Vocabulary Extra Credit ~ Definition, Etymology, Examples
1. Print these words and examples for your reference.
2. From the list of 100 words below, select up to 10 words: up to 5 words to be counted in
the category of “Latin Roots Quizzes Extra Credit” and up to 5 words to be counted in
the category of “Latin Prefixes Extra Credit”.
3. You may receive up to 25 points extra credit in each category, for a total of 50 points.
4. List your word choices for Jamie: Include the side number and word number.
5. Check out from Jamie a CD with volume one of Bergen Evans’ Practical Vocabulary
Improvement Series. The CD has the following words on Track 1 and Track 2.
Volume 1, Side 1
1. Acumen
2. Adamant
3. Anomaly
4. Antipathy
5. Apathy
6. Assiduous
7. Autonomous
8. Banal
9. Candor
10. Caprice
11. Castigate
12. Chicanery
13. Depraved
14. Discursive
15. Dissonance
16. Dour
17. Ebullient
18. Ecstatic
19. Enervate
20. Engender
21. Ephemeral
22. Esoteric
23. Expiate
24. Fiasco
25. Flaccid
Volume 1, Side 2
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
41.
42.
43.
44.
45.
46.
47.
48.
49.
50.
Laconic
Latent
Lethargic
Lugubrious
Moribund
Myopic
Obstreperous
Parsimonious
Perfidious
Perfunctory
Perspicuity
Polemic
Procrastinate
Prototype
Regressive
Sagacity
Sententious
Tacit
Tenuous
Turgid
Ubiquitous
Unctuous
Vapid
Voluptuous
Wry
1. Abject
2. Aesthetic
3. Alacrity
4. Auspicious
5. Blatant
6. Capitulate
7. Cogent
8. Conjecture
9. Cursory
10. Decorous
11. Diffident
12. Disdain
13. Docile
14. Equanimity
15. Façade
16. Facetious
17. Fastidious
18. Fatuous
19. Flaunt
20. Furtive
21. Glib
22. Gregarious
23. Harangue
24. Idiosyncrasy
25. Illicit
26. Importune
27. Incredulous
28. Inexorable
29. Invective
30. Loquacious
31. Ludicrous
32. Martinet
33. Maudlin
34. Nebulous
35. Obsequious
36. Ostracize
37. Panacea
38. Pander
39. Placate
40. Prodigious
41. Prolific
42. Propensity
43. Prudent
44. Redundant
45. Surreptitious
46. Taciturn
47. Truculent
48. Vacillate
49. Vilify
50. Vituperation
6. Follow the guidelines on the following pages for examples 58 and 64, noting that for full
credit (5 points maximum per word), you must
o Complete parts a, b and c, as shown for perception (58) and composition (64);
o Follow the guidelines indicated by bulleted items (•).
7. In the examples below, note these acceptable sources:
o 58a and 58b use Webster’s New World Compact School and Office Dictionary
o 64a uses http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary, and
64b uses http://www.etymonline.com
58 Perception (•Use Evans’ number and word)
a. Definition (list no more than two of the numbered definitions) & Bergen’s
sentences

From Webster’s New World Compact School and Office Dictionary (OR
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary)
√ perception: 1) the mental grasp of objects etc. through the senses 2) insight

or intuition
Listen carefully to Bergen Evans read your word and definition, and copy the
sentences he says.
√ perception:
1) She had the perception that the new after-school program would be
good for kids.
2) She had the insight or intuition that the new after-school program would
be good for kids.
b. Etymology (list the Word Origin)


From Webster’s New World Compact School and Office Dictionary (OR
http://www.etymonline.com)
Please underline and bold the key word parts (prefixes, roots, combining
forms) and their definitions. See below.
√ perception: [[<L. percipere, perceive]]
c. Examples (list the sentences from the website)

From http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary
Enter your word in the search box. When your word comes up, scroll down to
the heading “Examples.” Select, copy, and paste the examples into your
document. (Include only the visible examples; don’t include examples from
the [+] More” option.)
1. <a writer of considerable perception, she remembers how it feels to be
confused and insecure>
2. <a growing perception of the enormity of the problem>
3. It is ironic that the impact of SMOKING on nonsmokers, rather than on
smokers themselves, is what finally transformed the regulation and
cultural perception of the cigarette. —Allan M. Brandt, The Cigarette
Century, 2007
d. FINALLY
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
Select All
Select Font: Your choice of font type; size 12 (normal)
Select Font Color: Black
Print and hand in!
64. Composition (•Use Evans’ number and word)
a. Definition (list no more than two of the numbered definitions) & Bergen’s
sentences

From http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary (OR Webster’s New World
Compact School and Office Dictionary)
√ composition: 1a : the act or process of composing; specifically :

arrangement into specific proportion or relation and especially into artistic
form b (1) : the arrangement of type for PRINTING <hand composition> (2) :
the production of type or typographic characters (as in photocomposition)
arranged for printing
Listen carefully to Bergen Evans read your word and definition, and copy the
sentences he says.
√ composition:
1) The composition of concrete is sand, gravel, and cement.
2) The makeup of concrete is sand, gravel, and cement.
b. Etymology


From http://www.etymonline.com (OR Webster’s New World Compact
School and Office Dictionary)
Please underline and bold the key word parts (prefixes, roots, combining
forms) and their definitions. See below.
composition
late 14c., "action of combining," also "manner in which a thing is
composed," from O.Fr. composicion (13c., Mod.Fr. composition)
"composition, make-up, literary work, agreement, settlement," from L.
compositionem (nom. compositio) "a putting together," noun of action
from pp. stem of componere (see composite). Meaning "art of constructing
sentences" is from 1550s; that of "literary production" (often also "writing
exercise for students") is from c.1600. Printing sense is 1832; meaning
"arrangement of parts in a picture" is from 1706.
composite (adj.)
c.1400, from O.Fr. composite, from L. compositus "placed together," pp.
of componere "to put together, to collect a whole from several parts,"
from com- "together" (see com-) + ponere "to place" (see position).
The noun is attested from c.1400. Composite number is from 1730s.
c. Examples (list the sentences from the website)

From http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary
Enter your word in the search box. When your word comes up, scroll down to
the heading “Examples.” Select, copy, and paste the visible examples into
your document. (Don’t include examples from the [+] More” option.)
1. the changing composition of the country's population
2. the composition of a chemical compound
3. The teacher reminded us to hand in our compositions at the end of class.
d. FINALLY
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
Select All
Select Font: Your choice of font type; size 12 (normal)
Select Font Color: Black
Print and hand in!