AP Lit: Vocabulary From Classical Roots

Wayzata High School, AP English Literature and Composition. Updated every other week (until end of semester). Study "Answer with Term" for the Vocab Test.

Accredit

To authorize; to certify; to believe

Credence

Belief; acceptance as true

Creditable

Deserving praise

Credulous

Believing too easily; gullible

Creed

A statement of belief or principle

Deify

To make a god of

Deity

A god or goddess

Divine

To foretell by supernatural means

To know by intuition or thought

Divinity

A god or goddess; a divine being.

The state of being divine.

The study of Christian theology.

Apotheosis

Making a god of something; deification

A glorified ideal; an essence.

Theocracy

Government by divine power or priests.

Theology

The study of religion

Atheist

A person who believes there is no god.

Pantheism

Identifying god with nature; belief there is no god.

Pantheon

All the gods of a people or religion. (When capitalized refers to famous circular building in Rome).

Consecrate

To make or declare something sacred.

To dedicate something to a goal

Execrate

To denounce as vile or evil; to curse; to detest.

Sacrament

Something considered to have sacred significance.

Sacrilege

Disrespect to something regarded as sacred.

Sacrosanct

Sacred (often used ironically).

Sanctimonious

Pretending to be righteous

Sanction

Approval; support; permission.

A penalty for breaking with law or custom

To approve, to encourage

Sanctity

Godliness; holiness

Sanctuary

A sacred place; any place of refuge.

Hierarchy

A group organized by rank.

Hieroglyphic

Written with pictures to represent sounds or meanings of words.

Hard to read

Expiate

To make amends for; to atone for

Piety

Religious devotion; great respect toward something, especially parents.

Impious

Sacrilegious; profane; lacking appropriate reverence or respect.

Pittance

A meager portion of anything, especially an allowance or salary.

dogma

A system of doctrines put forward by an authority, especially a church, to be absolute truth.

dogmatic

Pertaining to dogma

Expressed in an authoritative or arrogant manner.

heterodox

Not in agreement with accepted beliefs; holding unorthodox opinions.

agnostic

A person who believes nothing can be known about the existence of a god.

Relating to the belief that the existence of a god is unknowable.

physiognomy

The art of judging human character by facial features; facial features when regarded as revealing character.

prognosis

A prediction of the outcome of a disease; any forecast or prediction.

criterion

A standard, rule, or test on which a decision or judgment can be made.

hypocrisy

Pretending to have feelings, beliefs, or virtues that one does not have.

amnesty

A general pardon for offenders, especially for political offenses.

mnemonic

Relating to or assisting the memory.

A device used in remembering.

frenetic

Frantic; frenzied.

schizophrenia

A severe mental disorder in which a person becomes unable to act or reason in a rational way, often with delusions and withdrawal from relationship.

A situation of extreme conflict between choices, loyalties, or ways of life.

arraign

To call to court to answer charges.

To accuse; to charge with wrongdoing.

rationale

The reasons underlying something, often presented as a statement (used with ‘for’)

rationalize

To provide a rational basis for something, often by false or self-serving reasoning.

sapient

Wise; insightful (often used ironically)

sage

A person, usually elderly, who is honored for wisdom and experience.

Wise; judicious

cognition

The act of perceiving or knowing.

cognizant

Aware; having knowledge of something.

connoisseur

An expert or very discriminating person, especially in matters of art and taste.

notorious

Widely and unfavorably known; infamous

compute

To determine by mathematics.

impute

To attribute or ascribe a quality, especially a fault, to a person.

repute

To assign a reputation to (usually used with ‘to be’)

putative

Supported; reputed.

presage

A sign or feeling concerning some future event; omen; foreboding.

To give a sign or warning about the future.

sagacious

Shrewd; having good judgment; perceptive.

conscientious

Guided by one’s sense of right and wrong.

Thorough; with careful attention.

plebiscite

A direct vote of all the people of a country or district on an important matter; a referendum.

prescience

Knowledge of events before they occur; foresight; foreknowledge.

alliteration

The occurrence of the same initial sound in several words in succession.

literal

In accordance with the explicit or primary meaning of a word or phrase, not its metaphorical meaning

Word for word; verbatim

Concerned mainly with facts, unimaginative.

literate

Able to read and write.

Knowledgeable; educated.

obliterate

To do away with completely; to wipe out; erase.

ascribe

To attribute to a particular cause, source, or origin (used with to)

circumscribe

To draw a line around; to encircle.

To confine; to limit.

conscription

A military draft.

proscribe

To denounce or condemn.

To prohibit; to forbid.

subscribe

To pledge to pay for something or to contribute to something; to place an order by signing.

To express consent or agreement; to assent.

To sign one’s name to something.

transcribe

To make a copy of; to write out fully.

To make a sound recording for later reproduction.

To arrange music for an instrument different from the one first composed for.

acronym

A word composed of the first letters or parts of a name or series of words.

onomatopoeia

A word that sounds like the thing it names.

pseudonym

A fictitious name.

ignominious

Shameful; disgraceful.

nomenclature

A system of naming, especially in the arts or sciences.

epigram

A short, witty saying.

epigraph

An inscription on a monument or building, on a coin, or at the beginning of a book or chapter.

choreography

The art of creating dances.

graffiti

Words or drawings scratched or scribbled on a wall.

graphic

Relating to the visual arts like drawing, painting, lettering, or engraving.

Giving a vivid description.

lithograph

A print produced by a printing process in which a smooth surface is treated so that ink will adhere only to the design to be printed.

topography

The features of an area, such as its rivers, mountains, and roads.

eclectic

Consisting of parts selected from various sources.

lexicon

A specialized dictionary.

The specialized vocabulary of a particular topic or profession.

analogy

A comparison between things that are alike in some ways.

apologist

A person who makes an argument in support of someone or something.

epilogue

Short concluding section in a literary work.

logo

A symbol or design that serves to identify an organization or institution.

logistics

The organization of supplies and services (Used with a singular verb).

eulogy

A speech or writing in praise of a person or thing, especially honoring the dead.

affable

Easy to speak to; approachable; polite, friendly.

ineffable

Beyond description; indescribable.

Not to be uttered; taboo.

dictatorial

Domineering; autocratic, like a dictator.

diction

Choice of words in speech or writing.

A person’s manner of uttering or pronouncing words.

dictum

An authoritative expression of opinion.

ditty

A simple song.

edict

A decree or proclamation issued by an authority.

indict

To issue a formal charge of a crime.

To accuse.

indite

To write; to compose.

interdiction

A prohibition; the act of forbidding.