Grade 9 College Vocabulary, Week 2

Definition: To make something appear as if by magic; to call up a picture or idea in the mind.

From the reading: ★ "The classical writer did not believe arguments had to be conjured out of nothing."

Synonyms:

summon, invoke, produce, evoke

Antonyms:

dispel, banish, discover (find what already exists)

Root:Latin coniurare, "to swear together" (con- + iurare, "to swear"). The word came to mean calling up spirits with an oath, and later any act of calling something up.

Definition: a collection of papers and records on one person, case or subject.

From the reading: ★ "Build an invention dossier on a perennial question and choose the three strongest arguments."

✝ link: "It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus" (Luke 1:3).

Synonyms:

file, portfolio, record, brief

Antonyms:

(none exact) a guess, an unsupported claim

Root:French dossier, a bundle of papers labeled on its back (dos), from Latin dorsum, "back."

Definition: an earlier act or decision that serves as an example or rule for later cases.

From the reading: ★ "...what do authorities, witnesses, records, laws, precedents and Scripture say?"

✝ link: "Remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set" (Proverbs 22:28).

Synonyms:

example, model, standard, prior ruling

Antonyms:

novelty, innovation, departure

Root:Latin praecedere, "to go before" (prae- + cedere, "to go").

Definition: a long public disagreement or argument, often heated.

From the reading: ★ "The Greek teacher Hermagoras of Temnos (second century B.C.) taught that every controversy comes to rest..."

✝ link: "He that is first in his own cause seemeth just; but his neighbour cometh and searcheth him" (Proverbs 18:17).

Synonyms:

dispute, debate, contention, quarrel

Antonyms:

agreement, consensus, accord

Root:Latin controversia, from contra, "against," + vertere, "to turn": a turning against.

Definition: having to do with careful discussion and decision; in rhetoric, speech that urges an assembly toward a future course of action.

From the reading: ★ "Deliberative (future), judicial or forensic (past), ceremonial or epideictic (present)."

Synonyms:

advisory, consultative, considered

Antonyms:

rash, hasty, impulsive

Root:Latin deliberare, "to weigh well," from libra, "scales."

Definition: having to do with courts of law or formal debate; today also, using science to investigate crimes.

From the reading: ★ "...(forensic) speech looks to the past and asks what happened and whether it was just."

Synonyms:

judicial, legal, argumentative

Antonyms:

(none exact) private, informal

Root:Latin forensis, "of the forum," the public square where Roman courts met.

Definition: the official power to make legal decisions and judgments; the area or matters over which that power reaches.

From the reading: ★ "Conjecture (did it happen?), definition (what is it?), quality (what kind is it?), jurisdiction (who should judge?)."

✝ link: "But if ye enquire any thing concerning other matters, it shall be determined in a lawful assembly" (Acts 19:39).

Synonyms:

authority, competence, domain, purview

Antonyms:

(none exact) lack of authority, incompetence (in the legal sense)

Root:Latin iurisdictio, from ius, iuris, "law," + dicere, "to say": the right to declare the law.

Definition: helpful or favorable; likely to bring benefit.

From the reading: ★ "...speech looks to the future and asks what we should do; its measure is whether a course is advantageous or harmful."

✝ link: "All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient" (1 Corinthians 10:23).

Synonyms:

beneficial, profitable, expedient, favorable

Antonyms:

harmful, detrimental, disadvantageous

Root:Old French avantage, from avant, "before" (Latin ab ante): being ahead.

Definition: making amends for a wrong; (theology) reconciliation between God and sinners, made by Christ's sacrifice.

From the reading: ★ "...that one man’s goods should perish without atonement..."

✝ link: "...we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement" (Romans 5:11).

Synonyms:

amends, reparation, expiation, reconciliation

Antonyms:

offense, injury, estrangement

Root:English at one + -ment: the state of being made "at one" again.

Definition: to declare openly and plainly; to admit or affirm.

From the reading: ★ "...he is a friend of my house from Taphos, and he avows him to be Mentes..."

✝ link: "Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven" (Matthew 10:32).

