Grade 8 College Vocabulary, Week 11

Definition: a great abundance; a plentiful or even excessive amount of something.

From the reading: "...the fountain which welled out from beneath their shade in sparkling profusion."

Context: Van Eyck's meadow holds a profusion of flowers, painted so exactly that botanists have named the kinds.

Synonyms:

abundance, wealth, plenty

Antonyms:

scarcity, dearth, paucity

Root:Latin profusio, from profundere, "to pour forth" (pro- "forth" + fundere "to pour").

Definition: green, growing plants and grass; the fresh greenness of growing things.

From the reading: "...its refreshing presence was acknowledged by a carpet of velvet verdure."

Context: In the Ghent panel, the saints gather on a meadow of rich verdure around the fountain of life.

Synonyms:

greenery, foliage, vegetation

Antonyms:

barrenness, desert, bleakness

Root:Old French verdure, from verd, "green," from Latin viridis, "green."

Definition: splendid and costly in appearance; lavishly rich.

From the reading: "The pavilion in which these personages were, had, as became the time, as well as the personal character of Richard, more of a warlike than a sumptuous or royal character."

KJV: "There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day" (Luke 16:19).

Synonyms:

opulent, luxurious, magnificent

Antonyms:

plain, austere, humble

Root:Latin sumptuosus, "costly," from sumptus, "expense," from sumere, "to take, spend."

Definition: covered with a thin layer of gold; (figuratively) given a showy outside that may hide something poorer within.

From the reading: "...the embroidered flags and gilded ornaments of which glittered far and wide, and reflected a thousand rich tints against the setting sun."

KJV link: God commanded that the ark be covered in gold: "And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, within and without" (Exodus 25:11).

Synonyms:

gold-plated, golden, gilt

Antonyms:

plain, unadorned, tarnished

Root:Old English gyldan, "to cover with gold," from gold.

Definition: showing strong, forceful feeling; intense and passionate.

From the reading: "Can my fair cousin not forgive her somewhat vehement kinsman Richard?"

KJV: "God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah" (Jonah 4:8).

Synonyms:

fervent, passionate, forceful

Antonyms:

mild, calm, indifferent

Root:Latin vehemens, "violent, eager," perhaps from ve- "lacking" + mens "mind": carried away beyond reason.

Definition: insisting on immediate obedience; allowing no question or refusal.

From the reading: "Thou art a rough and peremptory nurse, De Vaux" (the sick King Richard, smiling at his faithful baron).

Synonyms:

imperative, commanding, dictatorial

Antonyms:

tentative, deferential, hesitant

Root:Latin peremptorius, "deadly, decisive," from perimere, "to take away entirely, destroy" (per- + emere "to take"): a word that ends all debate.

Definition: to do something one considers beneath one's dignity; to condescend.

From the reading: "...so obey or refuse her commands who hath deigned to impose them on thee."

Synonyms:

condescend, stoop, lower oneself

Antonyms:

refuse, disdain, scorn

Root:Old French deignier, from Latin dignari, "to deem worthy," from dignus, "worthy."

Definition: treatment that insults a person's honor or self-respect; a humiliating insult.

From the reading: "I appeal to you and every sovereign prince against the foul indignity which I have sustained." (the Archduke of Austria, after Richard tears down his banner)

Synonyms:

insult, humiliation, affront

Antonyms:

honor, respect, compliment

Root:Latin indignitas, "unworthiness," from in- "not" + dignus "worthy."

Definition: disagreement and strife between people; (in music) a harsh mingling of sounds.

From the reading: "...such speeches are but too current already among the common soldiery, and engender discord and contention in the Christian host."

KJV: Among the things the Lord hates is "he that soweth discord among brethren" (Proverbs 6:19).

Synonyms:

strife, dissension, conflict

Antonyms:

harmony, concord, agreement

Root:Latin discordia, from dis- "apart" + cor, cordis "heart": hearts pulled apart.

Definition: so opposed that agreement or friendship cannot be restored.

From the reading: "...it may be possible to put some open rupture betwixt the Frenchman--at least the Austrian--and his allies of England, so that the breach shall be irreconcilable." (Conrade of Montserrat, plotting against Richard)

Synonyms:

incompatible, opposed, unbridgeable

Antonyms:

compatible, reconcilable, harmonious

Root:ir- "not" + reconcile, from Latin reconciliare, "to bring together again" (re- + conciliare).

Definition: a person sent on a special mission to represent another, often to deliver a message or to negotiate.

