The Century Vocabulary Builder
by
Creever & Bachelor
Part 3 out of 7
courage in this ____, perceived his ____ in the crime, and deplored his
participation in the ____. They ____ him for an ____ promise that mercy
would be shown. She was in a ____, for she had not had time to arrange her
hair in its usual broad ____. He was ____ of body. The ____ was refused.
(place): (1) expose, compose, purpose, posture,
position, composure, impostor, postpone, post office, positive, deposit,
disposition, imposition, deponent, opponent, exponent, component;
(2) depose, impost, composite, apposite, repository, preposition,
interposition, juxtaposition, decomposition.
_Sentences_: The ____ said he would ____ the manner in which the
cashier had made away with the ____. The true ____ of the ____ was now
known, yet he retained his ____. For you to make yourself an ____ of these
wild theories is an ____ on your friends. The closing hour at the ____ is
____ thirty minutes on account of the rush of Christmas mail. He
was ____ that his ____ had ____ the letter. One of the ____ elements in
his ____ was gloom.
(seize): (1) prize, apprise, surprise, comprise,
enterprise, imprison, comprehend, apprehension; (a) reprisal, misprision,
reprehend, prehensile, apprentice, impregnable, reprieve.
_Sentences_: He had no ____ as to what the ____ would ____.
His ____ was so great that he could scarcely ____ the fact that the ____
was his. The judge ____ them of the likelihood that they would be ____.
(prove): (1 and 2 combined) probe, probation, probate,
probity, approbation, reprobate, improbable.
_Sentences_: The young ____ was placed on ____. The will was brought
into the ____ court. It is ____ that such ____ as his will win the ____ of
evil-doers.
(break): (1 and 2 combined) rupture, abrupt, interrupt,
disrupt, eruption, incorruptible, irruption, bankrupt, rout, route,
routine.
_Sentences_: The volcano was in ____. Though ____, he remained
____. The ____ of the barbarians ____ these reforms. The organization was
____ after having already been put to ____. The ____ he had chosen led to
a ____ in their relationships. It was ____ work.
(seat): (1) sedulous, sedentary, supersede,
subside, preside, reside, residue, possess, assessment, session, seige;
(2) sediment, insidious, assiduous, subsidy, obsession, see (noun),
assize.
_Sentences_: The ____ was so small that he scarcely noticed he ____
it. The officer was ____ in making the ____ upon every tax-payer fair.
During the ____ Congress remained in ____. He ____ in the city and has a
____ occupation. When the officer who ____ is firm, such commotions will
quickly ____. He ____ the disgraced commander.
(follow): (1) sequel, sequence, consequence,
subsequent, consecutive, execute, prosecute, persecute, sue, ensue,
suitor, suitable, pursuit, rescue, second; (2) obsequies, obsequious,
sequester, inconsequential, non sequitur, executor, suite.
_Sentences_: On the ____ day they continued the ____. In the ____
chapter of the ____ the heroine is ____. The ____ of events is hard to
follow. The ____ was that her brother began to ____ her ____. The district
attorney ____ six ____ offenders, but thought it useless to bring any ____
offender to trial. It was a ____ occasion.
(cut, separate): (1 and 2 combined) shear,
sheer, shred, share, shard, scar, score, (sea)shore, shorn, shroud, shire,
sheriff.
_Sentences_: The ____ had on his face a ____ made by a ____ thrown at
him. In that ____ an old custom for every one to ____ in the ____ the
sheep. There was, instead of the usual ____ a cliff that rose from the
sea. All ____ as the freshman was, he had hardly a ____ of his former
dignity. The ____ was very one-sided. A ____ of mist was about him.
(sign): (1) sign, signal, signify, signature, consign, design,
assign, designate, resignation, insignificant; (2) ensign, signatory,
insignia.
_Sentences_: He ____ his approval of the ____. The disturbance
caused by his ____ was ____. He ____ no reason for ____ those particular
men. As he could not write his own ____, I ____ the document for him. It
was a ____ defeat.
(loosen): (r) solve, resolve, dissolve, solution,
dissolute, resolute, absolute; (2) solvent, absolution, indissoluble,
assoil.
_Sentences_: On account of his ____ course he had given his parents
many a problem to ____. He ____ the powder in a cupful of water and ____
to give it to the patient. This ____ of the difficulty did not win the
____ approval of his employer. The obstacles were many, but he was ____.
(look): (1) spectator, spectacle, suspect,
aspect, prospect, expect, respectable, disrespect, inspection, speculate,
special, especial, species, specify, specimen, spice, suspicion,
conspicuous, despise, despite, spite; (2) specter, spectrum, spectroscope,
prospector, prospectus, introspection, retrospect, circumspectly,
conspectus, perspective, specie, specification, specious, despicable,
auspices, perspicacity, frontispiece, respite.
_Sentences_: His ____ was conducted in such a manner as to show the
utmost ____. In ____ she noticed an odor of ____. From his ____ you would
have taken him to be a ____ of wild animal. The ____ was better than we
had ____ it to be. Though you have no ____ fondness for children, you will
enjoy the ____ of them playing together. The ____ did not ____ what
underhand tactics some of the players were resorting to. In ____ of all
this, we made a ____ showing. The ____ is one you cannot ____. ____ this
____ of matters, she did not ____ the cause of her ____, but let him ____
what it might be.
(breathe, breath): (1 and 2 combined) spirit,
spiritual, perspire, transpire, respire, aspire, conspiracy, inspiration,
expiration, esprit de corps.
_Sentences_: At the ____ of a few days it ____ that a ____ had
actually been formed. The ____ of the division was such that every man
____ to meet the enemy forthwith. He was a man of much ____ and marked
powers of ____. As he lay there, he merely ____ and ____; he had no
thought whatsoever of things ____.
(stand): (1) stand, stage, statue, stall,
stationary, state, reinstate, station, forestall, instant, instance,
distance, constant, withstand, understand, circumstance, estate,
establish, substance, obstacle, obstinate, destiny, destination,
destitute, substitute, superstition, desist, persist, resist, insist,
assist, exist, consistent, stead, rest, restore, restaurant, contrast; (2)
stature, statute, stadium, stability, instable, static, statistics,
ecstasy, stamen, stamina, standard, stanza, stanchion, capstan, extant,
constabulary, apostate, transubstantiation, status quo, armistice,
solstice, interstice, institute, restitution, constituent, subsistence,
pre-existence, presto.
_Sentences_: The ____ of the motion was that the student who had been
expelled should be ____. He ____ in his ____ resolution to go on the ____.
She could not ____ the pleas of ____ people. He ____ her to alight at the
____. In an ____ you shall ____ what the ____ was that drove me to
tempt ____ thus. We had gone but a little ____ when I perceived by the
hungry working of his jaws that his ____ was the ____ in the next block.
No ____ could cause him to ____. She was ____ in a ____ at the bazaar.
(place): (1 and 2 combined) stead, steadfast, instead,
homestead, farmstead, roadstead, bestead.
_Sentences:_ ____ of resting in a harbor, the ships were tossed about
in an open ____. Little did it ____ him to cling to the old ____. A ____
nestled by the highway. To be known as ____ now stood him in good ____.
(bind): (1) district, restrict, strictly,
stringent, strain, restrain, constrain; (2) stricture, constriction, boa
constrictor, astringent, strait, stress.
_Sentences_: We ____ them by means of ____ regulations. He ____ them
to this course by his mere example. He attended ____ to his duties. You
should not ____ your pleasures in this way. The ____ of long effort was
telling on him.
(touch): (1) tact, contact, intact,
intangible, attain, taint, stain, tinge, contingent, integrity, entire,
tint; (2) tactile, tactual, tangent, distain, attaint, attainder, integer,
disintegrate, contagion, contaminate, contiguous.
_Sentences_: His appointment is ____ upon his removing this ____ from
his name. His ____ is such that no ____ with evil could leave any ____
upon him. The contents were ____. With ____ he hopes to ____ the ____
approval of his auditors. It was a dark ____. The reason is ____.
(cut): (1 and 2 combined) detail, curtail, entail, retail,
tailor, tally.
_Sentences_: He held the property in ____. He kept the reckoning
straight by means of ____ cut in a shingle. He resolved to ____ expenses
by visiting the ____ less often. We need not go into ____. The profit lies
in the difference between wholesale and ____ prices.
(hold--for related _ten_ group see above under Two
Admonitions): (1 and 2 combined) detain, abstain, contain, obtain,
maintain, entertain, pertain, appertain, sustain, retain.
_Sentences_: Village life and things ____ thereto I shall willingly
____ from. I ____ that precepts of this kind in no sense ____ to public
morals. If the gentleman can ____ the consent of his second, the chair
will ____ the motion as he restates it. Though your forces may ____ heavy
losses, they must ____ their position and ____ the enemy.
(end, bound): (1 and 2 combined) term, terminus,
terminal, terminate, determine, indeterminate, interminable, exterminate.
_Sentences_: At the ____ of the railroad stands a beautiful ____
station. The manner in which we may ____ the agreement remains ____.
He ____ that rather than yield he would make the negotiations ____. During
the second ____ they ____ all the rodents about the school.
(twist): (1) torture, tortoise, retort, contort, distortion,
extortionate, torch, (apple) tart, truss, nasturtium; (2) tort, tortuous,
torsion, Dry Tortugas.
