Honors Vocabulary Words #2

1. accord - harmony; to make an agreement.
It's nice when everything is in accord and peaceful - war is such a terrible thing.

I chose this image because of the symbolism of shaking hands. When people shake hands, it usually means they are agreeing on something. One of the definitions of accord is to make an agreement, and to be in harmony. If people are agreeing, they aren't fighting or are at odds - they are coming together and unifying something. This to me represents accord.

2. bias - an inclination or prejudice.
It's important that judges have no bias when it comes to determining cases.

3. incognito - having your identity concealed.
Going incognito is important to spies so that they don't get captured and killed by their enemies.

I chose this image because to me it's a silly but accurate way of representing the term incognito. When someone is incognito, they conceal or hide their identity. They don't want to be recognized. This pair of glasses is one of the most commonly known disguises for people to use - yes, people don't actually use it when they want to really not be recognized, but the symbolism behind this image represents what people are trying to do.

4. deduct - to take away from.
The store owner was very kind - if someone couldn't pay for an item, she would deduct a small amount of money from the price.

5. paradigm - an example or pattern.
Mel was a great paradigm - she was always on time and would go out of her way to help others.

6. plagiarize - to copy off of someone else's work.
If you plagiarize in college, you are likely to be expelled.

I chose this image because it shows a woman photocopying something, which is essentially what a plagiarizer does. When someone plagiarizes, they take someone else's work and make it their own. It is similar to what someone does when they photocopy - they make an exact replica of something that has already been created.

7. objectivity - to try and remain impartial.
It can be hard to maintain a mindset of objectivity when your are judging a case in which one of your friends in a participant.

8. precipitous - hasty or steep.
The precipitous cliff scared Emily stiff.

I chose this image because it is the direct definition of precipitous, which means hasty or steep. This demonstrates someone falling off of a cliff edge. Cliffs can be steep or come off of the side of a steep mountain. Also, if someone is in a great haste, for example to get someone, and they don't notice the edge of the cliff, they could fall off - haste is also another definition of precipitous. This image makes me think of great heights and steep edges, just like the word precipitous does.

9. recapitulate - to summarize; repeat.
Sara didn't enjoy having to recapitulate the instructions because people in her classroom weren't listening.

10. reciprocate - to do in return; to go back and forth.
The sister was happy to know that the guy she liked reciprocated her feelings.

I chose this image because a hug requires someone to return the feelings. A hug can't be fully completed by someone by themselves - there has to be a second person in order to complete it. That's just like reciprocating - the feelings are returned to the original person.

11. empathy - understanding someone's situation, identifying yourself with someone.
Christina felt empathy for the people who lost their homes in Hurricane Katrina.