From the reading: "The Archbishop of Tyre was an emissary well chosen to communicate to Richard tidings, which from another voice the lion-hearted King would not have brooked to hear..."

KJV link: Paul calls the apostles emissaries of the King of kings: "Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us" (2 Corinthians 5:20).

Synonyms:

envoy, ambassador, delegate

Antonyms:

(none exact) principal, sender

Root:Latin emissarius, "scout, messenger," from emittere, "to send out" (e- "out" + mittere "to send").

Definition: a person with the authority to judge and settle a dispute; one whose judgment is final.

From the reading: "Since my rank makes me arbiter in this most unhappy matter" (Philip of France, setting the day of combat).

KJV link: Job longs for an arbiter between himself and God: "Neither is there any daysman betwixt us, that might lay his hand upon us both" (Job 9:33). Christians see that longing answered in Christ, the one Mediator.

Synonyms:

judge, umpire, mediator

Antonyms:

partisan, litigant

Root:Latin arbiter, "judge, witness," probably ad- "to" + baetere "to go": one who comes to look on.

Definition: a disease or illness; (figuratively) any serious problem or disorder.

From the reading: "...sleep, and awaken free from malady." (the physician, giving his draught to the sick King Richard)

Synonyms:

ailment, illness, affliction

Antonyms:

health, vigor, soundness

Root:Old French maladie, from malade, "sick," from Latin male habitus, "in poor condition."

Definition: a state of sluggishness, drowsiness, or lack of energy and interest.

From the reading: "It is a cold palsy, a dead lethargy, a disease that deprives them of speech and action" (Richard, on the other princes of the Crusade).

KJV: "Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep; and an idle soul shall suffer hunger" (Proverbs 19:15).

Synonyms:

sluggishness, listlessness, inertia

Antonyms:

energy, vigor, zeal

Root:Greek lethargia, from lethe, "forgetfulness," + argos, "idle."

Definition: extremely thin and wasted, especially from hunger, illness, or fasting.

From the reading: "...his features, emaciated as they were by his austere mode of life..." (the hermit of Engaddi)

Synonyms:

gaunt, haggard, skeletal

Antonyms:

plump, robust, well-fed

Root:Latin emaciare, "to make thin," from e- (thoroughly) + macies, "leanness."

Definition: with one's true identity hidden; in disguise.

From the reading: "...forbade them to seem to notice a sovereign who desired to remain incognito." (Richard, walking through Saladin's camp)

Synonyms:

disguised, unrecognized, anonymous

Antonyms:

openly, undisguised, recognized

Root:Italian incognito, from Latin incognitus, "unknown" (in- "not" + cognoscere "to know").

Definition: to explain the meaning of something; to understand a thing in a particular way.

From the reading: "A sentence anyone could check just by looking is" an I-see sentence; "A sentence that explains or interprets is" an I-think sentence. A good ecphrasis keeps the two apart.

KJV: "And Joseph said unto them, Do not interpretations belong to God?" (Genesis 40:8).

Synonyms:

explain, construe, expound

Antonyms:

misread, misconstrue, obscure

Root:Latin interpretari, "to explain," from interpres, "a go-between, explainer."

Definition: the way the parts of a work of art or writing are arranged into a whole; (also) a piece of writing or music.

From the reading: "The way a painter arranges the parts of a picture: what is in the center, what lines lead the eye, what balances what."

Context: In van Eyck's composition, the Lamb stands at the exact center, and the four crowds lead the eye toward Him.

Synonyms:

arrangement, design, structure

Antonyms:

disorder, jumble, chaos

Root:Latin compositio, from componere, "to put together" (com- "together" + ponere "to place").

Definition: a feeling of intense joy or delight that carries one away.

From the reading: "He had never even heard the sound of his lady's voice, though he had often beheld her beauty with rapture."

Context: The angels around van Eyck's altar kneel as if in rapture before the Lamb.

Synonyms:

ecstasy, bliss, delight

Antonyms:

misery, sorrow, despair

Root:Medieval Latin raptura, "a seizing," from rapere, "to seize, carry off."

Definition: a state of being lost in pleasant, dreamy thought; a daydream.

From the reading: "...awaken him from his reverie, by thrusting his large rough snout into the knight's gauntleted hand..." (Sir Kenneth's hound Roswal)

Synonyms:

daydream, musing, trance

Antonyms:

alertness, attention, wakefulness

Root:French rêverie, from rêver, "to dream."