_Sentences_: By the light of the ____ he saw a ____ fowl by the
fireside and a ____ in the cupboard. The ____ of his countenance was due
to the ____ he was undergoing. ____ his face into a very knowing look, he
____ that a man with a ____ in his buttonhole and ____ shell glasses on
his nose had leered at the girls as he passed.
(draw): (1) tract, tractor, intractable, abstracted,
retract, protract, detract, distract, attractive, contractor, trace,
trail, train, trait, portray, retreat; (2) traction, tractate, distraught,
extraction, subtraction.
_Sentences_: In an ____ manner he drove the ____ across a large ____
of ground. He ____ his gaze at the ____ girl. The ____ was now willing to
____ his statement that in the house as it stood there was no ____ of
departure from the specifications. Down the weary ____ of the pioneer
dashes the palatial modern ____. To be ____ was one of his ____. The
artist ____ her as in a ____ state. The ____ of his forces ____ but little
from his fame.
(come): (1) convene, convenient, avenue, revenue,
prevent, event, inventor, adventure, convention, circumvent; (2) venire,
venue, parvenu, advent, adventitious, convent, preventive, eventuate,
intervention.
_Sentences_: The legislature ____ in order to pass a measure
regarding the public ____. At the ____ the wily old politician was able to
____ his enemies. The ____ saw no means of ____ this infringement of his
patent right. In that ____ we are likely to have an ____. Through the
long, shaded ____ they strolled together.
(turn): (1) avert, divert, convert, invert, pervert,
advertize, inadvertent, verse, aversion, adverse, adversity, adversary,
version, anniversary, versatile, divers, diversity, conversation,
perverse, universe, university, traverse, subversive, divorce;
(2) vertebra, vertigo, controvert, revert, averse, versus, versification,
animadversion, vice versa, controversy, tergiversation, obverse,
transverse, reversion, vortex.
_Sentences_: Though he carried a large ____ of goods, he was ____ to
____ them. He had ____ forgotten that it was his wedding ____. The ____
was on ____ subjects. They ____ a broad area where nothing had been done
to ____ the danger that threatened them. With ____ stubbornness he held to
his ____ of the story. He held that the reading of ____ is ____ of
masculine qualities. His professors at the ____ soon ____ him to new
social and economic theories. Her husband was such a ____ creature that
she resolved to secure a ____. Americans are the most ____ people in the
____. The anecdote ____ his ____ himself. Her answer not only was ____,
it revealed her ____. He had undergone grave ____ in his time.
(conquer): (1 and 2 combined) evince, convince,
province, invincible, evict, convict, conviction, victorious.
_Sentences_: He was ____ that the campaign against the rebels in
the ____ could not be ____. He ____ a lively interest in my theory that
the fugitive could not be ____. He felt an ____ repugnance to ____ the
man, and this in spite of his ____ that the man was guilty.
(call, voice): (1) vocal, vocation, advocate,
irrevocable, vociferous, provoke, revoke, evoke, convoke;
(2) vocable, vocabulary, avocation, equivocal, invoke, avouch, vouchsafe.
_Sentences_: He was a ____ ____ of the measure, but no sooner was
the order issued than he wished it ____. In ____ the assembly he ____ the
enthusiasm of his followers. That he should give ____ utterance to this
thought ____ me; but the words, once spoken, were ____.
(roll, turn): (1) involve, devolve, revolver,
evolution, revolutionary, revolt, voluble, volume, vault; (2) circumvolve,
convolution, convolvulus.
_Sentences_: It ____ upon me to put down the ____. In this ____ the
heroine is ____ and the hero handy with a ____. He was ____ in a ____
uprising. He had laid the papers away in a ____. The ____ of civilization
is a tedious story.
SECOND GENERAL EXERCISE
Copy both sections (the first consists of fairly familiar terms, the
second of less familiar terms) of each of the following word-groups.
Find the key-syllable, underscore it in each word, observe any
modifications in its form. Decide for yourself what its meaning is; then
verify or correct your conclusion by reference to the dictionary. Study
the influence of the key-syllable upon the meaning of each separate word;
find the word's original signification, its present signification. Add to
each word-group as many cognate words as you can (1) think of for
yourself, (2) find in the dictionary by looking under the key-syllable.
Fill the blanks in the sentences after each word-group with terms chosen
from the first section of words in that group.
(1) Animosity, unanimous, magnanimity;
(2) animate, animadvert, equanimity.
_Sentences_: It was the ____ opinion that to so noble a foe ____
should be shown. The spiteful man continued to display his ____.
(1) Annual, annuity, anniversary, perennial, centennial, solemn;
(2) superannuate, biennial, millennium.
_Sentences_: The amateur gardener made the ____ discovery that the
plant was a ____. The ____ celebration of the great man's birth took a
____ and imposing form in our city. By a happy coincidence the increase in
his ____ came on wedding ____.
(1) Audit, auditor, auditorium, audience, inaudible, obey;
(2) aurist, auricular, auscultation.
_Sentences_: His voice may not have been ____, but it certainly did
not fill the ____. Not one ____ in all that vast ____ but was willing to
____ his slightest suggestion. He was not willing that they should ____
his accounts.
(1) Automatic, automobile, autocrat, autobiography;
(2) autograph, autonomy.
_Sentences_: The ____ dictated to his secretary the third chapter
of his ____. The habit of changing gear properly in an ____ becomes
almost ____.
(1) Cant, descant, incantation, chant, enchant, chanticleer, accent,
incentive;
(2) canto, canticle, cantata, recant, chantry, chanson, precentor.
_Sentences_: He ____ upon this topic in a queer, foreign ____.
Such utterances are mere sanctimonious ____; I had rather listen to the
____ of a voodoo conjurer. The little girl from the city was ____ with the
crowing of ____. The ____ of the choir somehow gave him the ____ to try
again.
(1) Cent, per cent, century, centennial;
(2) centenary, centime, centurion, centimeter, centigrade.
_Sentences_: For nearly a ____ this family has been living on a small
____ of its income. I wouldn't give a ____ for ____ honors; I want my
reward now.
(1) Chronic, chronological, chronicle;
(2) chronometer, synchronize, anachronism.
_Sentences_: It is a ____ record of changing activities and ____
ills. This page is a ____ of athletic news.
(1) Corps, corpse, corporal, corpulent, corporation, incorporate;
(2) corpus, habeas corpus, corporeal, corpuscle, Corpus Christi.
_Sentences_: The ____ gentleman said he did not believe in ____
punishment. The hospital ____ carried the ____ into the office of a great
____. He resolved to ____ this idea into the reforms he was introducing.
(1 and 2 combined) Creed, credulous, credential, credit, accredit,
discredit, incredible.
_Sentences_: He was not so ____ as to suppose that his ____ would be
accepted and his statements ____ without some investigation. It is to his
____ that he refused to be bound by his former religious ____. That such
____ has been heaped upon him is ____.
(1) Crescent, increase, decrease, concrete, recruit, accrue, crew;
(2) crescendo, excrescence, accretion, increment.
_Sentences_: The ____ now had ____ evidence that military life was
not altogether pleasant. In the olden days on the sea deaths from scurvy
might bring about a dangerous ____ in the size of the ____. His courage
____ with the profits that ____ to him. The ____ moon rode in the sky.
(1) Cure, secure, procure, sinecure, curious, inaccurate;
(2) curate, curator.
_Sentences_: Occupying the position for a while will ____ of the
notion that it is a ____. He was ____ to know so a bookkeeper had managed
to ____ so high a salary. He ____ the equipment required.
(1 and 2 combined) Indignity, indignation, undignified, condign, deign,
dainty.
_Sentences_: We must not be too ____ about visiting ____ punishment
upon those responsible for this ____. He did not ____ to express his ____.
It was an ____ act.
(1) Durable, endure, during, duration, obdurate;
(2) durance, duress, indurate, perdurable.
_Sentences_: ____ the whole interview she remained ____. It is a
____ cloth; it will ____ all sorts of weather. The session was one of
prolonged ____.
(1) Finite, infinite, define, definite, confine, final, in fine,
unfinished;
(2) definitive, infinitesimal.
_Sentences_: One cannot ____ the ____. He ____ himself to purely ____
topics. ____ it was a ____ offer and the ____ one he expected to make.
The bridge is still ____.
(1) Flexibility, inflexible, deflect, inflection, reflection, reflex;
(2) circumflex, genuflection.
_Sentences_: The ____ influence of this act was great. I did not like
the ____ of his voice. After some ____ he decided to remain ____. He was
not to be ____ from his purpose. I could but admire the ____ of her tones.
(1) Fluent, affluent, influence, influenza, superfluous, fluid, influx,
flush (rush of water), fluctuate;
(2) confluent, mellifluous, flux, reflux, effluvium, flume.
_Sentences_: When you ____ the basin, an ____ of water fills it
again. He is an ____ man and a ____ writer. When I had ____, the doctor
gave me a disgusting ____ to drink. The wind must have an ____ in making
the waves ____ as they do. Any more would be ____.
(1) Fort, forte, effort, comfort, fortitude, fortify, fortress;
(2) aqua fortis, pianoforte.
_Sentences_: The defenders of the ____ held out with great ____.
Though a ____ or two stood at important passes, the border was not really
____. His ____ was not public speaking. It was only by an ____ that he
could ____ them.
