English Synonyms and Antonyms Part 103

SUPERNATURAL.

Synonyms:

miraculous, preternatural, superhuman.

The _supernatural_ (_super_, above) is above or superior to the recognized powers of nature; the _preternatural_ (_preter_, beyond) is aside from or beyond the recognized results or operations of natural law, often in the sense of inauspicious; as, a _preternatural_ gloom.

_Miraculous_ is more emphatic and specific than _supernatural_, as referring to the direct personal intervention of divine power. Some hold that a miracle, as the raising of the dead, is a direct suspension and even violation of natural laws by the fiat of the Creator, and hence is, in the strictest sense, _supernatural_; others hold that the miracle is simply the calling forth of a power residing in the laws of nature, but not within their ordinary operation, and dependent on a distinct act of G.o.d, so that the _miraculous_ might be termed "extranatural," rather than _supernatural_. All that is beyond human power is _superhuman_; as, prophecy gives evidence of _superhuman_ knowledge; the word is sometimes applied to remarkable manifestations of human power, surpa.s.sing all that is ordinary.

Antonyms:

common, commonplace, everyday, natural, ordinary, usual.

SUPPORT.

Synonyms:

bear, cherish, keep, maintain, sustain, carry, hold up, keep up, prop, uphold.

_Support_ and _sustain_ alike signify to _hold up_ or _keep up_, to prevent from falling or sinking; but _sustain_ has a special sense of continuous exertion or of great strength continuously exerted, as when we speak of _sustained_ endeavor or a _sustained_ note; a flower is _supported_ by the stem or a temple-roof by arches; the foundations of a great building _sustain_ an enormous pressure; to _sustain_ life implies a greater exigency and need than to _support_ life; to say one is _sustained_ under affliction is to say more both of the severity of the trial and the completeness of the _upholding_ than if we say he is _supported_. To _bear_ is the most general word, denoting all _holding up_ or _keeping up_ of any object, whether in rest or motion; in the derived senses it refers to something that is a tax upon strength or endurance; as, to _bear_ a strain; to _bear_ pain or grief. To _maintain_ is to _keep_ in a state or condition, especially in an excellent and desirable condition; as, to _maintain_ health or reputation; to _maintain_ one's position; to _maintain_ a cause or proposition is to hold it against opposition or difficulty. To _support_ may be partial, to _maintain_ is complete; _maintain_ is a word of more dignity than _support_; a man _supports_ his family; a state _maintains_ an army or navy. To _prop_ is always partial, signifying to add _support_ to something that is insecure. Compare ABET; ENDURE; KEEP.

Antonyms:

abandon, break down, demolish, destroy, let go, throw down, betray, cast down, desert, drop, overthrow, wreck.

Prepositions:

The roof is supported _by_, _on_, or _upon_ pillars; the family was supported _on_ or _upon_ a pittance, or _by_ charity.

SUPPOSE.

Synonyms:

conjecture, deem, guess, imagine, surmise, think.

To _suppose_ is temporarily to a.s.sume a thing as true, either with the expectation of finding it so or for the purpose of ascertaining what would follow if it were so. To _suppose_ is also to think a thing to be true while aware or conceding that the belief does not rest upon any sure ground, and may not accord with fact; or yet again, to _suppose_ is to imply as true or involved as a necessary inference; as, design _supposes_ the existence of a designer. To _conjecture_ is to put together the nearest available materials for a provisional opinion, always with some expectation of finding the facts to be as _conjectured_. To _imagine_ is to form a mental image of something as existing, tho its actual existence may be unknown, or even impossible.

To _think_, in this application, is to hold as the result of thought what is admitted not to be matter of exact or certain knowledge; as, I do not know, but I _think_ this to be the fact: a more conclusive statement than would be made by the use of _conjecture_ or _suppose_.

Compare DOUBT; HYPOTHESIS.

Antonyms:

ascertain, be sure, conclude, discover, know, prove.

SURRENDER.

Synonyms:

abandon, cede, give over, relinquish, alienate, give, give up, sacrifice, capitulate, give oneself up, let go, yield.

