Grade 7 College Vocabulary, Week 25

Definition: To sum up briefly, giving only the main points; to be a perfect example of something (the common modern and test sense).

From the reading: "...I have chosen rather to epitomize the most celebrated parts of their story, than to insist at large on every particular circumstance of it."

Context (sense 2): Alexander's patience with the frightened horse Bucephalus epitomizes the boldness and good sense that marked his whole youth.

Synonyms:

summarize, condense, abridge; (sense 2) embody, typify, exemplify

Antonyms:

expand, elaborate, amplify

Root:Greek epitome, "a cutting short, an abridgment," from epi- "upon" + temnein "to cut."

Definition: A formal defense or explanation of one's words, actions or beliefs (the older sense, and the one often met in test passages); an expression of regret for a wrong.

From the reading: "...I were to blame if I should not by way of apology forewarn my reader..."

Context: Plutarch is not saying he is sorry. He is explaining and defending his plan before he begins, just as Christian apologetics means a reasoned defense of the faith.

Synonyms:

defense, justification, explanation; (sense 2) regret, acknowledgment

Antonyms:

accusation, charge, indictment

Root:Greek apologia, "a speech in defense," from apo- "away, off" + logos "speech."

Definition: widely known and praised; famous.

From the reading: "...the most celebrated parts of their story..."

Synonyms:

renowned, illustrious, acclaimed

Antonyms:

obscure, unknown, forgotten

Root:Latin celebrare, "to crowd together, to honor," from celeber, "much visited, famous."

Definition: to supply or provide (something needed); also, to put furniture in a room.

From the reading: "And the most glorious exploits do not always furnish us with the clearest discoveries of virtue or vice in men..."

Also in The White Company: "...while these strangers find such fare as pantry and cellar may furnish."

Synonyms:

supply, provide, equip

Antonyms:

withhold, deprive, strip

Root:Old French furnir, "to provide, to complete," from a Germanic word meaning "to carry out, accomplish."

Definition: to show or describe someone or something in words or pictures; to represent in a particular way.

From the reading: "...while I endeavor by these to portray their lives..."

Synonyms:

depict, represent, describe

Antonyms:

misrepresent, distort, conceal

Root:Old French portraire, "to draw, depict," from Latin protrahere, "to draw forth" (pro- "forth" + trahere "to draw").

Definition: Of the highest kind or degree; excellent; in grammar, the form of an adjective that means "most" (greatest, bloodiest).

From the reading: "Plutarch piles up three superlatives for the great deeds so that, when the small deed wins, the reader feels the surprise." (from the lesson's worked example)

Context (sense 1): Sir Nigel was a superlative swordsman, though no stranger would have guessed it from his looks.

Synonyms:

excellent, supreme, matchless, peerless

Antonyms:

mediocre, ordinary, inferior

Root:Latin superlativus, from superlatus, "carried beyond" (super- "above, beyond" + latus "carried").

Definition: not important; of little or no consequence.

Context: Plutarch's "matter of less moment" might seem inconsequential to a historian, yet it can show a man's soul better than a battle. A biographer must learn to tell the truly inconsequential detail from the small detail that reveals everything.

Synonyms:

trivial, insignificant, negligible

Antonyms:

momentous, significant, weighty

Root:Latin in- "not" + consequi, "to follow closely" (con- "with" + sequi "to follow"): having nothing important follow from it.

Definition: Seriousness of manner; dignity; the seriousness or importance of a situation; the force that pulls things toward the earth.

KJV: "In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works: in doctrine shewing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity" (Titus 2:7).

Context: Plutarch writes of sieges and battles with gravity, but he looks for the soul in a jest.

Synonyms:

seriousness, solemnity, dignity; (sense 2) importance, weight

Antonyms:

levity, frivolity, flippancy

Root:Latin gravitas, "weight, seriousness," from gravis, "heavy."

Definition: A covered walkway around a courtyard in a monastery; a monastery or convent, or the quiet life lived there; any place shut off from the busy world.

From the reading: "I have been cloister-bred, and it was no very great matter to handle the brush better than my brother novices." (Alleyne, raised at Beaulieu Abbey)

Synonyms:

monastery, abbey, retreat; (adjective cloistered) sheltered, secluded

Antonyms:

(adjective cloistered) worldly, exposed, public

Root:Latin claustrum, "an enclosure, a bolt," from claudere, "to shut."

Definition: Of water or air, not flowing and therefore stale; showing no activity, growth or change; dull and sluggish.

From the reading: "...they outgrew whole months of the stagnant life of the cloister."

Context: After a single day on the open road, Alleyne's old, quiet round at the abbey seemed stagnant to him, though it had been ordered by prayer and honest work.

Synonyms:

still, standing, stale; (sense 2) sluggish, inactive, static

Antonyms:

flowing, fresh, thriving, dynamic

Root:Latin stagnare, "to form a pool," from stagnum, "a pool of standing water."

