CENTURY VOCABULARY BUILDER (continued 3)

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.

<Spire, spirit> (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 ____.

<Sta, sti(t), sist> (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.

<Stead> (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 ____.

<Strict, string, strain> (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.

<Tact, tang, tain, ting, teg> (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 ____.

<Tail> (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.

<Tain> (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.

<Term, termin> (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.

<Tort> (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.

<Tract, tra(i)> (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.

<Vene, vent> (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.

<Vert, vers(e)> (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.

<Vince, vict> (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.

<Voc, voke> (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 ____.

<Volve, volute> (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 his 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 ____ you 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 the 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, À 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, née.

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 Ancestors of English Words>

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

<Latin Prefixes>

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

<Greek Ancestors of English Words> (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

<Greek Prefixes>

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.

<Opposites>

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, coöperation 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

<Words Often Confused>

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.

<Ability, capacity.> ____ to receive knowledge. ____ to impart knowledge.

<Abstain, refrain.> He ____ from laughter. He steadfastly ____ from evil courses.

<Abstinence, temperance.> Though he always displayed ____, he did not carry it to the point of ____.

<Accept, except.> I shall ____ most of the suggestions, but must ____ the one made by Mr. Wheeler.

<Accept, receive>. When the package was ____ at the local post office, Bayard refused to ____ it.

<Ache, pain>. 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."

<Address, tact>. With firmness and ____ he set about reconciling the factions. Her ____ enabled her to perceive that something was amiss.

<Adhere, cohere>. The magnetized iron filings ____. The cold iron ____ to the boy's tongue.

<Adherence, adhesion>. The ____ of the heated particles to each other was instantaneous. Amid these trials their ____ to the cause was unshaken.

<Admission, admittance>. His ____ to the room was forced. He obtained ____ into a fraternal order.

<Admit, confess>. When he ____ that he had a weapon, he practically ____ that he had slain the man.

<Adverse, averse>. He was ____ to going. Their answer was ____.

<Advice, counsel>. In this emergency he sought ____. He asked my ____ as to the best place to hang the picture.

<Aggravate, irritate>. To let these mishaps ____ you is to ____ your suffering.

<Allusion, illusion>. It is an ____ to suppose that I made any ____ to you.

<Allusion, reference>. It was more than a possible ____; it was an unmistakable ____.

<Amateur, novice>. Though we call him a(n) ____, he is in skill by no means the ____ you might think him.

<Ambiguous, equivocal>. You are unintentionally ____. These words are deliberately ____.

<Anticipate, expect>. Since we ____ the enemy to advance, would it not be wise to ____ him?

<Appearance, aspect>. He was handsome in ____. The ____ of the sky was ominous.

<Apprehend, comprehend>. "Lovers and madmen have such seething brains, Such shaping fantasies, that ____ More than cool reason ever ____."

<Ardor, fervor>. The ____ of the worshipers. The ____ of the soldiers.

<Artist, artisan>. The ____ who was decorating the walls called to an ____ who was mixing mortar.

<Ascent, ascension>. We easily made the ____ of the slope, and from the summit witnessed the balloon ____.

<Ascent, assent.> He gave his ____ when I proposed that we wait for the others to complete the ____ to this point.

<Ascribe, impute.> I ____ it to you as a fault rather than ____ it to you as an honor.

<Assembly, assemblage.> It was an informal ____. The ____ considered the matters it had been called to discuss.

<Assent, consent.> When told that the measure would advance his interests, he ____; but he would not ____ to it.

<Avenge, revenge.> The injury was slight, but he ____ it with unsparing malice. "____, O Lord, thy slaughtered saints."

<Avocation, vocation.> The lawyer, besides his regular ____, had the collecting of birds' eggs as his ____.

<Aware, conscious.> Though not ____ of the seriousness of his malady, he was ____ of the pain it caused him.

<Balance, remainder.> Darrell added the ____ of the coins, but not even they brought about the ____ he sought between assets and obligations.

<Bashful, modest.> Though ____ socially, he was not what you would term a ____ man.

<Behavior, conduct.> His ____ in this time of trial was exemplary. She praised the ____ of the children at the party.

<Belief, faith.> He possibly had ____, but not an active ____.

<Benignant, benign.> Her social manner was ____. The ____ influence of sunlight.

<Beside, besides.> ____ his personal friends, many people he had not even met stood ____ his sickbed.

