Grade 7 College Vocabulary, Week 34

Definition: A distant view, especially one seen through an opening or along a long avenue; a wide range of future possibilities.

From the reading: "The Rat saw possible vistas of information opening up before him." (The Lost Prince)

Synonyms:

view, prospect, panorama

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Italian, sight, view, from vedere, past participle visto, veduto, to see, from Latin videre, visum. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: A member of the nobility or highest social class; a person of rank, breeding and privilege.

From the reading: "A certain street in Munich meant a stout genial old aristocrat with a sly smile; a village in Bavaria, a peasant with a vacant and simple countenance." (The Lost Prince)

Synonyms:

nobleman, patrician, noble

Antonyms:

commoner, peasant, plebeian

Root:Greek aristos, "best," + kratos, "rule": one of the class that claimed to rule because it was best.

Definition: One who secretly plans with others to do something unlawful or harmful; a plotter.

From the reading: "Never surely had there ever before been heard a conspirator's whisper as hollow as his." (The Lost Prince)

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

Synonyms:

plotter, schemer, intriguer

Antonyms:

loyalist, ally

Root:Latin conspirare, "to breathe together," from con- "together" + spirare "to breathe": plotters whispering in one breath.

Definition: The highest point or final result of something that has been building; the climax.

From the reading: "All that could be gathered from any of them was that the opposing armies of Samavia seemed each to have reached the culmination of disaster and exhaustion." (The Lost Prince)

Synonyms:

climax, peak, summit

Antonyms:

beginning, start, nadir

Root:Latin culmen, "summit, ridge of a roof."

Definition: Fond of giving orders and expecting to be obeyed; domineering, like a dictator.

From the reading: "Sometimes, Marco was troubled by the way in which he insisted on serving him, this queer, once dictatorial and cantankerous lad who had begun by throwing stones at him." (The Lost Prince)

Synonyms:

domineering, overbearing, imperious

Antonyms:

humble, submissive, deferential

Root:Latin dictator, from dictare, "to say repeatedly, to dictate": one whose word is law.

Definition: To hold and use a weapon or tool; to have and use power or influence.

From the reading: "They were not merely old masters to him, but men who were great, men who seemed to him to have wielded beautiful swords and held high, splendid lights." (The Lost Prince)

Synonyms:

brandish, handle, exercise

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Old English wieldan, to govern or control: to handle with power.

Definition: The class of farm laborers and small farmers of a country, taken as a whole.

From the reading: "It was an army drawn chiefly from a peasantry which did not love its leaders, or wish to fight, and suffering and brutal treatment had at last roused it to furious revolt." (The Lost Prince)

Synonyms:

country people, rural laborers, common folk

Antonyms:

nobility, aristocracy, gentry

Root:Old French paisant, "countryman," from pais, "country" (Latin pagus, "district").

Definition: Impressive in size, appearance, or manner; dignified.

From the reading: "The king, his father, had always been jealous of him, even when he was only a beautiful, stately child whom the people roared with joy to see as he rode through the streets." (The Lost Prince)

KJV link: "And satest upon a stately bed, and a table prepared before it, whereupon thou hast set mine incense and mine oil." (Ezekiel 23:41)

Synonyms:

majestic, imposing, noble

Antonyms:

undignified, humble

Root:state (Latin status, standing, from stare, to stand) + -ly: having a grand standing; dignified.

Definition: Remarkable, extraordinary; so unusual as to astonish.

From the reading: "The Rat, however, almost kept pace with him, as he had been born with a phenomenal memory and his eagerness and desire were a fury." (The Lost Prince)

Synonyms:

extraordinary, remarkable, prodigious

Antonyms:

ordinary, unremarkable, commonplace

Root:Greek phainomenon, "a thing appearing," from phainein, "to show": something so striking that it is a sight in itself.

Definition: Dark and gloomy, especially from mist or smoke; cloudy, as water with mud.