(1) Fraction, infraction, fracture, fragility, fragment, suffrage, frail,
infringe;
(2) diffract, refractory, frangible.
_Sentences_: It was in the course of his ____ of the rules that he
suffered the ____ of his collar-bone. He told the committee of ladies that
he was as fond of ____ as of ____. It is hardly a proof of ____ that he is
so willing to ____ upon the rights of others. The ____ scaffolding bent
and swung as he trod it.
(1 and 2 combined) Fugitive, fugue, refuge, subterfuge, centrifugal.
_Sentences_: Closing his eyes as if to listen better to the ____ was
a little ____ of his. The upward movement of the missile was arrested by
the ____ attraction of the earth. The ____ took ____ in an abandoned barn.
(1) Refund, confound, foundry, confuse, suffuse, profuse, refuse, diffuse;
(2) fusion, effusion, transfuse.
_Sentences_: With ____ cheeks and ____ utterance he made a ____
apology. The amount we lost through the defective work at your ____ should
be ____ to us. Such a blow might ____ but not ____ him. He ____ the
appointment.
(1) Belligerent, gesture, suggest, congested, digestion, register, jest;
(2) gerund, congeries.
_Sentences_: As he stopped before the cash ____ he gave a ____ which
showed that his ____ was none too good. His look was ____, but he lightly
made a ____. Amid the ____ traffic she stopped to ____ that pink would be
more becoming than lavender.
(1) Relate, translate, legislate, elation, dilated, dilatory;
(2) collate, correlate, prelate, oblation, superlative, ablative.
_Sentences_: With ____ eyes he ____ the passage for me. The ____ was
very ____ in agreeing upon the measure to be passed. He ____ the story
with pride and ____.
(1) Locate, locality, locomotive, dislocate;
(2) locale, allocate, collocation.
_Sentences_: In trying to ____ the mine as near the fissure as
possible he fell and ____ his hip. It was only ____ in that entire ____.
(1) Soliloquy, loquacious, loquacity, colloquial, eloquent, obloquy,
circumlocution, elocution;
(2) magniloquent, grandiloquent, ventriloquism, interlocutor, locutory,
allocution. (For related _log_ and _Ology_ words see above under
Prying Into a Word's Relationships.)
_Sentences_: ____ always, he indulged at this time in a great deal
of ____. Though it was mere ____, yet there was something ____ about it.
Amid all this ____ he managed to rid himself of a good deal of ____
regarding Standish. Hamlet's ____ on suicide is a famous passage.
(1) Allude, elude, delude, ludicrous, illusory, collusion;
(2) prelude, postlude, interlude.
_Sentences_: Such evidence is ____, and belief in it is ____.
He ____ to a possible ____ between them. The more credulous ones he ____,
and the skeptical he manages to ____.
(1) Metrical, thermometer, barometer, pedometer, diametrically, geometry;
(2) millimeter, chronometer, hydrometer, trigonometry, pentameter.
_Sentences_: He was careful to consult both the ____ and the ____.
He always wore a ____ on these trips. The two were ____ opposed to each
other. The poet has great ____ skill. ____ is an exact science.
(1) Monotone, monotonous, monoplane, monopoly, monocle, monarchy,
monogram, monomania;
(2) monosyllable, monochrome, monogamy, monorail, monograph, monolith,
monody, monologue, monad, monastery, monk.
_Sentences_: His eye held a ____, his gold ring bore a ____ seal,
and his voice was a stilted ____. One thing I hate about a ____ is the
____ reference to everything as his majesty's. He had a ____ of the trade
in his town. He is suffering, not from madness, but from ____.
(1) Mortal, immortality, mortify, postmortem, mortgage, morgue;
(2) mortmain, moribund, A la mort.
_Sentences_: After a hasty ____ examination, the body was taken to
the ____. She was ____ at this reminder of the ____ on her father's
property. The ____ shall put on ____.
(1 and 2 combined) Mutual, mutation, permutation, commute, transmute,
immutable, moult.
_Sentences_: As he ____ that morning he reflected upon the ____ and
combinations of fortune. We suffer the ____ of this worldly life, but
ourselves are not ____. God's love is ____, and our love for each other
should be ____. Birds when they ____ are weakened in body and depressed in
spirit.
(1) Native, prenatal, innate, nature, unnatural, naturalize, nation,
pregnant, puny;
(2) denatured, nativity, cognate, agnate, nascent, renascence, nee.
_Sentences_: It was some ____ influence, he thought, that gave him
his ____ physique. It was a ____ reply, but its heartlessness was ____.
He was not ____ to the country, but ____. ____ in his ____ was the love
of his own ____.
(1) Note, notion, notable, notice, notorious, cognizant, incognito,
recognize, noble, ignoble, ennoble, ignore, ignorance, ignoramus,
reconnoiter, quaint, acquaintance;
(2) notary, notation, connotation, cognition, prognosticate,
reconnaissance, connoisseur.
_Sentences_: In complete ____ of the enemy's position, he decided
that he would ____ it. ____ himself, he was ____ of what was going on
about him. You must ____ the conduct of such an ____. His ____ with this
____ gentleman ____ him. He ____ but would not ____ this ____ fellow.
The ____ is a ____ one. He could but ____ how ____ his brother had become.
(1) Panacea, panoply, panorama, pantomime, pan-American, pandemonium;
(2) pantheist, pantheon.
_Sentences_: Arrayed in all the ____ of savages, they acted the scene
out in ____. From this point the ____ of the country-side unrolled itself
before him. It is no ____ for human ills; any supposition that it is will
lead to ____. It is a ____ movement.
(1) Peter, petrify, petrol, stormy petrel, petroleum, saltpeter, pier;
(2) petrology, parsley, samphire.
_Sentences_: As he walked along the ____, he observed the flight of
the ____. The English name for gasoline is ____. ____ is used in the
manufacture of gunpowder. He was almost ____ at hearing of this enormous
stock of ____. The crowing of the cock caused ____ to weep bitterly.
(1 and 2 combined) Petty, petite, petit jury, petit larceny, petticoat,
pettifogger.
_Sentences_: Charged with ____, he was tried by the ____. The
contemptible ____ hid behind the ____ of his wife. She was a winsome
maiden, dainty and ____. It is a ____ fault.
(1 and 2 combined) Philosophy, philanthropy, Philadelphia, bibliophile,
Anglophile.
_Sentences_: His ____ was generous, but his ____ was not profound.
That queer old ____ hangs to the library like a caterpillar. It was the
love of humankind that caused Penn to name the city ____. Most Americans
are not ____.
(1 and 2 combined) Cosmopolitan, metropolitan, politics, policy, police.
_Sentences_: Those who engage in ____ lack, as a rule, a ____
outlook. It is merely ____ intolerance of towns and villages. The ____ of
the mayor was to increase the ____ force.
(1 and 2 combined) Potential, potency, potentate, impotent, omnipotent,
plenipotentiary.
_Sentences_: So far from being ____, we possess a ____ difficult to
estimate. The ____ sent an ambassador ____. A ____ solution of the problem
is this. ____ God.
(1) Impute, compute, dispute, ill repute, reputation, disreputable;
(2) putative, indisputable.
_Sentences_: She could not ____ the cost. There was some ____ as to
the cause of his ____. Let them ____ to me what motives they will. Though
somewhat ____, he was extremely
solicitous about his ____.
(1) Abrogate, arrogate, interrogate, arrogant, derogatory, prerogative;
(2) surrogate, rogation, prorogue.
_Sentences_: In an ____ manner he ____ these ____ to himself. To ____
authority is to give opportunity for remarks ____ to one's reputation. He
skilfully ____ the witness.
(1) Salmon, sally, assail, assault, insult, consult, result, exultation,
desultory;
(2) salient, salacious, resilient.
_Sentences_: After the ____ the firing was ____. The defenders ____
out and ____ us, but the ____ of this effort only added to our ____. We
sat there watching the ____ leap over the waterfall and ____ about our
arrangements for taking them. To accept the remark as an ____ is to
acknowledge the speaker as an equal.
(1) Science, conscience, unconscious, prescience, omniscience, nice;
(2) sciolist, adscititious, plebiscite.
_Sentences_: By his ____ understanding of the issues he was able to
gain a reputation for ____. We thought he possessed ____, but he seemed
____ of his erudition. Except under the sharp necessities of ____, he was
ruled by a ____ thoroughly tender.
(1) Sect, section, non-sectarian, dissect, insect, intersection, sickle,
vivisection, segment;
(2) bisect, trisect, insection, sector, secant.
_Sentences_: He stood at the ____ of the roads, leaning on the shank
of a sharp ____. The foreman of the ____ gang is a member of our ____. The
boy was ____ an ____ with a butcher knife he had previously used to cut
for himself a large ____ of the Sunday cake. It is a ____ movement. He
defended the ____ of animals.
(1) Sense, consent, assent, resent, sentimental, dissension, sensation,
sensibility, sentence, scent, nonsense;
(2) sentient, consensus, presentiment.
_Sentences_: A woman of her ____ would shrink from a ____ of this
sort. He ____ in a single, crisp ____. To be ____ is to be guilty of ____.
He had the good ____ to ____ to this course. He ____ such ____ and the
causes that produced them. A hound hunts by ____.
(1) Despond, respond, correspond, corespondent, sponsor;
(2) sponsion, spouse, espouse.
