2016年12月15日 星期四

Vocabulary and Etymology/week14

A. A Room with a View

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A Room with a View is a 1985 British romance film, directed by James Ivory and produced by Ismail Merchant, of E. M. Forster's 1908 novel of the same name. The film closely follows the novel by use of the chapter titles to section the film into thematic segments. Set in England and Italy, it is about a young woman in the restrictive and repressed culture of Edwardian era England and her developing love for a free-spirited young man.




B. Introduction

Age of Discovery

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Cantino planisphere 1502, earliest surviving chart showing the explorations of Columbus to Central America, Corte-Real to Newfoundland, Gama to India and Cabral to Brazil. Tordesillas line depicted, Biblioteca Estense, Modena
  • ​The Age of Discovery or the Age of Exploration from the end of the 15th century to the 18th century, was an informal and loosely defined Europeanhistorical period marking the time period in which extensive overseas exploration emerged as a powerful factor in European culture and the beginning of globalization. It also marks the rise of the period of widespread belief in Europe of the philosophies of Colonialism and Mercantilism.
  • Many lands previously unknown to Europeans were discovered during this period, though most were already inhabited. From the perspective of many non-Europeans, the age of discovery marked the arrival of settlers and invaders from a previously unknown continent.
  • Global exploration started with the Portuguese discoveries of the Atlantic archipelagos of Madeira and the Azores, the coast of Africa, and the discovery of the sea route to India in 1498; and, on behalf of the Crown of Castile (Spain), the trans-Atlantic Voyages of Christopher Columbus between 1492 and 1502, and the first circumnavigation of the globe in 1519–1522. These discoveries led to numerous naval expeditions across the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans, and land expeditions in the Americas, Asia, Africa, and Australia that continued into the late 19th century, and ended with the exploration of the polar regions in the 20th century.

Christopher Columbus

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Posthumous portrait of Christopher Columbus by Sebastiano del Piombo, 1519. There are no known authentic portraits of Columbus
  • Christopher Columbus (c. 1451 – 20 May 1506) was an Italian explorer, navigator, colonizer, and citizen of the Republic of Genoa. Under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, he completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean. Those voyages and his efforts to establish permanent settlements on the island of Hispaniola initiated the European colonization of the New World.
  • ​Columbus was not the first European explorer to reach the Americas, having been preceded by the Viking expedition led by Leif Erikson in the 11th century, but his voyages led to the first lasting European contact with the Americas, inaugurating a period of European exploration, conquest, and colonization that lasted several centuries. These voyages had, therefore, an enormous impact in the historical development of the modern Western world. He spearheaded the transatlantic slave trade and has been accused by several historians of initiating the genocide of the Hispaniola natives.
  • Columbus himself saw his accomplishments primarily in the light of spreading the Christian religion.

First Sino-Japanese War

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  • ​The First Sino-Japanese War (1 August 1894 – 17 April 1895) was fought between the Qing Empire of China and the Empire of Japan, primarily over control of Korea. After more than six months of unbroken successes by Japanese land and naval forces and the loss of the Chinese port of Weihaiwei, the Qing government sued for peace in February 1895.
  • The war demonstrated the failure of the Qing Empire's attempts to modernize its military and fend off threats to its sovereignty, especially when compared with Japan's successful Meiji Restoration. For the first time, regional dominance in East Asia shifted from China to Japan; the prestige of the Qing Empire, along with the classical tradition in China, suffered a major blow. The humiliating loss of Korea as a vassal state sparked an unprecedented public outcry. Within China, the defeat was a catalyst for a series of political upheavals led by Sun Yat-sen and Kang Youwei, culminating in the 1911 Xinhai Revolution.

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This 1768 parchment (612×502 mm) by Jekuthiel Sofer emulated the 1675 Ten Commandments at the Amsterdam Esnoga synagogue.