<Blanch, whiten.> At this threat the face of the heroine ____. With a pail of cheap paint he ____ the dingy wall.

<Blessing, benediction.> After telling his parishioners to be mindful of their ____, the clergyman pronounced the ____.

<Blockade, siege.> Daily attacks on exposed redoubts marked the progress of the ____. The fleet lay there in silent ____ of the port.

<Bravery, bravado.> The incident proved that his ____ was not founded in real ____.

<Bring, fetch.> When you come, ____ the official documents with you. ____ me the scales you will find in the granary yonder.

<Broad, wide.> A man with ____ shoulders stood in the ____, open doorway.

<Bury, inter.> 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, may.> Can I stay at home this afternoon, papa? Because of the floods, the train beyond doubt may not get through.

<Character, reputation.> His character among them was very good. A man's reputation can never be taken from him.

<Childish, childlike.> Your conduct is peevish; it is childishly so. Her innocence was childlike.

<Cite, quote.> 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.

<Claim, assert.> He claimed that Jefferson was our third President. He asserted that bears sleep through the winter.

<Clothing, costume.> 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, ease.> Comfort after labor. The ease of owning a home.

<Commercial, mercantile.> Petty commercial transactions. A mercantile treaty.

<Common, mutual.> This pavilion was the common play-house for the children of the neighborhood. Ward and Aker held this property as their mutual possession.

<Complement, compliment.> This addition is the complement of our quota. He paid his dancing partner a compliment.

<Complement, supplement.> His downrightness is the complement of his uprightness. As a supplement to his wages he received an occasional bonus.

<Complete, finish.> He put in the completing touches. He had finished the task.

<Composure, equanimity.> His composure was not to be shaken. After this inner tumult came equanimity.

<Comprehensible, comprehensive.> Numbers of such magnitude are scarcely comprehensible. That men by the million should die for a cause is a thing not really comprehensive.

<Compulsion, obligation.> 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.

<Congratulate, felicitate.> I congratulated my friend on his appointment to the commission. I also felicitated the stranger on his appointment.

<Consecutive, successive.> Three consecutive convictions proved the ability of the prosecuting attorney. The quiet passing of successive summer days.

<Contemptible, contemptuous.> Its size was insignificant, even contemptible. He won the prize by a contemptuous trick.

<Continuation, continuance.> 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.

<Corporal, corporeal.> I am more and more amazed at the perfection of man's corporal frame. His corporeal vigor was unusual.

<Correct, rectify.> A man may correct many of his false judgments on current affairs by studying history. The mistake is ours; it shall be rectified.

<Cozy, snug.> The cozy fit of a garment. A snug place by the fire.

<Crawl, creep.> We crawled forward at dawn to surprise their outposts. In his humility he fairly crept on the earth.

<Credible, creditable.> I do not doubt it; it is entirely credible. The success of the antidote seemed scarcely creditable.

<Credit, accredit.> Though he is the official and credited ambassador, his assertions are not accredited.

<Cure, heal.> I cured the dog's wounds. The physician declared he could heal leprosy.

<Custom, habit.> "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.

<Decided, decisive.> A decided battle. A decisive fault in manners.

<Definite, definitive.> We still await a definite edition of this author's works. His answer was so definitive that we no longer doubted what he meant.

<Demesne, domain.> Clive added India to the British demesne. The king went riding through his personal domain.

<Deprecate, depreciate.> The German mark has deprecated in value. He depreciated the praise they were lavishing upon him.

<Descent, dissent.> 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.

<Discovery, invention.> 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.

<Discriminate, distinguish.> He could not discriminate individuals at that distance. Any man can distinguish right from wrong.

<Disinterested, uninterested.> His course was entirely generous and disinterested. Most visitors to art galleries have an uninterested manner.

<Disposal, disposition.> This disposal of the matter is authoritative, final. His disposition of his forces was well-considered.

<Dissatisfied, discontented.> Though the colonists were dissatisfied for the moment, they could hardly be called discontented.

<Distinct, distinctive.> The distinct quality of his character was aggressiveness. There were four separate and distinctive calls.

<Dramatic, theatrical.> An affected, dramatic manner. A truly theatrical situation.

<Dry, arid.> A dry plain. An arid place to sleep in.

<Dumb, mute.> The man stood dumb with surprise. Always be kind to mute animals.

<Durable, lasting.> 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

<Parallels>

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:

<LIST A>

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.)