_Sentences_: She ____ that her husband had been ____ with the ____.
The ____ of the movement could as yet see no reason to ____.
(1 and 2 combined) Structure, instructor, construct, obstruct, instrument,
destructive, misconstrue.
_Sentences_: The student ____ the intentions of his ____. He resolved
to ____ every effort to complete the ____. The ____ was one that might
easily be turned to ____ work. They ____ a grandstand overlooking the
racetrack.
(1) Terrace, territory, subterranean, inter, terrier;
(2) terrene, tureen, terrestrial, terra cotta, Mediterranean, terra firma,
parterre.
_Sentences_: The ____ was tearing a great hole in the ____ in order
to ____ a bone. He found rich ____ deposits. The discoverers laid claim to
the entire ____.
(1) Thesis, parenthesis, antithesis, anathema, theme, epithet, treasure;
(2) hypothesis, synthesis, metathesis.
_Sentences_: To set two ideas in ____ to each other makes both more
vivid. By way of ____ he informed me that the subject was ____ to his
father. On this ____ he can summon a host of picturesque ____. The ____ is
one you will find it hard to establish. He was seeking Captain Kidd's
buried ____.
(1 and 2 combined) Tumor, tumidity, tumult, tumulus, contumacy.
_Sentences_: The ____ of his joints was due to rheumatism. His ____
led to a ____ of opposition. So excited was he at the discovery of the
____ that he did not permit the ____ on his hand to restrain him from
beginning the excavation.
(1 and 2 combined) Turbid, disturb, perturbation, turbulence, trouble,
imperturbable.
_Sentences_: His ____ manner gave no hint of the ____ within him. The
____ sweep of the stream caused her not the slightest ____. Do not ____
yourself with the thought that you are putting me to any ____.
(1 and 2 combined) Pervade, invade, evasion, vade mecum.
_Sentences_: He promised that there would be no ____ of payments.
Byron's _Childe Harold_ was my ____ during my travels in Switzerland
and Italy. The fragrance of heliotrope ____ the room. You must not ____ my
privacy like this.
(1) Avail, prevail, prevalent, equivalent, valiant, validity, invalid,
invalidate; (2) valetudinarian, valediction, valence.
_Sentences_: The ____ of the agreement has been thoroughly
established. Our cause is just, and must ____. It is ____ to admitting
that the terms are now ____. It was a ____ act and ____ the concessions
previously wrested from us. The ____ impression is that mere ingenuity
will not ____.
(1) Virtue, virile, virgin, virtually; (2) virago, virtuoso, triumvir.
_Sentences_: It was ____ a new arrangement. It is ____ soil. To
be ____ and daring is every boy's dream. ____ is its own reward.
(1) Revive, survival, convivial, vivid, vivify, vivacious, vivisection;
(2) vive (le roi), qui vive, bon vivant, tableau vivant.
_Sentences_: He has a ____ manner, a ____ spirit. The ____ of the
opposition to the ____ of animals is very marked. You cannot ____ a dead
cause or scarcely ____ memories of it. The ____ coloring of her cheeks was
a sure sign of health, or of skill.
THIRD GENERAL EXERCISE
Find the key-syllable (in a few instances the key-syllables) of each of
the following words. How does it affect the meaning of the word? Does it
appear, perhaps in disguised form, in any of the words immediately
preceding or following? Can you bring to mind other words that embody it?
Innovation Commonwealth Welfare Wayfarer
Adjournment Rival Derivation Arrive
Denunciation Denomination Ignominy Synonym
Patronymic Parliament Dormitory Demented
Presumptuous Indent Dandelion Trident
Indenture Contemporary Disseminate Annoy
Odium Desolate Impugn Efflorescent
Arbor vitae Consider Constellation Disaster
Suburb Address Dirigible Dirge
Indirectly Desperate Inoperative Benevolent
Voluntary Offend Enumerate Dilapidate
Request Exquisite Exonerate Approximate
Insinuate Resurgence Insurrection Rapture
Exasperate Complacent Dimension Commensurate
Preclude Cloister Turnpike Travesty
Atone Incarnate Charnal Etiquette
Rejuvenate Eradicate Quiet Requiem
Acquiesce Ambidextrous Inoculate Divulge
Proper Appropriate Omnivorous Voracious
Devour Escritoire Mordant Remorse
Miser Hilarious Exhilarate Rudiment
Erudite Mark Marquis Libel
Libretto Vague Vagabond Extravagant
Souse Saucer Oyster Ostracize
FOURTH GENERAL EXERCISE
With a few exceptions like the Hale-heal group above under Verbal
Families, most verbal families of straight English or of Germanic-
Scandinavian-English descent are easily recognizable as families. Witness
the _Good_ family and the _Stead_ family. The families in which
kinship may be overlooked are likely to be of Latin or Greek ancestry,
though perhaps with a subsequent infusion of blood from some other foreign
language, as French. Hitherto our approach to verbal families has been
through the descendants, or through that quality in their blood which
holds them together. But we shall also profit from knowing something of
the founders of these families--from having some acquaintance with them as
individuals. Below (in separate lists) the more prominent of Latin and of
Greek progenitors are named, their meaning is given, and two or three of
their living representatives (not always direct descendants) are
designated. Starred [*] words are those whose progeny has not been in good
part assembled in the preceding pages; for these words you should assemble
all the living representatives you can. (Inflectional forms are given only
where they are needed for tracing English derivatives.)
_Latin word Meaning English representatives_
Ago, actum do, rouse agile, transact
*Alius other alias, inalienable
*Alter other alteration, adultery
*Altus high altitude, exalt
*Ambulo walk perambulator, preamble
*Amicus friend amicable, enemy
*Amo, amatum love inamorata, amateur, inimical
*Anima life animal, inanimate
Animus mind animosity, unanimous
Annus year annuity, biennial
*Aqua water aquarium, aqueduct
Audio, auditum hear audience, audit
*Bellum war rebel, belligerent
*Bene well benefit, benevolence
*Bonus good bonanza, bona fide
*Brevis short abbreviate, unabridged
Cado, casum fall cadence, casual
Caedo, cecidi, caesum cut, kill suicide, incision
Cano, cantum sing recant, chanticleer
Capio, captum take, hold capacious, incipient
*Caput, capitis head cape (Cape Cod), decapitate,
chapter, biceps
Cedo, cessum go concede, accessory
Centum hundred per cent, centigrade
*Civis citizen civic, uncivilized
*Clamo shout acclaim, declamation
*Claudo, clausum close, shut conclude, recluse, cloister, sluice
Cognosco (see _Nosco_)
*Coquo, coxi, coctum cook decoction, precocious
*Cor, cordis heart core, discord, courage
Corpus body corpse, incorporate
Credo, credituin believe creed, discreditable
Cresco, cretum grow crescendo, concrete, accrue
*Crux, crucis cross crucifix, excruciating
Cura care curate, sinecure
Curro, cursum run occur, concourse
*Derigo, directum direct dirge, dirigible, address
*Dexter right, right hand ambidextrous, dexterity
Dico speak, say abdicate, verdict
*Dies day diary, quotidian
Dignus worthy, fitting dignity, condign
Do, datum give condone, data
*Doceo, doctum teach document, doctor
*Dominus lord dominion, danger
*Domus house domicile, majordomo
*Dormio sleep dormant, dormouse
Duco lead traduce, deduction
*Duo two dubious, duet
Durus hard durable, obdurate
Eo, itum go exit, initial
Error, erratum wander erroneous, aberration
Facio, feci, factum make, do manufacture, affect, sufficient,
verify
Fero, latum carry transfer, relate
Fido trust, believe confide, perfidious
Finis end confine, infinity
Flecto, flexum bend reflection, inflexible
Fluo, fluxum flow influence, reflux
Fortis strong fortress, comfort
Frango, fractum break infringe, refraction
*Frater brother fraternity, fratricide
Fugio, fugitum flee centrifugal, fugitive
Fundo, fusum pour refund, profuse, fusion
Gero, gestum carry belligerent, gesture, digestion
Gradior, gressus walk degrade, progress
*Gratia favor, pleasure, ingratiate, congratulate,
good-will disgrace
*Grex, gregis flock segregate, egregious
Habeo, habitum have, hold habituate, prohibit
Itum (see Eo)
Jacio, jeci, jactum throw, hurl reject, interjection
Jungo, junctum join conjugal, enjoin, juncture
Juro swear abjure, perjury
Jus, juris law, right justice, jurisprudence
Judex (from jusdico) judge judgment, prejudice
*Juvenis young rejuvenate, juvenilia
Latum (see Fero)
*Laudo, laudatum praise allow, laudatory
Lego, lectum read, choose elegant, lecture, dialect
*Lex, legis law privilege, illegitimate,
legislature
*Liber book libel, library
*Liber free liberty, deliberate
Ligo bind obligation, allegiance, alliance
*Linquo, lictum leave delinquent, relict, derelict
*Litera letter illiterate, obliterate
Locus place collocation, dislocate
Loquor, locutus speak soliloquy, elocution
Ludo, lusum play prelude, illusory
/Lux, lucis light\ lucid, luminary
\Lumen, luminis /
*Magnus great magnate, magnificent
*Malus bad, evil malaria, malnutrition
Mando order mandatory, commandment
