Grade 7 College Vocabulary, Week 10

Definition: a secret plan by a group to do something unlawful or harmful, such as overthrowing a government.

Context: Catiline's conspiracy planned fires in Rome and an army in Etruria, but Cicero learned the plans through informers before they could be carried out.

KJV: "And the conspiracy was strong; for the people increased continually with Absalom" (2 Samuel 15:12).

Synonyms:

plot, intrigue, scheme

Antonyms:

loyalty, allegiance, open dealing

Root:Latin conspirare, "to breathe together" (con- "together" + spirare "to breathe"): plotters whisper close enough to share one breath.

Definition: speech or action that stirs people up to rebel against lawful authority.

Context: Gathering ruined men to seize the city was sedition, and the Senate treated it as an attack on the republic itself.

KJV: Barabbas was a man "Who for a certain sedition made in the city, and for murder, was cast into prison" (Luke 23:19).

Synonyms:

rebellion, insurrection, subversion

Antonyms:

loyalty, obedience, allegiance

Root:Latin seditio, from sed- "apart" + itio "a going": a going apart from the lawful order.

Definition: a step taken ahead of time to prevent harm or danger.

From the reading: "Yet the unrelenting spirit of Catiline persisted in the same purposes, notwithstanding the precautions that were adopted against him..."

Synonyms:

safeguard, preventive measure, provision

Antonyms:

carelessness, negligence, rashness

Root:Latin prae- "before" + cavere "to beware": to beware beforehand.

Definition: a false show or excuse meant to hide one's real purpose.

From the reading: "At last, with a view to dissemble, and under pretense of clearing his character, as if he had been provoked by some attack, he went into the senate-house."

Synonyms:

pretext, sham, false front

Antonyms:

sincerity, candor, openness

Root:Latin praetendere, "to stretch out in front": something held up before the face as a screen.

Definition: to stir up anger or another strong feeling on purpose; to bring about a reaction.

From the reading: "...as if he had been provoked by some attack, he went into the senate-house."

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:

incite, goad, enrage

Antonyms:

soothe, pacify, appease

Root:Latin provocare, "to call forth" (pro- "forth" + vocare "to call").

Definition: without restraint or control; running wild.

From the reading: "When is there to be an end of that unbridled audacity of yours, swaggering about as it does now?" (Cicero, trans. Yonge)

KJV link: A tongue left unbridled shows that faith is hollow: "If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain" (James 1:26).

Synonyms:

unrestrained, uncontrolled, rampant

Antonyms:

restrained, disciplined, curbed

Root:un- + bridle (Old English bridel, the headgear that steers a horse): a horse with no bridle runs where it likes.

Definition: to walk or act in a proud, boastful, overconfident way; (noun) such a manner.

From the reading: "...that unbridled audacity of yours, swaggering about as it does now?"

Synonyms:

strut, bluster, boast

Antonyms:

humility, modesty, meekness

Root:probably from swag, "to sway" (of Scandinavian origin): to sway about as if you owned the place.

Definition: producing good results; helpful or useful.

From the reading: "...delivered that splendid speech, so beneficial to the republic, which he afterward wrote and published."

Synonyms:

advantageous, helpful, salutary

Antonyms:

harmful, detrimental, injurious

Root:Latin beneficium, "a kindness," from bene "well" + facere "to do."

Definition: to ask earnestly or humbly; to beg. (In the KJV it can also mean "to treat," as in "evil entreated.")

From the reading: "...Catiline, being prepared to pretend ignorance of the whole matter, entreated, with downcast looks and suppliant voice..."

KJV: "Many will intreat the favour of the prince: and every man is a friend to him that giveth gifts" (Proverbs 19:6). Note the old spelling intreat.

Synonyms:

implore, plead, beseech

Antonyms:

command, demand, refuse

Root:Old French entraiter, "to treat, deal with" (en- + traitier), from Latin tractare, "to handle."

Definition: (of eyes or looks) directed downward; (of a person) low in spirits, discouraged.

From the reading: "...entreated, with downcast looks and suppliant voice..."

KJV link: The psalmist speaks to his own downcast soul: "Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God" (Psalm 42:5). Catiline's downcast looks were an act; the psalmist's were real, and he answered them with hope.

Synonyms:

dejected, crestfallen, despondent

Antonyms:

cheerful, elated, buoyant

Root:down + cast (Old Norse kasta, "to throw"): with the eyes thrown down.

Definition: a member of the old noble families of ancient Rome; (more broadly) an aristocrat, or something refined and upper-class.

