Wordcraft, 12 September 2026

Glossary from the edition

16 words, each quoted in the sentence where it appeared in the 12 September 2026 edition. Meaning first, then the sentence, then where it came from.

The seven lessons

One entry of each type, every day: a system, not a word list.

Worksheet

Every exercise from the session, on paper. Answers are folded under each one; the online session marks them for you and keeps your score.

Root & family · venire (to come)

1. Choose one Circle the letter of the correct option.

   Which word does NOT belong to the venire family?

   1. revenge
   2. prevent
   3. revenue
   4. contravene
   Answer

   revenge. Revenge is from Latin vindicare, to claim or avenge, by way of Old French. The re- prefix is a coincidence, which is exactly the trap: a shared prefix proves nothing about the root.

2. Fill the blank Circle the letter that completes the sentence.

   A subordinate rule that goes against the parent Act is said to ___ it.

   1. contravene
   2. convene
   3. intervene
   4. prevent
   Answer

   contravene. Contra- plus venire, to come against. Convene is to come together and intervene is to come between, so neither will do the work here.

3. Match the pairs Write the letter from the right against each number on the left.

   Match each prefix to what it does to "come".

   1. con-
   2. inter-
   3. prae-
   4. re-

   1. come back
   2. come before
   3. come between
   4. come together
   Answer

   • con-: come together
   • inter-: come between
   • prae-: come before
   • re-: come back

   Four prefixes, one verb. Once the prefixes are secure, the family expands on its own without further memorisation.

4. Find the error Circle it in the sentence below, then write the correction.

   Find the word that is not doing the work the sentence needs.

   The Rules were held to convene Article 14 and were struck down.

   Answer

   convene → contravene. A rule cannot come together with Article 14; it comes against it. This is a real and common slip, and the prefix alone catches it.

5. Choose one Circle the letter of the correct option.

   Why do a joint venture and an adventure feel related?

   1. Because venture is a worn-down form of adventure, from ad- plus venire
   2. Because both derive from French venir, to come, independently of Latin
   3. Because venture was coined in commerce and adventure borrowed from it
   4. Because both come from vendere, to sell
   Answer

   Because venture is a worn-down form of adventure, from ad- plus venire. Venture lost its first syllable the way esquire gave squire. The shared sense of risk undertaken is etymological rather than metaphorical.

6. Put in order Number the lines 1 upward in the correct order.

   Arrange these so the "coming" moves from before, to between, to together, to back.

   • revenue
   • convene
   • intervene
   • prevent
   Answer

   1. prevent
   2. intervene
   3. convene
   4. revenue

   Before, between, together, back. Reading the prefixes in sequence is the fastest way to fix the family in memory.

Confusable pair · eminent / imminent / immanent

7. Choose one Circle the letter of the correct option.

   Which sentence uses the right word?

   1. The expiry of the 1996 treaty in December 2026 is an imminent diplomatic deadline.
   2. The expiry of the 1996 treaty in December 2026 is an eminent diplomatic deadline.
   3. The expiry of the 1996 treaty in December 2026 is an immanent diplomatic deadline.
   4. The expiry of the 1996 treaty in December 2026 is an eminant diplomatic deadline.
   Answer

   The expiry of the 1996 treaty in December 2026 is an imminent diplomatic deadline.. A deadline hangs over you in time, so it is imminent. The fourth option is not an English word at all.

8. Fill the blank Circle the letter that completes the sentence.

   The doctrine of ___ domain underlies the state power of compulsory acquisition.

   1. eminent
   2. imminent
   3. immanent
   4. immenent
   Answer

   eminent. The state right stands above private title; nothing is about to happen and nothing is indwelling. This is the single highest-frequency error of the three.

9. Match the pairs Write the letter from the right against each number on the left.

   Match each word to the Latin verb behind it.

   1. eminent
   2. imminent
   3. immanent
   4. eminent domain

   1. the state standing above private title
   2. immanere, to remain within
   3. imminere, to overhang
   4. eminere, to stand out
   Answer

   • eminent: eminere, to stand out
   • imminent: imminere, to overhang
   • immanent: immanere, to remain within
   • eminent domain: the state standing above private title

   Three unrelated verbs. Because no shared root connects them, only the pictures will hold them apart.

