Confusing Words Clarified: Group A; Homonyms, Homophones, Homographs, Synonyms, etc. +(lists of "A" sections that are organized into what for some people are confusing groups of words)English can be very confusing; for example, a house burns up as it burns down, a form is being filled in as it is being filled out, and an alarm goes off by going on. How about when the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible? As you examine the groups of words in this unit, you will find many examples of confusions; sometimes, just one or two letters in a word can change its meaning completely. There are also times when two different words get confused because their meanings apply to things that are very similar. Efforts have been made to help you grasp the meanings of various words that may be confusing so you can utilize them with greater accuracy in your communication. Your comments and suggestions are always welcome by writing to: E-mail Contact (just click it for an e-mail form) or by typing, words@wordinfo.info, as the address in your e-mail heading. If you have any problems understanding the pronunciation symbols, go to this Pronunciation Chart for clarifications.apportion, proportion
apportion (uh POR shuhn; uh POHR shuhn)
To divide and to assign according to a plan; to allot: "There will have to be an apportion of the proceeds from the auction for the families."
proportion (pruh POR shuhn, pruh POHR shuhn)
A relationship between things or parts of things with respect to comparative magnitude, quantity, or degree: "Some of the money goes to cover expenses, but a large proportion is donated to charity."
apposite, opposite
apposite (AP uh zit)
Especially well suited to the circumstances; strikingly appropriate and relevant: "When asked about her political choices, she made an apposite answer."
opposite (AHP uh zit)
1. Placed or located directly across from something else or from each other: "The two houses are on opposite sides of the street."
2. Facing the other way; moving or tending away from each other: "They went in opposite directions." appraise, apprise, a prize
appraise (uh PRAYZ)
To place a value on; to judge the worth of something: "The agent wanted to appraise the house at $100,000 for tax purposes."
apprise (uh PRIGHZ)
To inform or to give notice to someone about something; to notify: "Police should apprise an arrested person of his/her right to remain silent and to be represented by a lawyer."
a prize (uh PRIGHZ)
Something offered or won as an award for superiority or victory, as in a contest or competition: "He won a prize for compiling the best computer program."
appreciate, depreciate, deprecate
appreciate (uh PREE shee ayt")
1. Be grateful for, be thankful for, regard highly: "We appreciate all that you have done for us."
2. To realize the worth of, estimate justly "You don't have to be a connoisseur to appreciate good cooking." 3. To increase in value: "Given the history of this company, your investment could appreciate over the months." depreciate (di PREE shee ayt")
1. To reduce or to lower the value of: "Runaway inflation can quickly depreciate the country's currency."
2. To belittle, to disparage: "All he can do is to depreciate all of my efforts to help him." deprecate (DEP ri kayt")
1. To protest or to express strong disapproval of: "The townspeople deprecate the new exhibit."
2. To belittle: "You should not deprecate your own worth to the community." apprehend, comprehend
apprehend (ap" ri HEND)
1. To arrest, to take into custody: "The police expect to apprehend the kidnappers before nightfall."
2. To understand, to perceive: "The public doesn't fully apprehend the complexity of space flight." comprehend (kom" pri HEND, komp" ri HEND)
To take in the meaning, nature, or importance of; to grasp: "The child couldn't comprehend the advanced textbook."
aptitude, attitude
aptitude (AP ti tood", AP ti tyood")
An inherent ability, as for learning; a talent: "His son said that he would be taking a new test at school which is supposed to measure his aptitude for learning."
"Anyone who can speak so many languages obviously has a great natural aptitude for learning languages." attitude (AT i tood", AT i tyood")
1. The way a person feels about someone or something: "The teacher wants to change the hostile attitude some of his students have regarding technology."
2. A feeling or way of thinking that affects a person's behavior: "Since his accident, there has been a change in his attitude." "The sales lady had a friendly attitude with all of her customers." arbitrate, mediate
arbitrate (AR bi trayt")
1. To decide or to sit in judgment after listening to both sides: "The United Nations will try to arbitrate the dispute between the nations."
2. A process of settling an argument or disagreement in which the people or groups on both sides present their opinions and ideas to a third person or group for settlement: "The teachers' union agreed to arbitrate its pay differences with the school board." mediate (MEE dee ayt")
To bring about an agreement: "The lawyer tried to mediate between the car company and the auto union."
