1. bane- cause of death, ruin or distress. Obviously, you would avoid baneful herbs, like baneberry, and even shun baneful superstitions that could be equally harmful.2. deign- to think it beneath one’s dignity, condescend; give. Related to the same Latin root, dignitas, as deign are dignity, dignify, dignitary, and indignant, all of which comment one one’s worthiness.
3. eke-to supplement; to manage to make a living with difficulty; to use fugally. Eke can be traced to the Latin augere and the Greek auxanein, which in turn give us words like augment and auxiliary.
4. knell-to rink in a slow, solemn way; toll; to call or announce by a mournful ringing; an omen of death or failure. The opening line of Gray’s famous elegy, “The curfew tolls the knell of parting day,” sets the mournful, reflective mood of the poem.
5. mete-to allot, distribute or apportion. Tennyson’s famous line amply illustrates the sense of measuring out: “I mete and dole unequal laws unto a savage race.”
6. moot- discussion or argument of a hypothetical law case; debatable; so hypothetical as to be meaningless. Law students sharpen their skills in a moot court where hypothetical cases are tried.
7. mulct-to punish by a fine or by depriving of something; to extract by fraud or deceit. It is from the Latin mulcta (“a fine.”).
8. plumb-perfectly vertical; directly; to test or sound with a plumb line (measure); to discover the facts of; to fathom; solve or understand. A lead weight (Latin plumbum, “lead”) was used at the end of the plumb line. The chemical symbol for lead is Pb.
9. quail-to draw back in fear; lose heart or courage; cower. A quail is also a partridge-like bird mentioned in the Bible as the sourced of the mead sent to the Israelites in the desert. The definition of the verb to quail is related to the Latin word coagulare (“coagulate”), describing what seems to happen physically when the blood “runs cold.”
10. roil-to make a liquid cloudy or muddy; to stir up or agitate; to make angry, rile. Some authoritites believe the word comes from the Old French word for “rust” or “mud,” or the Latin ruber (“red”). Others frankly admit the origin is unknown. But we can offer some interesting synonym: annoy, fret, ruffle, exasperate, provoke.
11. ruck-a heap or stack; a large quantity or crowd; mass of ordinary people or things; common run. Some words, like queen, which one referred to anyone’s wife, have moved up the social ladder; but ruck succeeded only in moving from things to humans. It still refers to people who are generally inferior.
12. shunt-to move or to turn to one side; to shift or switch from one track to another. The world may be related to shun, which also has the sense of turning away.
13. svelte-slender and graceful; suave; polished. The derivation from the Latin evellare (“to pull out”), implies that the svelte figure has, been “drawn out” like a heated glass tube.
14. thrall-a slave or bondman; a person under the moral or psychological domination of something or someone; slavery. Performers who enthrall their audiences captivate their attention.
15. tryst-an appointment, as by lovers; to meet. In Scotland the word refers to a market, but the Old French triste (“hunting rendezvous”) suggests that the Gallic hunters were not always after wild game.
Exercises
I. Which Word Comes to Mind?
In each of the following, read the statement, then circle the word that comes to mind.
1. The impoverished family barely survived the winner
(mulct, moot, eke)
2. To each according to his due
(thrall, mete, roil)
3. A house of terror for its inhabitants
(quail, ruck, deign)
4. Romeo and Juliet meet at the Friar’s cell
(knell, tryst, shunt)
5. Drink was his undoing
(svelte, plumb, bane)
6. A detour off the main road
(plumb, thrall, shunt)
7. Most models diet strenuously to keep their slender figure
(svelte, ruck, mulct)
8. The town rings a bell at curfew time
(knell, deign, mete)
9. Children annoying their nanny
(roil, shunt, tryst)
10. She world like a slave in her aunt’s household
(moot, thrall, plumb)
II. True or False?
In the space provided, indicate whether each statement is true or false.
____ 1. One would normally be proud to be counted among the ruck of humanity.
____2. The best time to appeal to someone for a favor is after he has been roiled up.
____3. The knelling of bells has a somber, saddening effect.
____4. Every girl is anxious to have a svelte figure.
____5. A person found guilty of a serious crime in moot court must serve at least the minimum service
____6. Drugs and alcohol proved to be the bane of Peter’s life.
____7. Mrs. Miller was son angry that she would not deign to read my poem..
____8. The greedy stockbroker mulcted his firm into bankruptcy.
____ 9. It was difficult for the poor farmers to eke out a living.
____ 10. Judge Medowar has meted out justice in his courtroom for twenty years.
III. Synonyms and Antonyms
Indicate whether the following pairs of words are the same, opposite, or unrelated in meaning by writing S, O, or U in the space provided.
____ 1. thrall—master
____2. moot—questionable
____3. tryst—confidence
____4. mete—assign
____5. roil—soothe
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