The Prophet: On Work–On Crime and Punishment

by Kahlil Gibran
In this collection of fables, published in 1923, a prophet tells instructive stories to a group of listeners. Read the full text here.

This list covers "On Work"–"On Crime and Punishment."

Here are links to our lists for the book: List 1, List 2, List 3, List 4
30 words 51 learners

Learn words with Flashcards and other activities

Definition First
Print Flashcards

Other learning activities

Answer a few questions about each word. Use this to prep for your next quiz! Compete with other teams in real time to see who answers the most questions correctly! Test your spelling acumen. Read the definition, listen to the word and try spelling it!

Teaching tools

Create and assign quizzes to your students to test their vocabulary. Assign learning activities including Practice, Vocabulary Jams and Spelling Bees to your students, and monitor their progress in real-time.

Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. idle
    not in action or at work
    For to be idle is to become a stranger unto the seasons, and to step out of life’s procession, that marches in majesty and proud submission towards the infinite.
  2. procession
    the act of moving forward, as toward a goal
    For to be idle is to become a stranger unto the seasons, and to step out of life’s procession, that marches in majesty and proud submission towards the infinite.
  3. submission
    the condition of ceding control to someone or something else
    For to be idle is to become a stranger unto the seasons, and to step out of life’s procession, that marches in majesty and proud submission towards the infinite.
  4. intimate
    thoroughly acquainted through study or experience
    And to love life through labour is to be intimate with life’s inmost secret.
  5. affliction
    a state of great suffering and distress due to adversity
    But if you in your pain call birth an affliction and the support of the flesh a curse written upon your brow, then I answer that naught but the sweat of your brow shall wash away that which is written.
  6. vain
    unproductive of success
    And all knowledge is vain save when there is work
  7. likeness
    similarity in appearance or nature between persons or things
    And he who seizes the rainbow to lay it on a cloth in the likeness of man, is more than he who makes the sandals for our feet.
  8. alms
    money or goods contributed to the poor
    And if you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work and sit at the gate of the temple and take alms of those who work with joy.
  9. indifference
    the trait of lacking enthusiasm for or interest in things
    For if you bake bread with indifference, you bake a bitter bread that feeds but half man’s hunger.
  10. verily
    in truth; certainly
    Verily you are suspended like scales between your sorrow and your joy.
  11. mason
    a craftsman who works with stone or brick
    Then a mason came forth and said, Speak to us of Houses.
  12. hearth
    home symbolized as a part of the fireplace
    A little longer shall your city walls separate your hearths from your fields.
  13. scourge
    a whip used to inflict punishment
    Ay, and it becomes a tamer, and with hook and scourge makes puppets of your larger desires.
  14. jeer
    laugh at with contempt and derision
    It lulls you to sleep only to stand by your bed and jeer at the dignity of the flesh.
  15. abide
    dwell
    For that which is boundless in you abides in the mansion of the sky, whose door is the morning mist, and whose windows are the songs and the silences of night.
  16. raiment
    especially fine or decorative clothing
    Would that you could meet the sun and the wind with more of your skin and less of your raiment
  17. sinew
    a band of tissue connecting a muscle to its bony attachment
    But shame was his loom, and the softening of the sinews was his thread.
  18. modesty
    formality and propriety of manner
    Forget not that modesty is for a shield against the eye of the unclean.
  19. fetter
    a shackle for the ankles or feet
    And when the unclean shall be no more, what were modesty but a fetter and a fouling of the mind?
  20. toiler
    one who works strenuously
    When in the market place you toilers of the sea and fields and vineyards meet the weavers and the potters and the gatherers of spices
  21. invoke
    request earnestly; ask for aid or protection
    Invoke then the master spirit of the earth, to come into your midst and sanctify the scales and the reckoning that weighs value against value.
  22. sanctify
    render holy by means of religious rites
    Invoke then the master spirit of the earth, to come into your midst and sanctify the scales and the reckoning that weighs value against value.
  23. defile
    spot, stain, or pollute
    Like the ocean is your god-self;
    It remains for ever undefiled.
  24. wayfarer
    a traveler going on a trip
    You are the way and the wayfarers.
  25. unaccountable
    free from control or responsibility
    The murdered is not unaccountable for his own murder
  26. condemn
    pronounce a punishment, as in a court of law
    Yea, the guilty is oftentimes the victim of the injured,
    And still more often the condemned is the burden bearer for the guiltless and unblamed.
  27. righteousness
    the quality of adhering to moral principles
    And if any of you would punish in the name of righteousness and lay the ax unto the evil tree, let him see to its roots
  28. oppressor
    a person of authority who subjects others to undue pressures
    And how prosecute you him who in action is a deceiver and an oppressor,
    Yet who also is aggrieved and outraged?
  29. aggrieve
    cause to feel distress
    And how prosecute you him who in action is a deceiver and an oppressor,
    Yet who also is aggrieved and outraged?
  30. remorse
    a feeling of deep regret, usually for some misdeed
    And how shall you punish those whose remorse is already greater than their misdeeds?
Created on Tue Sep 21 10:51:20 EDT 2021 (updated Mon Sep 27 12:37:44 EDT 2021)

Sign up now (it’s free!)

Whether you’re a teacher or a learner, Vocabulary.com can put you or your class on the path to systematic vocabulary improvement.