First Year Learning Community
Word: Omnipotent (adjective)
Definition: Having very great or unlimited authority or power.
Source: https://www.dictionary.com/browse/omnipotent
Encounter: I encountered this word at a subway station poster and i thought that it would be a good word to let others know about.
Comprehension: The meaning o this word can be used to described anyone or anything that is in position of authority or an higher power. It applies both mentally and physically based on the context.
Detour (noun)
Definition: a deviation from a direct course or the usual procedure
Encountered from A Literary Visitor Strolls in From the Airport by Charles Mcgrath.
But he was disappointed that on this route the city offered no dramatic prospect of itself, not even when he detoured up Mount Prospect in Mount Prospect Park. “It really should be called Ex-Prospect Park,” he grumbled.
I understand this word now because he took a long way up the mount prospect park and nothing is happening.
Source: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/detour
Part of speech: Verb
Definition: “To make a hole through, especially: to make a line of holes in to facilitate separation.”
Site: https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/perforating
The tool: “what is it makes them think that the plowshare torn from the bowels of the earth by perforating machines,…”
I understand now that a plowshare is a part of the plow, and the plow itself is putting the holes in the ground. when the “plow” in “perforating” its putting holes in the ground that helps for farming and planting seeds.
verb
“the process of repairing and rebuilding homes and businesses in a deteriorating area (such as an urban neighborhood) accompanied by an influx of middle-class or affluent people and that often results in the displacement of earlier, usually poorer residents” – Merriam-Webster Dictionary
The word was encountered through the article”Here, Poverty And Privilege Are Neighbors; Income Gaps Are a Source Of Resentment and Guilt” by
The sentence it was used in is “They range from Ms. Davis’s neighborhood, where two public housing projects bookend a gentrifying corridor of brownstones and row houses, to an area along the beach in Brooklyn where West End Avenue appears to be a stark line of demarcation ( marking of the limits) between the serene old-immigrant opulence (great wealth or luxuriousness) of Manhattan Beach and the teeming new-immigrant enclave ( social unit enclosed within or as if within foreign territory) of Brighton Beach.”
When the author utilizes this word he’s basically saying that the houses are under construction. Ms. Davis’s neighborhood has two housing projects that is in the process of repairing and rebuilding in a deteriorating alley way of brownstones and row houses. This word is also utilized in the juxtaposition project because many places in New York is constantly under construction so it relates to in progress vs completed.
Incremental (adj.)
relating to or denoting an increase or addition, especially one of a series on a fixed scale
Merriam Webster definition, of, relating to, being, or occurring in especially small increments”. I found this word in the text “Walk with me”, by David L. Ulin.
“…where is stood squat and compressed as i drove past, a facsimile in incremental scale.”
by the context of this sentence, instead of meaning increased in size, as this word normally does, instead it means shrunken, and in reference to the statue of liberty replica in Las Vegas.
facsimile (n.)
an exact copy, especially of written or printed material
Merriam Webster definition, ‘an exact copy’. I found this word in the text “Walk with me”, by David L. Ulin.
“…where is stood squat and compressed as i drove past, a facsimile in incremental scale.”
while this word did confuse me at first, because when searching this word up results of a fax machine showed up, this word means copy of, or to copy, hence the fax machine.
algorithms (n.)
a process or set of rules to be followed in calculations or other problem-solving operations, especially by a computer.
Merriam Webster definition, ‘a step-by-step procedure for solving a problem or accomplishing some end’, found in the text, “What If You Could Choose Between the Fastest Route and the Most Beautiful?”by Lex Berko.
“…the researchers ranked locations according to their pleasantness and combined those ranks with pre-existing algorithms”,
this word, basically means equation to me, so it’s really just inputting information into pre-existing equations.
Consensus (n.)
general agreement.
Merriam Webster definition, general agreement or unanimity . I found this word in the passage “What If You Could Choose Between the Fastest Route and the Most Beautiful?”by Lex Berko.
“…which one is more beautiful or which one makes them happier, consensus usually emerges”.
so this sentence now becomes, “…which one is more beautiful or which one makes them happier, a general agreement usually emerges”.
Strewn (v.)
scatter or spread (things) untidily over a surface or area
On Merriam Webster, meaning ‘to spread by scattering’,I found this word in the passage “What If You Could Choose Between the Fastest Route and the Most Beautiful?”by Lex Berko,
“…but the route itself might make for a garbage-strewn, treeless journey.”
so what the author means is that the route you’re forced to take, using a mapping app, might get you a path littered with trash
noun
a loud arrogant boaster
– Merriam Webster Dictionary
I found this word in the reading “The Way We Live Now: 11-11-01; Lost and Found”.
It was used in the sentence, “Although that bit about the Dutch buying Manhattan for 24 bucks might have something to it — there are and always will be braggarts who ”got in at the right time.”
The author uses the word in this sentence to express the way people can be obnoxious, or like used in the definition, arrogant and brag about things that don’t need to be bragged about.
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