10. Find the error Circle it in the sentence below, then write the correction.

    Find the misused word.

    An imminent historian of the Deccan reviewed the inscription.

    Answer

    imminent → eminent. A historian stands out; a historian is not about to happen. Reading the sentence with the picture in mind catches it at once.

11. Choose one Circle the letter of the correct option.

    Which is the standard opposite of immanent?

    1. transcendent
    2. imminent
    3. eminent
    4. permanent
    Answer

    transcendent. Immanent, within; transcendent, beyond. That contrast is the reason the word survives in English at all, and the reason to use it only when the contrast is your point.

12. Put in order Number the lines 1 upward in the correct order.

    Arrange by how close the thing is to happening, from settled fact to distant possibility.

    • is conceivable
    • is likely
    • is imminent
    • has occurred
    Answer

    1. has occurred
    2. is imminent
    3. is likely
    4. is conceivable

    Imminent is much stronger than likely. In an answer about disaster management or preventive detention, that difference in strength is doing legal work and should not be used loosely.

Collocation · how a country joins a grouping

13. Choose one Circle the letter of the correct option.

    A state that did not sign a treaty but wishes to become party to it now will:

    1. accede to it
    2. ratify it
    3. denounce it
    4. initial it
    Answer

    accede to it. Ratification is available only to a signatory. Accession is the route for a state joining an instrument already in force.

14. Fill the blank Circle the letter that completes the sentence.

    Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the UAE became members ___ 1 January 2024.

    1. with effect from
    2. in consequence of
    3. as per
    4. in view of
    Answer

    with effect from. The phrase attaches a legal start date. The others are either vague or, in the case of "as per", a usage best avoided in formal prose.

15. Match the pairs Write the letter from the right against each number on the left.

    Match each status to what it entitles a state to.

    1. full member
    2. partner country
    3. outreach invitee
    4. signatory

    1. named on the instrument, not yet bound
    2. presence at one summit, no status
    3. a defined standing status, short of membership
    4. a seat and a veto in a consensus body
    Answer

    • full member: a seat and a veto in a consensus body
    • partner country: a defined standing status, short of membership
    • outreach invitee: presence at one summit, no status
    • signatory: named on the instrument, not yet bound

    Four rungs, four different claims. Collapsing any two of them into "part of BRICS" loses the fact the question is testing.

16. Find the error Circle it in the sentence below, then write the correction.

    Find the word that makes this sentence false.

    Saudi Arabia attends BRICS as a partner country rather than a member.

    Answer

    partner → is listed as a member. Partner Country is a defined category of ten states and Saudi Arabia is not one of them. This exact error appeared in a draft of today’s edition and was corrected before publication.

17. Put in order Number the lines 1 upward in the correct order.

    Arrange from weakest to strongest attachment to a grouping.

    • full member
    • signatory
    • partner country
    • outreach invitee
    Answer

    1. outreach invitee
    2. partner country
    3. signatory
    4. full member

    The ladder is the point. Knowing where a state sits on it is usually the whole of the Prelims question.

18. Choose one Circle the letter of the correct option.

    Which verb correctly describes a treaty ending on its own stated terms?

    1. it expires
    2. it is denounced
    3. it is repealed
    4. it is quashed
    Answer

    it expires. Denunciation is an active withdrawal; repeal applies to statutes; quashing is what a court does to an order. The 1996 Ganga treaty expires in December 2026.

From the edition · discriminative

19. Choose one Circle the letter of the correct option.

    Which sentence makes a design critique rather than a constitutional allegation?

    1. The composite label is weak in discriminative power.
    2. The composite label is discriminatory.
    3. The composite label is discriminating.
    4. The composite label is discretionary.
    Answer

    The composite label is weak in discriminative power.. Discriminatory alleges unfair treatment on a protected ground. Discriminating praises a person’s judgement. Discretionary describes power, not capacity.

20. Fill the blank Circle the letter that completes the sentence.

    A diagnostic test that cannot separate the mild from the severe case lacks ___ power.

