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.