Grade 8 College Vocabulary, Week 19

Definition: to fill someone with so much fear or awe that he cannot act or resist; to subdue by awe.

From the reading: "Thou, who art victory and law / When empty terrors overawe;"

Synonyms:

daunt, intimidate, cow

Antonyms:

embolden, hearten, reassure

Root:over- + awe, from Old Norse agi, "terror." To be overawed is to be overcome by awe.

Definition: bitter conflict or quarreling; a struggle between people or within a person.

From the reading: "And calm'st the weary strife of frail humanity!"

KJV: "A wrathful man stirreth up strife: but he that is slow to anger appeaseth strife" (Proverbs 15:18).

Synonyms:

conflict, discord, contention

Antonyms:

harmony, peace, concord

Root:Old French estrif, "quarrel, contest"; related to the verb strive.

Definition: to make a mistake; to go astray from what is right or true.

From the reading: "Who art a light to guide, a rod / To check the erring, and reprove;"

KJV: "Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God" (Matthew 22:29).

Synonyms:

stray, blunder, go wrong

Antonyms:

be correct, keep to the path

Root:Latin errare, "to wander, stray." The one who errs has wandered off the road.

Definition: a teaching or set of teachings held to be true, especially by a church or a school of thought.

From the reading: "Wordsworth later explained that his lines about the soul living before birth were a poet’s image, not a doctrine he meant to teach..."

KJV: "For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law" (Proverbs 4:2).

Synonyms:

teaching, tenet, creed

Antonyms:

(none exact) speculation, fancy

Root:Latin doctrina, "teaching," from docere, "to teach" (as in doctor, "teacher," and docile, "teachable").

Definition: having to do with a son or daughter, especially a child's duty and honor toward parents.

From the reading: "...all your effects to your nearest of kin; filial and fraternal duty thoroughly exemplified..." (said of John's will)

KJV: "Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee" (Exodus 20:12).

Synonyms:

dutiful, devoted (as a child to a parent)

Antonyms:

undutiful, unfilial, disobedient

Root:Latin filius, "son," and filia, "daughter."

Definition: the inner sense of right and wrong that approves good conduct and accuses wrongdoing.

From the reading: "...his duty to his family, and the strong power of his conscience, so totally forbade him to come up and see after me."

KJV: "And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void to offence toward God, and toward men" (Acts 24:16).

Synonyms:

moral sense, scruples, principles

Antonyms:

shamelessness, unscrupulousness

Root:Latin conscientia, from con- (with) + scire (to know): to know within oneself what one has done.

Definition: something done or given to make up for a wrong or an injury.

From the reading: "...if the Doones, upon fair challenge, would not endeavour to make amends by giving up Mistress Margery..."

KJV: "And he shall make amends for the harm that he hath done in the holy thing" (Leviticus 5:16).

Synonyms:

restitution, reparation, compensation

Antonyms:

injury, offense, further wrong

Root:Old French amendes, "fines, penalties," from amender, "to correct," from Latin emendare, "to free from fault."

Definition: the quality of being proper and fitting; keeping to good manners and right behavior.

From the reading: "...presuming that Master Odam could by any means be persuaded to keep her company in the cart, as propriety demanded."

KJV: "Let all things be done decently and in order" (1 Corinthians 14:40).

Synonyms:

decorum, seemliness, fitness

Antonyms:

impropriety, indecorum, rudeness

Root:Latin proprietas, "a thing's own quality," from proprius, "one's own." What is proper fits its owner and its place.

Definition: the violent seizing of other people's property; plunder.

From the reading: "...even an honest man may use his staff unjustly in this unchartered age of violence and rapine." John, telling the story, answers: "The Doones to talk of rapine!"

Context: The irony is sharp. Sir Ensor, the chief of a robber clan, lectures a widow about lawless times when his own clan is the cause of them.

Synonyms:

plunder, pillage, looting

Antonyms:

restitution, protection, honest dealing

Root:Latin rapina, "plunder," from rapere, "to seize" (as in rapacious and rapt).

Definition: scornful, insulting treatment or language; haughty contempt.

From the reading: "Not with any spoken scorn, nor flash of strong contumely; but with that air of thinking little, and praying not to be troubled..."

KJV link: The psalmist knew contumely well: "Our soul is exceedingly filled with the scorning of those that are at ease, and with the contempt of the proud" (Psalm 123:4).

Synonyms:

insolence, scorn, disdain

Antonyms:

respect, courtesy, deference

Root:Latin contumelia, "insult, reproach," probably related to tumere, "to swell" (a swelling of pride).

