Use LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys to navigate between flashcards;
Use UP and DOWN arrow keys to flip the card;
H to show hint;
A reads text to speech;
32 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
|
Latinate |
Style of writing characterized by an excessive use of Latin derivatives. |
|
|
-ion |
Suffix that makes a noun out of a verb; "the act or result of x."
Ex.: competition, portion, union, constitution, administration, condition, revolution, nation, execution, possession, description. |
|
|
con-/com- |
Prefix meaning "together with".
Ex.: contention, comprehensive/comprehension, conduct/conducive. |
|
|
-ive |
Suffix that is added to verb bases to form adjectives. Ex.: extensive, executive, comprehensive, possessive, descriptive, abusive. |
|
|
tend/tens/tent |
stretch, exert oneself |
|
|
prehend/prehens
|
grasp |
|
|
duct/duc
|
lead
|
|
|
script/scribe
|
write
|
|
|
synonym
|
Word that means the same thing as another word. Abbreviated in dictionaries as SYN. |
|
|
antonym |
Word that means the opposite thing as another word. Abbreviated in dictionaries as ANT. |
|
|
-or |
Suffix that indicates a person doing something. |
|
|
reduce |
From Latin re "back" + ducere "to lead."
Modern meaning: to lessen in any way. |
|
|
tropic |
From Greek tropikos "belonging to a turn (trop)."
Modern meaning: either of the two circles (Tropic of Cancer or Tropic of Capricorn) of the celestial sphere parallel to the celestial equator, 23.5 degrees above and below. From earth it is the place where the sun appears to stop moving toward one pole and turns back to the other. |
|
|
barbarian |
From the Greeks who thought that foreigner's speech sounded like "bar-bar-bar"; came to be used to refer to anyone considered "uncivilized" by the Greek, Roman (Latin barbarous), and Christian cultures.
Modern: a primitive or savage person who lacks culture. |
|
|
vicissitude |
From Latin vicis "a turn, change."
Modern: a condition of constant change or alternation as a natural process. |
|
|
legacy |
From Latin legare "to depute, commission, bequeath."
Modern: money or property left to someone by a will, anything handed down. |
|
|
idiot |
Origin: From Greek ἰδιώτης, a private person, a person without professional knowledge, layman, ignorant, ill-informed person.
Modern: A person without learning; an ignorant, uneducated person; a simple or ordinary person. |
|
|
serendipity |
Origin: ancient name for Sri Lanka/Ceylon; used in Horace Walpole's "Three Princes of Serendip" (1754), who were always discovering great things unexpectedly.
Modern: The faculty of making happy and unexpected discoveries by accident. Also, the fact or an instance of such a discovery. |
|
|
trivial |
Origin: Latin tri, "three" + via "way," i.e. a place where three ways meet. Such as may be met with anywhere; common, commonplace, ordinary, everyday, familiar, trite.
Modern: of small account, little esteemed, paltry, poor; trifling, inconsiderable, unimportant, slight. |
|
|
sarcasm |
Origin: Greek σαρκάζειν to tear flesh, gnash the teeth, speak bitterly, < σαρκ-, σάρξ flesh.
Modern: A sharp, bitter, or cutting expression or remark; a bitter gibe or taunt. Now usually in generalized sense: Sarcastic language; sarcastic meaning or purpose. |
|
|
assassin
|
Origin: Arabic name probably originally a derogatory nickname, with reference to the supposedly erratic behavior of the members of the Nizari sect of the Ismaili branch of Islam, who would consume hashish before assassinating their Christian or Muslim adversaries, so that, from the resulting hallucinatory visions, the members might gain a foretaste of the joys of paradise which, they believed, awaited them on completion of their mission. Modern: a professional killer. |
|
|
raise
|
to build |
|
|
raze
|
to demolish |
|
|
prone
|
lying on one's stomach |
|
|
supine
|
lying facing upwards |
|
|
martial
|
Origin: from the Latin god of war Mars.
Modern: "warlike." |
|
|
marital
|
Origin: Latin marit meaning "married." |
|
|
Modus operandi
|
method of working |
|
|
Dramatis personae
|
characters in a play
|
|
|
Non sequitur
|
a remark that doesn't fit with what went before
|
|
|
Deus ex machina
|
an unconvincing character in a play
|
|
|
Summum bonum
|
greatest good |
