English Synonyms and Antonyms — Sacrament to Self-Abnegation

ceremony, eucharist, observance, rite, solemnity.

communion, Lord's Supper, ordinance, service, Any religious act, especially a public act, viewed as a means of serving God is called a _service_; the word commonly includes the entire series of exercises of a single occasion of public worship.

A religious _service_ ordained as an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace is called a _sacrament_.

_Ceremony_ is a form expressing reverence, or at least respect; we may speak of religious _ceremonies_, the _ceremonies_ of polite society, the _ceremonies_ of a coronation, an inauguration, etc. An _observance_ has more than a formal obligation, reaching or approaching a religious sacredness; a stated religious _observance_, viewed as established by authority, is called an _ordinance_; viewed as an established custom, it is a _rite_.

The terms _sacrament_ and _ordinance_, in the religious sense, are often used interchangeably; the _ordinance_ derives its sacredness from the authority that ordained it, while the _sacrament_ possesses a sacredness due to something in itself, even when viewed simply as a representation or memorial.

The Lord's Supper is the Scriptural name for the _observance_ commemorating the death of Christ; the word _communion_ is once applied to it (_1 Cor.

_ x, 16), but not as a distinctive name; at an early period, however, the name _communion_ was so applied, as denoting the communing of Christians with their Lord, or with one another.

The term _eucharist_ describes the Lord's Supper as a thanksgiving _service_; it is also called by preeminence _the sacrament_, as the ratifying of a solemn vow of consecration to Christ.

* * * * * SAGACIOUS.

Synonyms: able, intelligent, perspicacious, sensible, acute, keen, quick of scent, sharp, apt, keen-sighted, quick-scented, sharp-witted, clear-sighted, keen-witted, rational, shrewd, discerning, judicious, sage, wise.

_Sagacious_ refers to a power of tracing the hidden or recondite by slight indications, as by instinct or intuition; it is not now applied to mere keenness of sense-perception.

We do not call a hound _sagacious_ in following a clear trail; but if he loses the scent, as at the edge of a stream, and circles around till he strikes it again, his conduct is said to be _sagacious_.

In human affairs _sagacious_ refers to a power of ready, far-reaching, and accurate inference from observed facts perhaps in themselves very slight, that seems like a special sense; or to a similar readiness to foresee the results of any action, especially upon human motives or conduct--a kind of prophetic common sense.

_Sagacious_ is a broader and nobler word than _shrewd_, and not capable of the invidious sense which the latter word often bears; on the other hand, _sagacious_ is less lofty and comprehensive than _wise_ in its full sense, and more limited to matters of direct practical moment.

Compare ASTUTE; WISDOM.

Antonyms: absurd, futile, obtuse, silly, sottish, undiscerning, dull, ignorant, senseless, simple, stupid, unintelligent.

foolish, irrational, * * * * * SALE.

Synonyms: bargain, barter, change, deal, exchange, trade.

A _bargain_ is strictly an agreement or contract to buy and sell, tho the word is often used to denote the entire transaction and also as a designation for the thing sold or purchased.

_Change_ and _exchange_ are words of wider signification, applying only incidentally to the transfer of property or value; a _change_ secures something different in any way or by any means; an _exchange_ secures something as an equivalent or return, tho not necessarily as payment for what is given.

_Barter_ is the _exchange_ of one commodity for another, the word being used generally with reference to portable commodities.

_Trade_ in the broad sense may apply to vast businesses (as the book-_trade_), but as denoting a single transaction is used chiefly in regard to things of moderate value, when it becomes nearly synonymous with _barter_.

_Sale_ is commonly, and with increasing strictness, limited to the transfer of property for money, or for something estimated at a money value or considered as equivalent to so much money in hand or to be paid.

A

_deal_ in the political sense is a _bargain_, substitution, or transfer for the benefit of certain persons or parties against all others; as, the nomination was the result of a _deal_; in business it may have a similar meaning, but it frequently signifies simply a _sale_ or _exchange_, a dealing; as, a heavy _deal_ in stocks.

* * * * * SAMPLE.

Synonyms: case, exemplification, instance, example, illustration, specimen.

A _sample_ is a portion taken at random out of a quantity supposed to be homogeneous, so that the qualities found in the _sample_ may reasonably be expected to be found in the whole; as, a _sample_ of sugar; a _sample_ of cloth.

A _specimen_ is one unit of a series, or a fragment of a mass, all of which is supposed to possess the same essential qualities; as, a _specimen_ of coinage, or of architecture, or a _specimen_ of quartz.

No other unit or portion may be exactly like the _specimen_, while all the rest is supposed to be exactly like the _sample_.

An _instance_ is a _sample_ or _specimen_ of action.

Compare EXAMPLE.

Antonyms: abnormality, aggregate, exception, monstrosity, total, whole.

* * * * * SATISFY.

Synonyms: cloy, fill, sate, suffice, content, glut, satiate, surfeit.

To _satisfy_ is to furnish just enough to meet physical, mental, or spiritual desire.

To _sate_ or _satiate_ is to gratify desire so fully as for a time to extinguish it.

To _cloy_ or _surfeit_ is to gratify to the point of revulsion or disgust.

_Glut_ is a strong but somewhat coarse word applied to the utmost satisfaction of vehement appetites and passions; as, to _glut_ a vengeful spirit with slaughter; we speak of _glutting_ the market with a supply so excessive as to extinguish the demand.

