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Vocabulary Words

Published by marco on

Updated by marco on

This is a running list of vocabulary words I’ve encountered in my reading over the last several years. I use the vocabulary-list feature on my Kindle to collect words, then export them from the Sqlite database with a simple SQL. From there, I have a text file with words that I combine with my existing list, deduplicate and then re-apply formatting to generate the text below.

I will occasionally update this list.

Where a word (e.g. “reef”) has a common definition, I’ve left it off, preferring to include the more-unusual or rarer definition or definitions.
  1. a fortiori – For a still stronger reason; all the more
  2. a-signifying – Incidentally meaningful semiotics; effective but not directly connected to intent, meaning or significance (e.g. purchase-history–based recommendations)
  3. abdominous – Pot-bellied
  4. abiogenesis – The development of living organisms from nonliving matter. (the original definition included “supposed” before “development”, but it must have happened at least once or I’d not be writing this)
  5. abjure – To renounce or retract, esp. formally, solemnly, or under oath
  6. ablative – Related to removal through melting or evaporation
  7. abnegation – Self-denial; renunciation of your own interests in favor of the interests of others
  8. abrogation – To abolish or annul, esp. by an authority
  9. absquatulate – To depart in a hurry; abscond
  10. abstruse – Difficult to understand; obscure
  11. accidie – Spiritual sloth; apathy; indifference
  12. acedia – Spiritual torpor and apathy; ennui.
  13. acidulous – Slightly acrid in taste or manner
  14. acnestis – On an animal, the point of the back that lies between the shoulders and the lower back, which cannot be reached to be scratched
  15. acrostic – Poem or text where the first letters of each line form a message
  16. acrotomophilia – The deriving of sexual gratification from fantasies or acts involving an amputee.
  17. adamant – (n): Extremely hard substance
  18. adduce – To cite as an example or means of proof in an argument
  19. adenoidal – Nasal in tone
  20. adiabatic – Occurring without gain or loss of heat (e.g., a sound wave moving through air)
  21. adjunct – Added or connected in a subordinate or auxiliary capacity
  22. adjuvant – A treatment that enhances an existing medical regimen, as a pharmacological agent added to a drug to increase or aid its effect.
  23. adumbrate – To give a sketchy outline
  24. advesperate – To approach evening
  25. aerostat – A lighter-than-air vehicle, like a balloon or dirigible
  26. aerumnous – Full of trouble
  27. aesculapian – Related to the art of medicine
  28. aesthete – A person who is unusually sensitive to beauty in art or nature
  29. aetiology – The philosophy or study of causation; variant of etiology
  30. affiant – One who makes an affidavit.
  31. afflatus – A strong creative impulse, especially as a result of divine inspiration.
  32. affray – A riot; a large group fighting
  33. aftosa – Another name for foot-and-mouth disease.
  34. aga – leader (civil or military) in the Ottoman empire
  35. agitprop – subversive writing; see samizdat
  36. agnatology – the study of culturally-induced ignorance
  37. agon – A conflict, especially between the protagonist and antagonist in a work of literature.
  38. agonistic – Argumentative; striving for effect; strained
  39. agraphon – The sayings of Jesus written in various ancient sources but not included in the canonical Gospels. Plural is agrapha.
  40. aiguillette – An ornamental cord worn on the shoulder of a military uniform
  41. ailurophobia – Extreme or irrational fear of cats.
  42. akinesia – Loss of normal motor function, resulting in impaired muscle movement
  43. akrasia – Weakness of will; acting contrary to one’s moral values
  44. Albion – Britain or England
  45. aleatory – Dependent on chance
  46. alee – On the leeward side
  47. alembic – Distilling apparatus consisting of two vessels and a tube
  48. algesia – The capacity to feel pain.
  49. aliform – Shaped like a wing; alar
  50. alizarin – An orange-red crystalline compound, C14H8O4, used as an acid-base indicator and in making dyes.
  51. alkahest – The hypothetical universal solvent once sought by alchemists.
  52. amanuensis – An assistant
  53. amaranth – An imaginary flower that never fades. Deep reddish-purple to dark or grayish, purplish red.
  54. ambuscade – An ambush
  55. amethyst – Purple or violet quartz
  56. amphisbaena – Mythical Greek ant-eating serpent with a head at each end
  57. anaclitic – Psychologically dependent on others
  58. anacoenosis – An appeal by the speaker to his opponents or to the audience for an opinion of the point
  59. anadem – A wreath or garland for the head.
  60. analysand – A person who is being psychoanalyzed
  61. anamnesis – 1. A recalling to memory; recollection; 2. the case history of a patient
  62. anastomosis – Connection of parts of a branching system to form a network (e.g. blood vessels or rivers)
  63. ambisyllabicity – A feature of a language where some words do not offer clear syllabic boundaries, e.g., “hammer”; see Ambisyllabicity (Language Log)
  64. ancho – A dried poblano pepper.
  65. andirons – A pair of metal supports used for holding up logs in a fireplace
  66. anfract – [definition unknown] (from Umberto Eco, The Island of the Day Before (“[…] following its rifts and anfracts, past corridors of chalk in which vinous harlequins were stuck”)
  67. anhedonia – Inability to express pleasure
  68. anile – unable to think clearly or infirm because of old age
  69. anisotropic – Having properties that differ based on the direction of measurement (e.g. oval)
  70. anodyne – Uncontentious or inoffensive
  71. anoesis – Absence of thought (anoetic)
  72. anorak – A socially inept person with a hobby considered by most people to be boring
  73. anorectic – Marked by loss of appetite (anorexic)
  74. anserine – Goose-like
  75. anterior – Before or in front of; previously
  76. anthroponymy – The study of the names of human beings (syn: anthroponomastics)
  77. antimacassar – A protective and often decorative covering for the back or arms of a chair or sofa.
  78. antinomian – One who denies the fixed meaning or universal applicability of moral law
  79. antinomy – A contradiction between two beliefs or conclusions that are in themselves reasonable; a paradox
  80. antipodes – Group of rocky island near New Zealand, almost directly opposite Greenwich, England
  81. aperçus – A discerning perception; an insight.
