Grade 8 College Vocabulary, Week 23

Definition: plainly true without needing proof or argument.

From the reading: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal..."

Synonyms:

obvious, axiomatic, manifest

Antonyms:

doubtful, debatable, obscure

Root:English self + Latin evidens, "clear, visible" (e- "out" + videre "to see"): something that shows itself.

Definition: not able to be taken away or handed over to another.

From the reading: "...that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights..."

Synonyms:

inalienable, inviolable, absolute

Antonyms:

transferable, forfeitable, revocable

Root:un- "not" + alienable, from Latin alienare, "to hand over to another," from alienus, "belonging to another." The Declaration says these rights come from the Creator, so no man can take them away.

Definition: to set up, establish, or begin (a law, a custom, a government).

From the reading: "That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men..."

Synonyms:

establish, found, inaugurate

Antonyms:

abolish, dissolve, end

Root:Latin instituere, "to set up," from in- "in" + statuere "to cause to stand."

Definition: agreement or permission; to agree to something.

From the reading: "...deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed..."

KJV: "My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not" (Proverbs 1:10).

Synonyms:

assent, approval, permission

Antonyms:

refusal, dissent, objection

Root:Latin consentire, "to feel together," from con- "with" + sentire "to feel."

Definition: to get or draw something from a source; to come from a source.

From the reading: "...deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed..."

Synonyms:

obtain, draw, trace

Antonyms:

originate, invent, create

Root:Latin derivare, "to draw off water from a stream," from de- "from" + rivus "stream." An honest writer shows where every stream of borrowed thought comes from.

Definition: to bring about; to cause to happen. Tests often check effect (to bring about) against affect (to influence).

From the reading: "...as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."

Synonyms:

accomplish, achieve, bring about

Antonyms:

prevent, thwart, hinder

Root:Latin efficere, "to accomplish," from ex- "out" + facere "to make, do."

Definition: a person's or nation's rank or standing; (also) a place where someone is posted.

From the reading: "...to assume, among the Powers of the earth, the separate and equal station..."

Synonyms:

rank, standing, position

Antonyms:

(none exact) obscurity, lowliness

Root:Latin statio, "a standing, a post," from stare, "to stand."

Definition: a long, formal, carefully reasoned piece of writing on one subject.

From the reading: "Years later, Richard Henry Lee charged that it was copied from John Locke’s treatise on government."

Synonyms:

dissertation, discourse, monograph

Antonyms:

(none exact) note, jotting, sketch

Root:Anglo-French tretiz, from Old French traitier, "to deal with," from Latin tractare, "to handle." A treatise handles its subject thoroughly.

Definition: to ask again and again, urgently and even annoyingly.

Context: For years Columbus importuned the courts of Portugal and Spain for ships, and he kept asking until Ferdinand and Isabella agreed in 1492.

Synonyms:

beg, beseech, pester

Antonyms:

(none exact) let alone, forbear

Root:Latin importunus, "unfit, troublesome," literally "without a harbor" (in- "not" + portus "harbor"). It is a fitting word for a mariner looking for a royal port.

Definition: to refuse or turn away bluntly; a blunt refusal.

Context: The learned men advising the king of Portugal rebuffed Columbus, judging that he had reckoned the distance to Asia far too short.

Synonyms:

reject, spurn, snub

Antonyms:

welcome, accept, embrace

Root:Italian ribuffo, "a reproof," from ri- "back" + buffo "a puff of wind": a refusal that blows someone back.

Definition: a person who belittles someone's work or worth.

Context: Columbus's detractors at court spoke against him so often that in 1500 he was sent home from Hispaniola in chains.

Synonyms:

critic, disparager, belittler

Antonyms:

supporter, champion, admirer

Root:Latin detrahere, "to draw down, take away," from de- "down" + trahere "to draw." A detractor tries to take away a man's good name.

Definition: steady and unchanging; not turning aside from a purpose.

Context: Through years of delay and ridicule, Columbus held an unswerving belief that he could reach the Indies by sailing west.

KJV link: Paul warns against those who wander from the truth: "From which some having swerved have turned aside unto vain jangling" (1 Timothy 1:6). The unswerving man does not turn aside.

Synonyms:

steady, resolute, constant

Antonyms:

wavering, fickle, vacillating

Root:un- "not" + swerve, from Old English sweorfan, "to rub, file," later "to turn aside."

Definition: known or sensed at once, without step-by-step reasoning.

Context: Morison, a sailor himself, credits Columbus with an almost intuitive feel for wind and weather. In 1502 he sensed a hurricane coming in time to shelter his ships.

Synonyms:

instinctive, perceptive, innate

Antonyms:

reasoned, calculated, learned

Root:Latin intueri, "to look at, consider," from in- "upon" + tueri "to watch."

Definition: stubbornly refusing to obey authority or direction.

Context: By early October 1492 the crews had grown recalcitrant and were demanding to turn back, but a few days later they sighted land.

KJV link: Christ said to Saul, "it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks" (Acts 26:14). The recalcitrant man kicks back like a stubborn ox against the goad.

Synonyms:

defiant, unruly, intractable

Antonyms:

obedient, compliant, docile

Root:Latin recalcitrare, "to kick back" (as a horse or mule), from re- "back" + calx "heel."

Definition: to trouble or attack on all sides and without letup.

Context: On the voyage home in February 1493, fierce storms beset the little Niña, and Columbus sealed an account of his discovery in a cask in case the ship went down.

KJV: "...let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us" (Hebrews 12:1).

Synonyms:

besiege, plague, harass

Antonyms:

relieve, free, spare

Root:Old English besettan, "to set around, surround," from be- "around" + settan "to set."

Definition: money or profit, especially when gained greedily or dishonestly (often in the phrase "filthy lucre").

Context: Many who sailed to the Indies came only for lucre, but Columbus wrote that he hoped the gold he found would also serve a holy purpose.

KJV: "Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind" (1 Peter 5:2).

Synonyms:

profit, gain, riches

Antonyms:

loss, poverty, want

Root:Latin lucrum, "gain, profit." The test favorite lucrative ("profitable") comes from the same root.

Definition: genuine and sincere; not pretended.

KJV: "Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned" (1 Timothy 1:5).

Context: An honest citation shows unfeigned gratitude to the writer whose idea you used.

Synonyms:

sincere, genuine, heartfelt

Antonyms:

feigned, pretended, hypocritical

Root:un- "not" + feign, from Latin fingere, "to shape, invent." Unfeigned faith is not made up.

Definition: to take something for one's own use, often without permission.

Context: A plagiarist appropriates another writer's sentences and hands them in as his own, which breaks the commandment "Thou shalt not steal" (Exodus 20:15).

Synonyms:

seize, take over, commandeer

Antonyms:

return, give back, credit

Root:Latin appropriare, "to make one's own," from ad- "to" + proprius "one's own."

Definition: owing money; (more often) owing gratitude to someone for help.

Context: Every honest writer is indebted to those who wrote before him, and his notes and citations say so plainly.

Synonyms:

obliged, beholden, grateful

Antonyms:

independent, ungrateful, unobligated

Root:Old French endetté, from Latin debitum, "a thing owed," from debere, "to owe."

Definition: forbidden by law, rule, or custom. Do not confuse it with elicit, "to draw out," a common test trap.

Context: Copying an old project for National History Day is an illicit shortcut, and it can get an entry disqualified.

Synonyms:

unlawful, forbidden, illegitimate

Antonyms:

lawful, legitimate, permitted

Root:Latin illicitus, "not allowed," from in- "not" + licitus, from licere, "to be allowed."