Grade 8 College Vocabulary, Week 2

Definition: to credit something to a person or cause; to regard a quality, deed or work as belonging to someone.

From the reading: "They have ascribed unto David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed but thousands"

KJV link: "Ascribe ye strength unto God: his excellency is over Israel" (Psalm 68:34).

Synonyms:

attribute, credit, assign

Antonyms:

deny, withhold, disclaim

Root:Latin ascribere, "to add in writing," from ad- (to) + scribere (to write).

Definition: to go beyond; to be greater, better or stronger than.

From the reading: "Plutarch often ends by saying that each man surpassed the other in something."

Synonyms:

exceed, outdo, excel

Antonyms:

trail, fall short of, lag behind

Root:French surpasser, from sur- (over) + passer (to pass).

Definition: To block the light of one heavenly body with another; to overshadow or outshine someone, so that he seems less important.

Context: After the victory over Goliath, the young harper began to eclipse the king in the people's songs, and Saul could not bear it.

Synonyms:

overshadow, outshine, dwarf

Antonyms:

trail, lag behind, be overshadowed by

Root:Greek ekleipsis, "a failing, a leaving out," from ek- (out) + leipein (to leave).

Definition: likely to stir up envy, resentment or ill will, especially by being unfair. An invidious comparison ranks one person above another in a way that wounds.

Context: The women's song was an invidious comparison: it praised both men, but it set the young man above the king.

KJV link: Solomon saw this danger long ago: "every right work, that for this a man is envied of his neighbour" (Ecclesiastes 4:4).

Synonyms:

offensive, resentful, unfair

Antonyms:

fair, inoffensive, gracious

Root:Latin invidiosus, "full of envy," from invidia, "envy."

Definition: to resent someone for having something; to give something unwillingly.

Context: Saul began to begrudge David every cheer, though David had fought the king's own battle.

Synonyms:

resent, envy, grudge

Antonyms:

welcome, celebrate, give freely

Root:be- (thoroughly) + Middle English grucchen, "to grumble, complain."

Definition: bitter, deep-seated ill will that lasts a long time.

Context: Saul's rancor did not cool with time; it grew until he hurled his spear at the harper.

KJV link: "Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand before envy?" (Proverbs 27:4).

Synonyms:

bitterness, spite, animosity

Antonyms:

goodwill, friendliness, charity

Root:Latin rancor, "rankness, a rancid smell," from rancere, "to stink."

Definition: the desire to harm another person; ill will that intends evil.

Context: Jonathan saw that his father's plans against David came from malice, not from any wrong David had done.

KJV: "Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, all evil speakings" (1 Peter 2:1).

Synonyms:

spite, hatred, malevolence

Antonyms:

kindness, benevolence, goodwill

Root:Latin malitia, "badness," from malus, "bad."

Definition: proud boasting; too much pride in one's own deeds and a hunger to be praised above others.

Context: Using comparison to puff ourselves up turns a good tool into a means of vainglory.

KJV: "Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves" (Philippians 2:3).

Synonyms:

conceit, boastfulness, vanity

Antonyms:

humility, modesty, lowliness

Root:Latin vana gloria, "empty glory," from vanus (empty) + gloria (fame).

Definition: a decision or judgment reached after weighing the evidence, especially by a jury.

From the reading: "When two persons are near in rank, the writer must work hardest, because the reader will not accept an easy verdict."

Synonyms:

judgment, ruling, conclusion

Antonyms:

indecision, uncertainty

Root:Latin vere dictum, "truly said," from verus (true) + dicere (to say).

Definition: treating all sides equally; not favoring one person over another.

Context: An impartial writer measures both men by the same points, even where his favorite falls short.

KJV: "full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy" (James 3:17).

Synonyms:

fair, unbiased, evenhanded

Antonyms:

biased, partisan, prejudiced

Root:Latin in- (not) + pars, partis (part, side): not taking a side.

Definition: to make a person or deed seem small or unimportant; to speak of someone as less than he is.

From the reading: "Moses is not belittled. He is great, and that is exactly why the comparison honors Christ."

Synonyms:

disparage, diminish, deprecate

Antonyms:

praise, magnify, extol

Root:English be- (to make) + little. An American coinage, first recorded in the writings of Thomas Jefferson.

Definition: standing above all others in rank, worth or excellence.

Context: Hebrews honors Moses as a faithful servant, yet shows that Christ is preeminent, as the builder stands above the house.

KJV: "that in all things he might have the preeminence" (Colossians 1:18).

Synonyms:

supreme, foremost, outstanding

Antonyms:

inferior, lesser, minor

Root:Latin praeeminere, "to rise above," from prae- (before) + eminere (to stand out).

Definition: skilled at finding quick, clever ways to solve problems with whatever is at hand.

Context: Nate Saint was a resourceful engineer: he worked out a way to lower a bucket on a long spiraling line from a circling plane to people on the ground.

Synonyms:

inventive, enterprising, clever

Antonyms:

helpless, unimaginative, inept

Root:French ressource, from Latin resurgere, "to rise again."

Definition: not secure; dangerously likely to fall, fail or collapse.

Context: Landing a small plane on a short jungle strip, or on a river sandbar, was precarious work that left no room for a careless mistake.

Synonyms:

risky, unstable, perilous

Antonyms:

secure, safe, stable

Root:Latin precarius, "obtained by prayer," from prex, precis (prayer): held only by another's favor, and so uncertain.

Definition: modest; keeping oneself in the background and not seeking attention or praise.

Context: A self-effacing man, Nate Saint counted his flying as service, glad when missionaries got their supplies whether anyone noticed the pilot or not.

Synonyms:

modest, humble, unassuming

Antonyms:

boastful, vainglorious, conceited

Root:self + French effacer, "to rub out," from ex- (out) + facies (face).

Definition: impossible to defeat or discourage; unconquerable in spirit.

Context: A crash left him badly hurt, yet his indomitable spirit brought him back to the cockpit to keep serving the mission stations.

Synonyms:

unconquerable, unyielding, invincible

Antonyms:

feeble, yielding, defeatable

Root:Latin in- (not) + domitare (to tame): not able to be tamed.

Definition: to praise highly and with enthusiasm.

Context: A lesser-with-greater comparison can extol a hero by setting him beside one already admired.

KJV: "I will extol thee, O LORD; for thou hast lifted me up" (Psalm 30:1).

Synonyms:

praise, laud, exalt

Antonyms:

belittle, disparage, criticize

Root:Latin extollere, "to lift up," from ex- (up, out) + tollere (to raise).

Definition: To raise in rank, power or honor; to praise highly.

Context: The women's song meant to exalt the victory, but Saul heard only that David was ranked higher.

KJV: "O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together" (Psalm 34:3).

Synonyms:

elevate, glorify, honor

Antonyms:

abase, humble, degrade

Root:Latin exaltare, "to raise up," from ex- (up) + altus (high).

Definition: to lower in rank, honor or esteem; to humble.

Context: Saul feared that the people's song would abase him before his own kingdom.

KJV: "For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted" (Luke 14:11).

Synonyms:

humble, demean, degrade

Antonyms:

exalt, elevate, honor

Root:Old French abaissier, "to lower," from Late Latin bassus (low).

Definition: (noun) respect and high regard; (verb) to value highly, or to consider someone to be something.

Context: A fair comparison may hold both men in high esteem and still say where each one excels.

KJV: "He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not" (Isaiah 53:3).

Synonyms:

respect, regard, admiration

Antonyms:

contempt, disdain, scorn

Root:Latin aestimare, "to value, appraise," the same root as estimate.