  82. apodictic – Logically certain; demonstrably true or false
  83. apophasis – Allusion to something by denying that it will be mentioned, as in I will not bring up my opponent’s questionable financial dealings
  84. apophatic – Of or relating to the belief that God can only be described by a process of negation
  85. apophenia – The tendency to perceive connections and meaning between unrelated things; confirmation bias
  86. aporetic – A doubt, real or professed, about what to do or say
  87. aporia – An insoluble contradiction or paradox in a text’s meanings.
  88. Aposematic – Having bright, colorful markings that warn predators of poison; a doubt, real or professed, about what to do or say
  89. apostasy – Abandonment of one’s religious faith, party or a cause
  90. apothegm – A maxim
  91. apotheosis – Deification; exaltation to divine rank (nirvana)
  92. apotropaic – Intended to ward off evil
  93. appanage – Provision (usually land) granted (usually to a family member) as a source of revenue
  94. apperception – Conscious perception with full awareness
  95. apposite – Appropriate or relevant
  96. approbation – Official approval
  97. appurtenance – 1. appendage; 2. gear
  98. aptronym – A name that fits a person’s nature or occupation, like Jane House for a real estate agent.
  99. arbalest – Crossbow-like missile launcher
  100. arborescence – Having the size, form, or characteristics of a tree; treelike.
  101. architrave – The lintel or beam lying across two columns
  102. archivolt – A decorative molding carried around an arched wall opening.
  103. arcology – A portmanteau of architecture” and “ecology”, a very densely populated habitat (page 231 of Reamde)
  104. arhat – One who has attained enlightenment.
  105. armamentarium – The complete range of materials available or used for a task
  106. armet – A late-medieval light helmet with a neck guard and movable visor
  107. armillary – Of or relating to the arm (e.g. bracelets)
  108. arquebus – A portable, long-barrelled gun, predecessor to the rifle
  109. arrant – Utter; out-and-out
  110. arras – A tapestry, wall hanging or curtain (usually Flemish)
  111. arreptitious – Snatched away; seized or possessed, as a demoniac; raving; mad; crack-brained
  112. artilect – A machine or robot possessing artificial intelligence
  113. asafetida – A plant common to Iran and Afghanistan; produces a brownish, strong-smelling resin
  114. askesis – The exercise of rigorous self-discipline, especially mental self-discipline practiced as a means to spiritual growth.
  115. aspirate – To draw in or remove by inhalation or suction, esp to suck (air or fluid) from a body cavity or to inhale (fluid) into the lungs after vomiting
  116. asseveration – A positive and emphatic declaration
  117. assignation – A tryst
  118. astragal – A molding that covers a gap (usually to prevent airflow)
  119. ataraxia – A calm of mind; serenity
  120. ataxic – Loss of the ability to coordinate muscle movement (Lucky Jim)
  121. Ativan – Tranquilizer; trade name for lorazepam
  122. atrabilious – Melancholy; peevish; surly
  123. attenuate – To become slender, fine or small
  124. auscultate – To listen to sounds produced by the body (e.g. heartbeat)
  125. autarky – Quality of being self-sufficient, as in a state or economy
  126. autoclave – A heavy vessel for sterilizing or cooking by means of steam under pressure.
  127. autochthonous – Local; native; indigenous
  128. autolatrous – Self-worshiping
  129. autological – Being a word that possesses the characteristic it describes. The word polysyllabic is autological, since it is itself polysyllabic.
  130. autopoiesis – A closed system capable of creating itself
  131. autotelic – Having a purpose in and justifying itself
  132. avariciously – Greedily, immoderately so
  133. avaunt – Hence; away (with thee)
  134. aventurine – A form of quartz; green; translucent with a shimmering or glistening effect
  135. avulsion – The forcible tearing away of a body part; change in landscape due to flooding or riverbed changes
  136. badinage – Light, playful banter or raillery.
  137. baize – Coarse woolen cloth (used e,g, to cover snooker or billiard tables)
  138. balanitis – Inflammation of the glans penis, usually due to infection
  139. balatron – Jester or buffoon
  140. balayage – A technique for highlighting hair in which the dye is painted on in such a way as to create a graduated, natural-looking effect
  141. balboa – The official currency of Panama
  142. baldachin – A canopy of state over an altar or throne
  143. ballista – Medieval field weapon similar to a crossbow (heavy projectiles)
  144. barding – The practice of armoring horses.
  145. basque – A woman’s close-fitting bodice.
  146. bast – The phloem of a plant (bast fiber)
  147. bastinado – A beating on the soles of the feet
  148. bastion – 1. A projecting part of a fortification; 2. A well-fortified position
  149. Batavia – A former name for Jakarta
  150. bathetic – Portmanteau of bathos and pathetic (anticlimactic, banal, trite)
  151. bathypelagic – Relating to or inhabiting the layer of the water column of the open ocean that lies between the mesopelagic and abyssopelagic layers at depths of about 1,000 to 4,000 meters
  152. batrachian – An amphibian, esp. a frog or a salamander
  153. battement – 1. In dance, a kicking movement done with a lifted leg. 2. A beating; striking; impulse.
  154. baulk – Line from which croquet, snooker, billiard ball is put into play (or the area behind it)
  155. beadle – Church usher
  156. behove – To be necessary or fitting for (alternate spelling of behoove)
  157. beignet – A square doughnut without a hole; a fritter
  158. beldam – A hag (also written as beldame)
  159. bel esprit – A cultivated, highly intelligent person; pl.: beaux esprits
  160. belie – To misrepresent
  161. benedicence – Benevolence in speech
  162. benthic – Of or pertaining to the bottom of a body of water
  163. besom – Twigs tied to a handle to make a broom
  164. bezique – A card game for two or more players with tricks similar to whist (or pinochle) but with additional points scored for honours and sequences: played with two packs with nothing below a seven
  165. bezoar – hard, indigestible mass of food in the stomach or intestines
  166. bibelot – A small decorative object; a trinket
  167. bidonville – A shantytown on the outskirts of a city, especially in France or North Africa.
  168. bight – A loop in a rope; a wide bay characterized by a bend or curve
  169. bilious – Peevish; ill-humored
  170. biretta – Square hat worn by ecclesiastics, with three or four ridges on the brow
  171. bitts – A post on the deck of a ship to which ropes or cables are secured
  172. blackleg – 1. A livestock or plant disease, usually fatal. 2. A cardsharp
  173. blench – To draw back or shy away, as from fear; flinch
  174. bloater – A large mackerel or herring, salted, smoked and dried
  175. bodikin – A small body; a tiny particle or atom
  176. bodkin – A long needle or awl; a dagger or stiletto
  177. boffin – A person who has extensive skill or knowledge in a particular field (Brit.; similar to wonk in Amer.)
