Grade 9 College Vocabulary, Week 18

Definition: A group of lines forming the basic recurring unit in a poem.

From the reading: "The even lines are catalectic heptameter in Poe’s own scheme, and the last line of each stanza is a short tetrameter." (the lesson)

Synonyms:

verse, strophe

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Italian stanza a room, habitation, a stanza, i. e., a stop, from Latin stans, p.pr. of stare to stand. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: Having existed from the beginning; in an earliest or original stage or state.

From the reading: "The caesura after primeval splits the line into two breaths." (the lesson)

Synonyms:

primordial, ancient, primal

Antonyms:

modern

Root:Latin primaevus; primus first + aevum age. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: Unwilling to spend or give money; stingy.

Context (original sentence): The tightfisted king kept his gold in the hall, but the wise ring-giver shared it with his warriors and won their loyalty.

Synonyms:

stingy, miserly, closefisted

Antonyms:

generous, openhanded

Root:tight (Old Norse thettr, close-packed) + fist (Old English fyst) + -ed: having the fist held tight shut on one's money.

Definition: To polish by rubbing.

From the reading: "No sword-bearer have I, And no one to burnish the gold-plated vessel, The high-valued beaker: my heroes are vanished." (Beowulf)

Synonyms:

polish, shine, buff

Antonyms:

tarnish, dull

Root:Old French burnir, to make brown, to polish, from brun, brown or shining: to polish.

Definition: Lack of action where some is expected or appropriate.

From the reading: "It was her only game, her only relief from her burden of sorrow and inaction." (Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc)

Synonyms:

inactivity, idleness, passivity

Antonyms:

action, activity

Root:Pref. in. not + action: compare inaction. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: The quality of being graceful and stylish in appearance or manner; refined good taste.

From the reading: "She entered—a noble and commanding figure, the long white veil, in which she was shrouded, overshadowing rather than concealing the elegance and majesty of her shape." (Ivanhoe)

Synonyms:

grace, refinement, polish

Antonyms:

inelegance, crudeness

Root:Latin elegantia, from elegans, choosy or refined (eligere, to pick out: e-, out + legere, to choose): refined choice.

Definition: Stubborn and unreasonable intolerance of others' opinions or of other people.

From the reading: "These religious pictures are not just dirtied or torn or scrawled over, which might be done in idleness or bigotry, by children or by Protestants." (The Innocence of Father Brown)

Synonyms:

intolerance, prejudice, narrow-mindedness

Antonyms:

tolerance, open-mindedness

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

Definition: A detailed account of facts or events; a musical performance by one or a few performers.

From the reading: "After recommending ourselves to the protection of God, I desired Fritz to commence his melancholy recital." (The Swiss Family Robinson)

Synonyms:

account, narration, recitation

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:From Recite. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: The ability to move quickly and easily.

From the reading: "We easily crossed the bridge, but the water had carried away some of the planks; however, my little boy leaped from one plank to another with great agility, though the distance was sometimes considerable." (The Swiss Family Robinson)

Synonyms:

nimbleness, lightness, dexterity

Antonyms:

clumsiness

Root:French agilié, Latin agilitas, from agilis. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: Protection or support; patronage.

From the reading: "We re-embarked under the most favourable auspices—the weather delightful, and the wind fair; but we very soon had a change; we were met by a terrible storm and hurricane, such as the sailors had never witnessed." (The Swiss Family Robinson)

Synonyms:

patronage, protection, sponsorship

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Latin auspicium, bird-watching for omens, from avis, bird + specere, to look: patronage under favorable signs.

Definition: The quality of being made up of exactly similar parts facing each other; pleasing proportion and balance.

From the reading: "Thus, the Doll-lady of distinction had wax limbs of perfect symmetry; but only she and her compeers." (The Cricket on the Hearth)

Synonyms:

balance, proportion, harmony

Antonyms:

asymmetry, imbalance

Root:Latin symmetria, Greek symétrie. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: Money that is owed and should already have been paid.

From the reading: "During the march I caught up on my devotions, which were in arrears; so it was not all loss and no profit for me after all." (Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc)

Synonyms:

debts, liabilities, dues

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Old French arere, behind, from Latin ad, to + retro, backward: being behind in payment.

Definition: The action of demolishing; destruction.

From the reading: "If any one had done the dwelling-house of Caleb Plummer the honour to miss it after such an inroad, it would have been, no doubt, to commend its demolition as a vast improvement." (The Cricket on the Hearth)

Synonyms:

destruction, razing, wrecking

Antonyms:

construction

Root:Latin demolitio, from demoliri: compare French démolition. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: The ability to speak or write easily and well.

From the reading: "But the bishop proceeded with far less fluency when he considered the possibility of the Saracen's acting with bad faith; and here he came not to a speedy decision." (The Talisman)

Synonyms:

eloquence, articulateness, ease

Antonyms:

hesitancy

Root:Latin fluentia: compare French fluence. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: The quality of being closely connected or appropriate to the matter at hand.

From the reading: "But he was far too just a man to deny the relevance of the remark." (The Innocence of Father Brown)

Synonyms:

pertinence, bearing, applicability

Antonyms:

irrelevance

Root:Medieval Latin relevare, to raise up or relieve (re-, again + levare, to lift): a bearing on the matter.

Definition: The state of being rare; a thing that is rare.

From the reading: "Do you not see what feigned prices, are set upon little stones and rarities? and what works of ostentation are undertaken, because there might seem to be some use of great riches?" (Essays)

Synonyms:

scarcity, infrequency; curiosity

Antonyms:

commonness

Root:Latin raritas: compare French rareté. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: The formal admission of someone to an office or organization; reasoning from particular cases to a general rule.

From the reading: "The induction of the Sethian brought them face to face in fierce hostility." (Ben-Hur)

Synonyms:

installation, initiation, inauguration

Antonyms:

(none exact)

Root:Latin inductio: compare French induction. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: To add territory to one's own country by taking possession of it.

From the reading: "He reduced Judea to a Roman province, and annexed it to the prefecture of Syria." (Ben-Hur)

Synonyms:

seize, appropriate, take over

Antonyms:

cede

Root:French annexe, Latin annexus, neut. annexum, past participle of annectere. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: To deliberately avoid.

From the reading: "There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil." (Job 1:1)

Synonyms:

shun, avoid, abstain from

Antonyms:

embrace, seek

Root:Old French eschever, eschiver, eskiver, French esquiver, from OHG. sciuhen, German scheuen; akin to English sky. (Webster, 1913)

Definition: To irritate or annoy.

From the reading: "And, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down." (Proverbs 24:31)

Synonyms:

annoy, irritate, vex

Antonyms:

soothe

Root:Old English (Anglo-Saxon) netele; akin to Dutch netel, German nessel, OHG. nezzïla, nazza, Dan. nelde, nälde, Sw. nässla; cf, Lith. notere. (Webster, 1913)