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Abraham Lincoln's "Gettysburg Address" (1863)

January 27, 2012 By Vocabulary.com (NY) Vocabulary.com Moderator
At just 272 words long, Abraham Lincoln's "Gettysburg Address" is widely considered to be one of the most powerful battlefield orations of all time. On November 19, 1863, Lincoln delivered the speech on the site of the Battle of Gettysburg, considered to be a turning point in the Civil War.
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14 Words Activities Assignments
definitions & notes only words
  1. conceive
    have the idea for
    "Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
  2. liberty
    freedom of choice
    "Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
  3. proposition
    a suggestion offered for acceptance or rejection
    "Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
  4. engage
    consume all of one's attention or time
    Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure.
  5. civil
    of or occurring between or among citizens of the state
    Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure.
  6. endure
    undergo or be subjected to
    Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure.
  7. dedicate
    give entirely to a specific person, activity, or cause
    We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live.
  8. portion
    something determined in relation to a thing that includes it
    We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live.
  9. hallow
    render holy by means of religious rites
    But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground.
  10. consecrated
    made or declared or believed to be holy
    The brave men, living and dead who struggled here have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract.
  11. detract
    take away a part from; diminish
    The brave men, living and dead who struggled here have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract.
  12. devotion
    commitment to some purpose
    It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us--that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion--that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth."
  13. vain
    unproductive of success
    It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us--that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion--that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth."
  14. perish
    pass from physical life
    It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us--that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion--that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth."

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