    1. discriminative
    2. discriminatory
    3. discretionary
    4. discriminating
    Answer

    discriminative. This is the technical sense, and it is the same sense the article uses of a food label. The instrument is too blunt, not unfair.

21. Match the pairs Write the letter from the right against each number on the left.

    Match each word to what it is normally said of.

    1. discriminative
    2. discriminatory
    3. discriminating
    4. discretionary

    1. a power or a fund
    2. a person of judgement
    3. a law or practice
    4. a test, label or index
    Answer

    • discriminative: a test, label or index
    • discriminatory: a law or practice
    • discriminating: a person of judgement
    • discretionary: a power or a fund

    Four suffixes, four homes. Choosing by what the word is attached to is more reliable than choosing by meaning.

22. Find the error Circle it in the sentence below, then write the correction.

    Find the word that turns a design critique into a constitutional allegation.

    The single hexagon is discriminatory because it cannot separate sugar from salt.

    Answer

    discriminatory → weak in discriminative power. The reason given is about capacity, not about unfair treatment of persons, so the adjective contradicts its own justification.

23. Say it shorter Rewrite the sentence below within the word limit.

    It may be submitted that the framework in question, in so far as it relates to the making of a distinction between products of an ultra-processed nature and products which are not of such a nature, is possessed of a certain lack of capacity in the matter of discrimination between the said categories.

    Word limit 12

    Model

    The framework cannot separate ultra-processed products from the rest. Five hedges, two empty relative clauses and a nominalisation. The model keeps the entire claim and drops nothing but the packaging.

24. Choose one Circle the letter of the correct option.

    What does every composite measure necessarily cost?

    1. Discriminative power, because separate quantities are folded into one
    2. Accuracy, because averages are always wrong
    3. Legitimacy, because composites are not statutory
    4. Comparability, because composites cannot be ranked
    Answer

    Discriminative power, because separate quantities are folded into one. Composites are usually more comparable and can be perfectly accurate. What they always give up is the ability to tell you which component drove the result.

Say it shorter · turning a colon list back into verbs

25. Say it shorter Rewrite the sentence below within the word limit.

    The revised framework serves three purposes: the standardisation of disclosure across platforms, the reduction of information asymmetry for the consumer, and the facilitation of enforcement action by the regulator.

    Word limit 22

    Model

    The revised framework standardises disclosure across platforms, tells the consumer what the platform already knows, and makes enforcement easier for the regulator. Three nominalisations become three verbs. Note that the middle item had to be rewritten rather than converted, which is the useful part: the abstraction was hiding an absence of content.

26. Choose one Circle the letter of the correct option.

    Which is the surest sign that a colon list should be rewritten?

    1. The items after the colon end in -tion and -ment
    2. The sentence runs past twenty words
    3. The colon is followed by three or more items
    4. The sentence begins with a long subject
    Answer

    The items after the colon end in -tion and -ment. Length and item count are neutral. Stacked nominalisations are the specific symptom, because they mark actions that have been turned into nouns.

27. Find the error Circle it in the sentence below, then write the correction.

    Find the weak carrier verb propping up this sentence.

    The Authority undertakes four functions: registration, inspection, adjudication and publication.

    Answer

    undertakes → registers, inspects, adjudicates and publishes. Undertakes carries no meaning at all here. Four verbs are sitting behind the colon in noun form, and promoting them removes the carrier entirely.

28. Put in order Number the lines 1 upward in the correct order.

    Arrange these steps of the repair in the order you would perform them.

    • Check whether any item had no content to promote
    • Promote the hidden actions to finite verbs
    • Ask what the subject actually does
    • Read only up to the colon
    Answer

    1. Read only up to the colon
    2. Ask what the subject actually does
    3. Promote the hidden actions to finite verbs
    4. Check whether any item had no content to promote

    The last step is the one people skip, and it is where the real gain is: an item that will not convert into a verb usually was not saying anything.

29. Fill the blank Circle the letter that completes the sentence.

    A colon list is safe when its items are ___ rather than actions.

    1. things
    2. abstractions
    3. clauses
    4. qualifiers
    Answer

    things. Four jurisdictions, six workstations, eleven members: nothing is being done, so nothing is hidden. The problem is specific to actions in noun form.

