Caesar’s English II

1. Caesar’s English II Lesson XIV

2. Caesar’s English XIV • verdure: vegetation • equivocal: ambiguous • orthodox: traditional • profane: irreverent • tumult: disturbance

3. verdure n.(VUR-dyoor):vegetation Spanish: verdor The English noun verdure, from the latin viridis, refers to vegetation, to greenery. The adjective form is verdant. In All the King’s Men Robert Penn Warren wrote that “you hear the July flies grinding away in the verdure.”

4. To be equivocal (from the Latin aequivocus) is to be ambiguous, to say or suggest two things at the same time, perhaps intentionally so as to avoid taking a stand. It is to give equal (equi) voice (voc) to both sides. The verb form is equivocate, and the noun is equivocation. We also often see the negative form, unequivocal, which is what you are when you do take a stand. Perhaps the most famous equivocal sentence of all comes from Shakespeare’s Macbeth: “Faith, here’s an equivocator that could swear in both the scales against either scale.” What do you think that line means? equivocal adj.(ee-KWIV-o-cul):ambiguous Spanish: equívoco

5. orthodox adj. (ORTH-o-dox): traditional Spanish: ortodoxo The English adjective orthodox comes from the Latin orthodoxus, which the Romans got from the Greek orthodoxos. To be orthodox is to be traditional or conventional in your views, to believe what society expects you to, to have your opinion (dox) straight (ortho), in the eyes of others. John Kennedy, in Profiles of Courage, wrote that “any unpopular or unorthodox course arouses a storm of protests.”

6. The English adjective profane, from the Latin profanus, means irreverent, un-holy. It can even mean defiled. Frederick Douglass, in his famous Narrative, says that Mr. Plummer was “a profane swearer, and a savage monster.” profane adj. (pro-FAIN): irreverent Spanish: profano

7. The English noun tumult, from the Latin tumultus, means a disturbance and even traces back to the Latin verb tumere, to swell. A tumult is a disturbance that suddenly swells up, sudden uproar and clamor. In Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows, the animals can “hear the tumultuous applause.” In what way is a tumult like a swelling? tumult n. (TUM-ult): disturbance Spanish: tumulto

8. Caesar’s English XIV • verdure: vegetation • equivocal: ambiguous • orthodox: traditional • profane: irreverent • tumult: disturbance

9. Caesar’s Classic Words Challenge • From Aldus Huxley’s Brave New World. No offense is so heinous as _________ of behavior. • verdure • equivocation • unorthodoxy • tumult

10. Caesar’s Classic Words Challenge • From Aldus Huxley’s Brave New World. No offense is so heinous as _________ of behavior. • verdure • equivocation • unorthodoxy • tumult

11. 2. From Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Hound of the Baskervilles He was a most wild, __________, and godless man. • profane • orthodox • tumultuous • equivocal

12. 2. From Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Hound of the Baskervilles He was a most wild, __________, and godless man. • profane • orthodox • tumultuous • equivocal

13. 3. From Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice His answers were at the same time so vague and ____________. • profane • orthodox • equivocal • tumultuous

14. 3. From Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice His answers were at the same time so vague and ____________. • profane • orthodox • equivocal • tumultuous

15. The Grammar of Vocabulary: equivocal, an adjective. Caesar was equivocal, and they hesitated circumspectly.