Grade 9 College Vocabulary, Week 9

Definition: Too much or too many to be counted or measured.

From the reading: "Praise him as best I may, when all is said, Remain untold, honour and goodness yet." (The Song of Roland)

Synonyms:

countless, incalculable, boundless

Antonyms:

few, limited

Root:un-, not + told (Old English tellan, to count or tell): not counted; beyond counting.

Definition: Having or showing high moral standards; righteous.

From the reading: "CXXII Grandonie was both proof and valiant, And virtuous, a vassal combatant." (The Song of Roland)

KJV link: "And now, my daughter, fear not; I will do to thee all that thou requirest: for all the city of my people doth know that thou art a virtuous woman." (Ruth 3:11)

Synonyms:

righteous, upright, good

Antonyms:

wicked, sinful

Root:Old English vertuous, Old French vertuos, vertuous, French vertueux, from Latin Virtuous. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: Physical strength and good health; energy and enthusiasm.

From the reading: "So are they come, with joy and gladness out, They pass Nerbone by force and by vigour, Come to Burdele, that city of high valour." (The Song of Roland)

Synonyms:

vigor, energy, vitality

Antonyms:

weakness, lethargy

Root:Latin vigor, liveliness, from vigere, to be lively: active strength (British spelling of vigor).

Definition: To give a tangible or visible form to an idea or quality.

From the reading: "To match an English and a Scottish author in the rival task of embodying and reviving the traditions of their respective countries, would be, you alleged, in the highest degree unequal and unjust." (Ivanhoe)

Synonyms:

personify, represent, incarnate

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:em-, in + body (Old English bodig): to put into bodily form.

Definition: To move skillfully or carefully; to guide or manipulate cleverly.

From the reading: "He determined, however, to repeat the maneuver which had proved so successful at Stirling Bridge, and to let half of the enemy cross before he fell upon them." (In Freedom's Cause)

Synonyms:

steer, guide, navigate

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:French manoeuvre, from Medieval Latin manuopera, work done by hand (manus, hand + opera, work): a skillful movement.

Definition: To bring someone back from a wrong course of life; to recover possession of.

From the reading: "And the health of this mode of life, and its reclaiming virtue are well set forth in our ancient rhyme,-- Sunrise, breakfast; sun high, dinner; Sundown, sup; makes a saint of a sinner." (Lorna Doone)

Synonyms:

recover, redeem, reform

Antonyms:

abandon

Root:French réclamer, Latin reclamare, reclamatum, to cry out against; pref. re- re- + clamare to call or cry aloud. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: To talk or write at length in a confused way; to walk for pleasure without a set route.

From the reading: "It chanced on one of these rambles that their way led them down a by-street in a busy quarter of London." (Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde)

Synonyms:

wander, roam; digress

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:For rammle, from Prov. English rame to roam. Cf. Roam. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: Following one after another.

From the reading: "Then there are successive entries that A and B cleared, or left the country, and finally that C was visited, with, I fear, a sinister result for C." (The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, selected)

Synonyms:

consecutive, sequential, in a row

Antonyms:

disordered

Root:Cf. French successif. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: Lacking the ability or strength to move; slow and inactive.

From the reading: "But, though both stout of heart, and strong of person, Athelstane had a disposition too inert and unambitious to make the exertions which Cedric seemed to expect from him." (Ivanhoe)

Synonyms:

motionless, inactive, sluggish

Antonyms:

active, lively

Root:Latin iners, inertis, unskilled, idle; pref. in- + ars art: compare French inerte. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: To put at risk or in danger.

From the reading: "It hath been a great endangering to the health of some plantations, that they have built along the sea and rivers, in marish and unwholesome grounds." (Essays)

Synonyms:

jeopardize, imperil, threaten

Antonyms:

protect, safeguard

Root:en-, into + danger (Old French dangier, power to harm, from Latin dominium, lordship): to put into danger.

Definition: Likely to be influenced or harmed by something.

From the reading: "By the time he reached Heracleia, a suburban village intermediate the city and the Grove, he was somewhat spent with exercise, and began to be susceptible of entertainment." (Ben-Hur)

Synonyms:

vulnerable, prone, liable

Antonyms:

resistant, immune

Root:French, from Latin suscipere, susceptum, to take up, to support, undertake, recognize, admit; pref. sus (see Sub-) + capere to take. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: Tired, bored, or lacking enthusiasm, especially after having had too much of something.

From the reading: "Next day at morning lesson the teacher observed that his pupil was indeed looking pale and jaded, with listless eyes and a weary manner." (The White Company)

Synonyms:

weary, tired, sated

Antonyms:

fresh, eager

Root:jade, a worn-out horse (Middle English, origin uncertain) + -ed: worn out, wearied.

Definition: To predict the future.

From the reading: "It was not difficult, however, to foretell the result, if any presage could be drawn from the feelings of those who crowded the place." (The Last of the Mohicans)

Synonyms:

predict, prophesy, forecast

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Old English fore + tellan, to tell.

Definition: To dip or sink completely in a liquid; to involve oneself deeply in an activity.

From the reading: "And, now that I have immersed it in spirit and applied a light to it, in what way does it differ from an ordinary candle?" (The Chemical History of a Candle)

Synonyms:

plunge, submerge, engross

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Latin immersus, past participle of immergere. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: Elaborately decorated; using elaborate language.

From the reading: "A critic of this age would have pronounced the house fortelesque in style, except for the windows, with which it was unusually garnished, and the ornate finish of the doorways or gates." (Ben-Hur)

Synonyms:

elaborate, decorated, flowery

Antonyms:

plain, simple

Root:Latin ornatus, past participle of ornare to adorn. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: Straying from the proper course or standards; traveling in search of adventure.

From the reading: "He hesitated whether to address the King as the Black Knight-errant, or in what other manner to demean himself towards him." (Ivanhoe)

Synonyms:

wandering, straying, erring

Antonyms:

steadfast

Root:French errant, present participle from Old French errer to travel, Late Latin iterare, from Latin iter journey; confused somewhat with Latin errare to err. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: A poem of fourteen lines using a fixed rhyme scheme, usually in iambic pentameter.

From the reading: "And I’ll be sworn upon ’t that he loves her; For here’s a paper written in his hand, A halting sonnet of his own pure brain, Fashion’d to Beatrice." (Much Ado About Nothing)

Synonyms:

poem, verse

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:French, from Italian sonetto, from suono a sound, a song, from Latin sonus a sound. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: Relating to monks or monasteries; simple and secluded.

From the reading: "Let them speak the doom which I despise, and erase the name of Bois-Guilbert from their list of monastic slaves!" (Ivanhoe)

Synonyms:

cloistered, ascetic, reclusive

Antonyms:

worldly

Root:Greek monastikos, from monazein, to live alone (monos, alone): of monks and monasteries.

Definition: To arrange in classes or categories.

From the reading: "He was passionately devoted to natural history, and had made a collection of these, endeavouring to classify them from the descriptions he met with in the books of voyages and travels." (The Swiss Family Robinson)

Synonyms:

categorize, sort, group

Antonyms:

declassify

Root:Latin classis, a class or division + -fy, to make (facere): to arrange in classes.

Definition: To settle comfortably within or against something; to lie sheltered.

From the reading: "No doubt it was as hard then as it is now for the mother to see the nestling thrust from the nest to shift for itself." (Men of Iron)

Synonyms:

snuggle, cuddle, settle

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Old English (Anglo-Saxon) nestlian. (Webster, 1913)