The Century Vocabulary Builder Part 22

_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_ 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 superst.i.tious 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."

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 friends.h.i.+p 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_ 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_ 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."

. 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 b.u.mpkin embracing his sweetheart?" "Her sister gave her a graceful but none too cordial hug." "The wounded bear hugged the hunter ferociously."

. The two terms overlap; but there is a fairly strong tendency to use _shorten_ for reduction in length, and _abridge_ for reduction in quant.i.ty or ma.s.s. 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."

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

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

. "The fat man had grown attenuated."

"Yon Ca.s.sius 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 ma.s.ses of the enemy."

. "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."

. "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 friends.h.i.+p."

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

. "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."

. "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."

. "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."

. "The man was so injured he could do nothing for himself; I had to aid him." "Help, help!" "Aid us, O G.o.d, in our sore distress."

"The little fellow could not quite get the bundle to his shoulder; a pa.s.serby helped him."

. "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."

In the following list only the native member of each pair is given.

Determine what the cla.s.sic member is, and frame sentences to ill.u.s.trate the correct use of the two words. (Make a conscientious effort to find the cla.s.sic 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,--

Discriminate between the members of each of the following pairs, and frame sentences to ill.u.s.trate 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, succ.u.mb rich, affluent lively, vivacious wealthy, opulent walk, ambulate help, a.s.sistance 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

Cover with a piece of paper the cla.s.sic (right-hand) members of the following pairs, and if possible ascertain what they are by studying the native members. Frame sentences to ill.u.s.trate 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 s.h.i.+p, 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 gla.s.ses, spectacles farewell, valediction

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 cla.s.sic members. Frame sentences to ill.u.s.trate 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 sh.o.r.e, littoral showy, ostentatious forswear, perjure spelling, orthography steal, peculate time, chronology steal, embezzle handbook, manual lockjaw, teta.n.u.s hole, cavity mistake, error dig, excavate mistake, erratum boil, tumor wink, nictation tickle, t.i.tillate 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

For each of the following pairs frame a sentence which shall contain one of the members. Can the other member be subst.i.tuted without affecting the meaning of the sentence? Read the discrimination of _Height-alt.i.tude_ 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 gra.s.s, 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 ill.u.s.trate 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 a.s.sociate 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 _b.u.m_ or _awful_ or _a fright_.

Life is reflected, not as n.o.ble 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 cl.u.s.ter 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):