Synonyms:

declare, profess, affirm, acknowledge

Antonyms:

deny, disavow, conceal

Root:Old French avouer, from Latin advocare, "to call to" (as a witness).

Definition: the attempt to foretell the future or learn hidden things by omens, signs or occult means.

From the reading: ★ "...neither have I regard unto any divination, whereof my mother may inquire at the lips of a diviner..."

✝ link: "...or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch" (Deuteronomy 18:10).

Synonyms:

soothsaying, augury, fortune-telling, prophecy (false)

Antonyms:

(none exact) reason, evidence, revelation

Root:Latin divinare, "to foresee, to be inspired by a god," from divus, "god."

Definition: not held back or kept under control.

From the reading: ★ "Telemachus, proud of speech and unrestrained in fury..."

✝ link: "He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls" (Proverbs 25:28).

Synonyms:

unchecked, unbridled, uncontrolled, immoderate

Antonyms:

restrained, temperate, measured, disciplined

Root:un- + restrain, from Latin restringere, "to draw back tight."

Definition: the loud or passionate expression of grief; a mourning.

From the reading: ★ "...awhile indeed I satisfy my soul with lamentation, and then again I cease; for soon hath man enough of chill lamentation..."

Synonyms:

mourning, wailing, keening, grieving

Antonyms:

rejoicing, celebration, jubilation

Root:Latin lamentari, "to wail, weep."

Definition: showing no pity or mercy; harsh and cruel.

From the reading: ★ "Dear lady, aye, slay me if thou wilt with the pitiless sword or let me yet live on in the house..."

✝ link: "Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him" (Psalm 103:13).

Synonyms:

merciless, ruthless, relentless, unsparing

Antonyms:

merciful, compassionate, lenient

Root:pity (Old French pité, from Latin pietas, "dutifulness, devotion") + -less, "without."

Definition: showing contempt for someone or something thought unworthy.

From the reading: ★ "Good sirs, my friends, shun all disdainful words alike, lest someone hear and tell it even in the house."

✝ link: "A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger" (Proverbs 15:1).

Synonyms:

scornful, contemptuous, haughty, supercilious

Antonyms:

respectful, admiring, deferential

Root:Old French desdeignier, from Latin de- (reversal) + dignari, "to deem worthy."

Definition: to approach and speak to someone directly and boldly, sometimes aggressively.

From the reading: ★ "Then he spake, accosting the old man first..."

Synonyms:

address, approach, confront, hail

Antonyms:

avoid, shun, ignore

Root:Latin ad- (to) + costa (rib, side): to come up alongside.

Definition: Heated disagreement or strife; a claim put forward in an argument.

From the reading: ✝ "Only by pride cometh contention: but with the well advised is wisdom" (Proverbs 13:10).

Synonyms:

strife, discord, dispute; (sense 2) assertion, thesis

Antonyms:

harmony, concord, agreement

Root:Latin contendere, "to stretch, to strive" (con- + tendere, "to stretch").

Definition: Unfair favoring of one side; bias; a special fondness (a partiality for old books).

From the reading: ✝ "...full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy" (James 3:17).

Synonyms:

bias, favoritism, prejudice; (sense 2) fondness, liking

Antonyms:

impartiality, fairness, neutrality

Root:Latin pars, partis, "part": taking one part or side.

Definition: to undermine or overthrow (a system, law or person), especially by secret or dishonest means.

From the reading: ✝ "To subvert a man in his cause, the LORD approveth not" (Lamentations 3:36).

Synonyms:

undermine, sabotage, overturn, corrupt

Antonyms:

uphold, support, strengthen

Root:Latin subvertere, "to turn from beneath, overthrow" (sub- + vertere).

Definition: to twist something away from its right use or meaning; to distort or corrupt.

From the reading: ✝ "Thou shalt not wrest judgment; thou shalt not respect persons, neither take a gift: for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous" (Deuteronomy 16:19).

Synonyms:

distort, twist, corrupt, falsify

Antonyms:

preserve, honor, uphold

Root:Latin pervertere, "to turn the wrong way, overturn" (per- + vertere, "to turn").