<LIST B>

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:

<LIST C>

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:

<LIST D>

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.)

<LIST E>

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:

<LIST F>

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 lung, pulmonary bone, osseous hair, hirsute tearful, lachrymose early, primitive sweet, dulcet, sweet, saccharine young, juvenile bloody, sanguinary deadly, mortal red, florid bank, riparian hard, arduous wound, vulnerable written, graphic spotless, immaculate sell, mercenary son, filial salt, saline meal, farinaceous wood, ligneous wood, sylvan cloud, nebulous glass, vitreous milk, lacteal water, aquatic stone, lapidary gold, aureous silver, argent iron, ferric honey, mellifluous loving, amatory loving, erotic loving, amiable wedded, hymeneal plow, arable priestly, sacerdotal arrow, sagittal wholesome, salubrious warlike, bellicose timely, temporary fiery, igneous ring, annular soap, saponaceous nestling, nidulant snore, stertorous window, fenestral twilight, crepuscular soot, fuliginous hunter, venatorial

The fact that English is a double-barreled language, and that of parallel terms one is likely to be native and the other classic, is interesting in itself. Our lists of parallels, however, though (with the exception of List B) they are arranged to bring out this duality of origin, have other and more vital uses as material for exercises. For after all it matters little whether we know where a word comes from, provided we know thoroughly the meaning and implications of the word itself. The lists already given and those to follow show the more important words actually yoked as parallels. Your task must be to ascertain the differences in import between the words thus joined.

EXERCISE - Parallels

<LIST G>

Study the discriminations between the members of the following pairs. At each blank in the illustrative sentences insert the appropriate word.

<Brotherly, fraternal.> Brotherly is used of actual blood kinship, or indicates close feeling, deep affection, or religious love. Fraternal is used less personally and intimately; it normally betokens that the relations are at least in part formal (as relations within societies). "The sight of the button on the stranger's lapel caused Wilkes to give him the cabalistic sign and ask his ____ assistance." "Though the children of different parents, we bear for each other a true ____ devotion." "Because we both are newspaper men I feel a ____ interest in him."

<Daily, diurnal.> Daily, the popular word, is often used loosely. We may say that we eat three meals daily without implying that we have never gone dinnerless. Diurnal, the scientific term, is used exactly, whether applying to the period of daylight or to the whole twenty-four hours. A diurnal flower closes at night; a diurnal motion is precisely coincident with the astronomical day. In poetry, however, diurnal is often used for daily. "Give us this day our ____ bread." "The ____ rotation of the earth on its axis is the cause of our day and night." "Fred and I went for our ____ ramble through the hills."

<Cold, frigid.> Which is the more popular word? Let us see. Would the man in the street be more likely to use one than the other? Which one? Does this answer our question? Another question: Which word is the more inclusive in meaning? Again, let us see. A blacksmith is beating iron; does the iron grow cold or frigid? Which term, then, approaches the closer in meaning to the idea of mere coolness? On the other hand, may that same term represent a temperature far beyond mere coolness? Would you speak of a morning as bitterly cold or bitterly frigid? Now think of the term you have not been using. Can it convey as wide meanings, or is it limited in range? Does the word frigid carry for you a geographical suggestion (to the frigid zone)? Do you yourself use the term? If so, do you use it chiefly (perhaps entirely) in connection with human temperament or demeanor? Is cold used thus figuratively also? Which is the more often thus used? "I suffer from ____ hands and feet." "The slopes of Mont Blanc are ____ with eternal snow." "He did not warm to the idea at all. His inclinations are absolutely ____."

<Manly, virile>. Manly implies possession of traits or qualities a man should possess; it may be used of immature persons. Virile implies maturity and robust masculinity; it is also used of the power to procreate. "A ____ lad." "A ____ reply." "____ energy." "____ and aggressive." "____ forbearance."

<Inner, internal>. Inner is somewhat within, or more within than something else is; it is also used in figurative and spiritual senses. Internal is entirely within. "The ____ organs of the human body." "The ____ layer of the rind." "The injury was ____." "The ____ nature of man." "The ____ meaning of the occurrence."