Ten Commandments

  • ​The Ten Commandments, also known as the Decalogue, are a set of biblical principles relating to ethics and worship, which play a fundamental role in Judaism and Christianity. The commandments include instructions to worship only God, to honour one's parents, and to keep the sabbath, as well as prohibitions against idolatry, blasphemy, murder, adultery, theft, dishonesty, and coveting. Different religious groups follow different traditions for interpreting and numbering them.
  • The Ten Commandments are listed twice in the Hebrew Bible, first at Exodus 20:1–17, and then at Deuteronomy 5:6–21. Both versions state that God inscribed them on two stone tablets, which he gave to Moses on Mount Sinai. Modern scholarship has found likely influences in Hittite and Mesopotamian laws and treaties, but is divided over exactly when the Ten Commandments were written 
C. Word root
-ish 
adjectival word-forming element, Old English -isc "of the nativity or country of," in later use "of the nature or character of," from Proto-Germanic suffix *-iska- (cognates: Old Saxon -isk, Old Frisian -sk, Old Norse -iskr, Swedish and Danish -sk, Dutch -sch, Old High German -isc, German -isch, Gothic -isks), cognate with Greek diminutive suffix -iskos. In its oldest forms with altered stem vowel (FrenchWelsh). The Germanic suffix was borrowed into Italian and Spanish (-esco) and French (-esque). Colloquially attached to hours to denote approximation, 1916. 

maddish (adj.) 
1570s, from mad (adj.) + -ish.

blondish (adj.) 
1857, from blond (adj.) + -ish.

newish (adj.) 
1560s, from new + -ish.

D. Week 37~40

WEEK 37

1.antipathy (n.)
c. 1600, from Latin antipathia, from Greek antipatheia, abstract noun from antipathes "opposed in feeling, having opposite feeling; in return for suffering; felt mutually," from anti "against" (see anti-) + root of pathos "feeling" (see pathos).

2.austere (adj.)
early 14c., from Old French austere (Modern French austère) and directly from Latin austerus "dry, harsh, sour, tart," from Greek austeros "bitter, harsh," especially "making the tongue dry" (originally used of fruits, wines), metaphorically "austere, harsh," from PIE *saus- "dry" (see sere (adj.)). Use in English is figurative: "stern, severe, very simple." Related: Austerely.

3.conducive (adj.)
1640s, from conduce + -ive.

4.confront (v.)
1560s, "to stand in front of," from Middle French confronter (15c.), from Medieval Latin confrontare "assign limits, adjoin," from Latin com "with, together" (see com-) + frontem (nominative frons) "forehead" (see front (n.)). Sense of "to face in defiance or hostility" is late 16c. Related: Confronted; confronting.

5.erudite (adj.)
early 15c., "learned, well-instructed," from Latin eruditus "learned, accomplished, well-informed," past participle of erudire "to educate, teach, instruct, polish," literally "to bring out of the rough," from assimilated form of ex "out" (see ex-) + rudis "unskilled, rough, unlearned" (see rude). Related: Eruditely.

6.felicitous (adj.) 1726, "blissful, very happy," from felicity + -ous. There is an isolated use of felicitously from 1530s.

7.germane (adj.) Look up germane at Dictionary.com
mid-14c., "having the same parents," same as german (adj.) but directly from Latin germanus instead of via French (compare urbane/urban). Main modern sense of "closely connected, relevant" (c. 1600) derives from use in "Hamlet" Act V, Scene ii: "The phrase would bee more Germaine to the matter: If we could carry Cannon by our sides," which is a figurative use of the word in the now-obsolete loosened sense of "closely related, akin" (late 15c.) in reference to things, not persons.


8.halcyon (adj.) Look up halcyon at Dictionary.com
"calm, quiet, peaceful," 1540s, in halcyon dayes (translating Latin alcyonei dies, Greek alkyonides hemerai), 14 days of calm weather at the winter solstice, when a mythical bird (also identified with the kingfisher) was said to breed in a nest floating on calm seas. The name of this fabulous bird is attested in Middle English as alcioun (late 14c.).
The name is from Latin halcyon, alcyon, from Greek halkyon, variant (perhaps a misspelling) of alkyon "kingfisher," a word of unknown origin. The explanation that this is from hals "sea; salt" (see halo-) + kyon "conceiving," present participle of kyein "to conceive," literally "to swell" (see cumulus) probably is ancient folk-etymology to explain a loan-word from a non-Indo-European language. Identified in mythology with Halcyone, daughter of Aeolus, who when widowed threw herself into the sea and became a kingfisher.

9.iconoclast (n.) Look up iconoclast at Dictionary.com
"breaker or destroyer of images," 1590s, from French iconoclaste and directly from Medieval Latin iconoclastes, from Late Greek eikonoklastes, from eikon (genitive eikonos) "image" + klastes "breaker," from klas- past tense stem of klan "to break" (see clastic).
Originally in reference to those in the Eastern Church in 8c. and 9c. whose mobs of followers destroyed icons and other religious objects on the grounds that they were idols. Applied to 16c.-17c. Protestants in Netherlands who vandalized former Catholic churches on similar grounds. Extended sense of "one who attacks orthodox beliefs or cherished institutions" is first attested 1842.