To mediate a dispute is to try to find a middle ground or compromise on which both sides may agree. arc, ark
arc (AHRK)
A curved line, arch, crescent, bow: "The rainbow formed a beautiful arc in the sky."
Both arc and arch come from the Latin element arcus, "bow". Archery and archer also come from this same Latin element. ark (AHRK)
1. The chest containing the Ten Commandments of God, written on stone tablets and carried by the Hebrews during their long desert wanderings: "As they wandered the desert, the Hebrews carried the Ark with them because it contained their sacred documents."
2. The boat mentioned in the Bible which God commanded Noah to build for shelter during the Great Flood: "Noah was commanded to build an ark, big enough for two of all species of animals, in anticipation of the flood." 3. A large, flat-bottomed or awkward boat: "They lived on an ark, or house boat, on the Seine River in Paris." archives, Ark hives
archives (AR kighvz")
A place or collection containing records, documents, or other materials of historical interest: "The government kept documents about the war in the archives."
ark hives (ARK highvz)
The boat built by Noah in the Bible for survival during the Flood with an artificial structure serving as habitations for honeybees on the Ark: "Noah kept the bees in Ark hives."
area, aria
area (AIR ee uh)
1. Surface; space: "The apple orchard covers a large area of the farm."
2. Region, territory, district: "Alligators are found in this marshy area." 3. Field, sphere, realm: "France has always excelled in the area of the arts." aria (AH ri uh)
A melody sung solo or as a duet in an opera, oratorio, or cantata: "The two singers closed the concert with an aria."
are; are, ar; or, our
are (AR)
Second person singular and plural, and first and third person plural of the present indicative of be.: "You are going and we are also going and I understand that they are going, too."
are, ar (AR)
A metric unit of area equal to 100 square meters (119.6 square yards): "By careful measurement, we determined the size of our property to be 100 square meters (119.6 square yards) or one are."
or (OR)
A conjunction suggesting an alternative: "Pay the price or simply leave."
our (OUR)
The possessive form of "we"; used as a modifier before a noun; relating to or belonging to us: "We were reminded of our accomplishments in our hometown newspaper."
"We kept our promise even though we were criticized for our actions." arraign, arrange
arraign (uh RAYN)
1. To call into court for some legal action; accuse, charge: "The district attorney wanted to arraign the suspect immediately."
2. Accuse, call to account: "The medical association met to arraign the doctor for his unethical behavior." arrange (uh RAYNJ)
1. To put in order; organize: "Please arrange the books in alphabetical order."
2. Plan, schedule: "The travel agent tried to arrange the trip with a stopover in Rome." 3. Orchestrate, adapt: "The musician will arrange the symphony so it can be performed by a marching band." arrant, arrantly, errant, errantly
arrant (AR uhnt)
1. Used to emphasize that someone or something is an extreme example of something disapproved of: "This arrant nonsense!"
2. Without qualification; used informally as (often pejorative) intensifiers: "He dismissed the rumors as arrant nonsense." arrantly (AR uhnt li)
Of the worst kind, impudently or not showing respect for other people: "He was arrantly smoking in the non-smoking area of the restaurant."
errant (ER uhnt)
1. Roving or wandering; especially, in search of adventure: "We were reading about an errant traveler."
2. Straying from the proper course or correct standard: "She could no longer tolerate her errant husband." errantly (ER uhnt li)
A reference to someone or something going out of a specified area: "The calf errantly went into the neighbor's garden."
artist, artiste
artist (AR tist)
A practitioner of a fine art: "The paintings of the artist were displayed at the community center."
artiste (ar TEEST)
A skilled public performer or entertainer; especially, a singer or dancer: "The artiste closed the concert with a new song." ascension, assumption
ascension (uh SEN shuhn)
Rising, climbing, scaling: "The climbers' ascension of the mountain was more difficult than they expected."
assumption (uh SUMP shuhn)
1. A belief, supposition, or premise: "The couple rented the old house on the assumption that the landlord would renovate it."
2. Becoming responsible for, undertaking: "His assumption of his brother's debts was considered to be very admirable."
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