Intermediate — Set 6

Set 6 of Intermediate covers 5 words: anxiety, capacity, assistance, temper, generation. Each entry below includes its definition, an example sentence, and synonyms — practice them with the interactive cards above.

1. anxiety · noun/æŋˈzaɪədi/

   a feeling of worry

   I experience high levels of anxiety before exams and that causes my hands to get sweaty.

   Synonyms: tension, nervousness, apprehension

   Origin: early 16th century: from French anxiété or Latin anxietas, from anxius (see anxious)

2. capacity · noun/kəˈpæsədi/

   the power or ability of the mind

   I am not sure that he has the capacity to manage such a big team.

   Synonyms: capability, ability, skill

   Origin: late Middle English: from French capacité, from Latin capacitas, from capax, capac- ‘that can contain’, from capere ‘take or hold’

3. assistance · noun/əˈsɪst(ə)ns/

   help given to someone

   Many college students need more assistance with their academic studies in their first year.

   Synonyms: aid, help, support

   Origin: late Middle English: from Old French, or from medieval Latin assistentia, from Latin assistere (see assist)

4. temper · noun/ˈtɛmpər/

   an angry state of mind

   He is not a bad person but he has a bad temper and might lose control at times.

   Synonyms: rage, anger, tantrum

   Origin: Old English temprian ‘bring something into the required condition by mixing it with something else’, from Latin temperare ‘mingle, restrain’. Sense development was probably influenced by Old French temprer ‘to temper, moderate’. The noun originally denoted a proportionate mixture of elements or qualities, also the combination of the four bodily humors, believed in medieval times to be the basis of temperament, hence temper (sense 1 of the noun)(late Middle English). Compare with temperament

5. generation · noun/ˌdʒɛnəˈreɪʃ(ə)n/

   a group of people of all the same age

   Divorce rate was really low in my grandparents' generation.

   Synonyms: age group

   Origin: Middle English: via Old French from Latin generatio(n-), from the verb generare (see generate)