approximately
(continued)
about
around
roughly
argue
debate
discuss
dispute
reason
arise
emanate
emerge
issue
originate
result
stem
so near to a standard that the difference is virtually negligible. [It was approximately 100° in the shade; 7r is approximately 3.1415.]
About is often used interchangeably with approximately, but it does not stress the closeness to accuracy that approximately does: a hat costing about five dollars; reaching home at about dinner time. Around sometimes appears in informal contexts in place of approximately or about : to go to bed around midnight; to invite around fifteen people to a picnic.
Roughly is often used in place of approximately or about when there is no real attempt to be exact. [The cost of the car repairs was estimated at roughly fifty dollars; The population of Delaware is roughly 450,000.] Roughly also carries a suggestion of casualness or haste, which the other words do not convey. [The books were shelved roughly in alphabetical order; Roughly speaking, I would guess that we are headed for a depression.]
All these words mean to talk with others in order to reach an agreement, to persuade, or to settle a question of fact. Argue, the most general in the list, may refer to a reasoned presentation of views or to a heated exchange of opinion amounting to a quarrel. [The Senator argued his position with such cogency and wit that even his adversaries were impressed; They argued vociferously over who should pay the bill.] Debate means to argue formally, usually under the control of a referee and according to a set of regulations: The House of Representatives debated the proposal for three weeks. Any argument in which each person has strongly held opinions, however, can be styled a debate. Debate is also used less formally to mean to consider or think about alternatives: They debated about which train to take.
Discuss means to talk over, usually in an informal, friendly way. It implies that the participants have less intensely held opinions than in a debate, and emphasizes their common desire to resolve the question satisfactorily: a committee appointed to discuss and formulate recommendations on how to improve job opportunities for the underprivileged. Discuss points to the elucidation of an issue rather than to the narrow presentation of one’s own view.
Reason means to argue or discuss in a careful and painstaking manner in order to persuade or explore a subject in depth: Supreme Court justices reasoning with each other in interpreting the Constitution.
Dispute, in this context, means to argue with more passion than logic, often from a factional point of view: Adherents of rival candidates at a convention frequently fall to disputing about subtle rules of procedure. See CONTROVERSY.
Antonyms: consent.
These words refer to the development of one thing out of another. Arise suggests a chain of causality, possibly from simple to complex: new social organizations arising from the industrial revolution. Emerge suggests a gradual process that stresses simple change more than causality: a parliamentary system emerging slowly from the old order of absolute monarchy. Originate stresses the starting point for change: egalitarian sentiments that originated in contract theories of government. Result, by contrast, stresses the end product of change: contract theories of government that resulted in the growth of egalitarian sentiments.
Stem is closely related to originate in stressing the beginning of
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change, and like arise in stressing direct causation; it usually appears with from : civil rights laws that stemmed from national indignation over the brutal suppression of the protest marchers. Issue is similar in force to stem but is considerably more formal in tone: a sense of freedom issuing from more than a decade of experimentation in the arts. Emanate, the most formal of these words so far, stresses the point of origin like originate, stem, and issue, but it might be thought too formal for many contexts. It can, however, suggest a less clearly defined pattern of causation to which many imponderable factors may have contributed: a new sense of security emanating from greater prosperity and a lessening of the cold war. See begin, beginning.
Antonyms: decrease, finish, stop.
These words pertain to the guns and other military equipment used in fighting wars. Arms and weapons are general terms, nearly interchangeable, for the instruments of combat. A bow-and-arrow, sword, and rifle are all arms or weapons. Of the two terms, arms is more frequently restricted in use to those weapons that an individual soldier can wield, whereas weapons are anything used in the fight, from chance sticks and stones to hydrogen bombs. In its most general sense, arms can also refer to the whole military capability of a country: Both nations bankrupted themselves in their foolish race to manufacture arms.
Armament is similar in meaning to this last sense of arms, but it is much clearer in that it points without confusion both to the weapons and to the military equipment used to wage war: The country’s armament includes the most versatile planes, the fastest ships, and the most rugged tanks in the world. Armament may also be used to refer to the total weapons available to a military vehicle: The destroyer’s armament consists of several small cannon, two torpedo bays, and a number of antiaircraft guns. Ordnance may be used, like armament, for the total military effort of a country, but much more commonly refers specifically to heavy firearms, mounted cannon or mortars, and other heavy artillery.
Materiel and munitions both refer to equipment rather than to weapons. Materiel suggests all the supportive equipment and supplies necessary to combat, while munitions most commonly suggests ammunition only: Dry socks are as important an item of materiel as munitions.
Arsenal and deterrent have come into fairly recent use to refer to a country’s nuclear arms. Arsenal previously meant simply a place where weapons are stored, but in this specific instance it indicates a stockpile of nuclear warheads. Deterrent is an almost euphemistic word for a nuclear arsenal: The atomic arsenal of either nation alone could lay waste to the entire planet, yet each emerging country clamors to build its own deterrent as well. See fleet, troops.
Artificial may be applied to anything made by human beings in imitation of something natural: artificial flowers; an artificial leg. Synthetic is synonymous with artificial in this sense, but there is a connotation in synthetic of production by chemical combinations or similar techniques: synthetic rubber. False and ersatz both suggest a substitute made because of the costliness or lack of the original item: false teeth; the proliferation of ersatz goods during periods of war and inflation. False often implies the presenting of a misleading appearance when it refers to a function-masking decorative detail: false drawers that were actually a single door concealing stereo equipment. Ersatz commonly describes a cheap or inferior copy that can fool no one: bowls of
arms
armament
arsenal
deterrent
materiel
munitions
ordnance
weapons
artificial
ersatz
false
synthetic
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