<Height, altitude>. "He was five feet, eleven inches in height." Can you substitute altitude? Is altitude used of persons? "At an altitude of eleven feet from the ground." Would height be more natural? Does altitude betoken great height? If so, does Hamlet speak jestingly when he greets the player, "Your ladyship is nearer heaven than when I saw you last, by the altitude of a chopine?" What of the sentence: "The altitude of Galveston was not sufficient to protect it from the tidal wave"? Does the magnitude or importance of the object (Galveston) compensate for its lack of elevation and thus justify altitude? Could height be substituted? If so, would the words above sea-level have to follow it? Does this fact give you a further clue as to the distinction between the two words? You are comparing the elevation of two peaks, both plainly visible; you measure them merely by your eye. Do you say "This exceeds the other in height" or "This exceeds the other in altitude"? Suppose the peaks are so distant from each other that the two are not visible simultaneously, and suppose you are speaking from a knowledge of the scientific measurements. Do you say "This exceeds the other in height" or "This exceeds the other in altitude"?

<Talk, conversation>. Talk may be one-sided and empty. Conversation requires that at least two shall participate, and it is not spoken of as empty, though it may be trivial. "Our ____ was somewhat desultory." "Thought is less general than ____." "His ____ was so lively that I had no chance to interrupt" "That is meaningless ____."

<Homesickness, nostalgia>. All of us have heard physicians call commonplace ailments by extraordinary names. When homesickness reaches the stage where a physician is or might be called in, it becomes nostalgia. The latter term suggests morbid or chronic suffering. A healthy boy away from home for the first time is homesick. An exile who has wasted himself with pining for his native land is nostalgic. "His ____ was more than ____; it had so preyed upon his thoughts that it had grown into ____."

Rise, ascend. Rise is the more general term, but it expresses less than ascend in degree or stateliness. "He had foretold to them that he would ____ into heaven." "Do not ____ from your seat." "The diver slowly ____ to the surface." "The travelers ____ the mountain."

<Sell, vend>. Sell is the more dignified word socially, but may express greater moral degradation. Vend is used of the petty (as that which can be carried about in a wagon), and may suggest the pettily dishonest. "That man would ____ his country." "We shall ____ a million dollars' worth of goods." "The hucksters ____ their wares."

<LIST H>

Study the discriminations between the members of the following pairs. Determine whether the words are correctly used in the illustrative sentences. (Some are; some are not.)

<Friendly, amicable>. Friendly denotes goodwill positive in quality though perhaps limited in degree; we may be friendly to friends, enemies, or strangers. Amicable is negative, denoting absence of open discord: it is used of those persons between whom some connection already exists. "The newcomer has an amicable manner." "Both sides were cautious, but at last they reached a friendly settlement." "I have only amicable feelings for an enemy who is thus merciful." "The two met, if not in a friendly, at least in an amicable way."

<Willing, voluntary>. Both words imply an act of the will; but willing adds positive good-nature, desire, or enthusiasm, whereas voluntary conveys little or nothing of the emotional attitude. Voluntary is often thought of in contrast with mechanical. "They made willing submission." "They rendered whole-hearted and voluntary service." "Though torn by desire to return to his mother, he willingly continued his journey away from her." "The sneeze was unwilling."

<Greedy, voracious.> Greedy denotes excessiveness (usually habitual) of appetite or, in its figurative uses, of desire; it nearly always carries the idea of selfishness. Voracious denotes intense hunger or the hasty and prolonged consumption of great quantities of food; it may indicate, not habitual selfishness, but the stress of circumstances. "Nobody else I know is so greedy as he." "The young poet was voracious of praise." "Trench, though a capital fellow, was so hungry that he ate voraciously."

<Offspring, progeny.> Offspring is likely to be used when our thought is chiefly on the children, progeny when our thought is chiefly on the parents. Offspring may be used of one or many; progeny is used in collective reference to many. "He was third among the progeny who won distinction." "They are the progeny of very rich parents." "Clayton left his offspring well provided for."

<Ghost, spirit.> Ghost is the narrower term. It never expresses, as spirit does, the idea of soul or of animating mood or purpose. With reference to incorporeal beings, it denotes (except in the phrase "the Holy Ghost") the reappearance of the dead in disembodied form. Spirit may denote a variety of incorporeal beings—among them angels, fairies (devoid of moral nature), and personalities returned from the grave and manifested—seldom visibly—through spiritualistic tappings and the like. "The superstitious natives thought the spirit of their chief walked in the graveyard." "The ghost of the ancestors survives in the descendants." "I can call spirits from the vasty deep."

