Page 87 - WEBSTER Essential vocabulary

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Essential Vocabulary
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deride (di RYD) vt. to laugh at contemptuously or scornfully; to make fun of;
ridicule
• Jack derided his sister for having trouble riding the bicycle.
• It is poor form to deride anyone for his or her handicaps or inabilities.
[-d, deriding, derision n., derisive adj., deridingly adv.] [Syn. ridicule]
derivative* (di RIV a TIV) adj. 1. using or taken from other sources; 2. not original
—n. something derived
• Many modern medicines are tropical plant derivatives.
• The Lord of the Rings movies were derivative films, having been taken from
Tolkein’s writings.
• Chocolate is a derivative of the cacao bean.
[-ly adv.]
derive (di RYV) vt. 1. to get, take, or receive something from a source; 2. to
arrive at by reasoning; deduce or infer; 3. to trace to or from its source; show the
origin and development of
• Alice derived most of her term paper from Web sources.
• Pythagoras derived his famous theorem by drawing squares on the sides of
a right triangle and relating their areas.
• The ancestry of many immigrants may be derived from the archives at Ellis
Island.
[-d, deriving, derivation n.]
descent (dee SENT) n. 1. a coming or going down; 2. lineage; ancestry; 3. a
downward slope; 4. a sudden attack or raid (on or upon); 5. a decline; fall
• Wally’s descent down the banister was much faster than it would have been
had he used the stairs.
• Jack could trace his descent from a long line of no-good Nicks.
• The ski trail made a steep descent before leveling off.
• The Mongols’ descent upon the caravan came swiftly and without warning.
• The power of the Egyptian pharoahs was in descent long before the reign of
the last pharoah, Cleopatra.
describe (di SKRYB) vt. 1. to give a detailed account of; 2. to make a word pic-
ture of; 3. to trace or outline
• Lewis Carrol describes Alice’s adventures in Wonderland as growing “curi-
ouser and curiouser.”
• Ernest Hemingway was able to describe places in words so that exotic,
detailed pictures formed in his readers’ minds.
• Valerie used her compass to describe a 3 cm radius circle.
[-d, describing]
description (dis KRIP shin) n. 1. the process of picturing in words; describing;
2. a statement or passage that describes; 3. sort, kind, or variety of; 4. the act of
tracing or outlining
• James Michener’s description of the islands of the South Pacific were vivid
enough to transport the reader there.
• Write a brief description of the accident and how you caused it to happen.