English Synonyms and Antonyms Part 19

difference, distance, error, remoteness, unlikeness, variation.

Prepositions:

The approximation _of_ the vegetable _to_ the animal type.

ARMS.

Synonyms:

accouterments, armor, harness, mail, weapons.

_Arms_ are implements of attack; _armor_ is a defensive covering. The knight put on his _armor_; he grasped his _arms_. With the disuse of defensive _armor_ the word has practically gone out of military use, but it is still employed in the navy, where the distinction is clearly preserved; any vessel provided with cannon is an _armed_ vessel; an _armored_ s.h.i.+p is an ironclad. Anything that can be wielded in fight may become a _weapon_, as a pitchfork or a paving-stone; _arms_ are especially made and designed for conflict.

ARMY.

Synonyms:

armament, forces, military, soldiers, array, host, mult.i.tude, soldiery, force, legions, phalanx, troops.

An _army_ is an organized body of men armed for war, ordinarily considerable in numbers, always independent in organization so far as not to be a const.i.tuent part of any other command. Organization, unity, and independence, rather than numbers are the essentials of an _army_.

We speak of the invading _army_ of Cortes or Pizarro, tho either body was contemptible in numbers from a modern military standpoint. We may have a little _army_, a large _army_, or a vast _army_. _Host_ is used for any vast and orderly a.s.semblage; as, the stars are called the heavenly _host_. _Mult.i.tude_ expresses number without order or organization; a _mult.i.tude_ of armed men is not an _army_, but a mob.

_Legion_ (from the Latin) and _phalanx_ (from the Greek) are applied by a kind of poetic license to modern _forces_; the plural _legions_ is preferred to the singular. _Military_ is a general word for land-_forces_; the _military_ may include all the armed _soldiery_ of a nation, or the term may be applied to any small detached company, as at a fort, in distinction from civilians. Any organized body of men by whom the law or will of a people is executed is a _force_; the word is a usual term for the police of any locality.

ARRAIGN.

Synonyms:

accuse, charge, impeach, prosecute, censure, cite, indict, summon.

_Arraign_ is an official word; a person accused of crime is _arraigned_ when he is formally called into court, the indictment read to him, and the demand made of him to plead guilty or not guilty; in more extended use, to _arraign_ is to call in question for fault in any formal, public, or official way. One may _charge_ another with any fault, great or trifling, privately or publicly, formally or informally. _Accuse_ is stronger than _charge_, suggesting more of the formal and criminal; a person may _charge_ a friend with unkindness or neglect; he may _accuse_ a tramp of stealing. _Censure_ carries the idea of fault, but not of crime; it may be private and individual, or public and official.

A judge, a president, or other officer of high rank may be _impeached_ before the appropriate tribunal for high crimes; the veracity of a witness may be _impeached_ by damaging evidence. A person of the highest character may be _summoned_ as defendant in a civil suit; or he may be _cited_ to answer as administrator, etc. _Indict_ and _arraign_ apply strictly to criminal proceedings, and only an alleged criminal is _indicted_ or _arraigned_. One is _indicted_ by the grand jury, and _arraigned_ before the appropriate court.

Antonyms:

acquit, discharge, exonerate, overlook, release, condone, excuse, forgive, pardon, set free.

Prepositions:

Arraign _at_ the bar, _before_ the tribunal, _of_ or _for_ a crime; _on_ or _upon_ an indictment.

ARRAY.

Synonyms:

army, collection, line of battle, parade, arrangement, disposition, order, show, battle array, exhibition, order of battle, sight.

The phrase _battle array_ or _array of battle_ is archaic and poetic; we now say in _line_ or _order of battle_. The _parade_ is for _exhibition_ and oversight, and partial rehearsal of military manual and maneuvers.

_Array_ refers to a continuous _arrangement_ of men, so that all may be seen or reviewed at once. This is practically impossible with the vast _armies_ of our day. We say rather the _disposition_ of troops, which expresses their location so as to sustain and support, though unable to see or readily communicate with each other. Compare DRESS.

ARREST.

Synonyms:

apprehend, detain, restrain, stop, capture, hold, secure, take into custody, catch, make prisoner, seize, take prisoner.

The legal term _arrest_ carries always the implication of a legal offense; this is true even of _arresting_ for debt. But one may be _detained_ by process of law when no offense is alleged against him, as in the case of a witness who is _held_ in a house of detention till a case comes to trial. One may be _restrained_ of his liberty without arrest, as in an insane asylum; an individual or corporation may be _restrained_ by injunction from selling certain property. In case of an arrest, an officer may _secure_ his prisoner by fetters, by a locked door, or other means effectually to prevent escape. _Capture_ is commonly used of seizure by armed force; as, to _capture_ a s.h.i.+p, a fort, etc. Compare HINDER; OBSTRUCT.

Antonyms:

discharge, dismiss, free, liberate, release, set free.

Prepositions:

Arrested _for_ crime, _on_ suspicion, _by_ the sheriff; _on_, _upon_, or _by virtue of_ a warrant; _on_ final process; _in_ execution.

ARTIFICE.

Synonyms:

art, craft, finesse, invention, stratagem, blind, cunning, fraud, machination, subterfuge, cheat, device, guile, maneuver, trick, contrivance, dodge, imposture, ruse, wile.

A _contrivance_ or _device_ may be either good or bad. A _cheat_ is a mean advantage in a bargain; a _fraud_, any form of covert robbery or injury. _Imposture_ is a deceitful _contrivance_ for securing charity, credit, or consideration. A _stratagem_ or _maneuver_ may be of the good against the bad, as it were a skilful movement of war. A _wile_ is usually but not necessarily evil.

E'en children followed with endearing _wile_.