Manus hand manual, manufacture
*Mare sea maritime, submarine
*Mater mother maternal, alma mater
*Medius middle mediocre, intermediate
*Mens mind mental, demented
*Miror wonder mirror, admirable
Mitto, missum send commit, emissary
*Mordeo, morsum bite mordant, morsel, remorse
Mors, mortis death mortal, mortify
Moveo, motum move remove, locomotive
*Multus many multiform, multiplex
Muto, mutatum change transmute, immutable, moult
Nascor, natus be born renascence, cognate
*Nihil nothing nihilism, annihilate
*Nomen, nominis name denomination, renown
*Norma rule abnormal, enormous
/Nosco, notum cognosco \
\ cognitum know / notation, incognito
*Novus new novelty, renovate
*Nuntio announce denounce, renunciation
*Opus, operis work magnum opus, inoperative
*Pater father patrician, patrimony
Patior, passus suffer impatient, passion
Pello, pulsum drive propeller, repulse
Pendeo, pensum hang pendulum, appendix
Pendo, pensum weigh compendium, expense
Pes, pedis foot expedite, biped
Peto seek impetus, compete
*Plaudo, plausum clap, applaud explode, plausible
*Plecto, plexum braid perplex, complexion
*Pleo, pletum fill complement, expletive
*Plus, pluris more surplus, plural
Plico, plicatum fold reply, implicate
Pono, positum place opponent, deposit
Porto carry report, porter
Potens, potentis powerful impotent, potential
Prendo, prehensum seize comprehend, apprise
*Primus, primatis first primary, primate
Probo, probatum prove improbable, reprobate
*Pugno fight impugn, repugnant
Puto think impute, disreputable
*Quaero, quaesitum seek require, inquest, exquisite
*Rapio, raptum seize enraptured, surreptitious
*Rego, rectum rule, lead region, erect
*Rideo, risum laugh deride, risible
Rogo, rogatum ask prorogue, abrogate
Rumpo, ruptum break disrupt, eruption
Salio, saltum leap salient, insult
*Sanguis blood sang froid, ensanguined
Scio, scitum know prescience, plebiscite
Scribo, scriptum write prescribe, manuscript, escritoire
Seco, sectum cut secant, dissect
Sedeo, sessum sit supersede, obsession
Sentio, sensum feel presentiment, consensus
Sequor, secutus follow sequence, persecute, ensue
Signum sign insignia, designate
*Solus alone solitude, desolate
Solvo, solutum loosen solvent, dissolute
*Somnus sleep somnambulist, insomnia
*Sono sound consonant, resonance
*Sors, sortis lot sort, assortment
Specio, spectum look despicable, suspect
Spiro, spiratum breathe perspire, conspiracy
*Spondeo, sponsum promise respond, espouse
Sto, steti, statum stand constant, establish
Sisto, stiti, statum cause to stand consistent, superstition
Stringo, strictum bind stringent, restrict
Struo, structum build construe, destruction
Tango, tactum touch intangible, tact
Tempus, temporis time temporize, contemporary
Tendo, tensum stretch distend, intense
Teneo, tentuin hold tenure, detention
*Tendo try tentative, attempt
Terminus end, boundary terminal, exterminate
Terra earth territory, inter
Torqueo, tortum twist distort, tortuous
Traho, tractum draw extract, subtraction
Tumeo, tumidum swell tumor, contumacy
Turba tumult, crowd turbulent, disturb
*Unus one unify, triune, onion
*Urbs city urbane, suburban
Vado, vasum go pervade, invasion
Valeo, validum be strong prevail, invalid
Venio, ventum come intervene, adventure
Verto, versum turn divert, adverse
*Verus true verdict, veracity
*Via way obviate, impervious, trivial
Video, visum see provide, revise
Vinco, victum conquer province, convict
Vir man triumvir, virtue
Vivo, victum live vivacious, vivisect
Voco, vocatum call revoke, avocation
*Volo wish malevolent, voluntary
Volvo, volutum turn revolver, evolution
Vox voice equivocal, vociferate
_Prefix Meaning English embodiments_
*A, ab from, away avert, abnegation, abstract
*Ad to adduce, adjacent, affect, accede
*Ante before antediluvian, anteroom
*Bi two biped, bicycle
*Circum around circumambient, circumference
*Cum, com, with, together combine, consort, coadjutor
con, co
*Contra against contradict, contrast
*De from, negative deplete, decry, demerit, declaim
down, intensive
*Di, dis asunder, away from, divert, disbelief
negative
*E, ex from, out of evict, excavate
*Extra beyond extraordinary, extravagant
*In in, into, not innate, instil, insignificant
*Inter among, between intercollegiate, interchange
*Intro, into, within introduce, intramural
intra
*Non negative nonage, nondescript
*Ob against, before
(facing), toward obloquy, obstacle, offer
*Per through, extremely persecute, perfervid, pursue,
pilgrim, pellucid
*Post after postpone, postscript
*Pre before prepay, preoccupy
*Pro before proceed, proffer
*Re back, again return, resound
*Retro back, backward retroactive, retrospective
*Se apart, aside seclude, secession
*Semi half semiannual, semicivilized
*Sub under, less than, subscribe, suffer, subnormal,
inferior subcommittee
*Super above, extremely superfluous, supercritical, soprano
*Trans across, through transfer, transparent
*Ultra beyond, extremely ultramundane, ultraconservative
(Scientific terms in English are largely derived from the Greek)
_Greek word Meaning English representatives_
*Aner, andros, man, stamen androgynous, philander,
anthropos philanthropy
*Archos chief, primitive archaic, architect
*Astron star asterisk, disaster
Autos self autograph, automatic, authentic
*Barvs heavy baritone, barites
*Biblos book Bible, bibliomania
*Bios life biology, autobiography, amphibious
*Cheir hand chiropody, chirurgical, surgeon
*Chilioi a thousand kilogram, kilowatt
*Chroma color chromo, achromatic
Chronos time chronic, anachronism
*Cosmos world, order cosmopolitan, microcosm
*Crypto hide cryptogam, cryptology
*Cyclos wheel, circle encyclopedia, cyclone
*Deca ten decasyllable, decalogue
*Demos people democracy, epidemic
*Derma skin epidermis, taxidermist
*Dis, di twice, doubly dichromatic, digraph
*Didonai, dosis give dose, apodosis, anecdote
*Dynamis power dynamite, dynasty
*Eidos form, thing seen idol, kaleidoscope, anthropoid
*Ethnos race, nation ethnic, ethnology
Eu well euphemism, eulogy
*Gamos marriage cryptogam, bigamy
*Ge earth geography, geometry
Genos family, race gentle, engender
Gramma writing monogram, grammar
Grapho write telegraph, lithograph
*Haima blood hematite, hemorrhage, anemia
*Heteros other heterodox, heterogeneous
*Homos same homonym, homeopathy
*Hydor water hydraulics, hydrophobia, hydrant
*Isos equal isosceles, isotherm
*Lithos stone monolith, chrysolite
Logos word, study theology, dialogue
Metron measure barometer, diameter
*Micros small microscope, microbe
Monos one, alone monoplane, monotone
*Morphe form metamorphosis, amorphous
*Neos new, young neolithic, neophyte
*Neuron nerve neuralgia, neurotic
Nomos law, science, astronomy, gastronomy, economy
management
*Onoma name anonymous, patronymic
*Opsis view, sight synopsis, thanatopsis, optician
*Orthos right orthopedic, orthodox
*Osteon bone osteopathy, periosteum
*Pais, paidos child paideutics, pedagogue,
encyclopedia
Pas, pan all diapason, panacea, pantheism
Pathos suffering allopathy, pathology
Petros rock petroleum, saltpeter
*Phaino show, be visible diaphanous, phenomenon,
epiphany, fantastic
Philos loving bibliophile, Philadelphia
*Phobos fear hydrophobia, Anglophobe
Phone sound telephone, symphony
*Phos light phosphorous, photograph
*Physis nature physiognomy, physiology
*Plasma form cataplasm, protoplasm
*Pneuma air, breath pneumatic, pneumonia
Polis city policy, metropolitan
*Polys many polyandry, polychrome,
polysyllable
Pous, pados foot octopus, chiropodist
*Protos first protoplasm, prototype
*Pseudes false pseudonym, pseudo-classic
*Psyche breath, soul, psychology, psychopathy
mind
*Pyr fire pyrography, pyrotechnics
*Scopos watcher scope, microscope
*Sophia wisdom philosophy, sophomore
*Techne art technicality, architect
*Tele far, far off telepathy, telescope
{*Temno cut }
{*Tomos that which is } epitome, anatomy, tome
{ cut off }
*Theos god theosophy, pantheism
*Therme heat isotherm, thermodynamics
{Tithenai place } epithet, hypothesis,
{Thesis a placing, } anathema
{ arrangement }
*Treis three trichord, trigonometry
*Zoon animal zoology, protozoa, zodiac
_Prefix Meaning English embodiments_
*A, an no, not aseptic, anarchy
*Amphi about, around, ambidextrous, amphitheater
(Latin ambi) both
*Ana up, again anatomy, Anabaptist
*Anti against, opposite antidote, antiphonal, antagonist
*Cata down catalepsy, cataclysm
*Dia through, across diameter, dialogue
*Epi upon epidemic, epithet, epode, ephemeral
*Hyper over, extremely hypercritical, hyperbola
*Hypo under, in smaller hypodermic, hypophosphate
measure
*Meta after, over metaphysics, metaphor
*Para beside paraphrase, paraphernalia
*Peri around, about periscope, peristyle
*Pro before proboscis, prophet
*Syn together, with synthesis, synopsis, sympathy
VI
WORDS IN PAIRS
Our first task in this volume was the study of words in combination. Our
second was the study of individual words in two of their aspects--first,
as they are seen in isolation, next as they are seen in verbal families.
