Grade 7 College Vocabulary, Week 26

Definition: the separate small facts or details of a matter.

From the reading: "The notes one of my uncles (who had the same kind of curiosity in collecting family anecdotes) once put into my hands, furnished me with several particulars relating to our ancestors."

Synonyms:

details, facts, specifics

Antonyms:

generalities, the gist, the whole

Root:Latin particularis, "of a small part," from particula, "a little part," from pars, "part."

Definition: a strong wish to know or learn something; (also) a rare or strange object.

From the reading: "The notes one of my uncles (who had the same kind of curiosity in collecting family anecdotes) once put into my hands..."

Synonyms:

inquisitiveness, interest, thirst for knowledge

Antonyms:

indifference, apathy, unconcern

Root:Latin curiositas, from curiosus, "careful, eager to know," from cura, "care."

Definition: a practice handed down and followed for a long time by a family, people or place.

From the reading: "...the eldest son being always bred to that business; a custom which he and my father followed as to their eldest sons."

Synonyms:

tradition, practice, usage

Antonyms:

novelty, innovation, departure

Root:Old French custume, from Latin consuetudo, "habit," from consuescere, "to grow used to."

Definition: to lead, carry out or manage something, such as an interview, a meeting or an experiment.

From the reading: "Conduct a respectful interview with a grandparent or older relative, taking careful notes and marking exact words." (lesson objective)

Synonyms:

carry out, direct, manage

Antonyms:

neglect, abandon, mishandle

Root:Latin conducere, "to lead together," from con- (together) + ducere (to lead).

Definition: one's family and relatives; (as an adjective) related or alike in nature.

KJV: "Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee" (Genesis 12:1).

Context: When Abram obeyed, he left his kindred behind, but God's promise went with him to every generation after.

Synonyms:

relatives, kin, family

Antonyms:

strangers, outsiders, foreigners

Root:Old English cynn, "family, race" + -red, "condition": the state of being kin.

Definition: an ancestor from whom a family or people descends; (also) the founder or first source of something.

KJV: "The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills" (Genesis 49:26).

Context: Franklin's uncle traced the family's progenitors back three hundred years in the village of Ecton.

Synonyms:

forefather, ancestor, founder

Antonyms:

descendant, offspring, heir

Root:Latin progenitor, from pro- (forth) + gignere (to beget).

Definition: the father and ruler of a family or tribe; (also) an old and honored man who leads a family or group.

KJV: "Now consider how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils" (Hebrews 7:4).

Context: At the Thanksgiving table, Great-grandpa sat at the head as the patriarch of five generations and asked the blessing.

Synonyms:

forefather, elder, head of the family

Antonyms:

descendant, youngster

Root:Greek patriarches, from patria (family, clan) + archein (to rule).

Definition: long life; (also) the long lasting of anything.

Context (KJV idea): "With the ancient is wisdom; and in length of days understanding" (Job 12:12). Longevity is "length of days," and Scripture says wisdom comes with it.

Synonyms:

long life, durability, endurance

Antonyms:

brevity, transience, short life

Root:Latin longaevitas, from longus (long) + aevum (age, lifetime).

Definition: a story or memory of past experiences, told aloud or written down; (also) the act of remembering.

From the reading: "The pious Alleyne was deeply shocked by this reminiscence." (Alleyne has just heard an old archer's story of the Company's wild days.)

Synonyms:

memory, recollection, remembrance

Antonyms:

forgetfulness, oblivion

Root:Latin reminisci, "to remember," from re- (again) + mens, mentis (mind).

Definition: completely absorbed; so held by something that one notices nothing else.

From the reading: "...and he would have a rapt listener with flushed cheeks and eloquent eyes, who could repeat after him the very words which had fallen from his lips."

Synonyms:

absorbed, spellbound, engrossed

Antonyms:

distracted, inattentive, bored

Root:Latin raptus, "seized, carried away," from rapere, "to seize." A rapt listener has been carried away by the story.

Definition: showing deep respect, especially toward God or holy things.