<Foe, enemy.> Nowadays the chief difference between the two terms is that foe is the more used in poetry, enemy in prose. But foe tends to express the more personal and implacable hostility. We do not think of foes as bearing any friendship for each other; enemies may, or they may be enemies in public affairs but downright friends in their private relations. A man is hardly spoken of as being his own foe, but he may be his own enemy. "For the moment we found ourselves foes." "Suspicion is an enemy to content." "I paid a tribute to my friend, who was the dominant personality among the enemy."

<Truth, veracity.> Truth has to do with the accuracy of the statement, of the facts; veracity with the intention of the person to say nothing false. "I cannot vouch for the veracity of the story, but I can for the truth of the teller." "Though he is not a man of veracity, I believe he is now speaking the truth." "Veracity, crushed to earth, will rise again."

<Break, fracture>. Break is the broader term. It need not refer clearly to the operation or result of external force, nor need it embody the idea that this force is brought against a hard substance. In these respects it differs from fracture, as also in the fact that it may designate a mere interruption. Furthermore it has figurative uses, whereas fracture is narrowly literal. "There was a fracture in the chain of mountains." "The break in his voice was distinct." "The fracture of the bones of his wrist incapacitated him." "The fracture of the rope."

<Hug, embrace>. To hug is to clasp violently or enthusiastically, and perhaps ludicrously. To embrace is to clasp in a more dignified, perhaps even in a formal, way; the term also means to include, to comprise. "This topic embraces the other." "Did you see that ardent bumpkin embracing his sweetheart?" "Her sister gave her a graceful but none too cordial hug." "The wounded bear hugged the hunter ferociously."

<Shorten, abridge>. The two terms overlap; but there is a fairly strong tendency to use shorten for reduction in length, and abridge for reduction in quantity or mass. Both words are used figuratively as well as literally. "The tyrant shortened the privileges of his subjects." "We shortened the rope." "The teacher abridged the recitation." "The report of the committee appears in abridged form in Volume 2 of our records."

<LIST I>

With the help of the dictionary discriminate between the members of the following pairs. Determine whether the words are correctly used in the illustrative sentences. (Some are; some are not.)

<Fiery, inflammable>. "He delivered a fiery address." "The underbrush was dry and fiery." "Your disposition is too inflammable."

<Lean, attenuated>. "The fat man had grown attenuated." "Yon Cassius has a lean and hungry look." "The hot metal was then drawn into an attenuated wire." "Only a lean line of our soldiers faced the dense masses of the enemy."

<Home-like, domestic>. "The scene was quiet and domestic." "It is home-like, inexpressibly dear." "To Waltham, heartsick from his wanderings, the room in all its arrangements was thoroughly domestic."

<Vigilant, watchful>. "We must be vigilant if we would maintain our liberty." "He was wakeful, even watchful, though not from set purpose." "He was vigilant for evidences of friendship."

<Building, edifice>. "It is a big, barn-like building." "Spare yonder sacred edifice." "This is the most imposing building I ever saw."

<Hole, aperture>. "I poked a stick into the aperture which the crawfish had made." "Through the aperture of the partly open door I gazed out on the street." "The hole of the hornet's nest was black with the emerging and angry insects."

<Farming, agriculture>. "Two hundred students graduated this year from the college of farming." "For long years he had devoted himself to the homely, grinding tasks of agriculture." "I have looked rather carefully into the theories of farming."

<Rest, repose>. "He obtained some repose even while standing." "We wished for a moment's rest from our exertions." "Worn out, he was compelled to seek repose." "Lincoln's face in repose was very melancholy."

<Help, aid>. "The man was so injured he could do nothing for himself; I had to aid him." "Help, help!" "Aid us, O God, in our sore distress." "The little fellow could not quite get the bundle to his shoulder; a passerby helped him."

<Hide, conceal>. "By refraining from comment he hid his connection with the affair." "Wild creatures hide themselves by means of their protective coloring." "The frost on the panes conceals the landscape from you." "Do not hide your misdeeds from your mother."