Now our third task confronts us. It is the study of words as they are
associated, not in actual blood kinship, but in meaning.
Such an association in meaning may involve only two words (pairs) or
larger groups. In this chapter we shall confine ourselves to the study of
pairs.
Of the relationship between pairs there are three types. In the first the
words are hostile to each other. In the second they may easily be confused
with each other. In the third they are parallel with each other. We shall
examine the three types successively.
But we must make an explanation first. Although we shall, in this and the
following chapters, have frequent occasion to give the meanings of
individual words, we shall give them without regard to dictionary methods.
We shall not attempt formal, water-tight, or exhaustive definitions; our
purpose is to convey, in the simplest and most human manner possible,
brief general explanations of what the words stand for.
Pairs of the first type are made up of words by nature opposite to each
other, or else thought of as opposite because they are so often
contrasted. Here is a familiar, everyday list:
east, west straight, crooked myself, others
large, small pretty, ugly major, minor
laugh, cry walk, ride light, darkness
top, bottom hard, soft friend, enemy
sweet, sour clean, dirty temporal, spiritual
meat, drink merry, sad means, extremes
land, water private, public Jew, Gentile
man, woman noisy, quiet independent, dependent
old, new general, particular sublime, ridiculous
age, youth wholesale, retail give, receive
sick, well savage, civilized pride, humility
brain, brawn wealth, poverty constructive, destructive
soul, body positive, negative
None of these words needs explaining. If you think of one of them, you
will think of its opposite; at least its opposite will be lurking in the
back of your mind. As proof of this fact you have only to glance at the
following list, from which the second member of each pair is omitted:
hot-- black-- boy-- in--
off-- over-- love-- wrong--
strong-- wet-- first-- day--
long-- fast-- good-- hope--
least-- asleep-- buy-- left--
alive-- winter-- war-- succeed--
creditor-- fat-- internal-- wise--
drunk--
Many words of a more difficult kind are thus pitted against each other,
and we learn them, not singly, but in pairs. At least we should. As good
verbal hunters we should be alert to the chance of killing two birds with
one stone.
_Allopath_ and _homeopath_, for example, are difficult
opposites. We know of the existence of the two classes of medical
practitioners; we know that they use different methods; but beyond this
our knowledge is likely to be hazy. Let us set out, then, to _learn_
the two words. The best way is to learn them together. _Allopathy_
means other suffering, _homeopathy_ like suffering. An allopath uses
remedies which create within the patient a condition that squarely
conflicts with the further progress of the disease. A homeopath prescribes
medicines (in small doses) which produce within the patient the same
condition that the disease would produce; he "beats the disease to it," so
to speak--takes the job himself and leaves the disease nothing to do. The
allopath travels around a race-track in the opposite direction from the
disease, and thwarts it through a head-on collision. The homeopath travels
around the race-track in the same direction as the disease, and thwarts it
by pulling at the reins. If we consider the two words together and get
these ideas in mind, we shall have no further trouble with allopaths and
homeopaths--except, perhaps, when they have rendered their services and
presented their bills.
_Objective_ and _subjective_ are also a troublesome pair. A
thing is objective if it is an actual object or being, if it exists in
itself rather than in our surmises. A thing is subjective if it is the
creature of a state of mind, if it has its existence in the thought or
imagination of some person or other. Thus if I meet a bear in the wilds,
that bear is objective; whatever may be the state of my thoughts, _he is
there_--and it would be to my advantage to reckon with this fact. But
if a child who is sent off to bed alone says there is a bear in the room,
the bear is subjective; it is not a living monster that will devour
anybody, but a creature called into the mind of the child through dread.
EXERCISE - Opposites
Study the following words in pairs. Consult the dictionary for actual
meanings. Then test your knowledge by embodying each word of each pair in
a sentence, or in an illustration like those of the race-track and the
bear in the preceding paragraphs.
superior, inferior concord, discord
export, import domestic, foreign
fact, fiction prose, poetry
verbal, oral literal, figurative
predecessor, successor genuine, artificial
positive, negative practical, theoretical
optimism, pessimism finite, infinite
longitude, latitude evolution, revolution
oriental, occidental pathos, bathos
sacred, profane military, civil
clergy, laity capital, labor
ingress, egress element, compound
horizontal, perpendicular competition, cooeperation
predestination, freewill universal, particular
extrinsic, intrinsic inflation, deflation
dorsal, ventral acid, alkali
synonym, antonym prologue, epilogue
nadir, zenith amateur, connoisseur
anterior, posterior stoic, epicure
ordinal, cardinal centripetal, centrifugal
stalagmite, stalactite orthodox, heterodox
homogeneous, heterogeneous monogamy, polygamy
induction, deduction egoism, altruism
Unitarian, Trinitarian concentric, eccentric
herbivorous, carnivorous deciduous, perennial
esoteric, exoteric endogen, exogen
vertebrate, invertebrate catalectic, acatalectic
Pairs of the second type are made up of words which are often confused by
careless writers and speakers, and which should be accurately
discriminated.
Sometimes the words are actually akin to each other. _Continuous-
continual_ and _enormity-enormousness_ are examples. Sometimes
they merely look or sound much alike. _Mean-demean_ and _affect-
effect_ are examples. Sometimes the things they designate are more or
less related, so that the ideas behind the words rather than the words
themselves are responsible for the confusion. _Contagious-infectious_
and _knowledge-wisdom_ are examples. Let us distinguish between the
two members of each of the pairs named.
A thing is _continuous_ if it suffers no interruption whatever,
_continual_ if it is broken at regular intervals but as regularly
renewed. Thus "a continuous stretch of forest"; "the continual drip of
water from the eaves."
_Enormity_ pertains to the moral and sometimes the social,
_enormousness_ to the physical. Thus "the enormity of the crime,"
"the enormity of this social offense"; "the enormousness of prehistoric
animals."
_Demean_ is often used reproachfully because of its supposed relation
to _mean_. But it has nothing to do with _mean_. The word with
which to connect it is _demeanor_ (conduct). Thus "We observed how he
demeaned himself" implies no adverse criticism of either the man or his
deportment. Both may be debased to be sure, but they may be exemplary.
To _affect_ means to feign or to have an influence upon, to
_effect_ to bring to pass. Thus "He affects a fondness for classical
music," "The little orphan's story affected those who heard it"; "We
effected a compromise." _Affect_ is never properly used as a noun.
_Effect_ as a noun means result, consequence, or practical operation.
Thus "The shot took instant effect"; "He put this idea into effect."
A disease is _contagious_ when the only way to catch it is through
direct contact with a person already having it, or through contact with
articles such a person has used. A disease is _infectious_ when it is
presumably caused, not by contact with a person, but through widespread
general conditions, as of climate or sanitation.
Our _knowledge_ is our acquaintance with a fact, or the sum total of
our information. Our _wisdom_ is our intellectual and spiritual
discernment, to which our knowledge is one of the contributors.
_Knowledge_ comprises the materials; _wisdom_ the ability to use
them to practical advantage and to worthy or noble purpose.
_Knowledge_ is mental possession; _wisdom_ is mental and moral
power.
EXERCISE - Confused
1. Consult the dictionary for the distinction between the members of each
of the following pairs. In each blank of the illustrative sentences insert
the word appropriate in meaning.
____ to receive knowledge. ____ to impart
knowledge.
He ____ from laughter. He steadfastly ____ from
evil courses.
Though he always displayed ____, he did not
carry it to the point of ____.
I shall ____ most of the suggestions, but must ____
the one made by Mr. Wheeler.
. When the package was ____ at the local post
office, Bayard refused to ____ it.
. The dull ____ of his head. A sharp ____ below
shoulder-blade. I have known the ____ of cold hands. "My heart ____, and
a drowsy numbness ____ My sense, as though of hemlock I had drunk."
. With firmness and ____ he set about reconciling the
factions. Her ____ enabled her to perceive that something was amiss.
. The magnetized iron filings ____. The cold iron
____ to the boy's tongue.
. The ____ of the heated particles to each other
was instantaneous. Amid these trials their ____ to the cause was unshaken.
. His ____ to the room was forced. He obtained
____ into a fraternal order.
. When he ____ that he had a weapon, he practically
____ that he had slain the man.
. He was ____ to going. Their answer was ____.
. In this emergency he sought ____. He asked my ____
as to the best place to hang the picture.
. To let these mishaps ____ you is to ____ your
suffering.
. It is an ____ to suppose that I made any ____
to you.
. It was more than a possible ____; it was an
unmistakable ____.
. Though we call him a(n) ____, he is in skill by no
means the ____ you might think him.
. You are unintentionally ____. These words are
deliberately ____.
. Since we ____ the enemy to advance, would it
not be wise to ____ him?
. He was handsome in ____. The ____ of the sky
was ominous.
. "Lovers and madmen have such seething
brains, Such shaping fantasies, that ____ More than cool reason ever
____."
. The ____ of the worshipers. The ____ of the
soldiers.
