Vocabulary The Chrysalids

Chapter 1 Sunday precepts: rules to guide or direct human behavior Definition of Man: the religious definition of a normally formed human being as Davids society believed it should be Blasphemy: by the terms of Davids society, a malformed human being Offence: a malformed animal or vegetable Germinate: to begin to develop Cleft: a crack, a split (for example: in wood) Rote: a set, mechanical way of doing things (ie. Repeating the times tables in math) Cold-poulticed: a soft, moist mixture of mustard and herbs, spread on a cloth, and applied to a sore or injury.

Chapter 2 Nicholsons Repentances: repentance means a turning away from the path of disobedience to the prescribed method of behavior. This book was obviously a guide to mortality for the people of Waknuk. mutant: an animal or human that has some basic physical or mental alteration; a freak deviation: a marked departure from the accepted pattern; in Davids society, mutants are deviations midden: refuse heap or manure pile leeward: the side away from the wind; a sheltered place wattle: framework of twigs interlaced, used for roofs, walls and fences wraith: a ghost meticulousness: excessive attention to small details

Chapter 3 norm: the standard, or the average; in this case, whatever was considered normal by the teachings of the Waknuk society Implacable: that which cannot be pacified; relentless, without mercy

Chapter 4 helve: the handle of an axe sub judice: a case that is still before the court, awaiting a ruling, is said to be sub judice spinney: a small area of brush or undergrowth ethics: a set of moral principles stating how men must act attested pedigrees: certified documents signed by witnesses to prove genuine the ancestral line of an animal rick: a large stack, as of hay dissemble: pretend demise: discontinuance or ending of operation peroration: concluding part of a speech rectitude: uprightness; goodness, morality pedant: a person who makes a display of his learning trenchant: sharp, mentally alert, keen

Chapter 5 No vocabulary

Chapter 6 Abetting a concealment: helping to hide a deviate Saprophytes: organisms that live off dead matter Badlands: Waknuks name for country that was so affected by Tribulation that it was believed to be unreclaimable, or totally beyond hope of ever supporting life.

Chapter 7 has no vocabulary Chapter 8 Poker-work texts: the practice of burning sayings or proverbs into wood or leather. These were the signs that hung in Davids home. Funking: shrinking back because of fear or uncertainty. Fruition: state of bearing fruit; hence, realization, as in ones hopes or plans Chapter 9 Echelon: an arrangement of men in a series of rows, but patterned like steps Stoking: arranging sheafs of grain into mounds for drying and curing

Chapter 10 has no vocabulary

Chapter 11 Orthodoxy: sound and correct opinion; in this case, correct qualities Amorphous splodge: shapeless splotch Retrouss: turned-up Tribunal: a court of justice; in this case, a court which rules on deviations Propitious: favorable, promising Abeyance: a condition of suspended activity Propreitorial: arising from or showing awareness of ownership Overt: open; not secret

Chapter 12 Sealand: probably what we know as New Zealand Spoor: trail or track Hobble the horses: tie or fasten their legs together loosely so that they can graze, but not run away Imminent: threatening to occur immediately

Chapter 13 Disemboweled: torn open so the bowels come out Sententiously: speaking as if one were a judge settling the question

Chapter 14 Symbiosis: a blending into one; close association Aberrate: to deviate from the normal Miscegenate: a mixture of types Homogeneal: of a similar kind or nature Consensus: agreement in opinion

Chapter 15 Has no vocabulary

Chapter 16 Tableau: sometimes called a living picture; usually, it is a group of people standing transfixed in reaction to some incident Appliqu: an adornment sewn onto a dress Treacle: viscous, sticky substance Chapter 17 Apologia: a defense or justification of the way one conducts his life Superior variant: a type of series; in this case, a type of human species that is better than others