English Synonyms and Antonyms Part 87

damage, detriment, harm, injury, ruin, destruction, disadvantage, hurt, loss, waste.

Prepositions:

The profit _of_ labor; _on_ capital; _in_ business.

PROGRESS.

Synonyms:

advance, development, improvement, proficiency, advancement, growth, increase, progression.

attainment,

_Progress_ (L. _pro_, forward, _gradior_, go) is a moving onward or forward, whether in s.p.a.ce or in the mental or moral realm, and may be either mechanical, individual, or social. _Attainment_, _development_, and _proficiency_ are more absolute than the other words of the group, denoting some point of advantage or of comparative perfection reached by forward or onward movement; we speak of _attainments_ in virtue or scholarship, _proficiency_ in music or languages, the _development_ of new powers or organs; _proficiency_ includes the idea of skill.

_Advance_ may denote either a forward movement or the point gained by forward movement, but always relatively with reference to the point from which the movement started; as, this is a great _advance_. _Advance_ admits the possibility of retreat; _progress_ (L. _progredi_, to walk forward) is steady and constant forward movement, admitting of pause, but not of retreat; _advance_ suggests more clearly a point to be reached, while _progress_ lays the emphasis upon the forward movement; we may speak of slow or rapid _progress_, but more naturally of swift _advance_. _Progress_ is more frequently used of abstractions; as, the _progress_ of ideas; _progression_ fixes the attention chiefly upon the act of moving forward. In a thing good in itself all _advance_ or _progress_ is _improvement_; there is a growing tendency to restrict the words to this favorable sense, using _increase_ indifferently of good or evil; one may say without limitation, "I am an advocate of _progress_."

Antonyms:

check, delay, falling off, retrogression, stop, decline, falling back, relapse, stay, stoppage.

Prepositions:

The progress _of_ truth; progress _in_ virtue; _toward_ perfection; _from_ a lower _to_ a higher state.

PROHIBIT.

Synonyms:

debar, forbid, inhibit, preclude, disallow, hinder, interdict, prevent.

To _prohibit_ is to give some formal command against, and especially to make some authoritative legal enactment against. _Debar_ is said of persons, _disallow_ of acts; one is _debarred_ from anything when shut off, as by some irresistible authority or necessity; one is _prohibited_ from an act in express terms; he may be _debarred_ by silent necessity.

An act is _disallowed_ by the authority that might have allowed it; the word is especially applied to acts which are done before they are p.r.o.nounced upon; thus, a government may _disallow_ the act of its commander in the field or its admiral on the high seas. _Inhibit_ and _interdict_ are chiefly known by their ecclesiastical use. As between _forbid_ and _prohibit_, _forbid_ is less formal and more personal, _prohibit_ more official and judicial, with the implication of readiness to use such force as may be needed to give effect to the enactment; a parent _forbids_ a child to take part in some game or to a.s.sociate with certain companions; the slave-trade is now _prohibited_ by the leading nations of the world. Many things are _prohibited_ by law which can not be wholly _prevented_, as gambling and prost.i.tution; on the other hand, things may be _prevented_ which are not _prohibited_, as the services of religion, the payment of debts, or military conquest. That which is _precluded_ need not be _prohibited_. Compare ABOLISH; HINDER; PREVENT.

Antonyms:

allow, empower, let, require, authorize, enjoin, license, sanction, command, give consent, order, suffer, consent to, give leave, permit, tolerate, direct, give permission, put up with, warrant.

Prepositions:

An act is prohibited _by_ law; a person is prohibited _by_ law _from_ doing a certain act. _Prohibit_ was formerly construed, as _forbid_ still is, with the infinitive, but the construction with _from_ and the verbal noun has now entirely superseded the older usage.

PROMOTE.

Synonyms:

advance, encourage, forward, prefer, raise, aid, exalt, foster, push, urge forward, a.s.sist, excite, further, push on, urge on.

elevate, foment, help,

To _promote_ (L. _pro_, forward, and _moveo_, move) is to cause to move forward toward some desired end or to raise to some higher position, rank, or dignity. We _promote_ a person by _advancing_, _elevating_, or _exalting_ him to a higher position or dignity. A person _promotes_ a scheme or an enterprise which others have projected or begun, and which he _encourages_, _forwards_, _furthers_, _pushes_, or _urges on_, especially when he acts as the agent of the prime movers and supporters of the enterprise. One who _excites_ a quarrel originates it; to _promote_ a quarrel is strictly to _foment_ and _urge_ it _on_, the one who _promotes_ keeping himself in the background. Compare ABET; QUICKEN.

Antonyms:

See synonyms for ABASE; ALLAY.

PROPITIATION.

Synonyms:

atonement, expiation, reconciliation, satisfaction.

_Atonement_ (at-one-ment), originally denoting _reconciliation_, or the bringing into agreement of those who have been estranged, is now chiefly used, as in theology, in the sense of some offering, sacrifice, or suffering sufficient to win forgiveness or make up for an offense; especially and distinctively of the sacrificial work of Christ in his humiliation, suffering and death. _Expiation_ is the enduring of the full penalty of a wrong or crime. _Propitiation_ is an offering, action, or sacrifice that makes the governing power propitious toward the offender. _Satisfaction_ in this connection denotes the rendering a full legal equivalent for the wrong done. _Propitiation_ appeases the lawgiver; _satisfaction_ meets the requirements of the law.

Antonyms:

alienation, curse, penalty, reprobation, vengeance, chastis.e.m.e.nt, estrangement, punishment, retribution, wrath.

condemnation, offense,

PROPITIOUS.

Synonyms:

auspicious, benignant, favorable, gracious, kindly, benign, clement, friendly, kind, merciful.

That which is _auspicious_ is of _favorable_ omen; that which is _propitious_ is of favoring influence or tendency; as, an _auspicious_ morning; a _propitious_ breeze. _Propitious_ applies to persons, implying _kind_ disposition and _favorable_ inclinations, especially toward the suppliant; _auspicious_ is not used of persons.

Antonyms: