English Words in Action, Group P +(active examples of vocabulary words being used in the context of sentences) Simply click on this banner (or the following link) and you will be on your way to stimulate your brain for greater word comprehension with quizzes based on some of the words in this unit.pace (PAYS)
1. Take three paces (steps) forward.
2. The horse moved at an easy pace (slow gait, walk). 3. The work progressed at a slow pace (rate, speed). 4. She paced (walked nervously) the floor, waiting for the phone to ring. 5. The horse paced (ambled, sauntered) around the ring. pacify (PAHS uh figh")
The king pacified (calmed, soothed) the mob with promises of reform.
Pacify comes from Latin pax, "peace" + facere, "to make". pact (PAKT)
Seven countries signed the trade pact (treaty, agreement).
Pact comes from Latin pactus, "agreed". This is derived from pacisci, "to make a covenant". This word is also related to Latin pax, "peace". pagan (PAY guhn)
1. The pagans (heathens, infidels) worshiped the gods of fire and rain.
2. It is said that the pagan (idolatrous, barbarian) idols were destroyed by the Christian missionaries. The Romans considered those who lived in outlying villages as uncouth, uneducated people who didn't know much about culture, manners, or religion. The word pagan comes from Latin paganus, "rustic, peasant" and is derived from Latin pagus, "the country, rural district". From the second century on, Latin paganus had the additional meaning of "civilian, non-soldier". Early Christians were said to be fond of military metaphors, regarding themselves as "soldiers of Christ"; so, they applied the "non-soldier" word, or "heathen", to those who had not enlisted in the Church as "soldiers". phenomenon (s), phenomena (pl), phenomenons (pl)
1. Snow is a phenomenon (natural event) of winter.
2. Beethoven was considered to be a phenomenon (rarity, marvel) among musicians. The normal plural form of phenomenon is supposed to be phenomena; however, phenomenons is also now acceptable when speaking of people or things: "Reckless speculators are phenomenons among today's investors." Phenomena is the correct plural form in any scientific content: "The phenomena were observed by astronomers throughout the world." "Tonight's weather forecast calls for assorted atmospheric phenomena." pine (noun, PIGHN)
1. Any of a genus (Pinus) of cone-bearing trees having needle-shaped evergreen leaves growing in clusters, and including many important timber trees.
2. Loosely, any tree of the pine family (pinaceae), including the cedar, fir, etc. pine, pining, pined (verb, PIGHN, PIGHN ing, PIGHN'd)
1. He pined (yearned, longed) for his native land.
2. After suffering so much heartbreak, she just pined (wasted, expired) away. Pine, comes from Latin poena (Greek poine), "punishment, penalty", which also is the basis for the English word pain. pneumoconiosis, pneumonoconiosis
Any of various lung disorders resulting from the inhalation of dust or other minute particles.
pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanokoniosis, pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis
A lung disease caused by breathing in particles of siliceous volcanic dust.
This is considered to be the longest word in any English dictionary; however, it was coined by Everett Smith, the President of The National Puzzlers' League, in 1935 purely for the purpose of inventing a new "longest word". The Oxford English Dictionary described the word as factitious; however, it also appears in the Webster's, Random House, and Chambers dictionaries. Much shorter words already existed to describe such conditions; for example, pneumoconiosis, or "Miner's Lung", is the term for a lung condition in which inhalation of dust leads to the formation of lumps of fibrous tissue in the lungs, and silicosis, or "Grinder's Disease", is the term for such a condition when caused by crystalline silica dust. Links to all of the groups of English words in action, Groups A to Z. You may see the bibliographic list of sources of information for these words in action. If there are any numbers below, use them to see other pages in this unit.Back to Index | Search Box | Main Index The Main-Get Words pageThe + sign which might appear at the end of a unit title means all of the words in that unit have definitions.
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