10.motivate (v.) Look up motivate at Dictionary.com
1863, "to stimulate toward action," from motive + -ate (2); perhaps modeled on French motiver or German motivieren. Related: Motivated; motivating.

11.nascent (adj.) Look up nascent at Dictionary.com
1620s, from Latin nascentem (nominative nascens) "arising young, immature," present participle of nasci "to be born" (Old Latin gnasci; see genus). Related: Nascence (1560s); nascency.

12.phobia (n.) Look up phobia at Dictionary.com
"irrational fear, horror, aversion," 1786, perhaps on model of similar use in French, abstracted from compounds in -phobia, from Greek -phobia, from phobos "fear, panic fear, terror, outward show of fear; object of fear or terror," originally "flight" (still the only sense in Homer), but it became the common word for "fear" via the notion of "panic, fright" (compare phobein "put to flight, frighten"), from PIE root *bhegw- "to run" (source also of Lithuanian begu "to flee;" Old Church Slavonic begu "flight," bezati "to flee, run;" Old Norse bekkr "a stream"). Psychological sense attested by 1895.

13.rationalize (v.) Look up rationalize at Dictionary.com
1767, "explain in a rational way, make conformable to reason," from rational + -ize. In the psychological sense of "to give an explanation that conceals true motives" it dates from 1922. Related: Rationalized; rationalizing.

14.servile (adj.) Look up servile at Dictionary.com
late 14c., from Latin servilis "of a slave" (as in Servile Wars, name given to the slave revolts in the late Roman Republic), also "slavish, servile," from servus "slave" (see serve (v.)). Earliest sense was legal, servile work being forbidden on the Sabbath; sense of "cringing, fawning" first recorded c. 1600.

15.sojourn (n.) Look up sojourn at Dictionary.com
mid-13c., "temporary stay, visit," from Anglo-French sojorn, variant of Old French sejorn, from sejorner "stay or dwell for a time" (see sojourn (v.)).
sojourn (v.) Look up sojourn at Dictionary.com
late 13c., "stay temporarily, reside for a time; visit;" also "reside permanently, dwell;" from Old French sojorner "stay or dwell for a time," from Vulgar Latin *subdiurnare "to spend the day" (source also of Italian soggiornare), from Latin sub- "under, until" (see sub-) + diurnare "to last long," from diurnus "of a day," from diurnum "day" (see diurnal). Modern French séjourner formed via vowel dissimilation. Related: Sojourned; sojourning.

16.superfluous (adj.) Look up superfluous at Dictionary.com
early 15c. (earlier superflue, late 14c.), from Latin superfluus "unnecessary," literally "overflowing, running over," from superfluere "to overflow," from super "over" (see super-) + fluere "to flow" (see fluent). Related: Superfluously; superfluousness.

17.tenable (adj.) Look up tenable at Dictionary.com
"capable of being held or maintained," 1570s, from Middle French tenable, from Old French (12c.), from tenir "to hold," from Latin tenere "to hold, keep" (see tenet).

18.therapy (n.) Look up therapy at Dictionary.com
1846, "medical treatment of disease," from Modern Latin therapia, from Greek therapeia "curing, healing, service done to the sick; a waiting on, service," from therapeuein "to cure, treat medically," literally "attend, do service, take care of" (see therapeutic).

19.vertigo (n.) Look up vertigo at Dictionary.com
early 15c., from Latin vertigo "dizziness, sensation of whirling," originally "a whirling or spinning movement," from vertere "to turn" (see versus).

20.volition (n.) Look up volition at Dictionary.com
1610s, from French volition (16c.), from Medieval Latin volitionem (nominative volitio) "will, volition," noun of action from Latin stem (as in volo "I wish") of velle "to wish," from PIE root *wel- (2) "to wish, will" (see will (v.)). Related: Volitional.

WEEK 38

1.audacity (n.)mid-15c., from Medieval Latin audacitas "boldness," from Latin audacis genitive of audax (see audacious).

2.capitulate (v.)1570s, "to draw up in chapters" (i.e., under "heads"), in part a back-formation from capitulation, in part from Medieval Latin capitulatus, past participle of capitulare "to draw up in heads or chapters, arrange conditions." Often of terms of surrender, hence meaning "to yield on stipulated terms" (1680s). Related: Capitulated; capitulating.