  178. bolster – A long, narrow pillow or cushion
  179. bombilate – To make a certain noise or sound. To buzz.
  180. boracic – Having no money; Brit. slang
  181. borage – Southern European bristly herb with blue or purplish, star-shaped flowers
  182. bothy – Small hut or cottage (Scot.)
  183. bourg – 1. A market town. 2. A medieval village, especially one situated near a castle.
  184. boustrophedonic – A script that is simultaneously left-to-right and right-to-left
  185. bowdlerize – To expurgate literary material; to censor
  186. boyar – A member of the nobility of Russia, before Peter the Great
  187. bract – A leaflike or scalelike plant part, usually small, sometimes showy or brightly colored, and located just below a flower, a flower stalk, or an inflorescence
  188. bradycardia – Slowness of the heart rate (usually less than 60BPM)
  189. brassica – Genus that includes cabbage, swede, rape and mustard
  190. breechclout – A loincloth
  191. breezeway – An enclosure joining two parts of a building (e.g. a house and its garage)
  192. breviped – Having short legs.
  193. brigandine – Flexible body armor covered in cloth; also called brigantine
  194. bromidrosis – Body odor
  195. bruit – A din or clamor
  196. brume – Fog or mist
  197. bucranium – A sculptured ornament, representing an ox skull adorned with wreaths, etc.
  198. burgeon – To begin to grow or blossom (to put forth buds)
  199. burgoo – Any of several thick stews, originally an oatmeal porridge.
  200. burbot – A freshwater food fish (Lota lota) of northern regions of the Northern Hemisphere, closely related to and resembling the cod and having a long barbel on the chin. Also called cusk, eelpout.
  201. buskin – A thick-soled laced half boot worn by actors of Greek and Roman tragedies
  202. buttonholer – Someone who accosts or detains (a person) in conversation
  203. cabochon – A highly polished, convex-cut, unfaceted gem
  204. cabotage – Law or policy protecting transporters of passengers and goods within a country from competition from foreign carriers.
  205. cachalot – Sperm whale
  206. cacoepy – Bad or mistaken pronunciation (cacoëpistic means to be mispronounced)
  207. cadastral – A public register showing details of ownership of the real property in a district, including boundaries and tax assessments
  208. caduceus – A herald’s wand or staff (usually refers to the two serpents logo of Hermes’s staff used by the medical profession)
  209. caecotrophs – Animals that are coprophagous (eat their own excrement)
  210. cafard – A feeling of severe depression (from the French, literally hypocrite, cockroach)
  211. caique – A long narrow rowboat traditionally used on the Bosporus.
  212. caisson – A watertight structure for performing work or repairs under water
  213. caitiff – A despicable coward; a wretch
  214. caleche – A light two- or four-wheeled horse-draw carriage
  215. calenture – A tropical fever thought to be caused by heat; similar to sunstroke
  216. caliche – A mineral deposit of gravel, sand, and nitrates
  217. caliginous – Dark, misty and gloomy
  218. calk – 1. A spiked plate that is fixed on the bottom of a shoe to prevent slipping and preserve the sole.; 2. A pointed extension on the toe or heels of a horseshoe, designed to prevent slipping.
  219. callipygian – Relating to or having buttocks that are considered beautifully proportioned
  220. callow – Immature
  221. calpac – A large black cap, usually of sheepskin or felt, worn in Turkey, the Caucasus, Iran, and neighboring regions. Also written as kalpak.
  222. calque – To make a loan translation from (a word in another language)
  223. caltrop – Metal spikes thrown across a road
  224. calumniate – To make maliciously or knowingly false statements about.
  225. calvados – A French brandy made from apples.
  226. canaille – The common people; the masses; the hoi polloi
  227. candlewick – A fabric resembling chenille, made with closely-spaced tufts of cotton and used primarily for bedspreads and robes
  228. canebrake – A piece of ground covered with a dense growth of canes
  229. canescent – Turning white or grayish; becoming hoary
  230. cannula – A tube inserted into a body cavity (e.g. a nose tube)
  231. cantrip – A deceptive move; a sham
  232. caoutchouc – Untreated rubber
  233. caparison – Fancy dress or ornamentation for a man or horse (or to make fancy by decorating in this way)
  234. capercaillie – A large grouse (Tetrao urogallus), native to northern Europe and having dark plumage and a fanlike tail. Also called wood grouse.
  235. capsid – A virus’s protein coat
  236. captious – Nitpicky; deliberately confusing; underhanded debating tactics
  237. caracole – A half-turn performed by a horse and rider (or to perform same)
  238. caravansary – An inn built around a large court for accommodating caravans (mostly in Asia)
  239. carboy – A large glass or plastic bottle, usually encased in a protective basket or crate and often used to hold corrosive liquids.
  240. carnelian – A pale to deep red or reddish-brown variety of clear chalcedony, used in jewelry.
  241. casement – A window or part of a window set on a hinge so that it opens like a door
  242. casuistical – Specious reasoning intended to mislead
  243. castrum – An old Roman fortress or encampment
  244. catabolic – The metabolic breakdown of complex molecules into simpler ones, often resulting in a release of energy.
  245. catafalque – A funeral bier
  246. catamenial – Of or relating to menstruation or the menses
  247. catamite – A boy who has a sexual relationship with a man.
  248. cataphract – A defensive armor, often made of link mail, used for the entire body (also covering a horse in cavalry)
  249. catastasis – The part of a drama immediately preceding the climax
  250. catawampus – Skewed, twisted
  251. catchpenny – Designed and made to sell without concern for quality; cheap.
  252. catechism – 1. A manual giving basic instruction in a subject, usually by rote or repetition; 2. A body of fundamental principles or beliefs, especially when accepted uncritically
  253. catechumen – A novice; one who is being instructed at an elementary level
  254. catenary – The curve formed by a cable suspended by its endpoints
  255. Catharism – A Christian sect flourishing in western Europe in the 1100s and 1200s, whose dualistic belief, embracing asceticism and identifying the world as the creation of a satanic Demiurge, was condemned by the Church as heretical.