Much less than is needed to _satisfy_ may _suffice_ a frugal or abstemious person; less than a sufficiency may _content_ one of a patient and submissive spirit.

Compare PAY; REQUITE.

Antonyms: check, disappoint, restrain, starve, straiten, deny, refuse, restrict, stint, tantalize.

Prepositions: Satisfy _with_ food, _with_ gifts, etc. ; satisfy one (in the sense of make satisfaction) _for_ labors and sacrifices; satisfy oneself _by_ or _upon_ inquiry.

* * * * * SCHOLAR.

Synonyms: disciple, learner, pupil, savant, student.

The primary sense of a _scholar_ is one who is being schooled; thence the word passes to denote one who is apt in school work, and finally one who is thoroughly schooled, master of what the schools can teach, an erudite, accomplished person: when used without qualification, the word is generally understood in this latter sense; as, he is manifestly a _scholar_.

_Pupil_ signifies one under the close personal supervision or instruction of a teacher or tutor.

Those under instruction in schools below the academic grade are technically and officially termed _pupils_.

The word _pupil_ is uniformly so used in the Reports of the Commissioner of Education of the United States, but popular American usage prefers _scholar_ in the original sense; as, teachers and _scholars_ enjoyed a holiday.

Those under instruction in Sunday-schools are uniformly designated as Sunday-school _scholars_.

_Student_ is applied to those in the higher grades or courses of study, as the academic, collegiate, scientific, etc. _Student_ suggests less proficiency than _scholar_ in the highest sense, the _student_ being one who is learning, the _scholar_ one who has learned.

On the other hand, _student_ suggests less of personal supervision than _pupil_; thus, the college _student_ often becomes the private _pupil_ of some instructor in special studies.

For _disciple_, etc. , compare synonyms for ADHERENT.

Antonyms: dunce, fool, idiot, idler, ignoramus, illiterate person.

* * * * * SCIENCE.

Synonyms: art, knowledge.

_Knowledge_ of a single fact, not known as related to any other, or of many facts not known as having any mutual relations or as comprehended under any general law, does not reach the meaning of _science_;

_science_ is _knowledge_ reduced to law and embodied in system.

The _knowledge_ of various countries gathered by an observant traveler may be a heterogeneous medley of facts, which gain real value only when coordinated and arranged by the man of _science_.

_Art_ always relates to something to be done, _science_ to something to be known.

Not only must _art_ be discriminated from _science_, but _art_ in the industrial or mechanical sense must be distinguished from _art_ in the esthetic sense; the former aims chiefly at utility, the latter at beauty.

The mechanic _arts_ are the province of the artisan, the esthetic or fine _arts_ are the province of the artist; all the industrial _arts_, as of weaving or printing, arithmetic or navigation, are governed by exact rules.

_Art_ in the highest esthetic sense, while it makes use of rules, transcends all rule; no rules can be given for the production of a painting like Raffael's "Transfiguration," a statue like the Apollo Belvedere, or a poem like the Iliad.

_Science_ does not, like the mechanic _arts_, make production its direct aim, yet its possible productive application in the _arts_ is a constant stimulus to scientific investigation; the _science_, as in the case of chemistry or electricity, is urged on to higher development by the demands of the _art_, while the _art_ is perfected by the advance of the _science_.

Creative _art_ seeking beauty for its own sake is closely akin to pure _science_ seeking _knowledge_ for its own sake.

Compare KNOWLEDGE;

LITERATURE.

* * * * * SECURITY.

Synonyms: bail, earnest, gage, pledge, surety.

The first four words agree in denoting something given or deposited as an assurance of something to be given, paid, or done.

An _earnest_ is of the same kind as that to be given, a portion of it delivered in advance, as when part of the purchase-money is paid, according to the common expression, "to bind the bargain."

A _pledge_ or _security_ may be wholly different in kind from that to be given or paid, and may greatly exceed it in value.

_Security_ may be of real or personal property--anything of sufficient value to make the creditor secure; a _pledge_ is always of personal property or chattels.

Every pawnshop contains unredeemed _pledges_; land, merchandise, bonds, etc. , are frequently offered and accepted as _security_.

A person may become _security_ or _surety_ for another's payment of a debt, appearance in court, etc. ; in the latter case, he is said to become _bail_ for that person; the person accused gives _bail_ for himself.

_Gage_ survives only as a literary word, chiefly in certain phrases; as, "the _gage_ of battle."

Prepositions: Security _for_ the payment of a debt; security _to_ the state, _for_ the prisoner, _in_ the sum of a thousand dollars.

* * * * * SELF-ABNEGATION.

Synonyms: self-control, self-devotion, self-renunciation, self-denial, self-immolation, self-sacrifice.

_Self-control_ is holding oneself within due limits in pleasures and duties, as in all things else; _self-denial_, the giving up of pleasures for the sake of duty.

_Self-renunciation_ surrenders conscious rights and claims; _self-abnegation_ forgets that there is anything to surrender.

There have been devotees who practised very little _self-denial_ with very much _self-renunciation_.

A mother will care for a sick child with complete _self-abnegation_, but without a thought of _self-denial_.

_Self-devotion_ is heart-consecration of self to a person or cause with readiness for any needed sacrifice.

_Self-sacrifice_ is the strongest and completest term of all, and contemplates the gift of self as actually made.

We speak of the _self-sacrifice_ of Christ, where any other of the above terms would be feeble or inappropriate.

Antonyms: self-gratification, selfishness, self-seeking, self-will.

self-indulgence, * * * * * SEND.