Article1 Flashcards
Leeway
leeway
/ˈliːweɪ /
▸ noun [mass noun]
1 the amount of freedom to move or act that is available:
the government had greater leeway to introduce reforms.
▪ margin of safety:
there is little leeway if anything goes wrong.
2 the sideways drift of a ship to leeward of the desired course:
the leeway is only about 2°.
–PHRASES
make up (the) leeway Brit.
struggle out of a bad position, especially by recovering lost time:
he never made up the leeway and was five lengths down at the finish.
Mandate
mandate
▸ noun /ˈmandeɪt /
1 an official order or commission to do something:
a mandate to seek the release of political prisoners.
▪ Law a commission by which a party is entrusted to perform a service, especially without payment and with indemnity against loss by that party.
▪ a written authorization enabling someone to carry out transactions on another’s bank account.
▪ historical a commission from the League of Nations to a member state to administer a territory:
the end of the British mandate in Palestine.
2 the authority to carry out a policy, regarded as given by the electorate to a party or candidate that wins an election:
he called an election to seek a mandate for his policies.
▪ Canadian a period during which a government is in power:
the last mandate of Trudeau, from 1980 to 1984, was a remarkable chapter in Canadian history.
▸ verb /manˈdeɪt / [with obj.]
1 give (someone) authority to act in a certain way:
the rightful king was mandated and sanctioned by God.
▪ require (something) to be done; make mandatory:
the government began mandating better car safety.
2 (be mandated to) historical (of territory) be assigned to (another power) under a mandate of the League of Nations:
(as adj. mandated) mandated territories.
–ORIGIN early 16th cent.: from Latin mandatum ‘something commanded’, neuter past participle of mandare, from manus ‘hand’ + dare ‘give’. Sense 2 of the noun has been influenced by French mandat.
Authoritative
authoritative
/ɔːˈθɒrɪtətɪv , -ˌteɪtɪv/
▸ adjective
1 able to be trusted as being accurate or true; reliable:
clear, authoritative information and advice
an authoritative source.
▪ (of a text) considered to be the best of its kind and unlikely to be improved upon:
this is likely to become the authoritative study of the subject.
2 commanding and self-confident; likely to be respected and obeyed:
his voice was calm and authoritative.
▪ proceeding from an official source and requiring compliance or obedience:
authoritative directives.
–DERIVATIVES authoritatively adverb
authoritativeness noun
Impediment
impediment
/ɪmˈpɛdɪm(ə)nt /
▸ noun
1 a hindrance or obstruction in doing something:
a serious impediment to scientific progress.
2 (also speech impediment) a defect in a person’s speech, such as a lisp or stammer.
–DERIVATIVES impedimental /-ˈmɛnt(ə)l/ adjective
–ORIGIN late Middle English: from Latin impedimentum, from impedire (see impede).
Constitute
constitute
/ˈkɒnstɪtjuːt /
▸ verb [with obj.]
1 be (a part) of a whole:
lone parents constitute a great proportion of the poor.
▪ combine to form (a whole):
there were enough members present to constitute a quorum.
▪ be or be equivalent to (something):
his failure to act constituted a breach of duty.
2 give legal or constitutional form to (an institution); establish by law:
the superior courts were constituted by the Judicature Acts 1873–5.
–ORIGIN late Middle English: from Latin constitut- ‘established, appointed’, from the verb constituere, from con- ‘together’ + statuere ‘set up’.
Posit
posit
/ˈpɒzɪt /
▸ verb
(posits, positing, posited)
1 [with obj.] put forward as fact or as a basis for argument:
the Confucian view posits a perfectible human nature.
▪ (posit something on) base something on the truth of (a particular assumption):
these plots are posited on a false premise about women’s nature as inferior.
2 [with obj. and adverbial] put in position; place:
the Professor posits Cohen in his second category of poets.
▸ noun Philosophy a statement which is made on the assumption that it will prove to be true.
–ORIGIN mid 17th cent.: from Latin posit- ‘placed’, from the verb ponere.
Contemporary
contemporary
/kənˈtɛmp(ə)r(ər)i /
▸ adjective
1 living or occurring at the same time:
the event was recorded by a contemporary historian.
▪ dating from the same time:
this series of paintings is contemporary with other works in an early style.
2 belonging to or occurring in the present:
the tension and complexities of our contemporary society.
▪ following modern ideas in style or design:
contemporary ceramics by leading potters.
▸ noun
(pl. contemporaries)
a person or thing living or existing at the same time as another:
he was a contemporary of Darwin.
▪ a person of roughly the same age as another:
my contemporaries at school.
–DERIVATIVES contemporarily adverb
contemporariness noun
–ORIGIN mid 17th cent.: from medieval Latin contemporarius, from con- ‘together with’ + tempus, tempor- ‘time’ (on the pattern of Latin contemporaneus and late Latin contemporalis).
Accru
accrue
/əˈkruː /
▸ verb
(accrues, accruing, accrued)
[no obj.] (of a benefit or sum of money) be received by someone in regular or increasing amounts over time:
financial benefits will accrue from restructuring
(as adj. accrued) the accrued interest.
▪ [with obj.] accumulate or receive (payments or benefits) over time:
they accrue entitlements to holiday pay.