From the reading: "...he, a patrician, whose services to the Roman people, as well as those of his ancestors, had been so numerous, should want to ruin the state..."

Context: Catiline boasted of being a patrician because he could not answer the charges; a good name from one's fathers is no defense for one's own deeds.

Synonyms:

aristocrat, noble, blue blood

Antonyms:

plebeian, commoner

Root:Latin patricius, from patres, "fathers," the title of Rome's senators (hence "Conscript Fathers").

Definition: famous and respected, standing out above others in rank or ability.

From the reading: Even Sallust grants that Catiline was "of eminent mental and personal endowments."

Context: In The Fellowship of the Ring, Boromir is an eminent man, the son of Gondor's Steward and a proven warrior, so his weakness at the end weighs all the heavier.

Synonyms:

distinguished, prominent, illustrious

Antonyms:

obscure, unknown, undistinguished

Root:Latin eminere, "to stand out" (e- "out" + minere "to project").

Definition: (verb) to make morally bad or rotten; (adjective) dishonest, especially by misusing power or taking bribes.

Context: The One Ring slowly corrupts whoever keeps it, as it twisted Sméagol into Gollum. Gandalf refuses to take it, because he knows it would corrupt even his wish to do good.

KJV: "Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners" (1 Corinthians 15:33).

Synonyms:

pervert, debase, deprave; (adjective) dishonest, crooked

Antonyms:

purify, reform; (adjective) honest, upright

Root:Latin corrumpere, "to break to pieces, spoil" (com- "thoroughly" + rumpere "to break").

Definition: (noun) the power to attract or tempt; (verb) to tempt with something desirable.

Context: Boromir feels the Ring's allure more and more, until at Parth Galen he tries to take it from Frodo by force.

Synonyms:

attraction, enticement, temptation

Antonyms:

repulsion, aversion

Root:Old French alurer, from a- "to" + loirre, "a lure," the bait a falconer swung to call back his hawk.

Definition: modest and humble; not drawing attention to oneself.

Context: The hobbits of the Shire are an unassuming people who love gardens and good meals, yet the heaviest burden in Middle-earth falls to one of them. "God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty" is the pattern Christians see in such stories.

Synonyms:

modest, humble, unpretentious

Antonyms:

pretentious, conceited, ostentatious

Root:un- + assume, from Latin assumere, "to take to oneself": one who does not claim more for himself than is due.

Definition: friendship and trust among people who share work, hardship or danger.

Context: The Nine Walkers leave Rivendell as strangers from many peoples, but the road teaches them camaraderie: Sam's loyalty to Frodo never fails, and in Lothlórien even the old quarrel between Legolas the Elf and Gimli the Dwarf begins to turn into friendship.

Synonyms:

fellowship, comradeship, companionship

Antonyms:

hostility, enmity, isolation

Root:French camaraderie, from camarade, "comrade," originally "one who shares a room" (Latin camera, "room").

Definition: to irritate someone intensely; to make anger worse.

From the reading: "Being thus exasperated..." (Catiline, after the senators shouted him down as an enemy and a traitor).

Synonyms:

infuriate, incense, aggravate

Antonyms:

calm, soothe, placate

Root:Latin exasperare, "to make rough" (ex- "thoroughly" + asper "rough"): to rub someone's temper raw.

Definition: to surround or encircle; (also) to include within its scope.

From the reading: "Since I am encompassed by enemies..."

Context: Catiline called himself encompassed by enemies, but the ring of hostile senators was made by his own deeds.

Synonyms:

surround, enclose, encircle; (second sense) include, comprise

Antonyms:

exclude, omit

Root:en- "in" + compass, from Old French compasser, "to measure, go around."

Definition: to put out a fire or light; (also) to put an end to something, such as a hope or a right.

From the reading: "I will extinguish the flame kindled around me in a general ruin."

Context: Catiline's threat turned the picture upside down: a man fanning a fire against Rome claimed he only wished to extinguish one.

Synonyms:

quench, douse, snuff out; (second sense) abolish, end

Antonyms:

kindle, ignite, inflame

Root:Latin exstinguere, "to quench, put out" (ex- "out" + stinguere "to quench").

Definition: given to arguing and quarreling; (of an issue) likely to cause disagreement.

Context: A contentious man answers charges with insults instead of facts, as Catiline did when he sneered at Cicero's birth.

KJV: "As coals are to burning coals, and wood to fire; so is a contentious man to kindle strife" (Proverbs 26:21).

Synonyms:

quarrelsome, argumentative, combative

Antonyms:

peaceable, agreeable, conciliatory

Root:Latin contentio, "a straining, a struggle," from contendere, "to strive against."