From the reading: "He of the fur mantle has a wise and reverent face."

Synonyms:

respectful, devout, worshipful

Antonyms:

irreverent, disrespectful, flippant

Root:Latin reverens, from revereri, "to stand in awe of" (re- + vereri, "to fear, respect").

Definition: faithful in worship and duty to God; (also) dutiful toward one's parents and family. (Watch for the test sense "falsely pious," meaning showy or self-righteous.)

From the reading: "...for I had them from that pious Christian and valiant knight, Sir John de Mandeville..." (A monk is boasting about wonders told him by a famous traveler whose tales were not all true. Being pious does not make a source accurate, so check your facts!)

KJV link: Children are told to "learn first to shew piety at home, and to requite their parents: for that is good and acceptable before God" (1 Timothy 5:4).

Synonyms:

devout, godly, dutiful

Antonyms:

impious, irreverent, ungodly

Root:Latin pius, "dutiful," toward the gods, one's country and one's parents alike.

Definition: having gray or gray-streaked hair; (by extension) old and toughened by experience.

From the reading: "Here and there in the ranks were old soldiers of the French wars, grizzled and lean, with fierce, puckered features and shaggy, bristling brows."

Synonyms:

gray-haired, grizzly, hoary

Antonyms:

youthful, fresh-faced

Root:Old French grisel, from gris, "gray."

Definition: belonging to an earlier time; past.

From the reading: "Often in bygone wars had the Moors tempted the hot-blooded Spaniards from their places of strength by such pretended flights..."

Synonyms:

former, past, olden

Antonyms:

present, current, future

Root:English by (past) + gone: gone by.

Definition: unusual; not according to custom or habit. (Do not confuse with unwanted.)

From the reading: "...Alleyne Edricson, footsore and weary from the unwonted exercise, found himself in front of the forest inn..." Also: "For six years her sons had chafed under an unwonted peace."

Synonyms:

unusual, uncommon, unaccustomed

Antonyms:

customary, usual, habitual

Root:un- (not) + wont, "accustomed," from Old English wunian, "to dwell, be used to."

Definition: sober, settled and serious in manner; not given to excitement or change.

From the reading: In the archers' song: "The franklin's maid she bides at home, / But she is cold and coy and staid..." (A franklin was a free landowner of the Middle Ages. Franklin's model says the family name was once "the name of an order of people.")

Synonyms:

sedate, sober, steady

Antonyms:

flighty, frivolous, giddy

Root:an old past participle of stay: fixed, steady, "stayed" in place.

Definition: to draw out a reply, a fact or a feeling, especially by asking questions.

Context: A patient follow-up question ("What did your mother say?") will often elicit the best story of the whole interview.

Synonyms:

draw out, evoke, extract

Antonyms:

suppress, stifle, withhold

Root:Latin elicere, "to draw out," from e- (out) + lacere (to entice).

Definition: a question, especially one that asks for information or expresses a doubt; to ask such a question.

Context: Mark each doubtful date in your notes with a small question mark as a query to check with another relative.

KJV link: Job's friend urged him to ask the old ones: "For enquire, I pray thee, of the former age, and prepare thyself to the search of their fathers" (Job 8:8).

Synonyms:

question, inquiry; (verb) ask, question

Antonyms:

answer, reply, response

Root:Latin quaere, "ask!", from quaerere, "to seek, ask."

Definition: in exactly the same words; word for word.

Context: When Grandma said something memorable, the student wrote it down verbatim and put it in quotation marks.

Synonyms:

word for word, exactly, literally

Antonyms:

paraphrased, loosely, in summary

Root:Medieval Latin verbatim, from Latin verbum, "word."

Definition: to make something last or continue for a long time; to keep it from dying out.

Context: By writing down his uncle's notes, Franklin helped perpetuate the memory of a family of village smiths.

Synonyms:

preserve, continue, sustain

Antonyms:

end, abandon, let lapse

Root:Latin perpetuare, from perpetuus, "continuous," from per- (through) + petere (to seek, go toward).