Although we often think of “valediction” in terms of high school “valedictorians,” the expression has a first meaning from which the graduation term was taken.  In Latin, the expression “vale,” although meaning “be well,” was often used as a term for saying “goodbye.”  One who provides a “valediction,” is one who says words (or gives a sign) of saying “goodbye.”  The “-diction” portion of the word is related to other terms meaning “to say or speak” such as “dictation,” “predict,” and “contradict.”  The high school valedictorian is the person who “says goodbye” to and on behalf of the graduating class.

The key thing to note is that the drinks are being taken before the meal, so at most we can say that they are “preprandial,” a word meaning “before lunch (or a meal).” The word comes from the Latin for dinner, “prandium.” Obviously, the prefix “pre-” adds the temporal qualification “before.”

The most tempting answer here is likely “conservative,” but do not be tricked into that option. While someone who is conservative does hold to traditions more strongly than some people, strictly speaking, a conservative is not unwilling to reconsider customs. The best option is “hidebound,” which implies such unwillingness to change because of conventional mores. The word comes from a term used to describe cattle and other animals that have dry skin that sticks tightly to the internal tissue.

The contrast being made here is between beings that do not sense and are not mobile with those that are. Beings that exist in such a manner are said to be “animate” (from whence we get our word “animal” as well as words like “animated” and “animation”). The root word for all of these English words is the Latin “anima,” meaning “soul.” Classical biology saw all such beings as having souls (a condition likewise attributed to plants) because they were able to move themselves (at least in some manner and to some degree).   If something is utterly unable to determine / move itself in this manner, we still today call it “inanimate.”

The key phrase here is “finally terminating her stream of requests,” indicating that the child was continually asking her mother for candy for breakfast. When someone incessantly does something, he or she does it continually without any interruption. The meaning can be seen in the parts of the word. The “in-” prefix is used here in the negative sense (in words like “insensitive”), while the “-cessantly” portion of the word is clearly related to the English word “cease.” Incessant actions are those that are done, literally, “without ceasing.”

The implication in this sentence is that the young man looked somewhat effeminate, though we cannot say that he looked totally like a woman. When someone is “androgynous,” he or she is said to have physical features that are both masculine and feminine. The word itself comes from roots for “man” and “woman.” The “andro-” portion is found in English words like “androgen” (male hormones) and “polyandry” (the practice of having many husbands). The “-gynous” portion of the word is found, for instance, in the title of a doctor who specializes in treating women’s health issues—a “gynocologist.”

The sense of the sentence is that Samuel’s actions cannot be explained. It does not say whether or not they were, in fact, inexcusable, though he could not provide such an excuse due to his inability to understand them himself. When something is “inexplicable,” it is unable to be explained. This meaning is clearly related to the parts of the word. The prefix “in-” negates the meaning of the word’s base meaning, and “explicable” is clearly related to English words like “explanation” and “explanatory.” This latter root literally means “to unfold” and is therefore related to the word “complicate,” which literally would mean “to fold together,” a meaning that is reflected in the standard English usage meaning “to make more difficult.”

A parasite is an organism that lives off another without killing that other. The organism in which it lives is called its “host.” This usage is related to the more standard form found in a sentence like, “He will be the host of the party,” though in our context it takes on this extended biological meaning in order to indicate that the “host” is providing a place in which the parasite can live (and perhaps reproduce).

Although one might wish to focus on the tempo or inflection in the professor’s voice, it is key to note the boredom that the voice induces in his students. When one has a “monotonous” voice, it is one that is tedious and unvarying, particularly with regard to inflection or tone of the voice. You should be able to detect the literal meaning of the word by examining its parts. “Mono-” means “one,” as is found in “monocle” (an eyepiece with a single lens), “monochromatic” (using only one color), and “monologue” (a speech given by one person). The “-tonous” at the end of the word is a base clearly related to “tone,” here taken in the sense of vocal tone or pitch.

The key thing to note here is that the crowd added variety to a day that was otherwise rather unvarying. The day might have been busy or not, but what we can say from the implications of this opposition is that it was unvarying. Such a day would be called “monotonous.” The word is derived from the prefix “mono,” meaning “one” and “-tonous,” a stem that here implies “tone” in the sense of “qualitative characteristic” (e.g. the characteristic “tone” of a given musical note). The former is found in many words such as “monocle” (an eyepiece with a single lens), “monochromatic” (using only one color), and “monologue” (a speech given by one person). The second element (“-tonous”) is coupled with the prefix to indicate that the day had a “single tone” or that it did not vary in character. The variety brought about by the crowd broke up this monotony.