Grade 8 College Vocabulary, Week 30

Definition: A comparison between two things, usually for the purpose of explanation or clarification.

From the reading: "Thus you see the analogy between respiration and combustion is rendered still more beautiful and striking." (The Chemical History of a Candle)

Synonyms:

comparison, likeness, parallel

Antonyms:

apophatism, cataphatism

Root:Latin analogia, Greek analogie. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: To practice a piece before performing it; (older sense) to repeat or recount in full.

From the reading: "Others, new since that time, had heard the tale rehearsed in its every aspect around the smudge-fires at night." (Freckles)

Synonyms:

practice, run through, recount

Antonyms:

improvise, extemporize

Root:Old French rehercier, "to go over again," literally "to harrow again" (herce, "harrow").

Definition: The use of humor, irony, or exaggeration to expose and criticize foolishness or vice.

From the reading: "Isaac, like the enriched traveller of Juvenal’s tenth satire, had ever the fear of robbery before his eyes, conscious that he would be alike accounted fair game by the marauding Norman noble, and by the Saxon outlaw." (Ivanhoe)

Synonyms:

ridicule, irony, lampoon

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Latin satura, a medley or mixed dish (from satur, full): a mixed composition, then a mocking one.

Definition: An excessive enthusiasm or desire; a wild obsession.

From the reading: "Violence of temper approaching to mania has been hereditary in the men of the family, and in my stepfather’s case it had, I believe, been intensified by his long residence in the tropics." (The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, selected)

Synonyms:

craze, obsession, passion

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Latin mania, Greek manie, French manie. Cf. Mind, n., Necromancy. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: A situation in which a difficult choice must be made between two alternatives.

From the reading: "Isaac’s own share in this transaction was considerable, and he well knew that the Prince’s eager desire to bring it to a conclusion would ensure him his protection in the dilemma in which he stood." (Ivanhoe)

Synonyms:

quandary, predicament, plight

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Latin dilemma, Greek Lemma. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: The quality of being exact and accurate.

From the reading: "He was, in truth, making some last arrangements about executions and such ugly things; and though these duties were rootedly repulsive to him, he always performed them with precision." (The Innocence of Father Brown)

Synonyms:

exactness, accuracy, rigor

Antonyms:

imprecision

Root:Cf. French précision, Latin praecisio a cutting off. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: Full of calm and rest; peaceful and composed.

From the reading: "The Rat stopped short and rested on his crutches, staring at the tall, reposeful figure with widened eyes." (The Lost Prince)

KJV link: "He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters." (Psalm 23:2)

Synonyms:

tranquil, serene, restful

Antonyms:

restless, agitated, uneasy

Root:Latin repausare, "to rest," from re- + pausare, "to pause."

Definition: The arrival of a notable person or thing; capitalized, the season before Christmas.

From the reading: "Jellyband came bustling forward, eager, alert and fussy, as became the advent of one of the most favoured guests of his hostel." (The Scarlet Pimpernel)

Synonyms:

arrival, coming, appearance

Antonyms:

departure

Root:Latin adventus, from advenire, adventum: compare French avent. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: An arrival or entry of large numbers of people or things.

From the reading: "Now, with this fresh influx of noblemen and cavaliers, food and lodging were scarce to be had, and the prince was hurrying forward his forces to Dax in Gascony to relieve the overcrowding of his capital." (The White Company)

Synonyms:

inflow, inrush, flood

Antonyms:

exodus, outflow

Root:Latin influxus, from influere, influxum, to flow in: compare French influx. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: To flow back or recede, as the tide; to decline or fade away.

From the reading: "He was still able to fight on, though with ebbing strength and failing numbers." (A Book of Golden Deeds)

Synonyms:

recede, retreat, wane

Antonyms:

flow, rise

Root:Old English (Anglo-Saxon) ebba; akin to Fries. ebba, Dutch eb, ebbe, Dan. & German ebbe, Sw. ebb, compare Goth. ibuks backward; prob. akin to English even. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: Demanding firmly and repeatedly; refusing to let a matter drop.

