Vocabulary Lesson #3

5 stems15 words

circum - around

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circumlocutiona roundabout way of speaking

The defendant’s circumlocutions caused the jury to believe he was guilty.

I was there, but then I left, and no one else was around, so I waited a while and drank a red bull then I decided to go home and watch TV with my dog.

Where you there?

circumvent To go around

To travel the entire globe, sailors must circumvent the continents.

Circumvent – to go around

In an attempt to circumvent his grounding, Jason lied to his mother about what really happened that night, but it was hard to explain why he was found asleep in the median.

Circumscribed – marked off, boundedThe dog’s owners had marked his

circumscribed territory using an underground electric fence.

fin - end

finale – the end or conclusion

The finale of Of Mice and Men left the audience in tears.

Finality – state of being complete

I knew the relationship had reached a state of finality when I returned the engagement ring.

finite – having bounds or limits.

High school

is finite;

it comes to an end.

Grad - step

Gradient – rate of ascent or descent

The gradient of the slope is one factor in determining the level of difficulty for skiing.

Graduation – an arrangement in degrees, levels, or ranks.

The graduation from private to colonel becomes quite clear when jobs are assigned.

Degrade – to lower in character or qualityI wouldn’t want to degrade

myself by taking part in gossip.

When societies degrade to the point of riots, many innocent people are hurt.

Lat - side

oscillateA side to side motion

The dancers oscillated in a creative mambo across the dance floor.

vacillateTo sway from side to side between choices

Samantha couldn’t make a decision for her prom date; as a result, she vacillated between Joe and Rob. Joe was cuter, but Rob was a better dancer.

Lateral – directed to the side

After the table was bumped, the cake made a lateral move that no one was able to stop.

Quad - four

quadrantA quarter of a circle (or square)

The top left quadrant is red.

Quadrate – to divide by fourBy quadrating twelve, I came to the answer of three.

Quadruple – to multiply by fourOur cat had four kittens; thus, she quadrupled our cat population.

Writing

Write a well-developed paragraph using a minimum of five vocabulary words. Use clear context clues with each word. Underline the vocabulary words twice. Underline the context clues once.