  256. caudal – Situated beneath or on the underside; inferior; opposite of anterior
  257. caudillo – A leader or chief, especially a military dictator.
  258. causeuse – Two-seat couch; love seat
  259. cautery – The act or process or cauterizing (or an agent used to cauterize)
  260. cavil – To quibble
  261. cenotaph – A monument honoring a person buried elsewhere
  262. ceraunoscopy – A form of aeromancy, in this case divination using thunder and lightning.
  263. cerements – A burial cloth
  264. cernuous – Drooping, as the leaves of a plant
  265. chaff – Trivial or worthless matter; dry bracts of seeds, removed during threshing; metal bits emitted by a plane to foil radar
  266. chalcedony – A translucent to transparent milky or grayish quartz
  267. chancel – The space around the altar of a church for the clergy and sometimes the choir, often enclosed by a lattice or railing.
  268. chancellery – The rank, position, office or department of a chancellor
  269. chandler – One that makes or sells candles
  270. chaparral – An area covered by a dense growth of mostly small-leaved evergreen shrubs
  271. charas – A cannabis concentrate made from the resin of a live cannabis plant; from the Urdu/Hindi
  272. charivari – An elaborate, noisy celebration, often mocking (page 508 of the Idiot)
  273. chary – 1. Very cautious; wary; 2. Not giving or expending freely; sparing
  274. chatelaine – The mistress of a castle or of a large, fashionable household; a hooklike clasp with chains for suspending small objects, as keys worn at the waist by women esp. in the 18th and 19th centuries
  275. chautauqua – A summer school or educational meeting held in the summer
  276. chiasmus – Reversal of the order of words in the second of two parallel phrases: he came in triumph and in defeat departs.
  277. chiaroscuro – The technique of using light and shade in pictorial representation
  278. chiasmus – A rhetorical inversion of the second of two parallel structures, as in “Each throat / Was parched, and glazed each eye” (Samuel Taylor Coleridge).
  279. chicane – 1. An artificial narrowing or turn on a road or auto-racing course; 2. To resort to tricks or subterfuges
  280. chichak – Lobster-tailed pot helmet; from the Turkish name for it: “çiçek”.
  281. chicle – The coagulated milky latex of the sapodilla, formerly used as the principal ingredient of chewing gum.
  282. chifforobe – A tall piece of furniture typically having drawers on one side and space for hanging clothes on the other.
  283. chilblain – An inflammation followed by itchy irritation on the hands, feet, or ears, resulting from exposure to moist cold
  284. chimerical – Highly improbable or illusory
  285. chine – 1. The backbone or spine, esp. of an animal; 2. a cut of meat containing same
  286. chintz – A printed and glazed cotton fabric, usually of bright colors
  287. Chiron – The wise centaur who tutored Achilles, Hercules, and Asclepius
  288. chiropodist – A podiatrist or foot doctor
  289. chiton – 1. A mollusk that lives on rocks and has a shell consisting of eight overlapping calcareous plates. Also called sea cradle or coat-of-mail shell; 2. A tunic worn by men and women in ancient Greece
  290. choad – a. A penis (esp. one that is wider than it is long); 2. Someone who is obnoxious or annoying
  291. chode – Past tense of chide
  292. cholecystitis – Inflammation of the gallbladder
  293. choropleth – A symbol or marked and bounded area on a map denoting the distribution of some property
  294. chrism – A consecrated mixture of oil and balsam, used for anointing in church sacraments such as baptism and confirmation. Also called holy oil.
  295. chronophagy – Something that wastes (or “eats”) time.
  296. chyme – Semi-fluid mass of partly digested food/bolus in the stomach
  297. chyron – A graphic that is digitally superimposed over the lower portion of a broadcast television image, often scrolling or otherwise animated
  298. cichlid – Any of numerous tropical and subtropical chiefly freshwater fishes of the family Cichlidae, which includes the tilapias and many species that are popular as aquarium fish.
  299. cimicine – Smelling like bugs
  300. circumvallate – Encircle as with a rampart
  301. cisalpine – Relating to, living on, or coming from the southern side of the Alps
  302. cislunar – Of or relating to the space between the earth and the moon
  303. clabber – Sour, curdled milk; to curdle
  304. clafoutis – A baked dessert composed of a layer of fresh fruit topped with a thick batter. Chiefly French.
  305. clag – Sticky mud
  306. clapboard – 1. A long thin timber board with one edge thicker than the other, used in wood-frame construction by lapping each board over the one below; 2. a house made of same
  307. clavis – 1. A key; 2. A glossary
  308. clepsydra – An instrument designed to measure time by the fall or flow of a quantity of water; also called a “water clock”
  309. cleromancy – Divination by the casting of lots.
  310. clerestory – A portion of an interior rising above adjacent rooftops and having windows admitting daylight.
  311. clerisy – Educated people considered as a group; the literati.
  312. cloistered – Secluded or shut up from the world
  313. clotted cream – A thick cream made primarily in England by heating milk until a layer of cream forms on its surface that is then cooled and skimmed off
  314. clyster – An enema
  315. coadunate – Closely joined; grown together; united.
  316. cockade – An ornament, such as a rosette or knot of ribbon, usually worn on the hat as a badge.
  317. codon – A sequence of three adjacent nucleotides constituting the genetic code that determines the insertion of a specific amino acid in a polypeptide chain during protein synthesis or the signal to stop protein synthesis
  318. coffle – A line of animals or slaves, chained together
  319. coir – The fiber obtained from the husk of a coconut
  320. colliery – A coal mine together with its physical plant and outbuildings
  321. colloidal – A liquid within which very fine particles are evenly distributed so that they stay suspended
  322. colloquy – Written dialogue
  323. coloratura – Vocal music characterized by florid ornamental passages
  324. colporteur – A peddler of devotional literature
  325. colubra – A female snake
  326. colubrine – Serpentine
  327. Columbine – A flower from the buttercup family
  328. colure – Either of two great circles on the celestial sphere, one of which passes through the celestial poles and the equinoxes and the other through the poles and the solstices
  329. commensality – The act or practice of eating at the same table
  330. commixtion – The act of mixing together
  331. communard – One who lives in a commune
  332. compendious – Containing or stating briefly all the essentials of something; comprehensive and concise
  333. compossible – Able to exist with another thing; consistent.
