Vocabulary Set 9 English 3

Root: Nom Comes from the Latin word for “name.”

Ignominious Definition: (1) Marked with shame or disgrace; dishonorable. (2) Humiliating or degrading. Sentence: For the Greek heroes, nothing was worse than dying and ignominious death at the hands of an enemy.

Misnomer Definition: A wrong name, or the use of a wrong name. Sentence: Calling the aboriginal peoples of the western hemisphere “Indians” was one of the great misnomers in recorded history.

Nomenclature Definition: (1) A name or designation, or the act of naming. (2) A system of terms or symbols used in biology, where New Latin names are given to kinds of groups of animals and plants. Sentence: Naming newly discovered plants or animals requires close study of the system of nomenclature.

Nominal Definition: (1) Existing in name or form only and not in reality. (2) So small as to be unimportant; trifling or insignificant. Sentence: The actor was the nominal author of the book of memoirs, but 90 percent of the writing was the ghostwriter’s own prose.

Root: Pater/Patr From the Greek and Latin word for “Father.”

Expatriate Definition: (1) Living in a foreign land. (2) One living in a foreign land. Sentence: As he got to know his fellow expatriates in Morocco, he found himself wondering what had made them leave America.

Paternalistic Definition: Tending to supply the needs of or regulate the activities of those under one’s control. Sentence: Some still accused the university of being too paternalistic in regulating student living arrangements.

Patrician Definition: A person of high birth or of good breeding and cultivation; an aristocrat. Sentence: They passed themselves off as patricians, and no one looked too closely at where their money came from.

Patrimony Definition: Property or anything else passed down from one’s father or ancestors; heritage. Sentence: Conservationists regard wilderness areas as part of our national patrimony, which we must pass on to future generations as we found them.

Root: Lega Comes from the Latin Legare, meaning “to appoint” or “to send as a deputy.”

Delegation Definition: A group of people chosen to represent the interests or opinions of others. Sentence: Each of the American colonies sent a delegation to the Continental Congress.

Legacy Definition: (1) Something left to a person in a will. (2) Something handed down by an ancestor or predecessor or received from the past. Sentence: The Stradivarius family of violin makers left a priceless legacy of remarkable instruments.

Legate Definition: An official representative, such as an ambassador or envoy. Sentence: Every significant European power sent legates of some kind to international peace conference.

Relegate Definition: (1) To remove or assign to a less important place. (2) To refer or hand over for decision or for carrying out. Sentence: As first-year students, we were relegated to the back of the line so all the older classes could eat first.