The Beekeeper of Aleppo: List 1

by Christy Lefteri
When war destroys their life in Syria, Nuri Ibrahim tries to hold onto hope that he and his grieving wife will survive the dangerous journey to a new home.

This list covers Chapter 1–"Aleppo."

Here are links to our lists for the novel: List 1, List 2, List 3, List 4
40 words 28 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. arid
    lacking sufficient water or rainfall
    Throughout the arid plateau region of Syria there are oases and streams and rivers that empty into swamps and small lakes.
  2. measly
    contemptibly small in amount
    She made the river look like a stormwater drain running through the city park. Afra had this way of seeing truth in landscapes. The measly river in the painting reminded me of a struggle to stay alive.
  3. steppe
    an extensive plain without trees
    Thirty or so kilometers south of Aleppo, the river gives up the struggle of the harsh Syrian steppe and evaporates into the marshes.
  4. scuff
    mar or wear away by rubbing or scraping
    Sami would be there, smiling and running along those alleys with his scuffed sneakers, change in his hand, on his way to the store to get milk.
  5. minaret
    a slender tower with balconies, especially on a mosque
    From so high up we could see all the unorganized architecture and the beautiful domes and minarets, and far in the distance the citadel peeking through.
  6. citadel
    a stronghold for shelter during a battle
    From so high up we could see all the unorganized architecture and the beautiful domes and minarets, and far in the distance the citadel peeking through.
  7. veranda
    a porch along the outside of a building
    It was pleasant to sit on the veranda in the spring; we could smell the soil from the desert and see the red sun setting over the land.
  8. resuscitate
    cause to regain consciousness
    When the river dried up, I would go down to the irrigation pond to collect water for the garden to keep it alive. By August, it was like trying to resuscitate a corpse, so I watched it all die and melt into the rest of the land.
  9. apiary
    a shed containing a number of beehives
    I would drive the thirty miles to the apiaries and arrive as the sun was just rising, fields full of light, the humming of the bees a single pure note.
  10. ideal
    conforming to an ultimate standard of perfection
    The bees were an ideal society, a small paradise among chaos.
  11. residue
    matter that remains after something has been removed
    Later, during harvesting season, I would check the hives to see how much honey the bees had produced, and then I would put the combs into the extractors and fill the tubs, scraping off the residue to collect the golden liquid beneath.
  12. luscious
    extremely pleasing to the sense of taste
    In addition to honey, he sold honey-based cosmetics, luscious sweet-smelling creams and soaps and hair products from our very own bees.
  13. sensitivity
    responsiveness to emotional feelings
    He said I had a sensitivity that most men lacked, that I understood their rhythms and patterns. He was right. I learned how to really listen to the bees, and I spoke to them as though they were one breathing body with a heart, because, you see, bees work together.
  14. entity
    that which is perceived to have its own distinct existence
    Even when, at the end of summer, the drones are killed by workers to preserve food resources, they are still working as one entity.
  15. meticulously
    in a manner marked by extreme care of details
    Dahab and Mustafa would cook together, Mustafa measuring every ingredient, every spice, meticulously on the scales, as if one tiny mistake would ruin the whole meal.
  16. laden
    filled with a great quantity
    There were vines in the courtyard, laden with grapes, and a trellis of jasmine covering one wall, and on another a shelf of empty jars and slices of honeycomb.
  17. trellis
    latticework used to support climbing plants
    There were vines in the courtyard, laden with grapes, and a trellis of jasmine covering one wall, and on another a shelf of empty jars and slices of honeycomb.
  18. contemplate
    think intently and at length, as for spiritual purposes
    At these times, during the quiet of a Saturday evening, he began to overthink things, to contemplate; his mind could never rest, was never still.
  19. wicker
    flexible branches or twigs that can be woven together
    But Firas would stay on the wicker chair in the living room, in his T-shirt and shorts.
  20. artichoke
    a plant cultivated for its large, edible flower head