Definition: rough and ill-mannered; coarse and careless of other people's feelings.

From the reading: "...only the waves for company, and a boorish husband who slaved all day in turning a potter's wheel at Watchett."

Synonyms:

churlish, uncouth, loutish

Antonyms:

refined, courteous, gracious

Root:Dutch boer, "farmer, peasant." A boor first meant only a countryman; later the word came to mean someone with rough manners.

Definition: boldness and daring; firm courage in the face of danger (sometimes, bold rashness).

From the reading: "I laughed, for I knew his cool hardihood, and never-flinching courage..."

KJV link: Moses charged Israel to have a holy hardihood: "Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them" (Deuteronomy 31:6).

Synonyms:

boldness, daring, fortitude

Antonyms:

timidity, cowardice, faintheartedness

Root:hardy (from Old French hardi, "bold," from a Frankish word meaning "to make hard") + -hood, "state or quality."

Definition: a bow, curtsy, or other gesture of respect; deep respect or homage.

From the reading: "Therefore I made a low obeisance, and tried not to shiver." (John, before the dying Sir Ensor Doone)

KJV: "...and, behold, your sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf" (Genesis 37:7).

Synonyms:

bow, reverence, deference

Antonyms:

disrespect, insolence, contempt

Root:Old French obeissance, "obedience," from obeir, "to obey," from Latin oboedire.

Definition: to win someone's favor on purpose, often by flattery or eagerness to please.

From the reading: "Therefore I addressed myself to the Colonel, in a most ingratiating manner; begging him not to sully the glory of his victory..."

KJV link: Scripture warns against winning favor by false praise: "A man that flattereth his neighbour spreadeth a net for his feet" (Proverbs 29:5).

Synonyms:

curry favor, fawn, flatter

Antonyms:

alienate, offend, antagonize

Root:Latin in gratiam, "into favor," from gratia, "grace, favor."

Definition: fond of joking; said or done in a joking way.

From the reading: "...he smiled again in a jocular manner..." (the fearsome Lord Justice, who has just frightened John)

Context: A jocular smile from a harsh judge brings John no comfort. He learns that a light manner can hide a heavy threat.

Synonyms:

joking, playful, facetious

Antonyms:

solemn, grave, earnest

Root:Latin jocularis, from joculus, "a little joke," from jocus, "joke."

Definition: lasting only a very short time; passing swiftly away.

From the reading: "...for as regards external charms (most fleeting and fallacious) hers had ceased to cause distress..."

KJV: "Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised" (Proverbs 31:30). "For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away" (James 4:14).

Synonyms:

brief, transient, ephemeral

Antonyms:

lasting, enduring, permanent

Root:Old English fleotan, "to float, glide, flow." What is fleeting floats past.

Definition: a hint or indirect sign; a faint suggestion of something not plainly stated.

From the reading: The full title of Wordsworth's great irregular ode is "Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood."

Context: The poem does not argue that the soul is immortal. Instead, it gathers hints of immortality from a child's wonder.

Synonyms:

hint, suggestion, inkling

Antonyms:

declaration, statement, announcement

Root:Latin intimare, "to make known," from intimus, "inmost." An intimation makes known something from deep within.

Definition: an idea that cannot be seen or touched; (also) the state of being lost in thought.

From the reading: "An idea that cannot be seen or touched (duty, patience, courage). An ode to an abstraction must give it a face, a voice or a task."

Synonyms:

idea, concept, generality

Antonyms:

concrete thing, particular, object

Root:Latin abstrahere, "to draw away," from abs- (away) + trahere (to draw, drag): an idea drawn away from things.

Definition: a short quotation placed at the head of a book, chapter, or poem to hint at its theme.

From the reading: "Wordsworth’s epigraph, from the Roman writer Seneca, says in Latin that the good man reaches the point where he can do nothing but right."

Synonyms:

motto, inscription, headnote

Antonyms:

(none exact) epilogue, afterword

Root:Greek epigraphe, "inscription," from epi- (upon) + graphein (to write). Do not confuse it with epigram, a short, witty saying.

Definition: a written law, ordinance, or decree laid down by a lawful authority.

KJV: "I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word" (Psalm 119:16).

Context: The psalmist joins duty and delight, just as Wordsworth hopes to. He does not merely obey God's statutes; he delights in them.

Synonyms:

law, decree, ordinance

Antonyms:

(none exact) lawlessness, anarchy

Root:Latin statutum, "something set up," from statuere, "to set up, decree," from stare, "to stand."