From the reading: "It was murky and shabby-looking, and full of dreary-faced people." (The Lost Prince)

Synonyms:

cloudy, muddy, gloomy

Antonyms:

clear, bright

Root:Old English mirke, merke, Old English (Anglo-Saxon) myrce, mirce; akin to Icelandic myrkr, Dan. & Sw. mörk. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: To shine faintly with a wavering light.

From the reading: "All the lights were out except the one he saw a glimmer of under the door of his father's room." (The Lost Prince)

Synonyms:

gleam, flicker, twinkle

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Middle English glimeren, akin to glimpse and gleam (of Germanic origin): to shine faintly.

Definition: Existing or occurring under the earth's surface; secret or hidden.

From the reading: "The Forgers of the Sword must be real men, and the hidden subterranean caverns stacked through the centuries with arms must be real, too." (The Lost Prince)

Synonyms:

underground, buried, hidden

Antonyms:

aboveground, open

Root:Latin sub, under + terra, earth: under the earth.

Definition: The common people of a place; the general public as distinct from rulers or nobles.

From the reading: "Marco had stood in continental thoroughfares when visiting emperors rode by with glittering soldiery before and behind them, and a populace shouting courteous welcomes." (The Lost Prince)

KJV link: "And the people gave a shout, saying, It is the voice of a god, and not of a man." (Acts 12:22)

Synonyms:

public, commoners, citizenry

Antonyms:

nobility, elite, rulers

Root:Italian popolaccio, "the common people," from Latin populus, "people."

Definition: Held as if by a magic spell; completely fascinated and unable to look away.

From the reading: "It was a game which attracted him immensely because it called upon his imagination and held his audience spellbound, besides plunging him into war and strategy." (The Lost Prince)

KJV link: "And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him." (Luke 4:20)

Synonyms:

enthralled, captivated, transfixed

Antonyms:

bored, uninterested, distracted

Root:English spell (a charm) + bound, "tied": tied by a charm.

Definition: Absorbed in one's own thoughts so as to be inattentive to other things; already engaged or taken up.

From the reading: "It was disturbing, also, to find that The Rat was all at once as restless as he had previously been silent and preoccupied." (The Lost Prince)

Synonyms:

absorbed, engrossed, distracted

Antonyms:

attentive, alert, unoccupied

Root:Latin praeoccupare, "to seize beforehand," from prae- "before" + occupare "to take possession of": the mind already taken.

Definition: The prevailing fashion or style at a particular time.

From the reading: "The duello with its stately etiquette had not yet come into vogue, but rough and sudden encounters were as common as they must ever be when hot-headed youth goes abroad with a weapon strapped to its waist." (The White Company)

Synonyms:

fashion, trend, style

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:French vogue a rowing, vogue, fashion, Italian voga, from vogare to row, to sail; probably from OHG. wag to move, akin to English way. Cf. Way. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: A statement of the beliefs of a church, such as the Apostles' Creed; any set of guiding beliefs.

From the reading: "Unfortunately, they are still in Hades, I believe, according to your creed, and cannot help you much in your present trouble." (The Scarlet Pimpernel)

Synonyms:

credo, confession of faith, doctrine

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Latin credo, "I believe," the first word of the Apostles' and Nicene Creeds: a statement of belief.

Definition: The beginning or early stages.

From the reading: "Then all proceeded to their allotted places and awaited the onset." (In Freedom's Cause)

Synonyms:

beginning, start, outbreak

Antonyms:

end, close

Root:On + set. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: Very strong, deep or extreme in degree; felt or done with great force.

From the reading: "From the time that I can remember having any thoughts about anything, I recall that I had an intense longing to learn to read." (Booker T. Washington, Up from Slavery, in the lesson)

KJV link: "As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God." (Psalm 42:1)

Synonyms:

fervent, acute, extreme

Antonyms:

mild, faint, moderate

Root:Latin intensus, "stretched tight," from intendere, "to stretch toward."

Definition: Of similar character; related by blood.

From the reading: "He did not look like Marco, but in some extraordinary way he seemed more akin to him." (The Lost Prince)

Synonyms:

related, similar, kindred

Antonyms:

unrelated, unlike

Root:Middle English, of kin.