Grade 8 College Vocabulary, Week 10

Definition: to make dirty or impure; to spoil something clean or holy.

From the reading: "...fog down the river, where it rolls defiled among the tiers of shipping and the waterside pollutions of a great (and dirty) city."

KJV: "Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man" (Matthew 15:11).

Synonyms:

pollute, taint, sully

Antonyms:

purify, cleanse, sanctify

Root:Old French defouler, "to trample down," mixed with Old English fylan, "to make foul."

Definition: lower; lying beneath or below.

From the reading: "Chance people on the bridges peeping over the parapets into a nether sky of fog..."

Synonyms:

lower, under, bottom

Antonyms:

upper, higher, uppermost

Root:Old English neothera, "lower," from nither, "down."

Definition: spreading through every part of something.

From the reading: "Fog everywhere." Dickens's first two words show that the fog is pervasive: it spreads up the river, down the river, onto the ships and into the throats of old men.

Synonyms:

widespread, prevalent, all-encompassing

Antonyms:

rare, limited, isolated

Root:Latin pervadere, "to go through," from per- (through) + vadere (to go).

Definition: most important, strongest, or most noticeable; ruling over the rest.

From the reading: In this lesson the dominant impression is "The one main effect a description leaves: gloom, peace, bustle, cold. Every detail should serve it."

Synonyms:

chief, prevailing, predominant

Antonyms:

minor, secondary, subordinate

Root:Latin dominari, "to rule," from dominus, "lord, master."

Definition: liveliness; bright, spirited energy.

From the reading: Faraday says of a large flame that "we have a vivacity and power about it, a beauty and a life entirely different from the light presented by a candle."

Synonyms:

liveliness, animation, verve

Antonyms:

dullness, lethargy, listlessness

Root:Latin vivax, vivacis, "lively," from vivere, "to live." Related to vivid.

Definition: of the same kind or nature throughout; uniform.

From the reading: "If I take a flame sufficiently large, it does not keep that homogeneous, that uniform condition of shape, but it breaks out with a power of life which is quite wonderful."

Synonyms:

uniform, consistent, alike

Antonyms:

heterogeneous, varied, mixed

Root:Greek homos (same) + genos (kind, race).

Definition: to gather or pile up little by little.

From the reading: Faraday, weighing air: "It is wonderful how it accumulates when you come to larger volumes."

Synonyms:

amass, collect, gather

Antonyms:

disperse, scatter, dissipate

Root:Latin accumulare, from ad- (to) + cumulus (a heap).

Definition: to weigh down or hinder; to burden with something that slows movement.

From the reading: "...the hydrogen would go up like a balloon, or even faster than a balloon, when not encumbered with the weight of the envelope."

Synonyms:

burden, hamper, impede

Antonyms:

free, unburden, relieve

Root:Old French encombrer, "to block up," from combre, "a barrier."

Definition: a natural attraction or liking; a close likeness or connection. In chemistry, the attraction that makes substances combine.

From the reading: "...it is a beautiful instance of chemical affinity."

KJV: "And Solomon made affinity with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh's daughter" (1 Kings 3:1). Here affinity means a tie by marriage.

Synonyms:

attraction, kinship, rapport

Antonyms:

aversion, antipathy, repulsion

Root:Latin affinitas, "relation by marriage," from ad- (to) + finis (border): sharing a border with someone.

Definition: Useful in serving another purpose (Faraday's older sense); too eager to obey; servile (the common modern and test sense).

From the reading: "...they all move about to produce the one great work of making the animal and vegetable kingdoms subservient to each other."

Context (sense 2): A good scientist is not subservient to fashion. He follows the evidence.

Synonyms:

(sense 2) submissive, obsequious, compliant

Antonyms:

(sense 2) independent, assertive, defiant

Root:Latin subservire, from sub- (under) + servire (to serve).

Definition: tending to bring about or help produce a result.

From the reading: Faraday uses the verb: "...all Nature being tied together by the laws that make one part conduce to the good of another."

Synonyms:

helpful, favorable, contributory

Antonyms:

detrimental, harmful, unfavorable

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

Definition: causing harm or damage.

From the reading: "Wonderful is it to find that the change produced by respiration, which seems so injurious to us (for we cannot breathe air twice over), is the very life and support of plants and vegetables that grow upon the surface of the earth."

KJV: Paul says he "was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy" (1 Timothy 1:13).

Synonyms:

harmful, damaging, detrimental

Antonyms:

beneficial, wholesome, conducive

Root:Latin injuria, "a wrong," from in- (not) + jus, juris (right).

Definition: to lessen or grow less in strength or amount; to die down.

KJV: "...and after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated" (Genesis 8:3).

Context: In this lesson's Scripture, God's promise of the seasons comes after the Flood has abated (Genesis 8:22).

Synonyms:

subside, diminish, ebb

Antonyms:

intensify, increase, swell

Root:Old French abattre, "to beat down," from Latin ad- + battuere (to beat).

Definition: a scarcity or lack of something; (in older English) a famine.

KJV: "And the seven years of dearth began to come, according as Joseph had said: and the dearth was in all lands" (Genesis 41:54).

Synonyms:

scarcity, shortage, paucity

Antonyms:

abundance, plenty, surplus

Root:Middle English derthe, from dear (costly) + -th: a time when food is dear.

Definition: lasting forever, or continuing without stopping.

KJV: "This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations" (Genesis 9:12).

Synonyms:

everlasting, unceasing, constant

Antonyms:

temporary, fleeting, transient

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

Definition: many and of many different kinds.

KJV: "O LORD, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches" (Psalm 104:24).

Context: Faraday found the manifold laws of nature at work in one small candle flame.

Synonyms:

numerous, diverse, multifarious

Antonyms:

single, few, uniform

Root:Old English manigfeald, "many-fold."

Definition: the position from which something is seen; (also) a point of view or way of judging a question.

From the reading: "The place from which the describer looks. A clear standpoint keeps the reader from getting lost."

Synonyms:

vantage point, viewpoint, perspective

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:a translation of German Standpunkt, "standing point."

Definition: cold, bare, and gloomy; (also) offering little hope.

From the reading: "Every detail in Dickens’s paragraph serves one effect: gloom and confusion." The novel's title, Bleak House, names that same dominant impression.

Synonyms:

dreary, desolate, grim

Antonyms:

cheerful, inviting, hopeful

Root:Old English blac and Old Norse bleikr, "pale." A bleak landscape is pale and drained of color.

Definition: surrounded by enemies or troubles; under constant pressure.

From the reading: The lesson's "before" for the Battle of Trenton: "the crossing of the icy Delaware on Christmas night, 1776, in sleet and snow; the march through the dark; the surprise at dawn." Washington's beleaguered army turned the tide that morning.

Synonyms:

besieged, harassed, embattled

Antonyms:

secure, unthreatened, relieved

Root:Dutch belegeren, "to besiege," from be- (around) + leger (a camp): to set up camp all around a town.

Definition: to discourage or prevent someone from acting, often through fear or doubt.

From the reading: Faraday says that knowing his words will be printed "shall not deter me from speaking in the same familiar way to those whom I esteem nearest to me on this occasion."

Synonyms:

discourage, dissuade, hinder

Antonyms:

encourage, prompt, spur

Root:Latin deterrere, from de- (away) + terrere (to frighten).