3.chicanery (n.)c. 1600, "legal quibbling, sophistry," from French chicanerie "trickery," from Middle French chicaner "to pettifog, quibble" (15c.), which is of unknown origin, perhaps from Middle Low German schikken "to arrange, bring about," or from the name of a golf-like game once played in Languedoc. Thornton's "American Glossary" has shecoonery (1845), which it describes as probably a corruption of chicanery.

4.docile (adj.)late 15c., "easily taught," from Italian or French docile, from Latin docilis "easily taught," from docere "teach" (see doctor). Sense of "obedient, submissive" first recorded 1774.

5.facet (n.)1620s, "one side of a multi-sided body," from French facette (12c., Old French facete), diminutive of face "face, appearance" (see face (n.)). The diamond-cutting sense is the original one. Transferred and figurative use by 1820. Related: Faceted; facets.

6.fatal (adj.)late 14c., "decreed by fate," also "fraught with fate," from Middle French fatal (14c.) and directly from Latin fatalis "ordained by fate, decreed, destined; destructive, deadly," from fatum (see fate (n.)); sense of "causing or attended with death" in English is from early 15c. Meaning "concerned with or dealing with destiny" is from mid-15c.

7.foist (v.)1540s, probably from Dutch vuisten "take in hand," from Middle Dutch vuist "fist" (see fist (n.)). Earliest sense was cheating at dice by concealing a loaded one in the palm of the hand with the intention of introducing it into play; general meaning "introduce surreptitiously, work in by a trick" is from 1560s. Related: Foisted; foisting.

8.glib (adj.)1590s, "smooth and slippery," a dialect word, possibly a shortening of obsolete glibbery "slippery," which is perhaps from Low German glibberig "smooth, slippery," from Middle Low German glibberich, from or related to glibber "jelly," all part of the Germanic group of gl- words for "smooth, shining, joyful" (see glad (adj.)). Of words, speakers, etc., from c. 1600. Related: Glibly; glibness.

9.homogeneous (adj.)1640s, from Medieval Latin homogeneus, from Greek homogenes "of the same kind," from homos "same" (see homo- (1)) + genos "kind, gender, race, stock" (see genus). Earlier in this sense was homogeneal (c. 1600). Related: Homogeneously; homogeneousness.

10.legerdemain (n.)early 15c., "conjuring tricks, sleight of hand," from Middle French léger de main "quick of hand," literally "light of hand." Léger "light" in weight (Old French legier, 12c.) is from Latin levis "light," from PIE root *legwh- "light, having little weight; easy, agile, nimble" (see lever); it is cognate with Spanish ligero, Italian leggiero "light, nimble" (hence also leger line in music). Main "hand" is from Latin manus (see manual (adj.)).

11.malleable (adj.)late 14c., "capable of being shaped by hammering," from Middle French malleable and directly from Medieval Latin malleabilis, from malleare "to beat with a hammer," from Latin malleus "hammer" (see mallet). Figurative sense, of persons, "capable of being adapted" first recorded 1610s.

12.passe (adj.)1775, from French passé (fem. passée) "past, faded," past participle of passer "to pass" (see pass (v.)). Originally of a woman past the period of greatest beauty.

13.procrastinate (v.)1580s, a back formation from procrastination or else from Latin procrastinatus, past participle of procrastinare "to put off till tomorrow; defer, delay" (see procrastination). Related: Procrastinated; procrastinating. Earlier verb was procrastine (1540s), from French.
Do not put off till tomorrow what can be put off till day-after-tomorrow just as well. [Mark Twain]

14.reticent (adj.)1834, from Latin reticentem (nominative reticens), present participle of reticere "be silent" (see reticence).

15.retort (v.)
 1550s, "make return in kind" (especially of an injury), from Old French retort and directly from Latin retortus, past participle of retorquere "turn back, twist back, throw back," from re- "back" (see re-) + torquere "to twist" (see torque (n.)). Applied to exchanges of jest or sarcasm by c. 1600, hence "say or utter sharply and aggressively in reply" (1620s). Related: Retorted; retorting.

16.stagnant (adj.)1660s, from French stagnant (early 17c.), from Latin stagnantem (nominative stagnans), present participle of stagnare "to stagnate" (see stagnate). Related: Stagnancy (1650s); stagnantly.

