Grade 7 College Vocabulary, Week 22

Definition: To feed and care for something so that it grows strong; to keep a feeling, hope or idea alive in the mind.

From the reading: "...nourished up in his father’s house three months" (the model, Acts 7:20). Stevenson uses sense 2: "...the stoutest heart on board may have nourished a shrewd misgiving as to the result."

KJV: "Pharaoh’s daughter took him up, and nourished him for her own son" (Acts 7:21).

Synonyms:

feed, sustain, foster; (sense 2) harbor, cherish

Antonyms:

starve, neglect, deprive

Root:Latin nutrire, "to feed, nurse." It is also the root of nurse and nutrition.

Definition: To encourage the growth or development of something; to bring up a child who is not one's own.

Context: Pharaoh's daughter fostered the Hebrew baby as her own son. The schools of Egypt then fostered the learning that later made Moses mighty in words and in deeds.

Synonyms:

promote, encourage, cultivate; (sense 2) raise, rear

Antonyms:

stifle, hinder, discourage

Root:Old English fostrian, "to feed, nourish," from foster, "food."

Definition: present from birth; part of a person's nature rather than learned or earned.

Context: The ancient teachers praised chosen virtues above innate gifts. No one chooses his own height or quickness of mind, but every man chooses whether to be just.

KJV link: "I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made" (Psalm 139:14). Our innate gifts are the Creator's work, so we should answer them with thanks, not boasting.

Synonyms:

inborn, inherent, native

Antonyms:

acquired, learned, cultivated

Root:Latin innatus, "inborn," from in- "in" + nasci "to be born."

Definition: a model of excellence; a perfect example of some quality.

Context: An encomium presents its hero as a paragon. An honest writer still praises real virtues without hiding real faults, as Scripture does with David.

Synonyms:

model, ideal, exemplar

Antonyms:

(none exact) disgrace, bad example

Root:Italian paragone, "touchstone" (a dark stone used to test gold), from paragonare, "to compare." Others are compared to a paragon, just as in the comparison head.

Definition: cheerful eagerness and speed in doing something.

From the reading: "And he made his escape from the apartment with unusual alacrity." (Sir Oliver is eager to get away from Dick's questions. His alacrity comes from fear and a troubled conscience, not from zeal.)

KJV link: "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might" (Ecclesiastes 9:10). This is alacrity in a good cause.

Synonyms:

eagerness, readiness, promptness

Antonyms:

reluctance, sluggishness, hesitation

Root:Latin alacritas, from alacer, "lively, brisk."

Definition: firm, stubborn persistence in a purpose or opinion. It can be praise (steady perseverance) or blame (mulish stubbornness).

From the reading: In his dedication, Stevenson thanks his wife for "your unsleeping watchfulness and admirable pertinacity."

Synonyms:

persistence, tenacity, doggedness

Antonyms:

irresolution, fickleness, vacillation

Root:Latin pertinax, "holding on firmly," from per- "thoroughly" + tenax "holding fast" (from tenere, "to hold").

Definition: pressing requests, made again and again until they are granted.

From the reading: "...to be quit of your importunity, I will once more humour you." (Dick has kept pleading for Lawless's life, and the Earl of Risingham finally gives in.)

KJV: "...yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth" (Luke 11:8). Christ commends importunity in prayer.

Synonyms:

insistence, urging, pestering

Antonyms:

reticence, restraint, silence

Root:Latin importunus, "troublesome," literally "without a harbor" (in- "not" + portus "harbor"). Picture a ship that will not lie quiet in port.

Definition: unable to decide what to do; wavering.

From the reading: "But Dick still stood irresolute; he was yet young to the more deplorable necessities of war..."

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

Synonyms:

hesitant, wavering, undecided

Antonyms:

resolute, decisive, firm

Root:Latin in- "not" + resolutus, "settled, decided."

Definition: a person's look, bearing or manner, especially as it shows character or mood.

From the reading: "...a brown-faced, grizzled fellow, heavy of hand and grim of mien..." (Bennet Hatch, Sir Daniel's right-hand man).

Context: In the Lansdowne portrait, Gilbert Stuart gives Washington the calm, commanding mien of a statesman, not of a conqueror.

Synonyms:

bearing, demeanor, air

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:French mine, "facial expression, look." Do not confuse it with mean.

Definition: a bold, showy display of courage meant to impress, often hiding fear or foolishness.