  334. comprador – A person who acts as an agent for foreign organizations engaged in investment, trade, or economic or political exploitation
  335. connascent – Born, produced, or growing simultaneously
  336. conatus – the tendency of all things to persist in their own being
  337. concessio – “A rhetorical stylistic tool in which one takes up the opponent’s argument, acknowledging it as correct while simultaneously weakening it. (E.g. “Yes. Günther has behaved immorally,
  338. but he can not be legally punished for it.”) See paromologia.”
  339. concomitant – Occurring or existing concurrently
  340. concupiscent – Lascivious
  341. condottiero – Italian captains in command of mercenary companies during the Middle Ages and of multinational armies during the early modern period.
  342. condign – Deserved; adequate
  343. confrater – n associate of a monastery or monastic group who received certain privileges (as a share in prayers) without corresponding responsibilities (as rigorous life or restrictive vows)
  344. congelation – The process of congealing or the state of being congealed.
  345. congeries – A collection
  346. conjunctivitis – Inflammation of the conjunctiva, characterized by redness and often accompanied by a discharge
  347. conker – A horse chestnut
  348. conkers – A game in which two players swing horse chestnuts strung on string, each trying to use his or her horse chestnut to shatter his or her opponent’s.
  349. connubial – Of marriage or wedlock; matrimonial; conjugal.
  350. consilience – A chance happening or coincidence
  351. conspecific – Of or belonging to the same species.
  352. constult – To act stupidly together
  353. consubstantiality – Participation of the same nature; coexistence in the same substance.
  354. consorority – A group of women; a religious sorority or sisterhood; members are called consorors
  355. contango – A situation where the futures price of a commodity is higher than the spot price
  356. contemn – To view with contempt; despise
  357. contra mundum – Against the world; in defiance of all general opinion
  358. contrariety – The quality or condition of being contrary.
  359. contretemps – 1. An inopportune or embarrassing occurrence or situation; 2. an argument or dispute
  360. contumacious – Anti-authoritarian
  361. contumely – Rudeness or contempt arising from arrogance; insolence
  362. conurbation – A predominantly urban region including adjacent towns and suburbs; a metropolitan area
  363. convolvulus – Any typically twining herbaceous convolvulaceous plant of the genus Convolvulus, having funnel-shaped flowers and triangular leaves
  364. copula – The word or set of words that serves as a link between the subject and predicate of a proposition
  365. coracle – A small, rounded, primitive boat (stretched skin over wooden frame)
  366. corbel – A piece of stone, wood, brick, or other building material, projecting from the face of a wall and generally used to support a cornice or arch.
  367. cornet – A cap of paper twisted at the end, used by retailers to inclose small wares.
  368. corsac – A fox of central Asia.
  369. corse – A corpse (archaic)
  370. corseque – A type of European polearm, characterized by a three-lobe blade on a 1.8 to 2.5 m shaft. The head features a long spike and two shorter and stronger lateral blades.
  371. corvée – Labor exacted by a local authority for little or no pay or instead of taxes and used especially in the maintenance of roads.
  372. corybantic – To dance in a fashion similar to rites for the Phrygian goddess Cybele, celebrated with music and ecstatic dances
  373. cotise – A narrow stripe that usually occurs as one of a pair, with each stripe occurring on either side of a bend, fess, or other charge in heraldry
  374. coup de foudre – A sudden and amazing action or event
  375. crepuscular – Resembling twilight; dim; active at twilight (from Reamde)
  376. cresset – A metal cup, often suspended on a pole, containing burning oil or pitch and used as a torch
  377. cretonne – A heavy unglazed cotton, linen, or rayon fabric, colorfully printed and used for draperies and slipcovers
  378. crim – Short for criminal
  379. cromlech – A portal tomb; A prehistoric monument consisting of a group of megaliths, sometimes arranged in a circle or in concentric circles. See dolmen
  380. crosier – A staff with a crook or cross at the end, carried by or before an abbot, bishop, or archbishop as a symbol of office.
  381. crotchet – An odd, whimsical, perverse or stubborn notion
  382. croup – The rump of a beast of burden, especially a horse.
  383. croupy – Characterized by respiratory difficulty and a hoarse, brassy cough
  384. crumhorn – A wind instrument of the Renaissance with a curving tube and a double reed.
  385. cryptid – Animals that cryptozoologists believe may exist somewhere in the wild, but are not believed to exist by mainstream science
  386. cuirass – A piece of armor for protecting the breast and back, often consisting of two pieces fastened together
  387. cuirassier – A horse soldier in European armies whose equipment included the cuirass
  388. culverin – 1. An early, crudely made musket; 1. A long heavy cannon used in the 16th and 17th centuries
  389. cumbrously – In a cumbersome manner; difficult to handle because of size or weight
  390. cunctation – Procrastination; delay
  391. cupidity – Excessive desire, esp. for wealth; covetousness or avarice
  392. curate – 1. A member of the clergy employed to assist a rector or vicar; 2. To take charge of (a museum) or organize (an art exhibit); 3. To gather and present to the public
  393. curlew – Any of several brownish, long-legged shorebirds of the genus Numenius, having long, slender, downward-curving bills
  394. currycomb – A comb with plastic or rubber teeth, used for grooming horses.
  395. curtilage – The area considered legally part of a house or dwelling by virtue of its enclosure by a fence or habitual use in domestic activities.
  396. curule – Privileged to sit in a curule chair; of superior rank.
  397. cuspidor – spittoon; a large bowl, often of metal, serving as a receptacle for spit, esp. from chewing tobacco
  398. cutis – The dermis and epidermis of the skin together
  399. cynosure – Focal point of attention or admiration
  400. dacoit – A member of a robber band or gang in South Asia
  401. dag – Hanging fur matted with mud
  402. damask – 1. A rich patterned fabric of cotton, linen, silk, or wool; 2. the wavy pattern on Damascus steel
  403. davit – A small crane that projects over the side of a ship and is used to hoist boats, anchors, and cargo
  404. deadhead – To remove dead flowers from a bush
  405. deare – An act of damage or injury
  406. debauch – To corrupt morally; to seduce
  407. debility – Being weak or infirm
  408. deckle – A frame used in making paper by hand to form paper pulp into sheets of a desired size.
