English Synonyms and Antonyms by James Champlin Fernald (best ebook reader for laptop TXT) 📕

with a petty officiousness; meddling commonly arises from idle curiosity; "every fool will be meddling," Prov. xx, 3; to interfere is to intrude into others' affairs with more serious purpose, with or without acknowledged right or propriety. Intercept is applied to an object that may be seized or stopped while in transit; as, to intercept a letter or a messenger; interrupt is applied to an action which might or should be continuous, but is broken in upon (L. rumpere, to break) by some disturbing power; as, the conversation was interrupted. One who arbitrates or mediates must do so by the request or at least with the consent of the contending parties; the other words of the group imply that he steps in of his own accord. Antonyms: avoid, keep aloof, keep out, retire, stand back, hold aloof, keep away, let alone, stand aside, stand off, hold off, keep clear, let be, stand away, withdraw. Prepositions:

Interpose between the combatants; in the matter.

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INVOLVE. Synonyms: complicate, embroil, implicate, include, embarrass, entangle, imply, overwhelm.

To involve (L. in, in, and volvo, roll) is to roll or wind up with or in so as to combine inextricably or inseparably, or nearly so; as, the nation is involved in war; the bookkeeper's accounts, or the writer's sentences are involved. Involve is a stronger word than implicate, denoting more complete entanglement. As applied to persons, implicate is always used in an unfavorable sense, and involve ordinarily so; but implicate applies only to that which is wrong, while involve is more commonly used of that which is unfortunate; one is implicated in a crime, involved in embarrassments, misfortunes, or perplexities. As regards logical connection that which is included is usually expressly stated; that which is implied is not stated, but is naturally to be inferred; that which is involved is necessarily to be inferred; as, a slate roof is included in the contract; that the roof shall be water-tight is implied; the contrary supposition involves an absurdity. See COMPLEX.

Antonyms: disconnect, disentangle, distinguish, explicate, extricate, remove, separate. JOURNEY. Synonyms: excursion, pilgrimage, transit, trip, expedition, tour, travel, voyage.

A journey (F. journée, from L. diurnus, daily) was primarily a day's work; hence, a movement from place to place within one day, which we now describe as "a day's journey;" in its extended modern use a journey is a direct going from a starting-point to a destination, ordinarily over a considerable distance; we speak of a day's journey, or the journey of life. Travel is a passing from place to place, not necessarily in a direct line or with fixed destination; a journey through Europe would be a passage to some destination beyond or at the farther boundary; travel in Europe may be in no direct course, but may include many journeys in different directions. A voyage, which was formerly a journey of any kind, is now a going to a considerable distance by water, especially by sea; as, a voyage to India. A trip is a short and direct journey. A tour is a journey that returns to the starting-point, generally over a considerable distance; as, a bridal[224] tour, or business tour. An excursion is a brief tour or journey, taken for pleasure, often by many persons at once; as, an excursion to Chautauqua. Passage is a general word for a journey by any conveyance, especially by water; as, a rough passage across the Atlantic; transit, literally the act of passing over or through, is used specifically of the conveyance of passengers or merchandise; rapid transit is demanded for suburban residents or perishable goods. Pilgrimage, once always of a sacred character, retains in derived uses something of that sense; as, a pilgrimage to Stratford-on-Avon.

Prepositions:

A journey from Naples to Rome; through Mexico; across the continent; over the sea; a journey into Asia; among savages; by land, by rail, for health, on foot, on the cars, etc.

JUDGE. Synonyms: arbiter, arbitrator, justice, referee, umpire.

A judge, in the legal sense, is a judicial officer appointed or elected to preside in courts of law, and to decide legal questions duly brought before him; the name is sometimes given to other legally constituted officers; as, the judges of election; in other relations, any person duly appointed to pass upon the merits of contestants or of competing articles may be called a judge; as, the judges at an agricultural fair, or at a race-track; in the widest sense, any person who has good capacity for judging is called a judge; as, a person is said to be a judge of pictures, or a good judge of a horse, etc. In most games the judge is called an umpire; as, the umpire of a game of ball or cricket. A referee is appointed by a court to decide disputed matters between litigants; an arbitrator is chosen by the contending parties to decide matters in dispute without action by a court. In certain cases an umpire is appointed by a court to decide where arbitrators disagree. Arbiter, with its suggestion of final and absolute decision, has come to be used only in a high or sacred sense; as, war must now be the arbiter; the Supreme Arbiter of our destinies. The judges of certain courts, as the United States Supreme Court, are technically known as justices.