From the reading: "...turned and waved his cap in a bravado, and was out of sight next moment in the margin of the wood."

Synonyms:

bluster, swagger, boastfulness

Antonyms:

modesty, humility, timidity

Root:Spanish bravada, from bravo, "bold, wild."

Definition: a calm, unconcerned manner; the look of not caring or not being troubled.

From the reading: "But, for all that, Ellis pocketed the purse with nonchalance."

Synonyms:

indifference, coolness, unconcern

Antonyms:

anxiety, agitation, eagerness

Root:French non- "not" + chaloir "to be concerned" (from Latin calere, "to be warm"). To be nonchalant is to stay cool.

Definition: rude, ungracious and mean-spirited.

From the reading: "...I were churlish and thankless to desert him." (Dick will not save himself and leave Lawless to hang.)

KJV: "...but the man was churlish and evil in his doings" (1 Samuel 25:3). This is Nabal, who answered David's men with insults.

Synonyms:

boorish, surly, ungracious

Antonyms:

courteous, gracious, civil

Root:Old English ceorl, "a common man, peasant." The word first meant "low-born," then "ill-mannered."

Definition: The defeat of a person or plan; embarrassment and unease (the common modern and test sense).

From the reading: "...but therein lies the nerve of this discomfiture." (Sir Oliver is explaining the root of Sir Daniel's troubles.)

Synonyms:

embarrassment, unease, defeat

Antonyms:

composure, ease, triumph

Root:Old French desconfire, "to defeat," from des- "undo" + confire "to make, prepare." To discomfit is to undo what was prepared.

Definition: to upset someone's calm; to throw someone into confusion.

From the reading: "This noise had plainly disconcerted the murderer, for the trap-door was silently lowered to its place..."

Synonyms:

unsettle, fluster, rattle

Antonyms:

reassure, calm, steady

Root:French déconcerter, from dé- "undo" + concerter "to bring into agreement." To disconcert is to throw out of harmony.

Definition: showing sorrow or regret, often quietly or with a wry smile.

From the reading: "...Dick, as he looked ruefully about him on the remainder of his gallant force, began to count the cost of victory."

KJV link: After he denied his Lord, "Peter went out, and wept bitterly" (Luke 22:62). Rue that turns to God becomes repentance.

Synonyms:

regretful, sorrowful, remorseful

Antonyms:

unrepentant, cheerful, glad

Root:Old English hreowan, "to grieve, repent."

Definition: to soil or stain; most often, to damage someone's good name.

From the reading: "...before all, to be so sorrily besmirched!" (John Matcham, who has lost his way in the forest, looks down at his muddy clothes.)

KJV link: "A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches" (Proverbs 22:1). To besmirch a man's name with a lie is to rob him of something worth more than gold.

Synonyms:

sully, tarnish, defame

Antonyms:

honor, praise, clear

Root:be- (thoroughly) + smirch, "to stain."

Definition: clever and skillful, with the hands or with the mind.

From the reading: "...this adroit and skilful adversary was bent upon drawing him farther and farther away."

Synonyms:

dexterous, skillful, nimble

Antonyms:

clumsy, inept, maladroit

Root:French à droit, "rightly," from Latin directus, "straight." The right hand was thought to be the skillful one.

Definition: (adjective) done too suddenly and without careful thought; (verb) to make something happen suddenly.

From the reading: "Dick stood for a moment, bitterly recognising the fruits of his precipitate and unwise valour."

KJV: "...he that hasteth with his feet sinneth" (Proverbs 19:2).

Synonyms:

rash, hasty, headlong

Antonyms:

deliberate, cautious, considered

Root:Latin praeceps, "headlong," from prae- "before" + caput "head": falling head first.

Definition: restless and impatient and hard to control, especially when held back or kept waiting.

From the reading: "His own men became restive."

Synonyms:

restless, impatient, unruly

Antonyms:

patient, calm, docile

Root:Old French restif, "stubborn, standing still," used of a horse that refuses to go forward. Test trap: restive does not mean "restful."

Definition: a person who deserts a cause, faith or party, often to join the other side.

From the reading: "...a renegade friar, a thief, and all the rest on't." (In a storm at sea, Lawless describes himself honestly.)

KJV link: "For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world" (2 Timothy 4:10).

Synonyms:

deserter, defector, turncoat

Antonyms:

loyalist, adherent, stalwart

Root:Medieval Latin renegatus, from re- "again" + negare "to deny": one who denies what he once held.