Grade 9 College Vocabulary, Week 14

Definition: Depending on a condition being met.

From the reading: "Using the doubled conditional (“if he would have”) in a contrary-to-fact clause." (the lesson)

Synonyms:

qualified, provisional, contingent

Antonyms:

unconditional

Root:Latin conditionalis. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: A reminder of past events.

From the reading: "All precepts concerning kings, are in effect comprehended in those two remembrances: memento quod es homo; and memento quod es Deus, or vice Dei; the one bridleth their power, and the other their will." (Essays)

Synonyms:

keepsake, souvenir, reminder

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Latin, remember, be mindful, imper. of meminisse to remember. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: A long, angry speech of criticism.

From the reading: "She was already in the rapids of an ethical tirade about the “sickly medical notions” and the morbid admission of weakness implied in such an apparatus." (The Innocence of Father Brown)

Synonyms:

diatribe, harangue, broadside

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:French tirade, a long speech, from Italian tirata, a volley, from tirare, to draw or shoot: a long angry speech.

Definition: The act of keeping someone or something out.

From the reading: "You see we have already arrived, by a process of exclusion, at the idea that she might have seen an American." (The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, selected)

Synonyms:

omission, exception, barring

Antonyms:

inclusion

Root:Latin exclusio: compare French exclusion. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: Something that has been left out or excluded; the act of leaving out.

From the reading: "According to the degrees of omission, my soul went to one of the heavens—Indra’s the lowest, Brahma’s the highest; or it was driven back to become the life of a worm, a fly, a fish, or a brute." (Ben-Hur)

Synonyms:

deletion, oversight, exclusion

Antonyms:

inclusion

Root:Latin omissio: compare French omission. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: A ghost; a threatening prospect that haunts the mind.

From the reading: "And as the three tall white figures sped, with soundless tread, through the opalescent light, they appeared like specters flying from hateful shadows." (Ben-Hur)

Synonyms:

ghost, phantom, apparition

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Latin spectrum, an appearance or image, from specere, to look: a ghostly appearance.

Definition: A sustained and enthusiastic show of appreciation from an audience.

From the reading: "Even the horses have a share in the ovation; nor may it be said they are less conscious than their masters of the honors they receive." (Ben-Hur)

Synonyms:

applause, acclaim, cheering

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Latin ovatio, from ovare to exult, rejoice, triumph in an ovation; compare Greek ovation. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: A prolonged bitter quarrel or feud, often between families.

From the reading: "“Is Brayne a monomaniac?” “There are American vendettas,” said the priest impassively." (The Innocence of Father Brown)

Synonyms:

feud, quarrel, blood feud

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:It. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: Threats or force used to make someone act against their will.

From the reading: "She has been put in duress by Alexander of Lorne because in the first place she was a true Scots woman and favoured your cause, and because in the second place she refused to espouse his son John." (In Freedom's Cause)

Synonyms:

coercion, compulsion, force

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Old French duresse, du, hardship, severity, Latin duritia, durities, from durus hard. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: Hopefulness and confidence about the future.

From the reading: "The baronet in his optimism had often laughed at the black gloves of this dismal attendant; but no one was likely to laugh at him just now." (The Innocence of Father Brown)

Synonyms:

hope, hopefulness, confidence

Antonyms:

pessimism

Root:Latin optimus the best; akin to optio choice: compare French optimisme. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: Extremely large.

From the reading: "Now you understand what a colossal move on the political chess-board the Coronation was." (Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc)

Synonyms:

huge, enormous, gigantic

Antonyms:

tiny, small

Root:Cf. French cossal, Latin colosseus. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: To persuade gradually or gently.

From the reading: "They bathed and bound the bleeding wrist and coaxed her back to consciousness." (Freckles)

Synonyms:

wheedle, cajole, persuade

Antonyms:

force

Root:Cf. Old English cokes fool, a person easily imposed upon, W. coeg empty, foolish; French coquin knave, rogue. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: A person holding a high rank or office.

From the reading: "Among the latter was the Prior of Jorvaulx, in the most gallant trim which a dignitary of the church could venture to exhibit." (Ivanhoe)

Synonyms:

notable, official, personage

Antonyms:

commoner

Root:Latin dignitas, worthiness.

Definition: Very pale, as with shock or fear.

From the reading: "It rose abruptly out of the ashen wastes of forest in a sort of hump or shoulder of green turf that looked grey in the starlight." (The Innocence of Father Brown)

Synonyms:

pale, pallid, wan

Antonyms:

ruddy, flushed

Root:from ash, Old English aesce.

Definition: To force or oblige someone to do something.

From the reading: "He may strike the head from me—he may scourge me—he may load me with irons—but henceforth he shall never compel me either to love or to obey him." (Ivanhoe)

Synonyms:

force, oblige, constrain

Antonyms:

allow, permit

Root:Latin compellere, to drive together.

Definition: Exciting; stirring.

From the reading: "Sleep came not at first, but in her stead a train of pleasing yet not rousing or awakening sensations." (The Talisman)

Synonyms:

stirring, inspiring, exciting

Antonyms:

dull

Root:rouse, originally a hawking term for a bird shaking its feathers (Anglo-French, origin uncertain): stirring.

Definition: To separate or remove.

From the reading: "I pulled with all my strength, and, in my efforts, I struck my foot against the roll of wire, which fell down to the ground without detaching the hook." (The Swiss Family Robinson)

Synonyms:

disconnect, separate, unfasten

Antonyms:

attach

Root:French détacher (compare Italian distaccare, staccare); pref. dé (Latin dis) + the root found also in English attach. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: A tendency to do nothing or to remain unchanged; resistance to motion.

From the reading: "He is so low, that preferring death to life, nature cannot overcome his inertia." (Freckles)

Synonyms:

inactivity, sluggishness, inaction

Antonyms:

activity

Root:Latin, idleness, from iners idle. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: To fix firmly in the mind; to stamp a mark on.

From the reading: "Together they studied that imprint of the Angel's foot." (Freckles)

Synonyms:

impress, stamp, engrave

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Cf. French empreinte impress, stamp. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: To make small movements through nervousness or impatience.

From the reading: "Be a good girl, Lida, and, Kolya, don’t fidget with your feet; sit like a little gentleman." (Crime and Punishment)

Synonyms:

squirm, wriggle, twitch

Antonyms:

keep still

Root:from obsolete fidge, to twitch.