Chapter 3 Vocabulary

All definitions except those marked by an asterisk are from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright © 2008, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Updated in 2008. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• absolutist
  - noun
  1. one who advocates exercise of complete and unrestricted power in government.
• agitation
  - noun
  1. the act or process of agitating; state of being agitated: She left in great agitation.
  2. persistent urging of a political or social cause or theory before the public.
• asylum
  - noun
  1. an inviolable refuge, as formerly for criminals and debtors; sanctuary: He sought asylum in the church.
  2. International Law.
     a. a refuge granted an alien by a sovereign state on its own territory.
     b. a temporary refuge granted political offenders, esp. in a foreign embassy.
  
• august
  - adjective
  1. inspiring reverence or admiration; of supreme dignity or grandeur; majestic: an august performance of a religious drama.
• boycott
  - verb
  1. to combine in abstaining from, or preventing dealings with, as a means of intimidation or coercion: to boycott a store.
  2. to abstain from buying or using: to boycott foreign products.
• chattel
  - noun
  1. Law. a movable article of personal property.
  2. any article of tangible property other than land, buildings, and other things annexed to land.
  3. a slave.
  
• coercive
  - adjective
  serving or tending to compel by force, intimidation, or authority, esp. without regard for individual desire or volition
• conciliation
  - noun
  1. the state of manifesting goodwill and cooperation after being reconciled; "there was a brief period of conciliation but the fighting soon resumed"
  2. any of various forms of mediation whereby disputes may be settled short of arbitration
  3. the act of placating and overcoming distrust and animosity
  
• conscientious
  - adjective
  Guided by or in accordance with the dictates of conscience; principled.
• constituent
  - noun
  1. a constituent element, material, etc.; component.
  2. a person who authorizes another to act in his or her behalf, as a voter in a district represented by an elected official.
  
• continental
  - adjective
  1. of or of the nature of a continent.
  2. (usually initial capital letter) of or pertaining to the mainland of Europe, to Europeans, or to European customs and attitudes.
  3. (initial capital letter) of or pertaining to the 13 original American colonies during and immediately after the American Revolution.
  4. of or pertaining to the continent of North America.
  - noun
  5. (initial capital letter) a soldier of the Continental Army in the American Revolution.
  6. a piece of paper currency issued by the Continental Congress during the American Revolution.
  
• convoy
  - verb
  1. to accompany or escort, usually for protection: A destroyer convoyed the merchant ship.
  - noun
  2. the act of convoying.
  3. the protection provided by an escort.
  4. a ship, fleet, group of vehicles, etc., accompanied by a protecting escort.
  5. an armed force, warship, etc., that escorts, esp. for protection.
  6. any group of military vehicles traveling together under the same orders.
  
• coup d'état
  - noun
  a sudden and decisive action in politics, esp. one resulting in a change of government illegally or by force.
• deluge
  - noun
  1. a great flood of water; inundation; flood.
  2. a drenching rain; downpour.
  3. anything that overwhelms like a flood: a deluge of mail.
  –verb (used with object)
  4. to flood; inundate.
  5. to overrun; overwhelm
  
• despotic
  - adjective
  of,pertaining to:
  1. A ruler with absolute power.
  2. A person who wields power oppressively; a tyrant.
  
• discord
  - noun
  1. lack of concord or harmony between persons or things: marital discord.
  2. disagreement; difference of opinion.
  3. strife; dispute; war.
  4. Music. an inharmonious combination of musical tones sounded together.
  5. any confused or harsh noise; dissonance.
  –verb (used without object)
  6. to disagree; be at variance.
  
• disdain
  - verb
  1. to look upon or treat with contempt; despise; scorn.
  2. to think unworthy of notice, response, etc
  
• effigy
  - noun
  1. a representation or image, esp. sculptured, as on a monument.
  2. a crude representation of someone disliked, used for purposes of ridicule.
  
• embargo
  - noun
  1. an order of a government prohibiting the movement of merchant ships into or out of its ports.
  2. an injunction from a government commerce agency to refuse freight for shipment, as in case of congestion or insufficient facilities.
  3. any restriction imposed upon commerce by edict.
  4. a restraint or hindrance; prohibition.
  
• epoch
  - noun
  1. a particular period of time marked by distinctive features, events, etc.: The treaty ushered in an epoch of peace and good will.
  2. the beginning of a distinctive period in the history of anything: The splitting of the atom marked an epoch in scientific discovery.
  3. a point of time distinguished by a particular event or state of affairs; a memorable date: His coming of age was an epoch in his life.
  4. a restraint or hindrance; prohibition.
  
• felicity
  - noun, plural -ties.
  1. the state of being happy, esp. in a high degree; bliss: marital felicity.
  2. an instance of this.
  3. a source of happiness.
  4. a skillful faculty: felicity of expression.
• fiscal
  - adjective
  1. of or pertaining to the public treasury or revenues: fiscal policies.
  2. of or pertaining to financial matters in general.
  - noun
  (in some countries) a prosecuting attorney.
• fortitude
  - noun
  mental and emotional strength in facing difficulty, adversity, danger, or temptation courageously: Never once did her fortitude waver during that long illness.
• habeas corpus
  - noun, Law.
  a writ requiring a person to be brought before a judge or court, esp. for investigation of a restraint of the person's liberty, used as a protection against illegal imprisonment.
• harangue
  - noun; -rangued, -rangu ing.
  1. a scolding or a long or intense verbal attack; diatribe.
  2. a long, passionate, and vehement speech, esp. one delivered before a public gathering.
  3. any long, pompous speech or writing of a tediously hortatory or didactic nature; sermonizing lecture or discourse.
  - verb (used with object)
  to address in a harangue.
  - verb (used without object)
  to deliver a harangue.
• harbinger
  - noun
  1. a person who goes ahead and makes known the approach of another; herald.
  2. anything that foreshadows a future event; omen; sign: Frost is a harbinger of winter.
  3. a person sent in advance of troops, a royal train, etc., to provide or secure lodgings and other accommodations.
  - verb (used with object)
  to act as harbinger to; herald the coming of.
• martyr
  - noun
  1. a person who willingly suffers death rather than renounce his or her religion.
  2. a person who is put to death or endures great suffering on behalf of any belief, principle, or cause: a martyr to the cause of social justice.
  3. a person who undergoes severe or constant suffering: a martyr to severe headaches.
  4. a person who seeks sympathy or attention by feigning or exaggerating pain, deprivation, etc.
  - verb (used with object)
  1. to make a martyr of, esp. by putting to death.
  2. to torment or torture.
• mercenary
  - adjective; plural -nar ies.
  1. working or acting merely for money or other reward; venal.
  2. hired to serve in a foreign army, guerrilla organization, etc.
  - noun
  1. a professional soldier hired to serve in a foreign army.
  2. any hireling.
• militia
  -noun
  1. a body of citizens enrolled for military service, and called out periodically for drill but serving full time only in emergencies.
  2. a body of citizen soldiers as distinguished from professional soldiers.
  3. all able-bodied males considered by law eligible for military service.
  4. a body of citizens organized in a paramilitary group and typically regarding themselves as defenders of individual rights against the presumed interference of the federal government.
• monopoly
  - noun, plural -lies.
  1. exclusive control of a commodity or service in a particular market, or a control that makes possible the manipulation of prices.
  2. an exclusive privilege to carry on a business, traffic, or service, granted by a government.
  3. the exclusive possession or control of something.
  4. something that is the subject of such control, as a commodity or service.
  5. a company or group that has such control.
  6. the market condition that exists when there is only one seller.
• ominous
  - adjective
  1. portending evil or harm; foreboding; threatening; inauspicious: an ominous bank of dark clouds.
  2. having the significance of an omen.
• perseverance
  - noun
  1. steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, a state, etc., esp. in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement.
  2. Theology. continuance in a state of grace to the end, leading to eternal salvation.
• ratification
  - noun
  1. the act of ratifying; confirmation; sanction.
  2. the state of being ratified.
• reprisal
  - noun
  1. (in warfare) retaliation against an enemy, for injuries received, by the infliction of equal or greater injuries.
  2. an act or instance of retaliation.
  3. the action or practice of using force, short of war, against another nation, to secure redress of a grievance.
  4. the forcible seizure of property or subjects in retaliation.
• resplendent
  - adjective
  shining brilliantly; gleaming; splendid: troops resplendent in white uniforms; resplendent virtues.
• staple
  - noun, -pled, -pling.
  1. a principal raw material or commodity grown or manufactured in a locality.
  2. a principal commodity in a mercantile field; goods in steady demand or of known or recognized quality.
  3. a basic or necessary item of food: She bought flour, sugar, salt, and other staples.
  4. a basic or principal item, thing, feature, element, or part: Cowboy dramas are a staple on television.
  5. the fiber of wool, cotton, flax, rayon, etc., considered with reference to length and fineness.
  6. Textiles. a standard length of textile fibers, representing the average of such fibers taken collectively, as shortstaple or long-staple cotton.
  7. History/Historical. a town or place appointed by royal authority as the seat of a body of merchants having the exclusive right of purchase of certain classes of goods for export.
  - adjective
  1. chief or prominent among the products exported or produced by a country or district; chiefly or largely dealt in or consumed.
  2. basic, chief, or principal: staple industries.
  3. principally used: staple subjects of conversation.
  - verb (used with object)
  to sort or classify according to the staple or fiber, as wool.
• subordination
  - adjective, -nat ed, -nat ing.
  1. placed in or belonging to a lower order or rank.
  2. of less importance; secondary.
  3. subject to or under the authority of a superior.
  - noun
  a subordinate person or thing.
  - verb (used with object)
  1. to place in a lower order or rank.
  2. to make secondary (usually fol. by to): to subordinate work to pleasure
• sullen
  - adjective
  1. showing irritation or ill humor by a gloomy silence or reserve.
  2. persistently and silently ill-humored; morose.
  3. gloomy or dismal, as weather or a sound.
  4. sluggish, as a stream.
• Tory
  - noun, plural -ries
  1. a member of the Conservative Party in Great Britain or Canada.
  2. a member of a political party in Great Britain from the late 17th century to about 1832 that favored royal authority over Parliament and the preservation of the existing social and political order: succeeded by the Conservative party.
  3. (often lowercase ) an advocate of conservative principles; one opposed to reform or radicalism.
  4. a person who supported the British cause in the American Revolution; a loyalist.
  - adjective
  1. of, belonging to, or characteristic of the Tories.
  2. being a Tory.
• tyranny
  - noun, plural -nies.
  1. arbitrary or unrestrained exercise of power; despotic abuse of authority.
  2. the government or rule of a tyrant or absolute ruler.
  3. a state ruled by a tyrant or absolute ruler.
  4. oppressive or unjustly severe government on the part of any ruler.
• unalienable
  - adjective
  not alienable; not transferable to another or capable of being repudiated: inalienable rights.
• vengeful