<LIST J>

In the following list only the native member of each pair is given. Determine what the classic member is, and frame sentences to illustrate the correct use of the two words. (Make a conscientious effort to find the classic member by means of its parallelism with the native. If, and after, you definitely fail in any instance to find it, obtain a clue to it through study of the words in List G. Every pair in that list is clearly suggestive of one or more pairs in this list.)

nightly,— motherly,— breadth,— buy,— hot,— fall,— thought,— sleeplessness,— fatherly,— yearly,— outer,— depth,— womanly,— speech,—

<LIST K>

Discriminate between the members of each of the following pairs, and frame sentences to illustrate the correct use of the two words.

freedom, liberty well, cistern freedom, independence give, donate free, acquit happen, occur door, portal lessen, abate begin, commence lessen, diminish behead, decapitate forefathers, ancestors belief, credence friend, acquaintance belief, credulity lead, conduct swear, vow end, finish curse, imprecate end, complete curse, anathema end, terminate die, expire warn, admonish die, perish warn, caution die, succumb rich, affluent lively, vivacious wealthy, opulent walk, ambulate help, assistance leave, depart help, succor leave, abandon answer, reply go with, accompany find out, ascertain go before, precede take, appropriate hasten, accelerate shrewd, astute quicken, accelerate breathe, respire speed, celerity busy, industrious hatred, animadversion growing, crescent fearful, timorous grow, increase

<LIST L>

Cover with a piece of paper the classic (right-hand) members of the following pairs, and if possible ascertain what they are by studying the native members. Frame sentences to illustrate the correct use of both words in each pair.

neighborhood, vicinity hang, impend hang, suspend rash, impetuous flood, inundation drunk, intoxicated harmful, injurious tool, instrument mind, intellect mad, insane birth, nativity sail, navigate sailor, mariner ship, vessel lying, mendacious upright, erect early, premature upright, vertical first, primary shake, vibrate raise, elevate swing, oscillate lift, elevate leaves, foliage greet, salute beg, importune choose, select beggar, mendicant choose, elect smell, odor same, identical sink, submerge name, nominate dip, immerse follow, pursue room, apartment follow, succeed see, perceive teach, instruct see, inspect teach, inculcate sight, visibility teacher, pedagogue sight, vision tiresome, tedious sight, spectacle empty, vacant glasses, spectacles farewell, valediction

<LIST M>

Cover with a piece of paper the native (left-hand) members of the following pairs, and if possible ascertain what they are by studying the classic members. Frame sentences to illustrate the correct use of both words in each pair.

skin, cuticle thunder, fulminate skin, integument sleep-walking, somnambulism hide, epidermis bird, ornithology fleshly, carnal bird, aviary hearer, auditor bee, apiary snake, serpent bending, flexible heap, aggregation wrinkle, corrugation laugh, cachinnation slow, dilatory laughable, risible lime, calcimine fear, trepidation coal, lignite live, exist man, anthropology bridal, nuptial winter, hibernate wed, marry gap, hiatus husband/wife, spouse right, ethical shore, littoral showy, ostentatious forswear, perjure spelling, orthography steal, peculate time, chronology steal, embezzle handbook, manual lockjaw, tetanus hole, cavity mistake, error dig, excavate mistake, erratum boil, tumor wink, nictation tickle, titillate blessing, benediction dry, desiccated wet, humid warm, tepid flirt, coquet forgetfulness, oblivion fiddle, violin sky, firmament sky, empyrean flatter, compliment flee, abscond flight, fugitive forbid, prohibit hinder, impede hold, contain

<LIST N>

For each of the following pairs frame a sentence which shall contain one of the members. Can the other member be substituted without affecting the meaning of the sentence? Read the discrimination of Height-altitude in EXERCISE - Parallels. Ask yourself similar questions to bring out the distinction between the two words you are considering.

threat, menace call, summon talk, commune cleanse, purify short, terse short, concise better, ameliorate lie, recline new, novel straight, parallel lawful, legitimate law, litigation law, jurisprudence flash, coruscate late, tardy watch, chronometer foretell, prognosticate king, emperor winding, sinuous hint, insinuate burn, incinerate fire, incendiarism bind, constrict crab, crustacean fowls, poultry lean, incline flat, level flat, vapid sharpness, acerbity sharpness, acrimony shepherd, pastor word, vocable choke, suffocate stifle, suffocate clothes, raiment witness, spectator beat, pulsate mournful, melancholy beginning, incipient drink, imbibe light, illuminate hall, corridor stair, escalator anger, indignation fight, combat sleight-of-hand, prestidigitation build, construct tree, arbor ask, interrogate wench, virgin frisk, caper fill, replenish water, irrigate silly, foolish coming, advent feeling, sentiment old, antiquated forerunner, precursor sew, embroider unload, exonerate grave, sepulcher readable, legible tell, narrate kiss, osculate nose, proboscis striking, percussion green, verdant stroke, concussion grass, verdure bowman, archer drive, propel greed, avarice book, volume stingy, parsimonious warrior, belligerent bath, ablution owner, proprietor wrong, incorrect bow, obeisance top, summit kneel, genuflection food, nutrition work, occupation seize, apprehend shut, close field, agrarian

Turn back to Lists A, B, C, D, E, and F. Discriminate between the members of each pair contained in these lists. Frame sentences to illustrate the correct use of the words.

