Anthem and Declaration Vocabulary

Front

base

It is base and evil.

Back

Morally low; without estimable personal qualities; dishonorable; selfish.

Front

transgression

And we know well that there is no transgression blacker than to do or think alone.

Back

An act that goes against a law, rule, or code of conduct; an offense or violation.

Front

prescribe

You shall do that which the Council of Vocations shall prescribe for you.

Back

To lay down a rule or directive; to recommend or order the use of something, often in a formal or authoritative manner.

Front

eugenics

And each of the men have one of the women assigned to them by the Council of Eugenics.

Back

A controversial and discredited movement aimed at improving the genetic quality of a human population, often through selective breeding and other means.

Front

reprimanded

So we were reprimanded tonight, in the dining hall, for without knowing it we had begun to sing aloud some tune we had never heard.

Back

To rebuke or scold someone, especially officially or formally.

Front

transgressor

And we thought then, standing in the square, that the likeness of a Saint was the face we saw before us in the flames, the face of the Transgressor of the Unspeakable Word.

Back

A person who violates a law, command, or moral code; someone who commits a transgression.

Front

pyre

What--even if we have to burn for it like the Saint of the pyre--what is the Unspeakable Word?

Back

A heap of combustible material, especially one for burning a corpse as part of a funeral ceremony.

Front

fathom

But tonight, for a reason we cannot fathom, we wish it were possible to us to know the likeness of our own person.

Back

To understand or comprehend something after much thought; to measure the depth of water.

Front

solemn

We walked through empty passages and into the great hall where the World Council of Scholars sat in solemn meeting.

Back

Formal and dignified; characterized by deep sincerity; serious in manner or appearance.

Front

infamy

"Yes," said Collective 0-0009, "we have much to say to a wretch who have broken all the laws and who boast of their infamy!"

Back

The state of being well known for some bad quality or deed; notoriety.