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vocabulary study week 1
Chapter 1 vocabulary
50
Other
Undergraduate 3
01/15/2012

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Term
abrogate
Definition
Transitive Verb

To abolish, do away with, or annul, especially by authority.

The Supreme Court can abrogate a law if they decide that the law is unconstitutional.
Term
abstemious
Definition
ADJECTIVE:

Eating and drinking in moderation.
Restricted to bare necessities.

She lives an abstemious way of life.
Term
acumen
Definition
NOUN:

Quickness, accuracy, and keenness of judgment or insight.

Why do you think he removes their skins, Agent Starling? Enthrall me with your acumen.
Term
aptitude
Definition
NOUN:

An inherent ability, as for learning; a talent.

He has a natural aptitude for solving criminal cases.
Term
auspiciously
Definition
ADJECTIVE:

Attended by favorable circumstances; propitious.

He started his new job auspiciously on his birthday.
Term
bowdlerize
Definition
TRANSITIVE VERB:

To remove material that is considered offensive or objectionable from (a book, for example).

Because of the offensive words in the story, the editor had to bowderlize it.
Term
condone
Definition
TRANSITIVE VERB:

To overlook, forgive, or disregard (an offense) without protest or censure.

I do not condone my children's behavior when they disobey the rules.
Term
covertly
Definition
ADJECTIVE:

Not openly practiced, avowed, engaged in, accumulated, or shown.

Feds covertly attack state-sanctioned medical marijuana.
Term
dogmatic
Definition
ADJECTIVE:

Characterized by an authoritative, arrogant assertion of unproved or unprovable principles.

Remember not to get dogmatic about it because words and concepts are only relative.
Term
equinox
Definition
NOUN:

Either of two points on the celestial sphere at which the ecliptic intersects the celestial equator.

From the autumn equinox the setting sun moves gradually south along the western horizon.
Term
exotic
Definition
ADJECTIVE:

From another part of the world; foreign.
Intriguingly unusual or different; excitingly strange.

We saw exotic tropical plants in the greenhouse.
Term
explicit
Definition
ADJECTIVE:

Fully and clearly expressed; leaving nothing implied.
Describing or portraying nudity or sexual activity in graphic detail.

The standards expected should be made explicit in a policy for medical records.
Term
function
Definition
NOUN:

the normal action of something or how something works.

I started out arguing that a phone only needed to perform a few very specific functions.
Term
garrulous
Definition
ADJECTIVE:

Describes someone who talks too much about unimportant things. Wordy and rambling. Tiresomely talkative.
Term
grammar
Definition
NOUN:

The study of how words and their component parts combine to form sentences. The study of structural relationships in language or in a language, sometimes including pronunciation, meaning, and linguistic...
Term
hemoglobin
Definition
NOUN:

the red coloring matter of the red blood corpuscles of vertebrates, a protein yielding heme and globin on hydrolysis: it carries oxygen from the lungs to the tissues, and carbon dioxide from the tissues to the lungs
Term
imply
Definition
TRANSITIVE VERB:

To involve by logical necessity; entail; To express or indicate indirectly.

I didn't mean to imply that you were stupid, but merely arrogant, pretentious and boorish.
Term
inarticulate
Definition
ADJECTIVE:

Uttered without the use of normal words or syllables; incomprehensible as speech or language.

Suddenly the waiter seemed to grow inarticulate with a rush of words.
Term
infer
Definition
VERB:
tr.

To conclude from evidence or premises.
To hint or imply.

We may reasonably infer that someone of importance was buried here.
Term
infrastructure
Definition
NOUN:

An underlying base or foundation especially for an organization or system.

The need to rebuild a media infrastructure from the bottom up is clearly evident.
Term
inherently
Definition
ADJECTIVE:

Existing as an essential constituent or characteristic; intrinsic.

It is inherently obvious that I need to study more by the grades on my report card.
Term
insurgent
Definition
ADJECTIVE:

Rising in revolt against established authority, especially a government.

The IRA in Ireland is an example of an insurgent group of people.
Term
irrevocable
Definition
ADJECTIVE:

Impossible to retract or revoke.

Even now irrevocable damage may have been done to the ecosystems on which we all ultimately depend.
Term
jargon
Definition
NOUN:

Nonsensical, incoherent, or meaningless talk.
The specialized or technical language of a trade, profession, or similar group.

In computer jargon d is called the least significant byte.
Term
lament
Definition
VERB:
tr.

To express grief for or about; mourn: lament a death.
To regret deeply; deplore

It's at times like this i lament the loss of people like robin cook.
Term
lexicon
Definition
NOUN:

A dictionary.
A stock of terms used in a particular profession, subject, or style; a vocabulary

After all, our children have language problems and cannot be expected to acquire a huge lexicon.
Term
linguistics
Definition
NOUN:

The study of the nature, structure, and variation of language, including phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, sociolinguistics, and pragmatics.