VII

SYNONYMS IN LARGER GROUPS (1)

In considering pairs we have, without using the word, been studying synonyms. For most pairs are synonyms (or in some instances antonyms) that hunt in couples. We must now deal with synonyms, and incidentally antonyms, as they associate themselves in larger groups.

A vocabulary is impoverished. Why? Nine times in ten, because of a disregard of synonyms. Listen to the talk of the average person. Whatever is pleasing is fine or nice or all to the good; whatever is displeasing is bum or awful or a fright. Life is reflected, not as noble and complex, but as mean and meager. Out of such stereotyped utterance only the general idea emerges. The precise meaning is lazily or incompetently left to the hearer to imagine. The precise meaning? There is none. A person who does not take the trouble to speak clearly has not taken the trouble to think clearly.

But the master of synonyms expresses, instead of general, hazy, commonplace conceptions, the subtlest shadings of thought and feeling. He has so trained himself that he selects, it may be unconsciously, from a throng of possible words. One word may be strong, another weak. One may be broad, another narrow. One may present an alternative in meanings, another permit no liberty of choice. One may be suggestive, another literal or colorless. One may penetrate to the core of the idea, another strike only in the environs. With these possibilities the master of synonyms reckons. He must have the right word. He chooses it, not at haphazard, but in conformity with a definite purpose.

For synonyms are not words that have the same meaning. They are words that have similar meanings. They may be compared to circles that overlap but do not coincide. Each embraces a common area, but each embraces also an area peculiar to itself. Though many words cluster about a given idea, rarely if ever are even two of these words entirely equivalent to each other. In scope, in suggestion, in emotional nuance, in special usage, or what not, is sure to lurk some denial of perfect correspondence. And of synonyms, so of antonyms. Antonyms are words opposite in meaning; but the opposition, for the same reasons as the likeness, is seldom or never absolute.

In your study of synonyms you will find most of the dictionaries previously named of great help. You may also profitably consult the following books of synonyms (heavy, scholastic works not suited for ordinary use are omitted):

<Books of Plain Synonyms and Antonyms>

Edith B. Ordway: Synonyms and Antonyms. A compact, practical volume, with antonyms (in italics for contrast) immediately following synonyms.

Louis A. Flemming: Putnam's Word Book. A book of the ordinarily used synonyms of words, with antonyms after some of them, and with lists of associated words wherever these are likely to be useful.

Samuel Fallows: 100,000 Synonyms and Antonyms. A handy little volume, with useful lists of various kinds in appendices.

Richard Soule: Dictionary of English Synonyms [revised and enlarged by George H. Howison]. A much larger and more expensive book than the others, and less practical for ordinary use, but fuller in treatment of material, with words of more than one meaning carefully divided into their various senses.

<Synonyms with Word Discriminations>

George Crabb: English Synonyms. A standard volume for over 100 years. Has close distinctions, but is somewhat scholarly for ordinary use. Revised edition of 1917, omitting illustrative quotations from literature, not so good as editions before that date.

James C. Fernald: English Synonyms, Antonyms, and Prepositions. A pleasing book to read, with much information about the use of words and their shades of meaning (with exercises), also with proper prepositions to follow words. Material taken from the Standard Dictionary.

Peter Mark Roget: Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases. Issued in many editions and revisions. Words grouped under general ideas. An excellent book for serious and laborious study, but not for quick use.

<How to Acquire Synonyms>

The best principle for the extension of one's mastery of synonyms is the principle already used over and over in this book—that of proceeding from the known to the unknown. It is the fundamental principle, indeed, of any kind of successful learning. We should build on what we have, fit each new piece of material into the structure already erected. But normally it is our ill fortune to learn through chance rather than through system. We perceive elucidation here, draw an inference there. These isolated fragments of knowledge may mislead rather than inform us.

