The Confessions of Saint Augustine

Saint Augustine

• Publisher: HarperPress
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN:
  9780008480042
• eBook ISBN:
  9780008491727
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Social Science Biographies

HarperCollins is proud to present our range of timeless literary classics.

Confessions describes Saint Augustine's conversion to Christianity and is the basis for his reputation as one of Christianity's most influential thinkers.

CLASSIC LITERATURE: WORDS AND PHRASES
adapted from the Collins English Dictionary

Accoucheur NOUN a male midwife or doctor

I think my sister must have had some general idea that I was a young offender whom an Accoucheur Policemen had taken up (on my birthday) and delivered over to her (Great Expectations by Charles Dickens)

addled ADJ confused and unable to think properly

But she counted and counted till she got that addled (The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain)

admiration NOUN amazement or wonder

lifting up his hands and eyes by way of admiration (Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift)

afeard ADJ afeard means afraid

shake it–and don’t be afeard (The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain)

affected VERB affected means to assume the appearance of

Hadst thou affected sweet divinity (Doctor Faustus 5.2 by Christopher Marlowe)

aground ADV when a boat runs aground, it touches the ground in a shallow part of the water and gets stuck

what kep’ you?–boat get aground? (The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain)

ague NOUN a fever in which the patient has alternate hot and cold shivering fits

his exposure to the wet and cold had brought on fever and ague (Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens)

alchemy ADJ false or worthless

all wealth alchemy (The Sun Rising by John Donne)

all alike PHRASE the same all the time

Love, all alike (The Sun Rising by John Donne)

alow and aloft PHRASE alow means in the lower part or bottom, and aloft means on the top, so alow and aloft means on the top and in the bottom or throughout

Someone’s turned the chest out alow and aloft (Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson)

ambuscade NOUN ambuscade is not a proper word. Tom means an ambush, which is when a group of people attack their enemies, after hiding and waiting for them

and so we would lie in ambuscade, as he called it (The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain)

amiable ADJ likeable or pleasant

Such amiable qualities must speak for themselves (Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen)

amulet NOUN an amulet is a charm thought to drive away evil spirits.

uttered phrases at once occult and familiar, like the amulet worn on the heart (Silas Marner by George Eliot)

amusement NOUN here amusement means a strange and disturbing puzzle

this was an amusement the other way (Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe)

ancient NOUN an ancient was the flag displayed on a ship to show which country it belongs to. It is also called the ensign

her ancient and pendants out (Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe)

antic ADJ here antic means horrible or grotesque

armed and dressed after a very antic manner (Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift)

antics NOUN antics is an old word meaning clowns, or people who do sil...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• History of William Collins
• Life and Times
• BOOK I
• BOOK II
• BOOK III
• BOOK IV
• BOOK V
• BOOK VI
• BOOK VII
• BOOK VIII
• BOOK IX
• BOOK X
• BOOK XI
• BOOK XII
• BOOK XIII
• Classic Literature: Words and Phrases
• About the Publisher