Linguistics experts are involved in an ambitious joint initiative with the bbc to find out why we speak the way we do.
Term
mentor
Definition
NOUN:

A wise and trusted counselor or teacher.

An experienced business mentor can play a key role in steering a new business to success.
Term
modify
Definition
VERB:
tr.

To change in form or character; alter.
To make less extreme, severe, or strong

She decided to modify the recipe according to her own tastes.
Term
nanotechnology
Definition
NOUN:
The science and technology of building electronic circuits and devices from single atoms and molecules.

Nature has developed biological nanotechnology for billions of years of evolution.
Term
nomenclature
Definition
NOUN:

A system of names used in an art or science: the nomenclature of mineralogy.
The procedure of assigning names to the kinds and groups of organisms listed in a taxonomic classification

I agree that a unified nomenclature of human abc transporters would be very useful.
Term
nostalgic
Definition
NOUN:

A bittersweet longing for things, persons, or situations of the past.

I often get nostalgic when I hear Cher sing I Got You Babe on the radio.
Term
novice
Definition
NOUN:

A person new to a field or activity; a beginner.

We have a variety of skis available to suit the complete novice through to the stylish mono skier.
Term
oblivion
Definition
NOUN:

The state of being completely forgotten.

At last, overwhelmed by the agony, she passed into the blessed oblivion of unconsciousness.
Term
pariah
Definition
NOUN:

A social outcast.

These renegade oppressors must be made pariahs by the rest of the world.
Term
pensive
Definition
ADJECTIVE:

Deeply, often wistfully or dreamily thoughtful.
Suggestive or expressive of melancholy thoughtfulness.

He appeared rather pensive as he contemplated his future.
Term
plagiarize
Definition
VERB:
tr.

To use and pass off (the ideas or writings of another) as one's own.

We could be kicked out of school if we plagiarize material that someone else wrote.
Term
plethora
Definition
NOUN:

A superabundance; an excess.

We had a plethora of treats at the birthday party.
Term
proliferate
Definition
VERB:
intr.

To grow or multiply by rapidly producing new tissue, parts, cells, or offspring.
To increase or spread at a rapid rate.

Newspapers and periodicals did not proliferate until after 1850.
Term
recalcitrant
Definition
ADJECTIVE:
Marked by stubborn resistance to and defiance of authority or guidance.

NOUN:
A recalcitrant person.

The recalcitrant truants were eventually sent to reform school.
Term
relentlessly
Definition
ADVERB:

Persistent.Pitiless.

Bob was always passionate about what he did; he would work relentlessly if he set his mind to something.
Term
rigorously
Definition
ADVERB:

very strict or harsh
rigidly precise; thoroughly accurate or exact

Architects use a full complement of technological resources to produce rigorously accurate work.
Term
rudimentary
Definition
ADJECTIVE:
Of or relating to basic facts or Being in the earliest stages of development; incipient.

Obviously i use my languages every day albeit at a fairly rudimentary level.
Term
rule of thumb
Definition
NOUN:

a generally accepted guideline, policy or method of doing something based on practice rather than facts.

It is a common rule of thumb to never wear white after Labor Day.
Term
scrutinize
Definition
TRANSITIVE VERB:

To examine or observe with great care; inspect critically.

Employees were warned that they should scrutinize any potential customers to be sure they weren't really criminals.
Term
specious
Definition
ADJECTIVE:

Having the ring of truth or plausibility but actually fallacious: a specious argument.
Deceptively attractive.

The attempt to morally justify suicide bombing seems especially specious.
Term
succumb
Definition
intr.v

To submit to an overpowering force or yield to an overwhelming desire; give up or give in.

They succumb to fear and choke up because they have never learned to deal with this verbal intimidation correctly.
Term
supplant
Definition
TRANSITIVE VERB:

To usurp the place of, especially through intrigue or underhanded tactics.
To displace and substitute for.

And chávez is looking to develop his natural gas reserves, which he believes may eventually supplant oil as the country's main export.
Term
tenacious
Definition
ADJECTIVE:

Holding or tending to hold persistently to something, such as a point of view.
Holding together firmly; cohesive: a tenacious material.
Clinging to another object or surface; adhesive

They are extremely tenacious, often chasing their prey to the end.
Term
terminology
Definition
NOUN:

The vocabulary of technical terms used in a particular field, subject, science, or art; nomenclature.
The study of nomenclature.

A thesaurus is a structured wordlist used to standardize terminology.
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