30. Choose one Circle the letter of the correct option.

    Why is the rewritten tunnel sentence more informative, despite being no shorter?

    1. Converting the last item to a verb forced the writer to say what actually happens
    2. It removes the technical terms that obscured the meaning
    3. It replaces the passive voice with the active voice
    4. It breaks one long sentence into three short ones
    Answer

    Converting the last item to a verb forced the writer to say what actually happens. There was no passive and no sentence split. "Construction-stage access allowing simultaneous headings" only becomes "you dig from both ends" when a verb is demanded of it.

Usage watch · respectively

31. Choose one Circle the letter of the correct option.

    Which sentence uses respectively correctly?

    1. Goyal and Alikhanov attended as the Indian and Russian ministers respectively.
    2. The Ministers discussed trade, defence and energy respectively.
    3. India, Brazil and South Africa grew at 7.2 and 3.1 per cent respectively.
    4. It is respectively submitted that the notice was defective.
    Answer

    Goyal and Alikhanov attended as the Indian and Russian ministers respectively.. Two names, two nationalities, matching order. The second has no second list, the third has mismatched lengths, and the fourth wants respectfully.

32. Find the error Circle it in the sentence below, then write the correction.

    Find the word that should be deleted.

    The Board reviewed safety, staffing and finance respectively at the meeting.

    Answer

    respectively → (delete). One list, no counterpart. Nothing is being mapped onto anything, so the word is pure decoration.

33. Fill the blank Circle the letter that completes the sentence.

    In legal drafting the standard formula is "it is ___ submitted".

    1. respectfully
    2. respectively
    3. respectably
    4. respectingly
    Answer

    respectfully. With respect. Writing respectively here is a well-known howler and is easy to avoid once you have seen it named.

34. Match the pairs Write the letter from the right against each number on the left.

    Match each sentence shape to what you should do.

    1. two lists, equal length
    2. one list only
    3. lists of unequal length
    4. you mean "in each case"

    1. write each or separately
    2. rewrite the sentence
    3. delete respectively
    4. keep respectively
    Answer

    • two lists, equal length: keep respectively
    • one list only: delete respectively
    • lists of unequal length: rewrite the sentence
    • you mean "in each case": write each or separately

    Four shapes, three of which are repairs. The word is correct less often than it is typed.

35. Choose one Circle the letter of the correct option.

    Why is "three countries, two figures, respectively" worse than merely inelegant?

    1. The mapping is undefined, so the sentence cannot be parsed at all
    2. It is ambiguous only to readers unfamiliar with the data
    3. It is correct in British but not in Indian usage
    4. It is acceptable if the third figure appears later
    Answer

    The mapping is undefined, so the sentence cannot be parsed at all. Respectively is an instruction to pair items in order. If the sequences differ in length the instruction cannot be carried out, and the reader is left holding an unfinished operation.

36. Put in order Number the lines 1 upward in the correct order.

    Arrange the check you should run when you type the word.

    • If any answer is no, delete or rewrite
    • Is the order genuinely matched?
    • Are the two lists the same length?
    • Is there a second list?
    Answer

    1. Is there a second list?
    2. Are the two lists the same length?
    3. Is the order genuinely matched?
    4. If any answer is no, delete or rewrite

    Three questions and a consequence. Running them takes a few seconds and removes the word from most of the sentences it appears in.

Idiom in formal register · a borrowed knife

37. Choose one Circle the letter of the correct option.

    Which element separates a borrowed knife from an ordinary alliance?

    1. The borrower avoids the cost that the wielding hand pays
    2. The two parties share a common adversary
    3. Hardware passes from one party to the other
    4. The arrangement is not publicly acknowledged
    Answer

    The borrower avoids the cost that the wielding hand pays. Allies share adversaries, transfer hardware and often keep arrangements quiet. What distinguishes the stratagem is the asymmetry of cost.

38. Fill the blank Circle the letter that completes the sentence.

    Kill with a borrowed knife is the third of the ___.

    1. Thirty-Six Stratagems
    2. Arthashastra upayas
    3. Seven Military Classics
    4. Twenty-One Demands
    Answer

    Thirty-Six Stratagems. Jie dao sha ren is from the Chinese compilation of thirty-six ruses. The Arthashastra has its own fourfold upaya scheme, which is a useful comparison but a different text.