. The ____ who was decorating the walls called to an
____ who was mixing mortar.
. We easily made the ____ of the slope, and from
the summit witnessed the balloon ____.
He gave his ____ when I proposed that we wait for
the others to complete the ____ to this point.
I ____ it to you as a fault rather than ____ it to
you as an honor.
It was an informal ____. The ____ considered
the matters it had been called to discuss.
When told that the measure would advance his
interests, he ____; but he would not ____ to it.
The injury was slight, but he ____ it with
unsparing malice. "____, O Lord, thy slaughtered saints."
The lawyer, besides his regular ____, had the
collecting of birds' eggs as his ____.
Though not ____ of the seriousness of his malady,
he was ____ of the pain it caused him.
Darrell added the ____ of the coins, but not
even they brought about the ____ he sought between assets and obligations.
Though ____ socially, he was not what you would
term a ____ man.
His ____ in this time of trial was exemplary.
She praised the ____ of the children at the party.
He possibly had ____, but not an active ____.
Her social manner was ____. The ____ influence
of sunlight.
____ his personal friends, many people he had not
even met stood ____ his sickbed.
At this threat the face of the heroine ____. With a
pail of cheap paint he ____ the dingy wall.
After telling his parishioners to be mindful
of their ____, the clergyman pronounced the ____.
Daily attacks on exposed redoubts marked the
progress of the ____. The fleet lay there in silent ____ of the port.
The incident proved that his ____ was not founded
in real ____.
When you come, ____ the official documents with you.
____ me the scales you will find in the granary yonder.
A man with ____ shoulders stood in the ____, open
doorway.
After they had solemnly ____ their comrade, they ____
the treasure. They also ____ their comrade's dog.
2. Consult the dictionary for the distinction between the members of each
of the following pairs. Determine whether the words are correctly used in
the illustrative sentences. (Some are; some are not.)
Can I stay at home this afternoon, papa? Because of the
floods, the train beyond doubt may not get through.
His character among them was very good. A
man's reputation can never be taken from him.
Your conduct is peevish; it is childishly so.
Her innocence was childlike.
He was always citing snatches of Tennyson. We might
quote Hamlet's soliloquy on suicide as an example of Shakespeare's ability
to go to the heart of deep questions.
He claimed that Jefferson was our third President.
He asserted that bears sleep through the winter.
At the masquerade ball we each wore special
clothing. The mariner who had swum from the wreck to the desert shore had
not a shred of costume.
Comfort after labor. The case of owning a home.
Petty commercial transactions. A mercantile
treaty.
This pavilion was the common play-house for the
children of the neighborhood. Ward and Aker held this property as their
mutual possession.
This addition is the complement of our
quota. He paid his dancing partner a compliment.
His downrightness is the complement of his
uprightness. As a supplement to his wages he received an occasional bonus.
He put in the completing touches. He had finished
the task.
His composure was not to be shaken. After
this inner tumult came equanimity.
Numbers of such magnitude are
scarcely comprehensible. That men by the million should die for a cause is
a thing not really comprehensive.
Who does not feel within him a compulsion
to help the weak? It was through obligation, through having slave-drivers
stand over them, that these wretched folk built the pyramids.
I congratulated my friend on his
appointment to the commission. I also felicitated the stranger on his
appointment.
Three consecutive convictions proved the
ability of the prosecuting attorney. The quiet passing of successive
summer days.
Its size was insignificant, even
contemptible. He won the prize by a contemptuous trick.
The investigator was surprised to find
the tradition of such long continuation. We waited impatiently for the
continuance of the story in the next issue.
I am more and more amazed at the perfection of
man's corporal frame. His corporeal vigor was unusual.
A man may correct many of his false judgments on
current affairs by studying history. The mistake is ours; it shall be
rectified.
The cozy fit of a garment. A snug place by the fire.
We crawled forward at dawn to surprise their
outposts. In his humility he fairly crept on the earth.
I do not doubt it; it is entirely credible.
The success of the antidote seemed scarcely creditable.
Though he is the official and credited
ambassador, his assertions are not accredited.
I cured the dog's wounds. The physician declared he
could heal leprosy.
"A custom more honor'd in the breach than the
observance." Is it your custom to watch the clock while you eat? The habit
in that region was to rise at cockcrow.
A decided battle. A decisive fault in manners.
We still await a definite edition of this
author's works. His answer was so definitive that we no longer doubted
what he meant.
Clive added India to the British demesne.
The king went riding through his personal domain.
The German mark has deprecated in value. He
depreciated the praise they were lavishing upon him.
They tied themselves together with a rope in
order to make their dissent safer. The dissent to a lower plane of
conversation was what he most desired.
The discovery of the wireless telegraph is
Marconi's chief claim to remembrance. The invention of a water passage
between Tierra del Fuego and the mainland was the work of Magellan.
He could not discriminate individuals at
that distance. Any man can distinguish right from wrong.
His course was entirely generous and
disinterested. Most visitors to art galleries have an uninterested manner.
This disposal of the matter is
authoritative, final. His disposition of his forces was well-considered.
Though the colonists were dissatisfied
for the moment, they could hardly be called discontented.
The distinct quality of his character was
aggressiveness. There were four separate and distinctive calls.
An affected, dramatic manner. A truly
theatrical situation.
A dry plain. An arid place to sleep in.
The man stood dumb with surprise. Always be kind to
mute animals.
Our joy is durable. Oak is a lasting wood.
3. Consult the dictionary for the distinction between the members
of each of the following pairs. Frame sentences to illustrate
the correct use of the words. (Some of the words in this list,
as well as some in other parts of the chapter, are considered in
larger groups in the chapters following.)
earth, world efficiency, efficacy
egoism, egotism eldest, oldest
elemental, elementary elude, evade
emigrate, immigrate enough, sufficient
envy, jealousy equable, equitable
equal, equivalent essential, necessary
esteem, respect euphemism, euphuism
evidence, proof exact, precise
exchange, interchange excuse, pardon
exempt, immune expect, suppose
expedite, facilitate
facsimile, copy familiar, intimate
fancy, imagination farther, further
feeling, sentiment feminine, effeminate
fervent, fervid fewer, less
fluid, liquid first (or last) two, two first (or last)
food, feed foreign, alien
force, strength forgive, pardon
gayety, cheerfulness genius, talent
gentle, tame genuine, authentic
glance, glimpse grateful, thankful
grieve, mourn
hanged, hung happen, transpire
happiness, pleasure healthy, healthful
hear, listen heathen, pagan
honorable, honorary horrible, horrid
human, humane
illegible, unreadable image, effigy
imaginary, imaginative impending, approaching
imperious, imperial imply, infer
in, into inability, disability
ingenious, ingenuous intelligent, intellectual
insinuation, innuendo instinct, intuition
involve, implicate irony, sarcasm
irretrievable, irreparable
judicious, judicial just, equitable
justify, warrant
lack, want languor, lassitude
later, latter lawful, legal
lax, slack leave, let
lend, loan liable, likely
libel, slander lie, lay
like, love linger, loiter
look, see loose, lose
luxurious, luxuriant
majority, plurality marine, maritime
martial, military moderate, temperate
mood, humor moral, ethical
moral, religious mutual, reciprocal
myth, legend
natal, native nautical, naval
near, close necessaries, necessities
needy, needful noted, notorious
novice, tyro
observance, observation observe, perceive
obsolete, archaic omnipresent, ubiquitous
on, upon oppose, resist
opposite, contrary oppress, depress
palliate, extenuate passionate, impassioned
pathos, pity patron, customer
peculiar, unusual perspicuity, perspicacity
permeate, pervade permit, allow
perseverance, persistence pertain, appertain
pictorial, picturesque pitiable, pitiful
pity, sympathy pleasant, pleasing
politician, statesman practicable, practical
precipitous, precipitate precision, preciseness
prejudice, bias prelude, overture
pride, vanity principal, principle
process, procedure procure, secure
professor, teacher progress, progression
propitious, auspicious proposal, proposition
tradition, legend truth, veracity
quiet, quiescent
raise, rear raise, rise
ransom, redeem rare, scarce
reason, understanding reasonable, rational
recollect, remember regal, royal
reliable, trustworthy requirement, requisite
restive, restless reverse, inverse
ride, drive rime (or rhyme), rhythm
sacred, holy salutation, salute
scanty, sparse scholar, student
science, art scrupulous, conscientious
serf, slave shift, expedient
sick, ill silent, taciturn
sit, set skilled, skilful
slender, slim smart, clever
sociable, social solicitude, anxiety
stay, stop stimulus, stimulation
strut, swagger suppress, repress
termination, terminus theory, hypothesis
tolerate, permit torment, torture
tradition, legend truth, veracity
unbelief, disbelief unique, unusual
varied, various variety, diversity
venal, venial vengeance, revenge
verse, stanza vindictive, revengeful
visit, visitation visitant, visitor
wander, stray warn, caution
will, volition wit, humor
witness, see womanish, womanlike
worth, value
Pairs of the third type are made up of words parallel in meaning. This
class somewhat overlaps the second; many terms that are frequently
confused are parallels, and parallelism is of course a cause of confusion.
Parallels are words that show likeness in meaning. Likeness, not sameness.