17.stigmatize (v.)1580s, "to brand or tattoo," from Medieval Latin stigmatizare, from Greek stigmatizein, from stigmat-, stem of stigma (see stigma). Meaning "to blemish" is from 1610s (figurative), 1630s (literal). Related: Stigmatized; stigmatizing.

18.tacit (adj.)c. 1600, "silent, unspoken," from French tacite and directly from Latin tacitus "that is passed over in silence, done without words, assumed as a matter of course, silent," past participle of tacere "be silent, not speak," from suffixed form of PIE root *tak- "to be silent" (source also of Gothic þahan, Old Norse þegja "to be silent," Old Norse þagna "to grow dumb," Old Saxon thagian, Old High German dagen "to be silent"). The musical instruction tacet is the 3rd person present singular of the Latin verb. Related: Tacitly.

19.tantalize (v.)1590s, with -ize + Latin Tantalus, from Greek Tantalos, king of Phrygia, son of Zeus, father of Pelops and Niobe, punished in the afterlife (for an offense variously given) by being made to stand in a river up to his chin, under branches laden with fruit, all of which withdrew from his reach whenever he tried to eat or drink. His story was known to Chaucer (c. 1369). Related: Tantalized; tantalizing; tantalizingly; tantalization.

20.trend (n.)"the way something bends" (coastline, mountain range, etc.), 1777, earlier "round bend of a stream" (1620s), from trend (v.); sense of "general course or direction" is from 1884. Sense of "a prevailing new tendency in popular fashion or culture" is from c. 1950.
trend (v.)1590s, "to run or bend in a certain direction" (of rivers, coasts, etc.), from Middle English trenden "to roll about, turn, revolve," from Old English trendan "turn round, revolve, roll," from Proto-Germanic *trandijan (source also of Old English trinde "round lump, ball," Old Frisian trind, Middle Low German trint "round," Middle Low German trent "ring, boundary," Dutch trent "circumference," Danish trind "round"); origin and connections outside Germanic uncertain. Sense of "have a general tendency" (used of events, opinions, etc.) is first recorded 1863, from the nautical sense. Related: Trended; trending.

WEEK 39

1.belated (adj.)1610s, "overtaken by night," past participle adjective from belate "to make late, detain," from be- + late. Sense of "coming past due, behind date" is from 1660s. Related: Belatedly.

2.callous (adj.)c. 1400, "hardened," in the physical sense, from Latin callosus "thick-skinned," from callus, callum "hard skin" (see callus). The figurative sense of "unfeeling" appeared in English by 1670s. Related: Callously; callousness.

3.decrepit (adj.)mid-15c., from Middle French décrépit (15c.), from Latin decrepitus "very old, infirm," from de- "down" (see de-) + *crepitus, past participle of crepare "to crack, break" (see raven).

4.delineation (n.)1560s, native formation from delineate, or else from Latin delineationem (nominative delineatio) "sketch, description," noun of action from past participle stem of delineare (see delineate).

5.demeanor (n.) Look up demeanor at Dictionary.comlate 15c., from obsolete Middle English demean "handle, manage, conduct," later "behave in a certain way" (early 14c.), from Old French demener (11c.) "to guide, conduct; to live, dwell," from de- "completely" (see de-) + mener "to lead, direct," from Latin minari "to threaten," in Late Latin "to drive (a herd of animals);" see menace (n.). Sense in English evolved from notion of "conduct, manage" (oneself). Spelling changed by influence of nouns in -or, -our.

6.flay (v.)Old English flean "to skin, to flay" (strong verb, past tense flog, past participle flagen), from Proto-Germanic *flahan (source also of Middle Dutch vlaen, Old High German flahan, Old Norse fla), from PIE root *pl(e)ik-, *pleik- "to tear, rend" (source also of Lithuanian plešiu "to tear"). Related: Flayed; flaying.

7.heinous (adj.)late 14c., "hateful, odious, atrocious," from Old French hainos "inconvenient, awkward; hateful, unpleasant; odious" (12c., Modern French haineux), from haine "hatred, hate," from hair "to hate," from Frankish, from Proto-Germanic *hatjan, from PIE *kad- "sorrow, hatred" (see hate (v.)). Related: Heinously; heinousness.

