English Synonyms and Antonyms Part 22

Synonyms:

accomplish, arrive at, gain, master, reach, achieve, compa.s.s, get, obtain, secure, acquire, earn, grasp, procure, win.

A person may _obtain_ a situation by the intercession of friends, he _procures_ a dinner by paying for it. _Attain_ is a lofty word, pointing to some high or desirable result; a man _attains_ the mountain summit, he _attains_ honor or learning as the result of strenuous and earnest labor. Even that usage of _attain_ which has been thought to refer to mere progress of time carries the thought of a result desired; as, to _attain_ to old age; the man desires to live to a good old age; we should not speak of his _attaining_ his dotage. One may _attain_ an object that will prove not worth his labor, but what he _achieves_ is in itself great and splendid; as, the Greeks at Marathon _achieved_ a glorious victory. Compare DO; GET; REACH.

Antonyms:

abandon, fail, forfeit, give up, let go, lose, miss.

ATt.i.tUDE.

Synonyms:

pose, position, posture.

_Position_ as applied to the arrangement or situation of the human body or limbs may denote that which is conscious or unconscious, of the living or the dead; but we do not speak of the _att.i.tude_, _pose_, or _posture_ of a corpse; unless, in some rare case, we might say the body was found in a sitting _posture_, where the _posture_ is thought of as a.s.sumed in life, or as, at first glance, suggesting life. A _posture_ is a.s.sumed without any special reference to expression of feeling; as, an erect _posture_, a reclining _posture_; _att.i.tude_ is the _position_ appropriate to the expression of some feeling; the _att.i.tude_ may be unconsciously taken through the strength of the feeling; as, an _att.i.tude_ of defiance; or it may be consciously a.s.sumed in the attempt to express the feeling; as, he a.s.sumed an _att.i.tude_ of humility. A _pose_ is a _position_ studied for artistic effect, or considered with reference to such effect; the unconscious _posture_ of a spectator or listener may be an admirable _pose_ from an artist's standpoint.

ATTRIBUTE, _v._

Synonyms:

ascribe, a.s.sociate, connect, impute, refer.

a.s.sign, charge,

We may _attribute_ to a person either that which belongs to him or that which we merely suppose to be his. We _attribute_ to G.o.d infinite power.

We may _attribute_ a wrong intent to an innocent person. We may _attribute_ a result, rightly or wrongly, to a certain cause; in such case, however, _attribute_ carries always a concession of uncertainty or possible error. Where we are quite sure, we simply _refer_ a matter to the cause or cla.s.s to which it belongs or _ascribe_ to one what is surely his, etc. Many diseases formerly _attributed_ to witchcraft are now _referred_ to the action of micro-organisms. We may _attribute_ a matter in silent thought; we _ascribe_ anything openly in speech or writing; King Saul said of the singing women, "They have _ascribed_ unto David ten thousands, and to me they have _ascribed_ but thousands." We _a.s.sociate_ things which may have no necessary or causal relation; as, we may _a.s.sociate_ the striking of a clock with the serving of dinner, tho the two are not necessarily connected. We _charge_ a person with what we deem blameworthy. We may _impute_ good or evil, but more commonly evil.

Antonyms:

deny, disconnect, dissociate, separate, sever, sunder.

Prepositions:

It is uncharitable to attribute evil motives _to_ (archaic _unto_) others.

ATTRIBUTE, _n._

Synonyms:

property, quality.

A _quality_ (L. _qualis_, such)--the "suchness" of anything, according to the German idiom--denotes what a thing really is in some one respect; an _attribute_ is what we conceive a thing to be in some one respect; thus, while _attribute_ may, _quality_ must, express something of the real nature of that to which it is ascribed; we speak of the _attributes_ of G.o.d, the _qualities_ of matter. "Originally 'the _attributes_ of G.o.d' was preferred, probably, because men a.s.sumed no knowledge of the actual _qualities_ of the Deity, but only of those more or less fitly attributed to him." J. A. H. MURRAY. [M.] Holiness is an _attribute_ of G.o.d; the _attributes_ of many heathen deities have been only the _qualities_ of wicked men joined to superhuman power. A _property_ (L. _proprius_, one's own) is what belongs especially to one thing as its own peculiar possession, in distinction from all other things; when we speak of the _qualities_ or the _properties_ of matter, _quality_ is the more general, _property_ the more limited term. A _quality_ is inherent; a _property_ may be transient; physicists now, however, prefer to term those _qualities_ manifested by all bodies (such as impenetrability, extension, etc.), _general properties_ of matter, while those peculiar to certain substances or to certain states of those substances (as fluidity, malleability, etc.) are termed _specific properties_; in this wider use of the word _property_, it becomes strictly synonymous with _quality_. Compare CHARACTERISTIC; EMBLEM.

Antonyms:

being, essence, nature, substance.

AUGUR.

Synonyms:

betoken, divine, foretell, predict, prognosticate, bode, forebode, portend, presage, prophesy.

"Persons or things _augur_; persons only _forebode_ or _presage_; things only _betoken_ or _portend_." CRABB _English Synonymes_. We _augur_ well for a voyage from past good fortune and a good start; we _presage_ success from the stanchness of the ship and the skill of the captain.

We _forebode_ misfortune either from circ.u.mstances that _betoken_ failure, or from gloomy fancies for which we could not give a reason.

Dissipation among the officers and mutiny among the crew _portend_ disaster. _Divine_ has reference to the ancient soothsayers' arts (as in _Gen._ xliv, 5, 15), and refers rather to reading hearts than to reading the future. We say I could not _divine_ his motive, or his intention.

Antonyms:

a.s.sure, demonstrate, establish, make sure, settle, calculate, determine, insure, prove, warrant.

Prepositions:

I augur _from_ all circ.u.mstances a prosperous result; I augur ill _of_ the enterprise; "augurs ill _to_ the rights of the people," THOMAS JEFFERSON _Writings_ vol. ii, p. 506. [T. & M. '53.] I augur well, or this augurs well, _for_ your cause.

AUTHENTIC.

Synonyms:

accepted, certain, original, sure, accredited, current, real, true, authoritative, genuine, received, trustworthy, authorized, legitimate, reliable, veritable.

That is _authentic_ which is true to the facts; that is _genuine_ which is true to its own claims; as, _authentic_ history; _genuine_ money.

A '_genuine_' work is one written by the author whose name it bears; an '_authentic_' work is one which relates truthfully the matters of which it treats. For example, the apocryphal Gospel of St. Thomas is neither '_genuine_' nor '_authentic_.' It is not '_genuine_,' for St. Thomas did not write it; it is not '_authentic_,' for its contents are mainly fables and lies.

TRENCH _On the Study of Words_ lect. vi, p. 189. [W. J. W.]