Grade 9 College Vocabulary, Week 3

Definition: able to hold or keep something, especially facts in the memory.

From the reading: ★ "He had a quick and retentive memory, and a frankness of manner which precluded any suspicion of artifice."

✝ link: "But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart" (Luke 2:19).

Synonyms:

tenacious, absorbent, unforgetting

Antonyms:

forgetful, leaky, absent-minded

Root:Latin retinere, "to hold back" (re- "back" + tenere "to hold").

Definition: open, honest directness in speech or manner.

From the reading: ★ "...a frankness of manner which precluded any suspicion of artifice."

✝ link: "Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another" (Ephesians 4:25).

Synonyms:

candor, openness, forthrightness

Antonyms:

evasiveness, deceit, guardedness

Root:Old French franc, "free," from the Franks, the free people who ruled Gaul.

Definition: to prevent from happening; to make impossible ahead of time.

From the reading: ★ "...a frankness of manner which precluded any suspicion of artifice."

Synonyms:

prevent, rule out, forestall

Antonyms:

allow, permit, enable

Root:Latin praecludere, "to shut off in front" (prae- "before" + claudere "to shut").

Definition: not planned or thought out beforehand; spontaneous.

From the reading: ★ "All his speeches were, in appearance, the unpremeditated effusions of an honest heart..."

✝ link: "...take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate" (Mark 13:11).

Synonyms:

spontaneous, impromptu, offhand

Antonyms:

premeditated, planned, rehearsed

Root:un- + Latin praemeditari, "to think over beforehand" (prae- "before" + meditari "to ponder").

Definition: an unrestrained outpouring, especially of words or feeling.

From the reading: ★ "...the unpremeditated effusions of an honest heart..."

✝ link: "...out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh" (Matthew 12:34).

Synonyms:

outpouring, outburst, gush

Antonyms:

restraint, reticence, silence

Root:Latin effundere, "to pour out" (ex- "out" + fundere "to pour").

Definition: arranged or agreed upon in advance.

From the reading: ★ "...and yet, in reality, they were preconcerted with so much skill, that the judges were, sometimes, not so well prepared, as they should have been, to withstand the force of them."

Synonyms:

prearranged, planned, deliberate

Antonyms:

improvised, spontaneous, unpremeditated

Root:pre- (before) + concert, from Italian concertare, "to bring into agreement."

Definition: In rhetoric, the part of a speech that lays out what is agreed, what is disputed and what will be proved; a division or dividing wall; (v.) to divide into parts.

From the reading: ★ "The narration states the facts of the case briefly and clearly; the partition shows what is agreed, what is disputed and which points the speaker will prove."

Synonyms:

division, separation, (in an essay) thesis and preview

Antonyms:

union, merger, consolidation

Root:Latin partitio, from partire, "to divide" (pars, "part").

Definition: a formal debate or argument, especially over a disputed point.

From the reading: ✝ "Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations" (Romans 14:1).

Synonyms:

debate, argumentation, controversy

Antonyms:

agreement, accord, consensus

Root:Latin disputare, "to weigh, discuss" (dis- "apart" + putare "to reckon").

Definition: to show off boldly, so as to draw admiration or envy.

From the reading: ★ "Then would he scatter all thy bravery, which now thou flauntest insolently, wandering ever about the city, while evil shepherds destroy the flock." (Eumaeus the swineherd to the proud goatherd Melanthius. Here bravery means "finery.")

✝ link: "Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall" (Proverbs 16:18).

Synonyms:

parade, vaunt, show off

Antonyms:

conceal, hide, downplay

Root:origin uncertain (16th-century English), perhaps from a Scandinavian word for flapping or fluttering. Do not confuse it with flout, "to defy."

Definition: foolish; lacking sense or understanding.

From the reading: ★ "Then the wise Penelope answered: “Not witless is the stranger..." (Penelope, speaking of Odysseus in disguise.)

Synonyms:

foolish, senseless, obtuse

Antonyms:

shrewd, sagacious, sensible

Root:Old English witt, "mind, understanding," + -less.

Definition: shockingly bad, violent or excessive; beyond all bounds of decency.

From the reading: ★ "Stranger, thou art verily come to that country whereof thou askest, but outrageous men and froward hold it." (Old Laertes, describing the wooers.)