8.imperturbable (adj.)c. 1500, from Middle French imperturbable (15c.) and directly from Late Latin imperturbabilis "that cannot be disturbed" (Augustine), from assimilated form of in- "not, opposite of" (see in- (1)) + *perturbabilis, from Latin perturbare "to confuse, disturb" (see perturb). Related: Imperturbably (1785); imperturbability (1831; earlier as a dictionary word); imperturbation.

9.infraction (n.)mid-15c., "the breaking of an agreement," from Old French infraction (13c.) and directly from Latin infractionem (nominative infractio) "a breaking, weakening," noun of action from past participle stem of infringere "to damage, break off, break, bruise," from in- "in" (see in- (2)) + frangere "to break" (see fraction). The verb infract (1560s) is archaic.

10.Machiavellian (adj.)"cunning, deceitful, unscrupulous," 1570s, from Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527), Florentine statesman and author of "Il Principe," a work advising rulers to place advantage above morality. A word of abuse in English well before his works were translated ("The Discourses" in 1636, "The Prince" in 1640), in part because his books were Indexed by the Church, in part because of French attacks on him (such as Gentillet's, translated into English 1602).

11.opprobrium (n.)1680s, from Latin opprobrium "disgrace, infamy, scandal, dishonor," from opprobare (see opprobrious).

12.pandemonium (n.)1667, Pandæmonium, in "Paradise Lost" the name of the palace built in the middle of Hell, "the high capital of Satan and all his peers," coined by John Milton (1608-1674) from Greek pan- "all" (see pan-) + Late Latin daemonium "evil spirit," from Greek daimonion "inferior divine power," from daimon "lesser god" (see demon).
Transferred sense "place of uproar" is from 1779; that of "wild, lawless confusion" is from 1865. Related: Pandemoniac; pandemoniacal; pandemonian; pandemonic.

13.redress (v.)mid-14c., "to correct, reform;" late 14c., "restore, put right" (a wrong, error, offense); "repair; relieve; improve; amend," from Old French redrecier "reform, restore, rebuild" (Modern French redresser), from re- "again" (see re-) + drecier "to straighten, arrange" (see dress (v.)). Formerly used in many more senses than currently. Related: Redressed; redressing.

14.saga (n.)1709, an antiquarians' revival to describe the medieval prose narratives of Iceland and Norway, from Old Norse saga "saga, story," cognate with Old English sagu "a saying" (see saw (n.2)). Properly, a narrative composition of Iceland or Norway in the Middle Ages, or one that has their characteristics. Meaning "long, convoluted story" is from 1857.

15.staunch (adj.)early 15c., "impervious to water," from Old French estanche "firm, watertight," fem. of estanc "tired, exhausted, wearied, vanquished; water-tight; withered, dried" (Modern French étanche), from Vulgar Latin *stanticare (source also of Spanish estanco "water-tight," Italian stanco "exhausted, weary"), probably from Latin stans (genitive stantis), present participle of stare "to stand," from PIE root *stā- "to stand" (see stet). Sense of "strong, substantial" first recorded mid-15c.; of persons, "standing firm and true to one's principles" from 1620s.

16.turpitude (n.)"depravity, infamy," late 15c., from Middle French turpitude (early 15c.), from Latin turpitudinem (nominative turpitudo) "baseness," from turpis "vile, physically ugly, base, unsightly," figuratively "morally ugly, scandalous, shameful," of unknown origin. Klein suggests perhaps originally "what one turns away from" (compare Latin trepit "he turns").

17.unconscionable (adj.)1560s, "showing no regard for conscience," from un- (1) + now rare conscionable "conscientious." Related: Unconscionably.

18.vacillate (v.)
 1590s, "to sway unsteadily," from Latin vacillatus, past participle of vacillare "sway to and fro; hesitate" (see vacillation). Meaning "to waver between two opinions or courses" is recorded from 1620s. Related: Vacillated; vacillates; vacillating.

19.vindicate (v.)1620s, "to avenge or revenge," from Latin vindicatus, past participle of vindicare "to stake a claim; to liberate; to act as avenger" (see vindication). Meaning "to clear from censure or doubt, by means of demonstration" is recorded from 1630s. Related: Vindicated, vindicating.

20.vituperation (n.)mid-15c., but rare before early 19c., from Latin vituperationem (nominative vituperatio) "blame, a blaming, censuring," from past participle stem of vituperare "disparage, find fault with," from vitiperos "having faults," from vitium "fault, defect" (see vice (n.1)) + parare "prepare, provide, procure" (see pare). Vituperatio was stronger than either Latin reprehensio or Modern English vituperation.

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