    Sometimes we had red lentil and sweet potato soup with cumin, or kawaj with beef and zucchini, or stuffed artichoke hearts or green bean stew, or parsley and bulgur salad, or spinach with pine nuts and pomegranate.
  21. baklava
    dessert made of flaky pastry, nuts, and honey
    Later, honey-soaked baklava and luqaimat dough balls dripping with syrup or preserved apricots in jars that Afra had prepared.
  22. granulation
    the act or state of being formed into small hard particles
    With each recipe, Mustafa and Aya would consider the pigments and acids, the minerals in each type of honey, in order to create a combination that worked perfectly, as he put it. Then they would calculate the sugar density, granulation, tendency to absorb moisture from air, immunity from spoilage.
  23. somber
    serious and gloomy in character
    “I can’t just abandon the bees, Nuri,” he’d said one night, his large hand coming down over his face and his beard, as if he was trying to wipe off the somber expression he always wore now.
  24. whim
    a sudden desire
    Of course it was hard to predict—smugglers changed their rates on a whim—but we had a plan, and Mustafa loved plans and lists and itineraries.
  25. itinerary
    a proposed route of travel
    Of course it was hard to predict—smugglers changed their rates on a whim—but we had a plan, and Mustafa loved plans and lists and itineraries.
  26. distinguish
    be a distinctive feature, attribute, or trait
    When he found identification on the corpses, his task was easier; other times he would record a distinguishing feature, like the color of hair or eyes, the particular shape of a nose, a mole on a left cheek.
  27. accommodation
    living quarters provided for public convenience
    “How do you find the accommodation, Mr. and Mrs. Ibrahim?”
  28. asylum
    a shelter from danger or hardship
    Then she hands me a bunch of papers. A packet from the Home Office: information about claiming asylum, eligibility, notes about screening, notes about the interview process.
  29. persecution
    causing someone to suffer
    To stay in the UK as a refugee you must be unable to live safely in any part of your own country because you fear persecution there.
  30. coherent
    marked by an orderly and consistent relation of parts
    “What you need to do now,” she says, “is get your story straight. Think about what you’re going to say to the immigration officer. Make sure it’s all clear and coherent and as straightforward as possible.”
  31. torrential
    relating to or resulting from the action of a downpour
    It is raining. Torrential rain. Worse even than Leros, where the land was saturated with rain and sea.
  32. forage
    collect or look around for, as food
    I sat down on the bed and cried, sobbed like a child, and from that day I kept the photograph and letter in my pocket, but Afra wouldn’t leave, so I would go out every day and forage in the ruins for food and return with a gift for her.
  33. inevitable
    incapable of being avoided or prevented
    She was postponing the inevitable, holding on to the living boy for as long as possible, keeping him alive.
  34. grovel
    show submission or fear
    I could no longer stay calm and I could hear myself begging for my life, groveling with my knees in the dust.
  35. gravely
    to a severe or serious degree
    “Please,” I was saying, “it’s not that I don’t want to. I’d be proud, I’d be the proudest man in the world to take that gun in your name, but my wife is very ill, gravely ill, and she needs me to look after her.”
  36. unscathed
    not injured
    I pushed up the roof and saw the sky, vast and unscathed: the blue of dreams.
  37. inscribe
    carve, cut, or etch into a material or surface
    From the floor she picked up a broken ornament: a crystal bird with the words 99 Names of Allah inscribed in gold on an open wing.
  38. subdue
    correct by punishment or discipline
    Then, in a soft voice, like the voice of a child resurrected from years past, she began to recite the list engraved in her mind:
    “‘The maker of order, the subduer, the knower of all, the seer of all, the hearer of all, the giver of life, the taker of life...’”
  39. strew
    spread by scattering
    Now I couldn’t bear to look at them, broken and strewn across the floor.
  40. remnant
    a small part remaining after the main part no longer exists
    In her open palms she had colorful pieces of Lego: the remnants of a house that Sami had built—the house we would live in when we got to England, he had said, once he’d agreed that it would be a good thing to go.
Created on Thu Apr 27 11:47:03 EDT 2023 (updated Thu Apr 27 19:32:34 EDT 2023)

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