Vocabulary Test

XEME

Xeme is a bird or a bucket or a bison or a butterfly. Which is it?

You're quite right: it's a bird, a fork-tailed gull. Your vocabulary is

obviously impressive - but is it good enough? How many words do you know?

The tests that follow - scientifically devised by experienced

educationalists and philologists and developed and refined over a period

of years - will tell you accurately the size of your vocabulary. Ten

independent tests follow. In each test, every word you know stands for 600

words in your general vocabulary. If you get 30 words right out of 60,

your vocabulary is about 30 x 600 = 18,000 words.

Average your results for as many of the ten tests as you care to take. The

more tests you complete the more accurate the average will be.

What do your score and size of vocabulary signify?

LEVEL 1: 0 - 6,000 WORDS.

Most of those who score from 0 through 10 out of 60 are children aged 6

through 9. Others include older backward children, illiterate adults, or

adults with serious dyslexic, or other compounded problems.

LEVEL 2: 6,600 - 12,000 WORDS.

A score of 11 to 20 out of 60 is usually attained at age 10 or later.

Those who reach it at age 10 are likely to score 40 or more out of 60 as

adults. About 25 percent of adults have vocabularies no greater than

12,000 words.

LEVEL 3: 12,600 - 18,000 WORDS.

Among adults, this score of 21 through 30 out of 60 is the most common

range. In the range 12,600 - 15,000 are most of the adults who left school

as soon as the law would let them; they have done hardly any reading

since. In the range 15,600 - 18,000 are many adults who left school early

but continued with some reading or are involved in jobs that involve

language skills, such as secretarial work.

An 18 year old who intends to get further education should have reached

the top of this range.

LEVEL 4: 18,600 - 24,000 WORDS.

Adults with little or no college education may get 31 through 40 out of

60 right if they have maintained a keen interest in what is going on in

the world, plus a wide range of reading. Most college graduates are in

this range, and so are the members of most of the professions.

LEVEL 5: 24,600 - 30,000 WORDS.

Men and women in this range (41 through 50 out of 60 right) are well

educated and do a lot of reading. They are in the top echelons of their

profession, or are heading that way.

LEVEL 6: 30,600 - 36,000 WORDS.

The few who fall into this category (51 through 60 out of 60 right) do not

necessarily achieve more in their professions than those at level 5. At

this level, the tests become more an intellectual game than an important

scientific measurement.

For a reliable result, I can offer the steps I took when doing this test:

1. Print this page out to do the test at your leisure,

2. Leaving the words you know the meanings of without a doubt,

put a small question mark against the ones you're not sure of.

Those that you don't know the meaning of with certainty cross

them out immediately.

3. Then as best as you can, write down the meanings of those you

weren't sure of but you think may know.

4. Find a quite weekend or weeknight to visit a library with

extensive dictionaries (The Oxford English Dictionary is 20

volumes and the Webster's Unabridged dictionary is also another

example that comes to mind).

5. Check your definitions against the dictionary definitions, and

mark yourself according to whether you were mostly right, or

nowhere near the real thing.

6. Now you can add up your known words for each test, and average

your score over the ten tests.

Finally, if you wish to be listed on The Great List of Literati then fill out the form at the bottom of this page with your score and details.