Definition: Concerned with the things of this life (money, pleasure, rank) rather than with God; experienced in the ways of the world; sophisticated.

From the reading: "Then you are free to follow a worldly life." (the Abbot to Alleyne, who leaves the abbey before taking vows)

KJV: "Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world" (Titus 2:12).

Context (sense 1 vs. ordinary life): Alleyne learns that one may live in the world, serving a knight faithfully, without becoming worldly at heart.

Synonyms:

earthly, temporal, materialistic; (sense 2) sophisticated, experienced

Antonyms:

spiritual, heavenly, otherworldly; (sense 2) naive, innocent

Root:Old English woruldlic, from woruld, "world" + -lic, "-like."

Definition: proper, dignified behavior; good manners suited to a place or occasion.

From the reading: "In vain Alleyne bethought him of where he was, and of those laws of good breeding and decorum which should restrain him..." (he cannot keep his hands off a beautiful manuscript in the Lorings' hall)

Synonyms:

propriety, etiquette, seemliness

Antonyms:

impropriety, rudeness, indecorum

Root:Latin decorum, "that which is fitting," from decere, "to be fitting." (Related: decent.)

Definition: To give a false idea of; to disguise (tests often check this sense: "her calm face belied her fear"); to show something to be false.

Context: Doyle tells us that Sir Nigel "was a slight man of poor stature, with soft lisping voice and gentle ways." His gentle looks belie the courage of one of the boldest knights in England.

KJV link: "Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature ... for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart" (1 Samuel 16:7).

Synonyms:

misrepresent, disguise, contradict

Antonyms:

reveal, confirm, attest

Root:Old English beleogan, "to deceive by lying," from be- (thoroughly) + leogan "to lie."

Definition: to weaken, damage, or make worse.

From the reading: "...the constant practice of arms, together with a cleanly life, had preserved his activity and endurance unimpaired..." (Sir Nigel at forty-six)

Context: An old wound had impaired Sir Nigel's eyesight, but not his courage.

Synonyms:

weaken, damage, diminish

Antonyms:

strengthen, improve, restore

Root:Old French empeirier, "to make worse," from Latin in- + pejorare, "to make worse," from pejor, "worse."

Definition: having to do with war, soldiers, or fighting; warlike.

From the reading: "The prince smiled at the martial ardor which shone upon every face around him."

Synonyms:

military, warlike, soldierly

Antonyms:

peaceful, civilian, pacific

Root:Latin martialis, "of Mars," the Roman god of war. (The month of March is named for the same god.)

Definition: a group of attendants, servants or followers who travel with an important person.

From the reading: "...the sombre hue of his clothes and the absence of all ornament contrasted with the flash and glitter which had marked the king's retinue."

Synonyms:

entourage, train, escort, attendants

Antonyms:

(none exact) a lone traveler

Root:Old French retenue, "a body of people retained in service," from retenir, "to keep back, retain."

Definition: to rob a place violently, especially in war; (noun) the act of such robbery.

From the reading: "...such a tale of sack and murder and pillage that it moved our blood..." (the Black Prince, angry at free companies that plundered a town)

Synonyms:

plunder, loot, sack, ransack

Antonyms:

protect, safeguard, restore

Root:Old French piller, "to plunder, to tear," perhaps from Latin pilleum, "a rag."

Definition: A whip used for punishment; to whip; a person or thing that causes great suffering or trouble.

From the reading: "...hath been a mighty scourge upon these coasts." (of two pirates feared along the Hampshire shore)

KJV: "But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues" (Matthew 10:17).

Synonyms:

curse, plague, bane; (sense 1) whip, lash

Antonyms:

blessing, boon, godsend

Root:Old French escorgier, "to whip," from Latin ex- + corrigia, "a thong, a whip."

Definition: very thin and bony, especially from hunger, age or suffering; (of a place) bleak and bare.

From the reading: "So gaunt were these poor folk, so worn and spent..." (French country people ruined by years of war)

Synonyms:

haggard, emaciated, skeletal, lean

Antonyms:

plump, robust, well-fed

Root:Middle English gaunt, "lean, haggard"; origin uncertain.

Definition: a person or thing that is a model to be copied; a perfect pattern.

Context: Alleyne sees in Sir Nigel an exemplar of a knight who, in Doyle's words, "did with all his fearless heart whatever came to his hand to do." Plutarch wrote his Lives so that readers might find such exemplars and learn from them.

KJV link: "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might" (Ecclesiastes 9:10). The perfect exemplar is Christ, "leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps" (1 Peter 2:21).

Synonyms:

model, pattern, paragon, archetype

Antonyms:

(none exact) a warning, a cautionary example

Root:Latin exemplar, "a model, a copy," from exemplum, "example," from eximere, "to take out" (a sample taken out to show the rest).