The principle of proceeding from the known to the unknown may be applied to synonyms in various ways. Two of these—the two of most importance—we must consider here.

First, you should reckon with your personal, demonstrated needs. Just as you have already analyzed your working vocabulary for its general limits and shortcomings, so should you analyze it with particular reference to your poverty in synonyms. Watch your actual speech; make a list of the words—nouns, verbs, and adjectives particularly—that you employ again and again. Make each of these words the starting-point for a linguistic exploring expedition. First, write the word down. Then under it write all the synonyms that come forthwith to your mind. These constitute your present available stock; in speaking or writing you could, if you kept yourself mentally alert, summon them on the moment. But the list, as you know, is not exhaustive. Draw a line under it and subjoin such synonyms as come to you after reflection. These constitute a second stock, not instantaneously available, yet to be tagged as among your resources. Next add a list of the synonyms you find through research, through a ransacking of dictionaries and books of synonyms. This third stock, but dimly familiar if familiar at all, is in no practical sense yours. And indeed some of the words are too abstruse, learned, or technical for you to burden your memory with them. But many—most—are worth acquiring. By writing down the words of these three classes you have done something to stamp them upon your memory as associates. You must now make it your business to bring them into use. Never call upon them for volunteers, but like a wise commander summon the individual that can rightly perform a particular service. Thus will your speech, perhaps vague and indolent now, become exact, discriminating, competent, vital.

In the second place, you should obtain specific and detailed command of general ideas. Not of out-of-the-way ideas. But of the great basic ideas that are the common possession of all mankind. For through these basic ideas is the most natural and profitable approach to the study of synonyms. Each of them is represented by a generic word. So elementary are idea and word alike that a person cannot have the one in mind without having the other ready and a-quiver on his tongue. Every person is master of both. But it is unsafe to predicate the person's acquaintance with the shades and phases of the idea, or with the corresponding discriminations in language. He may not know them at all, he may know them partially, he may know them through and through. Let us suppose him ignorant of them but determined to learn. His progress, both in the thought and in the language, will be from the general to the specific. His acquaintance with the idea in the large he will gradually extend to an acquaintance with it in detail, and his command of the broad term for it he will little by little supplement with definite terms for its phases. An illustration will make this clear.

We are aware that the world is made up of various classes and conditions of men. How did we learn this? Let us go back to the time when our minds were a blank, when we were babes and sucklings, when we had not perceived that men exist, much less that mankind is infinitely complex. A baby comes slowly to understand that all objects in the universe are divisible into two classes, human and non-human, and that a member of the former may be separated from the others and regarded as an individual. It has reached the initial stage of its knowledge on the subject; it has the basic idea, that of the individual human being. As soon as it can speak, it acquires a designating term—not of course the sophisticated human being, but the simpler man. It uses this word in the generic sense, to indicate any member of the human race; for as yet it knows nothing and cares nothing about differences in species. With increasing enlightenment, however, it discerns five species, and distinguishes among them by swelling this branch of its vocabulary to five words: man (in the sense of adult male), woman, boy, girl, baby. (To be sure, it may chance to have acquired a specific term, as boy or baby, before the generic term man; but if so, it has attached this term to some particular individual, as the grocer's boy or itself, rather than to the individuals of a species. Its understanding of the species as a species comes after its understanding of the genus.) As time passes, it divides mankind into yet further species by sundry other methods: according to occupation, for example, as doctors, chauffeurs, gardeners; to race or color, as white men; negroes, Malays, Chinese; to disposition, as heroes, gift-givers, teasers, talkers; and so on. It perceives moreover that species are made up of sub-species. Thus instead of lumping all boys together it begins to distinguish them as big boys, little boys, middle-sized boys, boys in long trousers, boys in short trousers, barefoot boys, schoolboys, poor boys, rich boys, sick boys, well boys, friends, enemies, bullies, and what not. It even divides the sub-species. Thus it classifies schoolboys as bright boys, dullards, workers, shirkers, teachers' favorites, scapegoats, athletes, note-throwers, truant-players, and the like. And of these classes it may make yet further sub-divisions, or at least it may separate them into the individuals that compose them. In fine, with its growing powers and experience, it abandons its old conception that all persons are practically alike, and follows human nature through the countless ramifications of man's status, temperament, activities, or fate. And it augments its vocabulary to keep pace, roughly at least, with its expanding ideas. In thought and terminology alike its growth is from genus to species.