✝ link: "Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand before envy?" (Proverbs 27:4).

Synonyms:

shocking, flagrant, atrocious

Antonyms:

moderate, decent, reasonable

Root:Old French outrage, from Latin ultra, "beyond." It has nothing to do with rage. The idea is going beyond bounds.

Definition: to spoil, damage or disfigure.

From the reading: ★ "Hapless is he, yet in fashion he is like a royal lord; but the gods mar the goodliness of wandering men, when even for kings they have woven the web of trouble." (The herdsman Philoetius, looking at the disguised Odysseus.)

Synonyms:

spoil, blemish, impair

Antonyms:

enhance, adorn, improve

Root:Old English merran, "to hinder, obstruct, waste."

Definition: to express deep sorrow over something; to mourn aloud.

From the reading: ★ "Nor did his bride, whom men sought with rich gifts, the constant Penelope, bewail her lord upon the bier, as was meet, nor closed his eyes, as is the due of the departed."

✝ link: "Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep" (Romans 12:15).

Synonyms:

lament, mourn, grieve over

Antonyms:

celebrate, rejoice in, exult

Root:be- (thoroughly) + wail, from Old Norse væla, "to lament."

Definition: to comfort someone in grief or disappointment.

From the reading: ★ "Penelope also heard of her son’s departure, but was consoled by a dream." (From the translators' summary of the story.)

✝ link: "...the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort" (2 Corinthians 1:3).

Synonyms:

comfort, solace, soothe

Antonyms:

distress, grieve, afflict

Root:Latin consolari, "to comfort thoroughly" (con- + solari, "to soothe").

Definition: firm and unbending; not giving way to pressure or persuasion.

From the reading: ★ "Thou knowest how firm is my spirit and unyielding, and I will keep me fast as stubborn stone or iron." (The old nurse Eurycleia promises Odysseus that she will keep his secret.)

✝ link: "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord" (1 Corinthians 15:58).

Synonyms:

steadfast, inflexible, resolute

Antonyms:

pliant, yielding, wavering

Root:un- + yield, from Old English gieldan, "to pay, give up."

Definition: always right or accurate; never missing the mark.

From the reading: ★ "Do thou thyself entreat him, that he may give thee unerring answer. He will not lie to thee, for he is very wise." (Nestor, sending Telemachus to Menelaus.)

✝ link: "The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul" (Psalm 19:7).

Synonyms:

infallible, unfailing, exact

Antonyms:

fallible, erratic, mistaken

Root:un- + err, from Latin errare, "to wander, go astray."

Definition: to ask humbly and earnestly; to beg, as in prayer.

From the reading: ★ "I supplicate thee, O queen, whether thou art a goddess or a mortal!" (The shipwrecked Odysseus to the princess Nausicaa. He chose to "stand apart, and beseech her with smooth words.")

✝ link: "Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God" (Philippians 4:6).

Synonyms:

entreat, implore, petition

Antonyms:

command, demand, refuse

Root:Latin supplicare, "to kneel, beg humbly" (sub- "under" + plicare "to bend, fold").

Definition: The state of being forgotten; a deliberate forgetting, as in a pardon; unawareness.

From the reading: ★ "...let us bring about oblivion of the slaying of their children and their brethren; so may both sides love one another as of old, and let peace and wealth abundant be their portion."

✝ link: "For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more" (Hebrews 8:12).

Synonyms:

forgetfulness, obscurity, amnesty

Antonyms:

remembrance, memory, fame

Root:Latin oblivisci, "to forget."

Definition: too wrong to be excused, pardoned or justified.

From the reading: ✝ "Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself" (Romans 2:1).

Synonyms:

unpardonable, indefensible, unjustifiable

Antonyms:

excusable, pardonable, justifiable

Root:Latin in- "not" + excusare, "to free from a charge" (ex- "out of" + causa "a lawsuit").

Definition: a story or picture in which characters and events stand for deeper moral or spiritual meanings.

From the reading: ✝ "Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants" (Galatians 4:24).

Synonyms:

parable, fable, extended metaphor

Antonyms:

(none exact) literal account, plain statement

Root:Greek allegoria, "speaking otherwise" (allos "other" + agoreuein "to speak in the assembly").