  409. decoupage – The technique of decorating a surface with cutouts, as of paper, and finishing with layers of lacquer or varnish
  410. decrepicate – To make a crackling sound when roasted (crystals or salts)
  411. decurion – The commander of a troop of ten cavalrymen
  412. defalcation – Misuse of funds; embezzlement
  413. defeasance – The voiding of a contract or deed
  414. deflagrate – To burn or cause to burn with great heat and intense light
  415. deictic – Directly proving by argument
  416. dekko – A look; a glance; view. E.g. Take a dekko at.
  417. delation – The act of conveying; carriage (obsolete)
  418. delator – An accuser; an informer
  419. deliquesce – 1. To disappear as if by melting; 2. to dissolve and become liquid by absorbing moisture from the air; 3. to branch out into numerous subdivisions that lack a main axis, as the trunk of an elm
  420. démarche – 1. A course of action; a maneuver. 2. A diplomatic representation or protest. 3. A statement or protest addressed by citizens to public authorities.
  421. demesne – An extensive piece of landed property; an estate
  422. demit – To relinquish (an office or function).
  423. demiurge – A powerful creative force or personality
  424. demob – Short for demobilization of armed forces
  425. demonym – Official designation for the inhabitant of a region (see gentilic)
  426. demotic – Of or relating to the common people; popular
  427. deodand – A thing that had caused a person’s death and was forfeited to the crown for a charitable purpose; literally: “giving unto God”
  428. Deontology – The normative ethical theory that the morality of an action should be based on whether that action itself is right or wrong under a series of rules and principles, rather than based on the consequences of the action.
  429. deoppilate – To clear a passage through
  430. derecho – A windstorm that is accompanied by a quickly moving, usually bow-shaped band of showers or thunderstorms.
  431. descant – 1. An ornamental melody or counterpoint sung or played above a theme; 2. A discussion or discourse on a theme
  432. desideratum – Something considered necessary or highly desirable
  433. desquamate – To shed, peel, or come off in scales. Used of skin
  434. desuetude – A state of disuse or inactivity.
  435. deuteranopia – A form of colorblindness characterized by insensitivity to green.
  436. diachronic – Of or concerned with phenomena, such as linguistic features, as they change through time.
  437. diagetic – Music that exists within the reality of a film
  438. dialetheia – True contradictions (true statements whose opposite is also true)
  439. diaphoresis – Copious perspiration; usu. a condition
  440. dibble – A pointed gardening implement used to make holes in soil, especially for planting bulbs or seedlings. Also called a dibber.
  441. diegesis – The world that is depicted in a work of narrative art, especially a film.
  442. diegetic – Existing or occurring within the world of a narrative rather than as something external to that world (i.e. narration or soundtrack music in a film is non-diegetic)
  443. dieresis – Diacritical mark indicating a pronounced vowel
  444. diffident – Lacking or marked by a lack of self-confidence; shy and timid
  445. dilatory – Causing or intended to cause delay
  446. dimity – A sheer, crisp cotton fabric with raised woven stripes or checks, used chiefly for curtains and dresses.
  447. dioptric – Relating to optical refraction; refractive
  448. disanalogy – A lack or failure of analogy.
  449. discursive – Covering a wide field of subjects; rambling.
  450. disembogue – Pour out; be disgorged in quantity
  451. disheveled – Being in loose disarray; unkempt, as hair or clothing
  452. dissimulate – To conceal one’s true feelings or intentions
  453. dissolute – Lacking moral restraint; indulging in sensual pleasures or vices; lax in morals; licentious
  454. distaff – Women considered as a group; female
  455. dithyramb – 1. any wildly enthusiastic speech or writing 2. A frenzied, impassioned choric hymn and dance of ancient Greece in honor of Dionysus
  456. divagate – 1. To wander or drift about; 2. to ramble; digress
  457. doolally – Out of one’s mind; crazy
  458. dolmen – A Neolithic stone formation, consisting of a horizontal stone supported by several vertical stones, and thought to be a tomb; any megalithic tomb; see cromlech
  459. dombra – A long-necked Kazakh, Uzbek and Bashkir lute
  460. doss – 1. Sleep; rest; 2. a crude or makeshift bed
  461. douanier – A customs officer
  462. dovecote – A compartmental structure, often raised on a pole, for housing domesticated pigeons
  463. dowager – 1. A widow who holds a title or property derived from her deceased husband; 2. an elderly woman of high social station
  464. doxastic – Of or relating to belief
  465. doxology – An expression of praise to God, esp. a short hymn sung as part of a Christian worship service
  466. draughts – The game of checkers
  467. drawknife – A knife with a handle at each end of the blade, used with a drawing motion to shave a surface. Also called drawshave.
  468. dropsy – An excessive accumulation of serous fluid in tissue spaces or a body cavity; edema (obsolete)
  469. drupe – A fleshy fruit with a pit (e.g. peach, plum, cherry, etc.)
  470. duckboard – A board or boardwalk laid across wet or muddy ground or flooring
  471. dudgeon – 1. A sullen, angry, or indignant humor; 2. A dagger with a hilt made of this wood.
  472. dunam – A unit of area used for land measurement in Israel and usually equal to 1,000 square meters.
  473. dupatta – A long wide scarf often worn draped over the head or across the shoulders, chiefly by women in South Asia
  474. duumvirate – 1. A regime or partnership of two persons 2. A coalition of two people holding the same office, as in ancient Rome.
  475. dysarthria – Unclear articulation of otherwise normal speech
  476. dysgraphic – Having a neurological disorder marked by impairment of the ability to write, especially to write by hand and to spell.
  477. dysphemism – The use of a derogatory, offensive or vulgar word or phrase to replace a (more) neutral original.
  478. dysphoria – An emotional state characterized by anxiety, depression, or unease; the opposite of euphoria
  479. easement – 1. The act of anointing as part of a religion; 2. An ointment or oil; a salve
  480. eau-de-nil – A pale yellowish green color, supposedly that of the color of the Nile (taken from the French for “water of the Nile”)
  481. ecclesial – Of or relating to a church, especially as an organized institution. Syn.: ecclesiastical
  482. ecdemic – Not indigenous or endemic; foreign
  483. echolalia – The uncontrollable and immediate repetition of words spoken by another person, esp. as associated with mental disorder.