39. Match the pairs Write the letter from the right against each number on the left.

    Match each term to what it actually describes.

    1. borrowed knife
    2. salami-slicing
    3. proxy
    4. live lab

    1. a theatre used to test systems in real conditions
    2. a party acting in another’s interest
    3. incremental change too small to trigger response
    4. harm delivered through another’s hand
    Answer

    • borrowed knife: harm delivered through another’s hand
    • salami-slicing: incremental change too small to trigger response
    • proxy: a party acting in another’s interest
    • live lab: a theatre used to test systems in real conditions

    All four appear in or around today’s column and none is a synonym for the others. Using them interchangeably is the commonest way to waste a vivid phrase.

40. Find the error Circle it in the sentence below, then write the correction.

    Find the word that makes this use of the idiom wrong.

    France sold India Rafale jets, a classic borrowed knife arrangement.

    Answer

    classic → (not a borrowed knife at all). An ordinary arms sale intends no third-party harm and involves no deniability. Without intended harm the stratagem does not apply, however similar the hardware transfer looks.

41. Put in order Number the lines 1 upward in the correct order.

    Arrange the three elements in the order an answer should establish them.

    • the borrower escapes the cost
    • the instrument belongs to another
    • the harm is real and intended
    Answer

    1. the harm is real and intended
    2. the instrument belongs to another
    3. the borrower escapes the cost

    Establish harm first, because the other two are only interesting once harm is shown. An answer that opens with the hardware transfer has buried its own argument.

42. Choose one Circle the letter of the correct option.

    Why is it pointed that an Indian officer used this phrase about China?

    1. It describes Chinese conduct in China’s own strategic vocabulary
    2. It is a phrase with no equivalent in Indian strategic thought
    3. It was coined during Operation Sindoor and is therefore current
    4. It avoids naming Pakistan directly
    Answer

    It describes Chinese conduct in China’s own strategic vocabulary. The stratagem is a Chinese classical formulation. Using it turns the adversary’s own canon into the description of its behaviour, which is the rhetorical point.

Writing task · Name the knife, the hand and the beneficiary

Today’s idiom only holds when three things are separately true. Take any relationship in today’s edition, China and Pakistan, the US tariff on India over Russian crude, or BRICS consensus and the smallest member’s veto, and write in no more than 100 words whether it is a borrowed knife. Name the knife, the hand and the party that escapes the cost, or say plainly which of the three is missing. Use either veto point or reciprocal correctly somewhere in the answer.

Weekly answer clinic

India's China policy is caught between the demands of stabilisation and the reality of an adversarial relationship. Examine, with reference to the trade imbalance, LAC militarisation and the transparency contrast with Nepal, the choices before New Delhi at the 18th BRICS Summit. (250 words) (150 words; from Engage with China, but Without Getting Starry-Eyed About It). Use at least 5 words from this week’s glossaries. Open with the asymmetry, not the summit: imports of about USD 131.6 billion against exports of about USD 19.5 billion in 2025-26, which is the structural fact that every other item sits on. Then take the three references in turn and keep them short. Militarisation: eastern Ladakh is now a permanently held zone comparable to Siachen in what it costs in men, machines and money, so disengagement is not the same as de-escalation. Transparency: the Tibet flood response, five days to acknowledge 261 missing foreigners, is data about the state rather than about the disaster, and it is the reason verification has to be built into any agreement. Proxy: the borrowed-knife formulation locates the cost asymmetry, Chinese hardware and Pakistani exposure. Close on the choice rather than on a wish. Xi's first visit in seven years is worth taking, because stabilisation is cheaper than confrontation and India is chairing the room. But price it: dated movement on trade access, on further LAC disengagement, and on Brahmaputra data-sharing. A bilateral that produces none of those has bought optics. Avoid two failure modes: treating the visit as a reset, and treating engagement as concession. The examinable line is that India can host, engage and deter at once, and that the eleven-member consensus table gives it leverage precisely because every member is a veto point.

Companion to Vocab Builder (what a word scores in a GS answer) and Key Terms. Wordcraft is the language itself.