Yet at one time actual sameness may have existed, and in many instances
did. Nowadays this sameness has been lost, and the words have become
differentiated. As a rule they still are closely related in thought;
sometimes, however, the divergence between them is wide.
Why did words having the same meaning find lodgment in the language in the
first place? The law of linguistic economy forbids any such happening, and
only through sheer good fortune did English come to possess duplications.
The original Anglo-Saxon did not contain them. But the Roman Catholic
clergy brought to England the language of religion and of scholarship,
Latin. Later the Normans, whose speech as a branch of French was an
offshoot of Latin, came to the island as conquerors. For a time,
therefore, three languages existed side by side in the country--Anglo-
Saxon among the common folk, Latin among the clergy, and Norman-French at
the court and among the nobility. The coalescing of the three (or of the
two if we count Latin in its direct and indirect contributions as one) was
inevitable. But other (mostly cognate) languages also had a part in the
speech that was ultimately evolved. The Anglo-Saxon element was augmented
by words from Dutch, Scandinavian, and the
Germanic tongues in general; and Latin was reinforced by Greek. Thus to
imply, as is sometimes done, that modern English is simply a blend of
Anglo-Saxon and Latin elements is misleading. _Native_ and
_classic_ are the better terms to use, provided both are used
broadly. _Native_ must include not only Anglo-Saxon but the other
Germanic elements as well, and _classic_ must include French and
Greek as well as Latin.
The welding of these languages made available two--in some instances more
than two--words for a single object or idea. What became of these
duplicates? Sometimes one of the words was dropped as needless.
Oftentimes, however, both were retained--with such modifications in
meaning that thereafter they designated, not the same object or idea, but
different forms or aspects of it. Thus they became parallels, and the new
language waxed rich with discriminations which neither of the component
tongues had possessed.
Scott in _Ivanhoe_ gives the basis upon which the unification of the
languages proceeded. The jester Wamba in conversation with the swineherd
Gurth explains how the Anglo-Saxon term took on the homelier, rougher,
more workaday uses and left the more refined and fastidious uses for the
Norman-French. A domestic animal, says Wamba, was cared for by the
conquered people, and in consequence bore while living a "good Saxon"
name--swine, ox, or calf; but it was served at the tables of the
conquerors, and therefore when ready for consumption bore a "good
Norman-French" name--pork, beef, or veal. "When the brute [a sow] lives,
and is in charge of a Saxon slave, she goes by her Saxon name; but becomes
Norman and is called pork, when she is carried into the castle hall to
feast among the nobles.... He [a calf] is Saxon when he requires tendance,
and takes a Norman name [Monsieur de Veau] when he becomes matter of
enjoyment."
Let us see how Scott's contention fares if we extend his list of terms
relative to animal life. As throughout the rest of this chapter, with the
single and necessary exception of List B, the first word in each pair is
native, the second classic:
sheep, mutton deer, venison horse, equine
cow, bovine bull, taurine sheep, ovine
wolf, lupine hog, porcine bear, ursine
fox, vulpine cat, feline dog, canine
fish, piscatorial mouse, vermin rat, rodent
mankind, humanity man, masculine woman, feminine
childish, infantile boyish, puerile
A glance at this list will show that, at least as regards animal life, the
native word is likely to be the more familiar and unpretentious. But we
must not leap to the conclusion that, taking the language as a whole, the
simple, easy word is sure to be native, the abstruse word classic. In the
following list one word in each pair is simpler, oftentimes much simpler,
than the other; yet both are of classic origin. (In some instances the two
are doublets; that is, they spring from the same stem.)
boil, effervesce plenty, abundance force, coerce
clear, transparent sound, reverberate echo, reverberate
toil, labor false, perfidious prove, verify
join, unite join, annex try, endeavor
carry, convey save, preserve save, rescue
safe, secure poor, pauper poor, penurious
poor, impecunious native, indigenous strange, extraneous
excuse, palliate excusable, venial cannon, ordnance
corpse, cadaverous parish, parochial fool, stultify
fool, idiot rule, govern governor, gubernatorial
wages, salary nice, exquisite haughty, arrogant
letter, epistle pursue, prosecute use, utility
use, utilize rival, competitor male, masculine
female, feminine beauty, esthetics beauty, pulchritude
beautify, embellish poison, venom vote, franchise
vote, suffrage taste, gust tasteful, gustatory
tasteless, insipid flower, floral count, compute
cowardly, pusillanimous tent, pavilion money, finance
monetary, pecuniary trace, vestige face, countenance
turn, revolve bottle, vial grease, lubricant
oily, unctuous revive, resuscitate faultless, impeccable
scourge, flagellate power, puissance barber, tonsorial
bishop, episcopal carry, portable fruitful, prolific
punish, punitive scar, cicatrix hostile, inimical
choice, option cry, vociferate ease, facility
peaceful, pacific beast, animal chasten, castigate
round, rotunda imprison, incarcerate bowels, viscera
boil, ebullient city, municipal color, chromatics
nervous, neurotic pleasing, delectable accidental, fortuitous
change, mutation lazy, indolent fragrance, aroma
pay, compensate face, physiognomy joy, rapture
charitable, eleemosynary blame, blaspheme priest, presbyter
coy, quiet prudent, provident pupil, disciple
story, narrative pause, interval despise, abhor
doctor, physician fate, destiny country, rustic
aged, senile increase, increment gentle, genteel
clear, apparent eagle, aquiline motion, momentum
nourishment, nutrition pure, unadulterated closeness, proximity
number, notation ancestors, progenitors confirm, corroborate
convert, proselyte benediction, benison treasury, thesaurus
egotism, megalomania
Sometimes the native word is less familiar than the classic:
seethe, boil loam, soil fare, travel
abide, remain bestow, present bestow, deposit
din, noise quern, mill learner, scholar
shamefaced, modest hue, color tarnish, stain
ween, expect leech, physician shield, protect
steadfast, firm withstand, resist straightway, immediately
dwelling, residence heft, gravity delve, excavate
forthright, direct tidings, report bower, chamber
rune, letter borough, city baleful, destructive
gainsay, contradict cleave, divide hearten, encourage
hoard, treasure
Again, the native word is sometimes less emphatic than the classic:
fly, soar old, venerable flood, cataclysm
steep, precipitous wonder, astonishment speed, velocity
sparkle, scintillate stir, commotion stir, agitate
strike, collide learned, erudite small, diminutive
scare, terrify burn, combustion fire, conflagration
fall, collapse uproot, eradicate skin, excoriate
hate, abominate work, labor bright, brilliant
hungry, famished eat, devour twisted, contorted
thin, emaciated sad, lugubrious mirth, hilarity
Despite these exceptions, the native word is in general better known
and more crudely powerful than the classic. Thus of the pair
_sweat-perspiration, sweat_ is the plain-spoken, everyday member,
_perspiration_ the polite, even learned member. The man of limited
vocabulary says _sweat_; even the sophisticated person, unless there
is occasion to soften effects, finds _sweat_ the more natural term.
No one would say that a horse perspires. No one would say that human
beings must eat their bread in the perspiration of their faces. But
_sweat_ is a word of connotation too vigorous (though honest withal)
for us to use the term in the drawing room. A questionable woman in _The
Vicar of Wakefield_ betrays her lack of breeding by the remark that she
is in a muck of sweat.
The native word, besides being in itself simpler and starker than the
classic, makes stronger appeal to our feelings and affections. In nearly
every instance the objects and relationships that have woven themselves
into the very texture of our lives are designated by native terms. Even if
they are not so designated solely, they are so designated in their more
cherished aspects. We warm more to the native _fatherly_ than to the
classic _paternal_. We have a deeper sentiment for the native
_home_ than for the classic _residence_.
That the native is the more downright term may be seen from the following
words. (These pairs are of course merely illustrative. With them might be
grouped a few special pairs, like _devilish-diabolical_ and
_church_-_ecclesiastical_, of which the first members are
classic in origin but of such early naturalization into English that they
may be regarded as native.)
belly, stomach belly, abdomen navel, umbilicus
suck, nurse naked, nude murder, homicide
dead, deceased dead, defunct dying, moribund
lust, salacity lewd, libidinous read, peruse
lie, prevaricate hearty, cordial following, subsequent
crowd, multitude chew, masticate food, pabulum
eat, regale meal, repast meal, refection
thrift, economy sleepy, soporific slumberous, somnolent
live, reside rot, putrefy swelling, protuberant
soak, saturate soak, absorb stinking, malodorous
spit, saliva spit, expectorate thievishness, kleptomania
belch, eructate sticky, adhesive house, domicile
eye, optic walker, pedestrian talkative, loquacious
talkative, garrulous wisdom, sapience bodily, corporeal
name, appellation finger, digit show, ostentation
nearness, propinquity wash, lave handwriting, chirography
waves, undulations shady, umbrageous fat, corpulent
muddy, turbid widow, relict horseback, equestrian
weight, avoirdupois blush, erubescence
The word of classic origin in many instances survives only or mainly in
the form of an adjective; as a noun (or other part of speech) it has
completely or largely disappeared. This fact may be observed in lists
already given, particularly List A. It may also be observed in the
following words:
moon, lunar star, stellar star, sidereal
sun, solar earth, terrestrial world, mundane
heaven, celestial hell, infernal earthquake, seismic
ear, aural head, capital hand, manual
foot, pedal breast, pectoral heart, cardial
hip, sciatic tail, caudal throat, guttural
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