Grade 9 College Vocabulary, Week 13

Definition: Extreme foolishness; madness.

From the reading: "Oh, this is lunacy!” “Oh, no, it isn’t." (Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc)

Synonyms:

madness, folly, insanity

Antonyms:

sanity, sense

Root:. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: A state of great disturbance, confusion, or uncertainty.

From the reading: "To-morrow she could say, “It is finished--let me go free.” We camped, and the hurry and rush and turmoil of the grand preparations began." (Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc)

Synonyms:

tumult, upheaval, chaos

Antonyms:

peace, calm

Root:Of uncertain origin; perhaps from Old French tremouille the hopper of a mill, trembler to tremble (compare English tremble); influenced by English turn and moil. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: The process of burning; violent agitation or excitement.

From the reading: "The jar is full of air, partly changed, partly not changed; but it does not contain sufficient of the fresh air which is necessary for the combustion of a candle." (The Chemical History of a Candle)

Synonyms:

burning, ignition; agitation

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Latin combustio: compare French combustion. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: Persistent determination.

From the reading: "More than once Myles's heart failed him, and bitter discouragement took possession of him; then nothing but his bull-dog tenacity and stubbornness brought him out from the despondency of the dark hours." (Men of Iron)

Synonyms:

perseverance, persistence, doggedness

Antonyms:

irresolution

Root:Latin tenacitas: compare French ténacité. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: The ceremony of installing a new monarch.

From the reading: "According to the old Hungarian customs, the choir door was closed--the burghers were within, and would not open till the new monarch should have taken the great coronation oath to respect the Hungarian liberties and laws." (A Book of Golden Deeds)

Synonyms:

crowning, enthronement

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: Something that turns attention aside; an amusement or pastime.

From the reading: "Lizzie, of course, knew nothing about His Majesty's diversions, which were not fit for a young maid's thoughts; but I now put the form of the argument as it occurred to me." (Lorna Doone)

Synonyms:

distraction, amusement, detour

Antonyms:

(none exact)

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

Definition: Intense and passionate feeling.

From the reading: "All the listeners, even the dull servants outside the divan, affected by his fervor, were startled as if by a majestic presence suddenly apparent within the tent." (Ben-Hur)

Synonyms:

ardor, zeal, passion

Antonyms:

apathy, indifference

Root:Old French fervor, fervour, French ferveur, Latin fervor, from fervere. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: Eccentricity that is not easily explained; a strange attitude or habit.

From the reading: "Yet to a prose translation is permitted, perhaps, that close adherence to the archaisms of the epic, which in verse become mere oddities." (The Odyssey)

Synonyms:

peculiarity, quirk, curiosity

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:odd (Old Norse oddi, a point or triangle, hence the third, unpaired number) + -ity: something strange.

Definition: A large number; the state of being more than one.

From the reading: "After some questions and suppositions on the plurality of worlds, their courses and their distances, he quitted us to wander on the borders of the river, which reflected them in all their brilliancy." (The Swiss Family Robinson)

Synonyms:

multitude, profusion, many

Antonyms:

singularity

Root:Latin pluralitas: compare French pluralité. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: The action of forbidding something, especially by law; a decree that forbids.

From the reading: "But, alas! the government of the world presumes war as an eternal condition; wherefore, over Mind and above God, the Roman has enthroned his Cæsar, the absorbent of all attainable power, the prohibition of any other greatness." (Ben-Hur)

Synonyms:

ban, proscription, embargo

Antonyms:

permission

Root:Latin prohibitio: compare French prohibition. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: A source of help in a difficult situation; turning to someone for help.

From the reading: "He wearied his attendants by demanding from them amusements, and the breviary of the priest, the romance of the clerk, even the harp of his favourite minstrel, were had recourse to in vain." (The Talisman)

Synonyms:

resort, refuge, remedy

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:French recours, Latin recursus a running back, return, from recurrere, recursum, to run back. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: The state of being total and complete.

From the reading: "Though not in detail and in entirety, they do nevertheless substantially quarter the arms of France in their coat." (Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc)

Synonyms:

totality, whole, wholeness

Antonyms:

part

Root:Old French entiereté. Cf. Integrity. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: A state of lawlessness and disorder (usually resulting from a failure of government).

From the reading: "The chief misdoers in the long period of anarchy had been his uncles and cousins; nor was it till after his eldest uncle's death that his return home had been possible." (A Book of Golden Deeds)

Synonyms:

lawlessness, disorder, chaos

Antonyms:

order, government

Root:Greek anarchie. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: Special words or expressions used by a profession or group that are hard for others to understand.

From the reading: "Never had he heard such jargon of scholastic philosophy, such fine-drawn distinctions, such cross-fire of major and minor, proposition, syllogism, attack and refutation." (The White Company)

Synonyms:

terminology, lingo, cant

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:French jargon, Old French also gargon, perh. akin to English garrulous, or gargle. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: Great size, breadth, or abundance.

From the reading: "It stood sideways in the road, as if standing aside in the amplitude of hospitality." (The Innocence of Father Brown)

Synonyms:

abundance, breadth, magnitude

Antonyms:

scantiness

Root:Latin amplitudo, from amplus: compare French amplitude. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: The probability of a specified outcome.

From the reading: "Let this be so, and doubt not but success Will fashion the event in better shape Than I can lay it down in likelihood." (Much Ado About Nothing)

Synonyms:

probability, chance, prospect

Antonyms:

unlikelihood

Root:Likely + -hood. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: To declare or confirm formally as true or accurate.

From the reading: "See, I will tarry in the plain of the wilderness, until there come word from you to certify me." (2 Samuel 15:28)

Synonyms:

attest, confirm, verify

Antonyms:

decertify

Root:French certifier, Late Latin certificare; Latin certus certain + facere to make. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: To cause to suffer great physical or mental pain.

From the reading: "And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not." (Mark 5:7)

Synonyms:

torture, rack, afflict

Antonyms:

comfort

Root:Old French torment, French tourment, from Latin tormentum an engine for hurling missiles, an instrument of torture, a rack, torture, from torquere to turn, to twist, hurl. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: To happen or occur afterward or as a result.

From the reading: "Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it." (1 Peter 3:11)

Synonyms:

follow, result, arise

Antonyms:

precede

Root:Old French ensevre, Old French & French ensuivre, from Latin insequi; in + sequi to pursue. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: To manage or be responsible for; to dispense or give out, as justice or medicine.

From the reading: "And not that only, but who was also chosen of the churches to travel with us with this grace, which is administered by us to the glory of the same Lord, and declaration of your ready mind:" (2 Corinthians 8:19)

Synonyms:

manage, govern; dispense

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Old English aministren, Old French aministrer, French administer, from Latin administrare; ad + ministrare to serve. (Webster, 1913)