Grade 7 College Vocabulary, Week 13

Definition: rescue from danger, captivity or death.

From the reading: "...wrapped up in a contemplation of my deliverance..."

KJV: "Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance" (Psalm 32:7).

Synonyms:

rescue, salvation, liberation

Antonyms:

captivity, bondage, ruin

Root:Old French delivrance, from Latin de- (away) + liberare (to set free).

Definition: a canceling or delaying of a punishment, especially an execution; any short relief from trouble.

From the reading: "...has a reprieve brought to him..."

Synonyms:

pardon, respite, stay

Antonyms:

condemnation, sentence, punishment

Root:Old French repris, "taken back," from reprendre (re- "back" + prendre "to take"). The sentence is taken back.

Definition: a criminal; a person who does evil.

From the reading: "...when a malefactor, who has the halter about his neck, is tied up..."

KJV: "And there were also two other, malefactors, led with him to be put to death" (Luke 23:32). One of those two malefactors was promised Paradise that same day.

Synonyms:

criminal, wrongdoer, culprit

Antonyms:

benefactor, law-abiding citizen

Root:Latin male (badly) + facere (to do): one who does ill. Compare benefactor, one who does good.

Definition: long, quiet, thoughtful looking or thinking; meditation.

From the reading: "I walked about on the shore lifting up my hands, and my whole being, as I may say, wrapped up in a contemplation of my deliverance..."

Synonyms:

meditation, reflection, pondering

Antonyms:

thoughtlessness, distraction, neglect

Root:Latin contemplari, "to observe carefully," from templum, an open space marked out for watching the sky.

Definition: overwhelming joy or delight; being carried "outside oneself" with feeling.

From the reading: "I believe it is impossible to express, to the life, what the ecstasies and transports of the soul are, when it is so saved..."

Synonyms:

rapture, bliss, elation

Antonyms:

misery, despair, anguish

Root:Greek ekstasis, "a standing outside oneself" (ek- "out" + histanai "to stand").

Definition: To carry from one place to another; (noun, often plural) a strong feeling that carries a person away, as in "transports of joy.".

From the reading: "...what the ecstasies and transports of the soul are..."

Synonyms:

(sense 1) carry, convey; (sense 2) rapture, ecstasy, passion

Antonyms:

(sense 2) calm, composure, indifference

Root:Latin trans- (across) + portare (to carry). Crusoe's soul was carried right out of itself.

Definition: A break or gap, as in a wall; in older English, the breaking of waves; the breaking of a law, promise or trust (the common test sense).

From the reading: "...the breach and froth of the sea being so big, I could hardly see it..."

KJV: "...had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach, to turn away his wrath..." (Psalm 106:23). Moses stood in the gap and prayed for his people.

Synonyms:

gap, rupture; (sense 2) violation, infraction

Antonyms:

repair, closure; (sense 2) observance, compliance

Root:Old English bryce, "a breaking," related to break.

Definition: the person or voice that tells a story.

From the reading: "The voice that tells the story." (the lesson's definition)

Context: Crusoe is the narrator of Robinson Crusoe, but Defoe is its author.

Synonyms:

storyteller, teller, chronicler

Antonyms:

listener, audience

Root:Latin narrare, "to tell," from gnarus, "knowing." A narrator tells what he knows.

Definition: bold, dashing style; flair. (Originally a plume of feathers on a helmet.)

From the reading: "My panache."

Context: These are Cyrano's last words. At the end he names the one thing he will carry away untouched: his panache, the white plume of his honor.

Synonyms:

flair, dash, élan

Antonyms:

dullness, timidity, drabness

Root:French panache, "plume," from Italian pennacchio, from Latin penna, "feather."

Definition: Brave and spirited; courteous and attentive, in the manner of a gentleman; in older English, grand or stately.

From the reading: "...these Senors being (with no disrespect to you) the most gallant gentlemen in the world,--I passed on!"

KJV: "...wherein shall go no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship pass thereby" (Isaiah 33:21). Here gallant means stately and splendid.

Synonyms:

valiant, chivalrous, courtly

Antonyms:

cowardly, boorish, rude

Root:Old French galant, from galer, "to make merry, to show off."

Definition: eager to fight; hostile and aggressive.