  484. écorché – An anatomical representation of all or part of a human or animal body with the skin removed so as to display the musculature
  485. ecotone – A transitional zone between two communities containing species characteristic of each.
  486. ecumene – A nuclear area of high culture to which neighboring regions stand in a relation of cultural backwardness or dependence
  487. efflorescence – 1. A gradual process of unfolding or developing; 2. the point or time of greatest vigor; the culmination
  488. egregoric – Of or relating to the occult concept of a group mind, egregore
  489. eidolon – An image of an ideal. An apparition.
  490. eirenist – Someone who promotes peace; someone who is conciliatory; variant of irenist; related to irenic
  491. eisegesis – Reading meaning into a text that is not there
  492. ekphrastic – In the style of a work of art produced as a rhetorical exercise.
  493. Elbrus – A peak, 5,643 m (18,513 ft) high, in the Caucasus Mountains of southwest Russia near the border of Georgia. It is the highest elevation in Europe
  494. eleemosynary – 1. Of, concerned with, or dependent on charity; 2. Given as an act of charity
  495. elegiac – Of, relating to, or involving elegy or mourning or expressing sorrow for that which is irrecoverably past
  496. elozable – Readily influenced by flattery
  497. emanant – Flowing, issuing, or proceeding from something else; becoming apparent by an effect.
  498. embonpoint – The plump or fleshy part of a person’s body, in particular a woman’s bosom.
  499. embouchure – The mouth of a river
  500. emolument – Payment for an office or employment; compensation
  501. Empedocles – Greek philosopher who believed that all matter is composed of earth, air, fire and water, and that all change is caused by attraction and repulsion.
  502. empennage – The tail assembly of an aircraft (page 223 of Reamde)
  503. empyrean – Heavenly or sublime; the highest part of the (supposedly spherical) heavens, thought in ancient times to contain the pure element of fire and by early Christians to be the abode of God and the angels
  504. enantiodromia – The principle that a superabundance of a force produces its opposite
  505. enantiomorphic – Relating to two objects, each of which is the mirror image of the other; to be chemically identical; i.e., crystals that are mirror images of each other.
  506. enceinte – Pregnant (from the French)
  507. encomiast – A person who delivers or writes an encomium; a eulogist
  508. encomium – Warm praise
  509. endometriosis – The presence of endometrium elsewhere than in the lining of the uterus; causes premenstrual pain and dysmenorrhea
  510. endonym – The name for themselves, their homeland, or their language of a people or social group
  511. endue – To provide with a quality or trait; endow
  512. energumen – A person thought to be possessed by an evil spirit; a fanatic or a zealot
  513. enfeoff – To invest (a person) with possession of a freehold estate in land
  514. Ensor – Belgian expressionist painter, noted for his macabre subjects
  515. entasis – A slight convexity or swelling, as in the shaft of a column, conventionally employed especially in classical architecture.
  516. entelechy – Actuality as opposed to potentiality (from Aristotelian philosophy)
  517. entheogenic – Hallucinogenic, psychedelic, or mind-altering. It applies esp. to drugs or plants employed in mystical, religious, or spiritual ceremonies
  518. entrepôt – A warehouse; a market or trading center (page 648 of Reamde; also page 12 of The Nutmeg’s Curse)
  519. enure – To toughen or harden by use or exposure; accustom; habituate (see inure)
  520. enuresis – The involuntary discharge of urine; urinary incontinence
  521. epeirogeny – Uplift or depression of the earth’s crust, affecting large areas of land or ocean bottom
  522. epenthesis – Insertion of a sound in a word
  523. epergne – An ornamental stand or dish for holding fruit, flowers, etc., used as a centerpiece
  524. epexegesis – Additional explanation or explanatory material. Epexegetically: in an explanatory manner.
  525. ephebe – A youth between 18 and 20 years of age in ancient Greece.
  526. epicortical – On top of the bark (botanical)
  527. epicurean – Devoted to the pursuit of sensual pleasure, esp. to the enjoyment of good food and comfort
  528. epideictic – Designed primarily for rhetorical display
  529. epigenetic – Denoting processes by which heritable modifications in gene function occur without a change in the sequence of the DNA
  530. epigone – A second-rate imitator or follower, esp. of an artist or a philosopher
  531. epigram – A concise, clever, often paradoxical statement (can be a poem); see Yogi Berra or Groucho Marx
  532. epigraph – 1. An inscription, as on a statue or building; 2. a motto or quotation, as at the beginning of a literary composition, setting forth a them
  533. epiphenomena – 1. A secondary or additional phenomenon; by-product; 2. An unexpected or atypical symptom or occurrence during the course of a disease
  534. epistemology – Study of the nature of knowledge
  535. epistle – A literary composition in the form of a letter
  536. epistolary – Of or associated with letters or the writing of letters
  537. epitatic – [definition unknown] (from Oblivion by David Foster Wallace)
  538. epithelium – Membranous tissue composed of one or more layers of cells separated by very little intercellular substance and forming the covering of most internal and external surfaces of the body and its organs
  539. epizeuxis – The repetition of a word with vehemence and emphasis
  540. equanimity – The quality of being calm and even-tempered; composure
  541. equerry – A personal attendant to the British royal household, generally responsible for the horses
  542. ergodic – Of or relating to the probability that any state will recur
  543. erysipelas – An acute streptococcal infectious disease of the skin, characterized by fever, headache, vomiting, and purplish raised lesions, esp. on the face. Also called: Saint Anthony’s fire
  544. Esau – In the Bible, the eldest son of Isaac and Rebecca who sold his birthright to his twin brother, Jacob, for a mess of pottage
  545. eschatology – The branch of theology that is concerned with the end of the world or of humankind
  546. escheat – A common law doctrine that transfers the real property of a person who has died without heirs to the Crown or state
  547. escutcheon – Shield or emblem bearing a coat of arms
  548. espaliered – A tree or shrub that is trained to grow in a flat plane against a wall or trellis, often in a symmetrical pattern.
  549. estaminet – A small café.
  550. estivation – Dormancy or torpor during the summer
  551. esurient – Hungry
  552. etiolate – 1. To cause to appear pale and sickly; 2. to make weak by stunting the growth or development of
  553. eudaemonic – Producing happiness and well-being
  554. euonym – A name that is apt or fitting.
