see."

KJV link: "A double minded man is unstable in all his ways" (James 1:8).

Synonyms:

waver, hesitate, dither

Antonyms:

decide, persist, stand firm

Root:Latin vacillare, "to sway to and fro, totter."

Definition: a false statement made on purpose to damage someone's good name.

From the reading: "...the calumnies in detail that had been bottled up in that mass of venom..."

KJV: "Thou shalt not raise a false report: put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness" (Exodus 23:1).

Synonyms:

slander, defamation, false accusation

Antonyms:

praise, vindication, commendation

Root:Latin calumnia, "trickery, false charge," from calvi, "to deceive."

Definition: to give up a belief or claim solemnly, often under oath or under pressure.

From the reading: "If they made her seem to abjure, that would free her from the death-penalty."

Context: Joan did not even know the word when her judges first pressed her to abjure. Later she said plainly that she had never knowingly given up the truth.

Synonyms:

recant, renounce, retract

Antonyms:

affirm, uphold, maintain

Root:Latin abjurare, "to deny on oath," from ab- (away) + jurare (to swear).

Definition: a calm, peaceful and untroubled state of mind.

From the reading: "...serenity and courage would take its place and abide till the end."

KJV: "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee" (Isaiah 26:3).

Synonyms:

calm, tranquility, composure

Antonyms:

agitation, turmoil, anxiety

Root:Latin serenus, "clear, cloudless" (used of the sky).

Definition: to regard with deep respect and honor, usually because of goodness, age or holiness.

From the reading: "...has caused herself to be adored and venerated..."

Context: These words come from the false charges against Joan. Her enemies claimed that she wanted honor for herself, but she always gave the glory for her victories to God.

Synonyms:

revere, honor, esteem

Antonyms:

despise, scorn, dishonor

Root:Latin venerari, "to worship, regard with reverence."

Definition: so good that others should copy it; serving as a model.

Context: Hebrews 11 sets out exemplary lives of faith so that we will run the same race.

KJV link: "Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity" (1 Timothy 4:12).

Synonyms:

model, admirable, commendable

Antonyms:

deplorable, shameful, unworthy

Root:Latin exemplum, "a sample, a pattern to follow."

Definition: repeating the same word or words at the start of several sentences or clauses.

From the reading: "This anaphora ties every deed back to the one virtue"

Context: "By faith Abel... By faith Enoch... By faith Noah..." is the best-known anaphora in Scripture.

Synonyms:

repetition, refrain (loosely)

Antonyms:

(none exact) variation

Root:Greek anaphora, "a carrying back," from ana- (back, again) + pherein (to carry).

Definition: a list of items or examples set out one after another.

From the reading: "A list of examples, one after another, that together build a single point."

Context: In your encomium you will catalogue your subject's deeds of faith, as Hebrews 11 does for the elders.

Synonyms:

list, register, inventory

Antonyms:

(none exact) summary, single instance

Root:Greek katalogos, "a list," from kata- (down, fully) + legein (to count, tell).