To _surrender_ is to _give up_ upon compulsion, as to an enemy in war, hence to _give up_ to any person, pa.s.sion, influence, or power. To _yield_ is to give place or give way under pressure, and hence under compulsion. _Yield_ implies more softness or concession than _surrender_; the most determined men may _surrender_ to overwhelming force; when one _yields_, his spirit is at least somewhat subdued. A monarch or a state _cedes_ territory perhaps for a consideration; _surrenders_ an army, a navy, or a fortified place to a conqueror; a military commander _abandons_ an untenable position or unavailable stores. We _sacrifice_ something precious through error, friends.h.i.+p, or duty, _yield_ to convincing reasons, a stronger will, winsome persuasion, or superior force. Compare ABANDON.

SYNONYMOUS.

Synonyms:

alike, equivalent, like, similar, correspondent, identical, same, synonymic.

corresponding, interchangeable,

_Synonymous_ (Gr. _syn_, together, and _onyma_, name) strictly signifies being _interchangeable_ names for the same thing, or being one of two or more _interchangeable_ names for the same thing; to say that two words are _synonymous_ is strictly to say they are _alike_, _equivalent_, _identical_, or the _same_ in meaning; but the use of _synonymous_ in this strict sense is somewhat rare, and rather with reference to statements than to words.

To say that we are morally developed is _synonymous_ with saying that we have reaped what some one has suffered for us.

H. W. BEECHER _Royal Truths_ p. 294. [T. & F. '66.]

In the strictest sense, _synonymous_ words scarcely exist; rarely, if ever, are any two words in any language _equivalent_ or _identical_ in meaning; where a difference in meaning can not easily be shown, a difference in usage commonly exists, so that the words are not _interchangeable_. By _synonymous_ words (or _synonyms_) we usually understand words that coincide or nearly coincide in some part of their meaning, and may hence within certain limits be used interchangeably, while outside of those limits they may differ very greatly in meaning and use. It is the office of a work on synonyms to point out these correspondences and differences, that language may have the flexibility that comes from freedom of selection within the common limits, with the perspicuity and precision that result from exact choice of the fittest words to express each shade of meaning outside of the common limits. To consider _synonymous_ words _identical_ is fatal to accuracy; to forget that they are _similar_, to some extent _equivalent_, and sometimes _interchangeable_, is destructive of freedom and variety.

SYSTEM.

Synonyms:

manner, method, mode, order, regularity, rule.

_Order_ in this connection denotes the fact or result of proper arrangement according to the due relation or sequence of the matters arranged; as, these papers are in _order_; in alphabetical _order_.

_Method_ denotes a process, a general or established way of doing or proceeding in anything; _rule_, an authoritative requirement or an established course of things; _system_, not merely a law of action or procedure, but a comprehensive plan in which all the parts are related to each other and to the whole; as, a _system_ of theology; a railroad _system_; the digestive _system_; _manner_ refers to the external qualities of actions, and to those often as settled and characteristic; we speak of a _system_ of taxation, a _method_ of collecting taxes, the _rules_ by which a.s.sessments are made; or we say, as a _rule_ the payments are heaviest at a certain time of year; a just tax may be made odious by the _manner_ of its collection. _Regularity_ applies to the even disposition of objects or uniform recurrence of acts in a series.

There may be _regularity_ without _order_, as in the recurrence of paroxysms of disease or insanity; there may be _order_ without _regularity_, as in the arrangement of furniture in a room, where the objects are placed at varying distances. _Order_ commonly implies the design of an intelligent agent or the appearance or suggestion of such design; _regularity_ applies to an actual uniform disposition or recurrence with no suggestion of purpose, and as applied to human affairs is less intelligent and more mechanical than _order_. The most perfect _order_ is often secured with least _regularity_, as in a fine essay or oration. The same may be said of _system_. There is a _regularity_ of dividing a treatise into topics, paragraphs, and sentences, that is destructive of true rhetorical _system_. Compare HABIT; HYPOTHESIS.

Antonyms:

chaos, derangement, disarrangement, disorder, irregularity.