From the reading: "Though he had been the most insistent on getting rid of Luzhin, he seemed now the least concerned at what had happened." (Crime and Punishment)

KJV link: "Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me." (Luke 18:5)

Synonyms:

persistent, emphatic, unrelenting

Antonyms:

yielding, hesitant, halfhearted

Root:Latin insistere, "to stand upon, press on," from in- + sistere, "to stand."

Definition: To act against something so as to lessen or cancel its effect.

From the reading: "The Americans have not been able to counteract the tendency which legislative assemblies have to get possession of the government, but they have rendered this propensity less irresistible." (Democracy in America)

Synonyms:

offset, neutralize, counterbalance

Antonyms:

reinforce, support, aid

Root:Latin contra, "against," + agere, "to act."

Definition: Appearing casually calm and unconcerned.

From the reading: "Clare,—gay, easy, unpunctual, unpractical, sceptical,—in short,—walking with impudent and nonchalant freedom over every one of her most cherished habits and opinions?" (Uncle Tom's Cabin)

Synonyms:

casual, unconcerned, cool

Antonyms:

anxious, concerned

Root:French nonchaloir, to be unconcerned.

Definition: To rid of impurities or undesirable elements; to cleanse.

From the reading: "And therefore I have sworn unto the house of Eli, that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be purged with sacrifice nor offering for ever." (1 Samuel 3:14)

Synonyms:

purify, cleanse, rid

Antonyms:

rehabilitate

Root:French purger, Latin purgare; purus pure + agere to make, to do. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: A main road or public way open at both ends; a passage through.

From the reading: "After listening to make sure that they were approaching instead of receding in another direction, he placed himself at a point where he could watch the length of the thoroughfare." (The Lost Prince)

KJV link: "And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness." (Isaiah 35:8)

Synonyms:

highway, avenue, main road

Antonyms:

dead end, cul-de-sac

Root:English thorough (an old form of through) + fare, "a going, journey."

Definition: To hold motionless with amazement or fear; (literally) to pierce through with a pointed weapon.

From the reading: "Nor good Eurytion envied him the prize, Tho’ he transfix’d the pigeon in the skies." (The Aeneid)

Synonyms:

rivet, paralyze, impale

Antonyms:

release, bore

Root:Latin transfigere, "to pierce through," from trans- + figere, "to fix, fasten."

Definition: Not moving at all; perfectly still.

From the reading: "He stood silent a few minutes--quite motionless--as if he were listening to the forest and the night." (The Lost Prince)

KJV link: "Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth." (Psalm 46:10)

Synonyms:

still, immobile, stationary

Antonyms:

moving, restless, active

Root:Latin motio, "movement," from movere, "to move," + English -less.

Definition: One who asks searching questions, especially an official examiner; a relentless questioner.

From the reading: "Did you go to Budapest from Vienna, and were you there for three months?" asked the inquisitor." (The Lost Prince)

Synonyms:

interrogator, examiner, questioner

Antonyms:

respondent, witness

Root:Latin inquirere, "to seek into," from in- + quaerere, "to seek."

Definition: To regard or consider in a specified way; to judge.

From the reading: "But when the fourteenth night was come, as we were driven up and down in Adria, about midnight the shipmen deemed that they drew near to some country;" (Acts 27:27)

Synonyms:

judge, consider, regard

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Old English deman, to judge (akin to dom, judgment, as in doom): to judge or think.

Definition: To put someone to death for refusing to give up a belief, especially faith in Christ.

From the reading: "And when the blood of thy martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by, and consenting unto his death, and kept the raiment of them that slew him." (Acts 22:20)

Synonyms:

put to death, persecute

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Old English (Anglo-Saxon), from Latin martyr, Greek ma'rtyr, ma'rtys, prop., a witness; compare Skr. smrs to remember, English memory. (Webster, 1913)