▪ [with obj.] make provision for (a charge) at the end of a financial period for work that has been done but not yet invoiced:
at 31 December the amount due for the final quarter is accrued.
–DERIVATIVES accrual noun
–ORIGIN late Middle English: from Old French acreue, past participle of acreistre ‘increase’, from Latin accrescere ‘become larger’ (see accrete).
Immaterialism
immaterialism
/ɪməˈtɪərɪəlɪz(ə)m /
▸ noun [mass noun] the belief that matter has no objective existence.
–DERIVATIVES immaterialist noun
Enact
enact
/ɪˈnakt , ɛ-/
▸ verb [with obj.]
1 make (a bill or other proposal) law:
legislation was enacted to attract international companies.
2 put into practice (an idea or suggestion):
the pressure group’s aim was to see the proposals enacted.
3 act out (a role or play) on stage:
Mystery Plays were staged and enacted by members of the guilds.
▪ (be enacted) take place:
walkers stopped to watch, aware that some tragedy was being enacted.
–DERIVATIVES enactable adjective
enaction noun
enactive adjective
enactor noun
–ORIGIN late Middle English (formerly also as inact): from en-1, in-2, + act, suggested by medieval Latin inactare, inactitare.
Imprint
imprint
▸ verb /ɪmˈprɪnt /
1 [with obj.] impress or stamp (a mark or outline) on a surface:
tyre marks were imprinted in the snow.
▪ make an impression or mark on:
clothes imprinted with the logos of sports teams.
▪ fix (an idea) firmly in someone’s mind:
he’d always have this ghastly image imprinted on his mind.
2 [no obj.] (imprint on) Zoology (of a young animal) come to recognize (another animal, person, or thing) as a parent or other object of habitual trust:
the bird thought I was its mother and imprinted on me.
goslings will imprint themselves on inanimate objects such as a cardboard box.
▸ noun /ˈɪmprɪnt /
1 a mark or outline made by pressing something on to a softer substance:
he made imprints of the keys in bars of soap.
▪ a lasting effect:
years in the colonies had left their imprint.
2 a printer’s or publisher’s name, address, and other details in a book or other publication.
▪ a brand name under which books are published, typically the name of a former publishing house that is now part of a larger group:
the group will continue to market its products through its established imprints.
–ORIGIN late Middle English (originally as emprint): from Old French empreinter, based on Latin imprimere, from in- ‘into’ + premere ‘to press’.
Flog
flog
/flɒg /
▸ verb
(flogs, flogging, flogged)
[with obj.]
1 beat (someone) with a whip or stick as a punishment:
the men had been flogged and branded on the forehead
(as noun flogging) public floggings.
▪ informal promote or talk about (something) repetitively or at excessive length:
the issue has been flogged to death already.
2 Brit. informal sell or offer for sale:
he made a fortune flogging beads to hippies.
3 [no obj., with adverbial of direction] Brit. informal make one’s way with strenuous effort:
by 10 pm we had flogged up the slopes to Grey Crag.
▸ noun [in sing.] Brit. informal an arduous climb or struggle:
a long flog up the mountainside.
–PHRASES
flog a dead horse Brit.
waste energy on a lost cause or unalterable situation.
–ORIGIN late 17th cent. (originally slang): perhaps imitative, or from Latin flagellare ‘to whip’, from flagellum ‘whip’.
Entail
entail
/ɪnˈteɪl , ɛn-/
▸ verb [with obj.]
1 involve (something) as a necessary or inevitable part or consequence:
a situation which entails considerable risks.
▪ Logic have as a logically necessary consequence.
2 Law limit the inheritance of (property) over a number of generations so that ownership remains within a particular family or group:
her father’s estate was entailed on a cousin.
▪ archaic cause to experience or possess (something) permanently or inescapably:
I cannot get rid of the disgrace which you have entailed upon us.
▸ noun Law a limitation of the inheritance of property to certain heirs over a number of generations:
the damage being done in England by entails.
[mass noun] landed property was governed by primogeniture and entail.
▪ a property bequeathed under an entail:
the spinning mills were not part of the entail.
–DERIVATIVES entailment noun
–ORIGIN late Middle English (referring to settlement of property; formerly also as intail): from en-1, in-2 ‘into’ + Old French taille ‘notch, tax’ (see tail2).
Defiance
defiance
/dɪˈfʌɪəns /
▸ noun [mass noun] open resistance; bold disobedience:
an act of defiance
the demonstration was held in defiance of official warnings.
–ORIGIN Middle English (denoting the renunciation of an allegiance or friendship): from Old French, from defier ‘defy’.
Loom
loom(2)
/luːm /
▸ verb [no obj., with adverbial] appear as a vague form, especially one that is large or threatening:
vehicles loomed out of the darkness.
▪ [no obj.] (of an event regarded as threatening) seem about to happen:
there is a crisis looming
dearer mortgages loomed large last night.
▸ noun [in sing.] a vague and often exaggerated first appearance of an object seen in darkness or fog, especially at sea:
the loom of the land.
▪ the dim reflection by cloud or haze of a light which is not directly visible, e.g. from a lighthouse over the horizon.
–ORIGIN mid 16th cent.: probably from Low German or Dutch; compare with East Frisian lōmen ‘move slowly’, Middle High German lüemen ‘be weary’.