From the reading: "These fops, would-be belligerent,"

Synonyms:

combative, quarrelsome, pugnacious

Antonyms:

peaceable, conciliatory, friendly

Root:Latin bellum (war) + gerere (to wage): one who wages war.

Definition: an open insult that wounds a person's honor or dignity.

From the reading: "Affront upon my cheek--a conscience"

Context: Cyrano boasts that he would never walk out with an insult left unanswered on his cheek.

KJV link: Scripture gives a nobler answer than the sword: "The discretion of a man deferreth his anger; and it is his glory to pass over a transgression" (Proverbs 19:11).

Synonyms:

insult, slight, indignity

Antonyms:

compliment, courtesy, tribute

Root:Old French afronter, "to strike in the face," from Latin ad frontem, "to the forehead."

Definition: a person who supports an artist, writer or cause with money or influence; also a regular customer.

From the reading: "Seek a protector, choose a patron out,"

Context: In his famous "No, thank you" speech, Cyrano refuses to flatter a rich patron in order to rise.

KJV link: "A man that flattereth his neighbour spreadeth a net for his feet" (Proverbs 29:5).

Synonyms:

sponsor, benefactor, backer

Antonyms:

(the one supported) client, protégé, dependent

Root:Latin patronus, "protector," from pater, "father."

Definition: a trick or plan meant to deceive.

From the reading: "Climb high by creeping ruse instead of force?"

Synonyms:

trick, stratagem, subterfuge

Antonyms:

openness, candor, honesty

Root:Old French ruser, "to dodge, drive back." It was a hunting word for a hunted animal doubling back on its tracks.

Definition: a ridiculous clown; a person who acts the fool, often to win favor.

From the reading: "Dedicate verse to bankers?--play buffoon"

Context: When Cyrano mocks him with wit, the angry Viscount can only shout "Buffoon!"

Synonyms:

clown, jester, fool

Antonyms:

sage, dignitary

Root:Italian buffone, from buffa, "a jest" (from buffare, "to puff out the cheeks").

Definition: too concerned with showing off book learning or with tiny rules and details.

From the reading: "Pedantic: 'That beast Aristophanes"

Context: In the nose speech, Cyrano shows the Viscount the many styles of insult he could have used. One of them is the pedantic style, full of learned names.

Synonyms:

bookish, fussy, hair-splitting

Antonyms:

practical, unpretentious, plain-spoken

Root:Italian pedante, "schoolmaster," probably related to Greek paidagogos, "tutor."

Definition: a looking back on past events.

Context: Crusoe tells his landing in retrospect. The older man writing years later adds that he no longer wonders at an old custom; the half-drowned man on the beach could not have made that comment.

Synonyms:

hindsight, recollection, review

Antonyms:

foresight, prospect, anticipation

Root:Latin retro (backward) + specere (to look).

Definition: so calm that nothing can upset or excite you.

From the reading: "...aided by the two imperturbable lackeys who"

KJV link: "He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the LORD" (Psalm 112:7).

Synonyms:

composed, unflappable, serene

Antonyms:

excitable, agitated, flustered

Root:Latin in- (not) + perturbare (to throw into confusion), from per- (thoroughly) + turbare (to disturb).

Definition: a feeling of conscience that keeps a person from doing something wrong.

From the reading: "A ruffled honor,. . .scruples grimed and dull!"

Context: Cyrano says he would never go out with his conscience and his scruples dirty. He cares more for a clean heart than for fine clothes.

KJV: "And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void to offence toward God, and toward men" (Acts 24:16).

Synonyms:

qualm, misgiving, compunction

Antonyms:

shamelessness, recklessness

Root:Latin scrupulus, "a small sharp stone." A scruple troubles the conscience the way a pebble in the shoe troubles a walker.

Definition: strangely or comically ugly or distorted.

From the reading: "He could not be grotesque to me!"

Context: Roxane says she would love Christian even if he were ugly. Cyrano, with his famous nose, hears these words with sudden hope.

KJV link: "...for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart" (1 Samuel 16:7).

Synonyms:

misshapen, hideous, bizarre

Antonyms:

comely, graceful, handsome

Root:Italian grottesca, "cave painting," from grotta, "cave." The word first described the strange, fanciful figures painted on the walls of ancient Roman ruins.