Cure, heal. I cured the dog’s wounds.  The physician declared he could heal leprosy.

Custom, habit. “A custom more honor’d in the breach than the observance.”  Is it your custom to watch the clock while you eat?  The habit in that region was to rise at cockcrow.

Decided, decisive. A decided battle.  A decisive fault in manners.

Definite, definitive. We still await a definite edition of this author’s works.  His answer was so definitive that we no longer doubted what he meant.

Demesne, domain. Clive added India to the British demesne.  The king went riding through his personal domain.

Deprecate, depreciate. The German mark has deprecated in value.  He depreciated the praise they were lavishing upon him.

Descent, dissent. They tied themselves together with a rope in order to make their dissent safer.  The dissent to a lower plane of conversation was what he most desired.

Discovery, invention. The discovery of the wireless telegraph is Marconi’s chief claim to remembrance.  The invention of a water passage between Tierra del Fuego and the mainland was the work of Magellan.

Discriminate, distinguish. He could not discriminate individuals at that distance.  Any man can distinguish right from wrong.

Disinterested, uninterested. His course was entirely generous and disinterested.  Most visitors to art galleries have an uninterested manner.

Disposal, disposition. This disposal of the matter is authoritative, final.  His disposition of his forces was well-considered.

Dissatisfied, discontented. Though the colonists were dissatisfied for the moment, they could hardly be called discontented.

Distinct, distinctive. The distinct quality of his character was aggressiveness.  There were four separate and distinctive calls.

Dramatic, theatrical. An affected, dramatic manner.  A truly theatrical situation.

Dry, arid. A dry plain.  An arid place to sleep in.

Dumb, mute. The man stood dumb with surprise.  Always be kind to mute animals.

Durable, lasting. Our joy is durable.  Oak is a lasting wood.

3.  Consult the dictionary for the distinction between the members of each of the following pairs.  Frame sentences to illustrate the correct use of the words. (Some of the words in this list, as well as some in other parts of the chapter, are considered in larger groups in the chapters following.)

earth, world efficiency, efficacy egoism, egotism eldest, oldest elemental, elementary elude, evade emigrate, immigrate enough, sufficient envy, jealousy equable, equitable equal, equivalent essential, necessary esteem, respect euphemism, euphuism evidence, proof exact, precise exchange, interchange excuse, pardon exempt, immune expect, suppose expedite, facilitate