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JUSTICE. Synonyms: equity, impartiality, legality, rightfulness, fairness, integrity, rectitude, truth, fair play, justness, right, uprightness, faithfulness, law, righteousness, virtue. honor, lawfulness,

In its governmental relations, human or divine, justice is the giving to every person exactly what he deserves, not necessarily involving any consideration of what any other may deserve; equity (the quality of being equal) is giving every one as much advantage, privilege, or consideration as is given to any other; it is that which is equally right or just to all concerned; equity is equal justice and is thus a close synonym for fairness and impartiality, but it has a philosophical and legal precision that those words have not. In legal proceedings cases arise for which the law has not adequately provided, or in which general provisions, just in the main, would work individual hardship. The system of equity, devised to supply the insufficiencies of law, deals with cases "to which the law by reason of its universality can not apply." "Equity, then, ... is the soul and spirit of all law; positive law is construed and rational law is made by it." Blackstone bk. iii, ch. 27, p. 429. In personal and social relations justice is the rendering to every one what is due or merited, whether in act, word, or thought; in matters of reasoning, or literary work of any kind, justice is close, faithful, unprejudiced, and unbiased adherence to essential truth or fact; we speak of the justice of a statement, or of doing justice to a subject. Integrity, rectitude, right, righteousness and virtue denote conformity of personal conduct to the moral law, and thus necessarily include justice, which is giving others that which is their due. Lawfulness is an ambiguous word, meaning in its narrower sense mere legality, which may be very far from justice, but in its higher sense signifying accordance with the supreme law of right, and thus including perfect justice. Justness refers rather to logical relations than to practical matters; as, we speak of the justness of a statement or of a criticism. See JUDGE, n.

Antonyms: dishonesty, inequity, partiality, unlawfulness, untruth, favoritism, injustice, unfairness, unreasonableness, wrong. Prepositions:

The justice of the king; to or for the oppressed.

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KEEP. Synonyms: carry, defend, hold, preserve, retain, carry on, detain, maintain, protect, support, celebrate, fulfil, obey, refrain, sustain, conduct, guard, observe, restrain, withhold.

Keep, signifying generally to have and retain in possession, is the terse, strong Saxon term for many acts which are more exactly discriminated by other words. We keep, observe, or celebrate a festival; we keep or hold a prisoner in custody; we keep or preserve silence, keep the peace, preserve order—preserve being the more formal word; we keep or maintain a horse, a servant, etc.; a man supports his family; we keep or obey a commandment; keep or fulfil a promise. In the expressions to keep a secret, keep one's own counsel, keep faith, or keep the faith, such words as preserve or maintain could not be substituted without loss. A person keeps a shop or store, conducts or carries on a business; he keeps or carries a certain line of goods; we may keep or restrain one from folly, crime, or violence; we keep from or refrain from evil, ourselves. Keep in the sense of guard or defend implies that the defense is effectual. Compare CELEBRATE; RESTRAIN.

Prepositions:

Keep in hand, in mind, in or within the house; from evil; out of mischief; keep to the subject; keep for a person, an occasion, etc.

KILL. Synonyms: assassinate, despatch, massacre, put to death, slay. butcher, execute, murder, slaughter,

To kill is simply to deprive of life, human, animal, or vegetable, with no suggestion of how or why. Assassinate, execute, murder, apply only to the taking of human life; to murder is to kill with premeditation and malicious intent; to execute is to kill in fulfilment of a legal sentence; to assassinate is to kill by assault; this word is chiefly applied to the killing of public or eminent persons through alleged political motives, whether secretly or openly. To slay is to kill by a blow, or by a weapon. Butcher and slaughter apply primarily to the killing of cattle; massacre is applied primarily and almost exclusively to human beings, signifying to kill them indiscriminately in large numbers; to massacre is said when there is no chance of successful resistance; to butcher when the killing is especially brutal; soldiers mown down in a[227] hopeless charge are said to be slaughtered when no brutality on the enemy's part is implied. To despatch is to kill swiftly and in general quietly, always with intention, with or without right.

Prepositions:

To kill with or by sword, famine, pestilence, care, grief, etc.; killed for his money, by a robber, with a dagger.

KIN. Synonyms: affinity, blood, descent, kind, race, alliance, consanguinity, family, kindred, relationship. birth,

Kind is broader than kin, denoting the most general relationship, as of the whole human species in mankind, humankind, etc.; kin and kindred denote direct relationship that can be traced through either blood or marriage, preferably the former; either of these words may signify collectively all persons of the same blood or members of the same family, relatives or relations. Affinity is relationship by marriage, consanguinity is relationship by blood. There are no true antonyms of kin or kindred, except those made by negatives, since strangers, aliens, foreigners, and foes may still be kin or kindred.

KNOWLEDGE. Synonyms: acquaintance, erudition, learning, recognition, apprehension, experience, light, scholarship, cognition, information, lore, science, cognizance, intelligence, perception, wisdom. comprehension, intuition,

Knowledge is all that the mind knows, from whatever source derived or obtained, or by whatever process; the aggregate of facts, truths, or principles acquired or retained by the mind, including alike the intuitions native to the mind and all that has been learned respecting phenomena, causes, laws, principles, literature, etc. There is a tendency to regard knowledge as accurate and systematic, and to a certain degree complete. Information is knowledge of fact, real or supposed, derived from persons, books, or observation, and is regarded as casual and haphazard. We say of a studious man that he has a great store of knowledge, or of an intelligent man of the world, that he has a fund of varied information. Lore is used only in poetic or elevated style, for accumulated knowledge, as of a people or age, or in a more limited sense for learning or erudition. We speak of perception of external[228] objects, apprehension of intellectual truth. Simple perception gives a limited knowledge of external objects, merely as such; the cognition of the same objects is a knowledge of them in some relation; cognizance is the formal or official recognition of something as an object of knowledge; we take cognizance of it. Intuition is primary knowledge antecedent to all teaching or reasoning, experience is knowledge that has entered directly into one's own life; as, a child's experience that fire will burn. Learning is much higher than information,