Grade 9 College Vocabulary, Week 5

Definition: Unreasonably prone to going to law to settle disputes; quarrelsome.

Context (original sentence): The litigious farmer sued three neighbors over a single fence.

Synonyms:

quarrelsome, contentious, argumentative

Antonyms:

peaceable

Root:Latin litigare, to dispute.

Definition: To inflict harm in return for a wrong.

From the reading: "Right worthy the concern Of Phoebus, worthy thine too, for the dead; I also, as is meet, will lend my aid To avenge this wrong to Thebes and to the god." (Oedipus the King and Antigone)

KJV link: "Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD." (Leviticus 19:18)

Synonyms:

revenge, retaliate, requite

Antonyms:

forgive

Root:Old French avengier; Latin ad + vindicare to lay claim to, to avenge, revenge. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: To weaken gradually or secretly; to dig beneath the foundations of.

From the reading: "This is the man whom thou wouldst undermine, In hope to reign with Creon in my stead." (Oedipus the King and Antigone)

Synonyms:

weaken, sabotage, subvert

Antonyms:

strengthen, support

Root:under + mine (Old French miner, to dig): to dig beneath, then to weaken secretly.

Definition: To pay no attention to; to ignore.

From the reading: "But if ye still keep silence, if through fear For self or friends ye disregard my hest, Hear what I then resolve; I lay my ban On the assassin whosoe’er he be." (Oedipus the King and Antigone)

Synonyms:

ignore, overlook, neglect

Antonyms:

heed, notice

Root:dis-, not + regard (Old French regarder, to look at: re-, again + garder, to watch): to pay no attention to.

Definition: Lacking pity or kindness; cruel.

From the reading: "If one should say, this is the handiwork Of some inhuman power, who could blame His judgment?" (Oedipus the King and Antigone)

Synonyms:

cruel, heartless, barbarous

Antonyms:

humane, merciful

Root:Latin inhumanus: compare French inhumain. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: To accumulate or come as a natural result over time.

From the reading: "From Theseus Oedipus craves protection in life and burial in Attic soil; the benefits that will accrue shall be told later." (Oedipus the King and Antigone)

Synonyms:

accumulate, build up, mount

Antonyms:

dwindle

Root:. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: The state of being in another's power; a slave or servant.

From the reading: "Yes, and I had news I would myself deliver, so I came With the one thrall who yet is true to me." (Oedipus the King and Antigone)

Synonyms:

bondage, servitude, captivity

Antonyms:

freedom

Root:Old English thral, , Icelandic , perhaps through Old English (Anglo-Saxon) ; akin to Sw. träl, Dan. træl, and probably to Old English (Anglo-Saxon) to run, Goth. , Greek dregil, drigil, a servant. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: The act of joining together; a combination of events or circumstances.

From the reading: "When what conjunction comes to pass, my child?" (Oedipus the King and Antigone)

Synonyms:

combination, union, coincidence

Antonyms:

separation

Root:Latin conjunctio: compare French conjunction. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: A series of prayers with responses said by the people; a long, repetitive list.

From the reading: "Wailing on the altar stair Wives and grandams rend the air— Long-drawn moans and piercing cries Blent with prayers and litanies." (Oedipus the King and Antigone)

Synonyms:

prayer, petition; catalog

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Greek litaneia, a prayer, from lite, an entreaty: a form of prayer with repeated responses; any long list.

Definition: A ghost or ghostlike image of someone, especially one seen shortly before or after death.

From the reading: "Thy angry wraith, when at thy tomb they stand. 6 OEDIPUS." (Oedipus the King and Antigone)

Synonyms:

ghost, specter, phantom

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Scot. wraith, warth; probably originally, a guardian angel, from Icelandic vörthr a warden, guardian, akin to English ward. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: An introductory section of a play, poem, or book; an event leading to another.

From the reading: "So without prologue I may utter now My brief petition, and the tale is told." (Oedipus the King and Antigone)

Synonyms:

introduction, preface, preamble

Antonyms:

epilogue

Root:French, from Latin prologus, from Greek Logic. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: To free from a mistaken belief; to disappoint.

From the reading: "But I must disillusion you a little." (Crime and Punishment)

Synonyms:

disenchant, undeceive, disappoint

Antonyms:

delude

Root:dis- + illusion, Latin illudere, to mock.

Definition: Done on purpose; stubbornly determined to have one's own way.

From the reading: "O King, thy willful temper ails the State, For all our shrines and altars are profaned By what has filled the maw of dogs and crows, The flesh of Oedipus’ unburied son." (Oedipus the King and Antigone)

Synonyms:

deliberate, intentional; headstrong

Antonyms:

accidental, obedient

Root:Will + full. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: Passed down from parent to child; holding a position by inheritance.

From the reading: "ANTIGONE. (Ant. 2) At this thou touchest my most poignant pain, My ill-starred father’s piteous disgrace, The taint of blood, the hereditary stain, That clings to all of Labdacus’ famed race." (Oedipus the King and Antigone)

Synonyms:

inherited, ancestral, inborn

Antonyms:

acquired

Root:Latin hereditarius, from hereditas heirship, inheritance, from heres heir: compare French héréditaire. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: To become dry and shriveled; to lose vigor or freshness.

From the reading: "O monstrous doom, Within a rock-built prison sepulchered, To fade and wither in a living tomb, And alien midst the living and the dead." (Oedipus the King and Antigone)

KJV link: "And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper." (Psalm 1:3)

Synonyms:

shrivel, wilt, fade

Antonyms:

flourish, thrive

Root:Middle English widren, perhaps a variant of weather, to be exposed to the weather: to dry up and shrivel.

Definition: To come together from different directions.

From the reading: "So having reached the abrupt Earth-rooted Threshold with its brazen stairs, He paused at one of the converging paths, Hard by the rocky basin which records The pact of Theseus and Peirithous." (Oedipus the King and Antigone)

Synonyms:

meet, merge, unite

Antonyms:

diverge, separate

Root:Pref. con- + Latin vergere to turn, incline; compare French converger. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: To seal off a place to prevent goods or people from entering or leaving.

From the reading: "I bid thee in these burghers’ name, And prowl no longer round me to blockade My destined harbor." (Oedipus the King and Antigone)

Synonyms:

besiege, obstruct, block

Antonyms:

open

Root:Cf. Italian bloccata. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: Belonging to or inherited from one's ancestors.

From the reading: "In his ancestral seat; a messenger, The same who sent us here, is gone for him." (Oedipus the King and Antigone)

Synonyms:

hereditary, inherited, family

Antonyms:

noninheritable

Root:Old French ancestre, from Latin antecessor, one who goes before (ante, before + cedere, to go): of one's forefathers.

Definition: Teasing and contemptuous ridicule.

From the reading: "ANTIGONE. ’Tis a sad mockery, if indeed I mock." (Oedipus the King and Antigone)

Synonyms:

ridicule, derision, scorn

Antonyms:

respect, praise

Root:French moquerie. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: An unlucky accident.

From the reading: "I shall not tell it; a good general Reports successes and conceals mishaps." (Oedipus the King and Antigone)

Synonyms:

accident, misfortune, misadventure

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:mis-, badly + hap, luck (Old Norse happ): an unlucky accident.