TEST 1

Level 1 Level 2 Level 3

abroad abandon abridge

binoculars ballot aggregate

daily chaos bivouac

expedition contraband chronology

horizon excavate credulous

jangle fatigue hireling

limit laboratory indolent

pattern manual meagre

rate purchase nomadic

stroke shuttle occidental

level 4 level 5 level 6

abhorrent abscissa abulia

amorphous badinage bicuspid

crustacean cartel caracole

declivity daemon chalybeate

emaciated dendrite croton

fabrication exordium dysphoria

galaxy inchoate gazebo

heretical moraine kymograph

igneous rubric ortolan

nomenclature soutane quadrat

TEST 2

Level 1 level 2 level 3

alter beverage biography

barometer cardinal decarbonize

distinct demolish domicile

festival graph facet

hardship humdrum impunity

harpoon impulsive lore

matinee memorial mercenary

reign parallel phantasm

report terminate restive

waste vivacious taboo

level 4 level 5 level 6

actuate antimony antonomasia

bravura carronade cartouche

comber dithyrambic dorter

gouache hebdomadal elvan

hieroglyphic infusoria filemot

hybrid linage isomer

iconoclast medusa lasher

maelstrom myrmidon noumenon

muezzin paradigm pulvinate

resurgent topology velleity

TEST 3

level 1 level 2 level 3

explosion fledgling cosmopolitan

impatient hatchet diverge

kangaroo impact interpose

pirate javelin lateral

prowl landlubber niche

referee novelist porous

slant primitive rampant

solo renown territory

unique tradition voodoo

waste urban yeoman

level 4 level 5 level 6

ecology asymptotic bisque

laconic burlap colporteur

linden echidna decuman

maxilla henry grallatorial

paragon interfacial isomorphous

prolixity jeton orc

redolent paregoric parataxis

stertorous rachitic rivière

timbre tanager tanagra

vellum syncretism urticant

TEST 4

level 1 level 2 level 3

ballad abyss adaptable

canoe bale capsule

external canyon daub

icicle exterminate embargo

lame instrument gargoyle

magazine lizard justify

martyr obvious liberate

mass password memento

patriot rhythm naturalize

patrol stoppage oblivion

level 4 level 5 level 6

calculus aclinic Babbittry

debouch banshee calumet

gargantuan illation dehiscent

ibid. keelson gault

laissez-faire lachrymal hypocaust

literati martingale kenosis

neurology newton knap

obloquy occipital limnology

patois petrology mithridatism

rabid ratline unau

TEST 5

level 1 level 2 level 3

belfry besiege aquiline

bulge bronze botanist

outlaw gorge captious

package import furtive

pillar judo initiate

rental ledger jaded

riddle limpet kaleidoscope

shellfish penetrate limerick

vanish resort mutual

varnish warbler strategem

level 4 level 5 level 6

aurochs bergamot ablegate

beriberi brevier algorism

cornice deemster baltimore

denary homologous bezel

gratuitous lamina leat

hertz largo mittimus

hiatus pantheon myosotis

medial refulgence peneplain

teredo savory prunella

valetudinarian triolet windlestraw

TEST 6

level 1 level 2 level 3

anthill absurd acoustics

climate collapse bicker

container entire bison

endeavor generation centripetal

immediately immigrate emancipation

jingle jealous garbled

outcast mature lichen

rhyme raid mattock

signal satellite outshine

tank slipshod perimeter

level 4 level 5 level 6

botulism chamfer champlevé

cutaneous eschatology deadlight

datum giaour enchiridion

distrait imprest geodic

encyclical lapidate jokul

gamma nadir laches

lacerate oblate maud

mandate samphire pedicular

martinet satrap spandrel

nacelle ukase vavasor

TEST 7

level 1 level 2 level 3

humbug autobiography alloy

ivy corrugated brevity

legend extinct deportation

magnet gladiator hinterland

nickname deputy inscrutable

probably hooligan lineage

ripple lanky mucilage

situation magistrate omen

tattoo nozzle persecute

theatre offend repertoire

level 4 level 5 level 6

agoraphobia animism acarpous

barograph boulevardier chanterelle

concatenation canticle demersal

demography homophone eclampsia

hierarchy lammergeier gonfalon

iceblink mangonal jeofail

megrim natterjack orris

olfactory Paleozoic pyx

radian peignoir ret

risotto reticle sachem

TEST 8

level 1 level 2 level 3

badger brewer breaker

capture charity cumbersome

fresh generosity detention

hiss idol fumigate

ironmonger lathe humane

ladle orderly juggernaut

mermaid orient kayak

parade quest lineal

rear rowlock objective

swindle summit sorcery

level 4 level 5 level 6

chicanery ablaut chibouk

gravamen belvedere disembogue

holocaust dimity gemmule

lethargic gelation idolum

monograph homeopathy lasque

pinnace morpheme oroide

ramify pis aller quintan

scrutineer psephology rampion

tangential regulus scammony

unction sawder sullage

TEST 9

level 1 level 2 level 3

batter barbed dabble

chest chemistry exhaustive

engineer exception filtrate

funnel fascinating garnish

horn gibberish indifferent

mean hydrogen kaiser

outrun Latin metronome

pickax microscope naive

remove shield patronize

search suburb reinforce

(Note: pickax is not the way I would've spelt it, but that's the way it is

in the list)

level 4 level 5 level 6

bêtise aperçu crucian

clamant bleb deuteragonist

dirigible decorticate encaustic

epitome gauss hoveler

histrionic involute immortelle

logarithm lambent limpkin

panegyric peculation mort

rowel recidivist peen

simoom semiotics regelate

stricture speculum sandiver

TEST 10

level 1 level 2 level 3

battery crag bristling

carnation dwindling devious

drowsy easterly entangle

forecast hilt mere

guilty impetuous precipitous

jellyfish instinct scurvy

mention pike summons

pathless regulation territorial

result verge unkempt

screen warehouse vindicate

level 4 level 5 level 6

burnous catchpole calamary

cadenza Greek calends eparch

debenture Heaviside layer fleury

flense ichor grangerize

franklin jussive jacobus

habergeon limen levigate

ignis fatuus nescience marshalsea

jocund obi narthex

mutability panhandle, n. obol

napoleon ramose tetterwort

Source: The Joy Of Lex, Gyles Brandreth

ERRATA

Thanks to the following people who pointed out the following spelling errors or typo's:

Steven Schuessler;

Was: Changed to:

iconaclast iconoclast

satelite satellite

simoon simoom

Palezoic Paleozoic

Robert N Seitz 1/5/99;

Was: Changed to:

Sandever Sandiver

Quodrat Quadrat

Walter de Wit 16/12/99;

Was: Changed to:

Infusoira Infusoria

Michael Hess 16/03/2000;

Not part of the test but in the paragraph beginning with "Comments:..." I

had once again mis-spelt 'gauge' as 'guage' (sic).

Andrew Fowler 27/01/2001;

Was: Changed to:

grallotorial grallatorial

Helen Foisy 24/07/2001;

Not part of the test but part of these acknowledgments, see above in this section:

Helen kindly pointed out that I couldn't even get my acknowledgments right :)

Was: Changed to:

typo's typos

Geocities forms did not carry over to Google Sites, so I will look for an alternative. In the meantime, to enter Your Score for The Great List of Literati please email me with your full name, your score, date test taken, whether or not you want your email linked, and if you have any comments to

Note: Whils't this is merely a vocabulary test, I reserve the right to reject entries to The Great List of Literati.

You may also wish to try the Schmies vocabulary test found on Darryl's Uncommonly Difficult I.Q. Tests page.

P.s. If you didn't do well don't take it to heart. In my unqualified

opinion, though a functional vocab is essential to communicate your ideas

and is the crucial lubricant in the transposition of your other abilities,

it doesn't automatically mean that if you scored low on this vocabulary

test that you cannot communicate effectively. One can still be a highly

effective communicator without at all requiring or resorting to any

archaic words. Words that (in many cases) your selective audience may not

know and understand anyway.

oooOOO-0-OOOooo

Some humorous definitions:

Thesaurus, n.. A dictionary of mostly extinct words.

"Dictionary, n. A malevolent literary device for cramping the growth of language and making it hard and inelastic. The present dictionary, however, is one of the most useful works that its author, Dr John Satan, has ever produced. It is designed to be a compendium of everything that is known up to the date of its completion, and will drive a screw, repair a red wagon or apply for a divorce. It is a good substitute for measles, and will make rats come out of their holes to die. It is a dead shot for worms, and children will cry for it." --- Ambrose Bierce

Language: A living, breathing, constantly changing tool of communication of a people.

"Language, n. The music with which we charm the serpents guarding another's treasure." --- Ambrose Bierce

"Lexicographer, n. A pestilent fellow, who under the pretence of recording some particular stage in the development of a language, does what he can to arrest its growth, stiffen its flexibility and merchandise its methods. For your lexicographer, having written his dictionary, comes to be considered 'as one having authority', whereas his function is only to make a record, not to give law. The natural servility of the human understanding having invested him with judicial power, surrenders its right of reason and submits iteslf to a chronicle as if it were a statue. Let the dictionary (for example) mark a good word as 'obsolete' or 'obsolescent' and few men thereafter venture to use it, whatever their need of it and however desirable its restoration to favour - whereby the process of impoverishment is accelerated and speech decays. On the contrary, the bold and discerning writer who, recognising the truth that language must grow by innovation if it grow at all, makes new words and uses the old in an unfamiliar sense, has no following and is tartly reminded that 'it isn't in the dictionary' - although down to the time of the first lexicographer (Heaven forgive him!) no author had used a word that was in the dictionary. In the golden prime and high noon of English speech; when from the lips of the great Elizabethans fell words that made their own meaning and carried it in their very sound; when a Shakespeare and a Bacon were possible, and the other was in vigorous growth and hardy preservation - sweeter than honey and stronger than a lion - lexicgropher was a person unknown, the dictionary which his Creator had not created him to create.

--- Ambrose Bierce.

God said: 'Let Spirit perish into Form,'

And lexicographers arose, a swarm!

Thought fled and left her clothing, which they took,

And catalogued each garment in a book.

Now, from her leafy covert when she cries:

'Give me my clothes and I'll return, 'they rise

And scan the list, and say without compassion:

'Excuse us - they are mostly out of fashion.'

--- Sigismund Smith.

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