  555. euphonium – A brass instrument similar to the tuba but having a somewhat higher pitch and a mellower sound
  556. euphonious – Pleasing or agreeable to the ear.
  557. evanescent – Vanishing or likely to vanish like vapor, ephemeral or transitory, passing out of sight; fading away; vanishing
  558. evection – Irregularity in the moon’s motion caused by perturbations of the sun and planets
  559. equivoque – A pun; a double meaning; an equivocal word or expression
  560. excrescent – Abnormal or excessive growth
  561. exegesis – Critical explanation or analysis
  562. exegete – A person skilled in exegesis
  563. exercitant – One who practices religious exercises
  564. exigent – Requiring immediate aid or action
  565. exiguous – Meager or extremely scanty
  566. exonym – A name by which one people or social group refers to another and by which the group so named does not refer to itself.
  567. exophthalmic – Characterized by the prominence of the eyeballs
  568. exordium – A beginning or introductory part, esp. of a speech or treatise
  569. exoteric – Not confined to an inner circle of disciples or initiates.
  570. extrorse – Botanical term for facing outward or turned away from the axis
  571. exuvia – An animal’s cast or sloughed skin, especially that of an insect larva. Pl. exuviae
  572. factotum – An assistant who takes on a wide range of tasks and responsibilities.
  573. fain – Happily; gladly (archaic)
  574. fainéant – Given to doing nothing; lazy.
  575. falchion – A short and slightly curved medieval sword broader towards the point
  576. fantail – Overhanging stern of a boat (esp. a warship)
  577. fard – To paint the face with cosmetics, so as to hide blemishes
  578. farrago – An assortment or a medley; a hodgepodge
  579. farro – The grains of three wheat species
  580. farrow – 1. A litter of pigs. 2. To produce a litter of pigs.
  581. fascicle – 1. One of the parts of a book published in separate sections. 2. A small bundle (e.g., of stems, flowers, or leaves)
  582. faute-de-mieux – For lack of something better
  583. fauvism – An early 20th-century movement in painting begun by a group of French artists and marked by the use of bold, often distorted forms and vivid colors.
  584. fecundate – Fertilize; make fruitful
  585. felid – Sly, stealthy, or treacherous; belonging or pertaining to the cat family (related to canid for dogs)
  586. fesse – A wide horizontal band forming the middle section of an escutcheon.
  587. fiacre – A small four-wheeled carriage
  588. fideistic – Reliance on faith alone rather than scientific reasoning or philosophy in questions of religion.
  589. fieldfare – An European thrush
  590. fillip – 1. A snap or light blow made by pressing a fingertip against the thumb and suddenly releasing it; 2. To stimulate or arouse (or something that does so)
  591. finial – 1. An ornamental terminating part, as on a post or piece of furniture; 2. an ornament on top of a spire, gable
  592. firedamp – Methane
  593. firth – A long, narrow inlet
  594. fissiparous – Having a tendency to divide into groups or factions
  595. flews – The fleshy hanging upper lip of a bloodhound or similar dog
  596. flinder – 1. A butterfly. 2. To scamper about flutteringly 3. To break (something) into flinders (pieces)
  597. flintknap – The process of chipping away material from high silica stones like “flint” in a carefully controlled manner with special tools to produce sharp projectile points or tools.
  598. flivver – A broken-down car or jalopy
  599. flocculent – Having a fluffy or woolly appearance; fleecy
  600. flyblown – 1. Tainted; corrupt; 2. dirty or rundown; squalid
  601. flyover – An overpass, as on a highway (chieflly British)
  602. folie à deux – Mental illness occurring simultaneously in two intimately related persons who share some of the elements of the illness, such as delusions
  603. fomes – Any inanimate or nonpathogenic substance or material, exclusive of food, which may act as a vector for a pathogen.
  604. fomites – Plural of fomes
  605. foolscap – A sheet of writing or printing paper measuring about 13 by 16 inches
  606. forcemeat – Finely ground and highly spiced meat, fish, or poultry that is served alone or used in stuffing.
  607. foxed – Marked with spots or discoloration, as from age
  608. frass – Debris or excrement produced by insects.
  609. frazil – Small pieces of ice that form in water moving turbulently enough to prevent the formation of a sheet of ice
  610. fritinancy – A chirping or creaking, as of a cricket.
  611. frowsy – 1. Unkempt; slovenly; 2. ill-smelling; musty
  612. frugivore – An animal, such as a chimpanzee or fruit bat, that feeds primarily on fruit.
  613. fubsy – Fat and squat
  614. fucus – A seaweed common to intertidal regions and typically having greenish-brown slimy fronds. See also wrack
  615. fugle – 1. to maneuver; to move hither and thither. 2. to make signals; to gesticulate; to act as a fugleman or guide (A leader, especially a political leader.)
  616. fulguration – To emit flashes of lightning
  617. fulsome – 1. Excessively flattering or insincerely earnest; sycophantic; 2. disgusting or offensive
  618. fungible – Interchangeable
  619. fungo – The act of tossing the ball upwards and hitting it as it descends, a ball hit in this manner or the light bat used to hit such balls
  620. furbelow – 1. A ruffle or flounce on a garment; 2. piece of showy ornamentation
  621. furze – Gorse; spiny evergreen shrubs
  622. fustic – The wood of a large, tropical American tree, Chlorophora tinctoria, of the mulberry family, yielding a light yellow dye.
  623. gaff – Barbed spear; stick with a hook on it
  624. gaffer – An electrician in charge of lighting on a movie or television set
  625. Galen – Greek anatomist, physician, and philosopher. His theories, which emphasized maintaining a balance of the four humors, formed the basis of European medicine until the Renaissance
  626. Galicia – A region of east-central Europe on the north side of the Carpathians, now in SE Poland and Ukraine
  627. galliass – A large, fast, heavily armed three-masted Mediterranean galley of the 1500s and 1600s (var. of galleas)
  628. gallimaufry – A jumble; a hodgepodge
  629. gamelan – An Indonesian orchestra composed mainly of tuned percussion instruments such as bamboo xylophones, wooden or metal chimes, and gongs
  630. garganey – A small migratory duck (Anas querquedula) that breeds in Eurasia and has a white stripe over each eye.
  631. gastrocnemius – The largest, most prominent muscle of the calf of the leg, the action of which extends the foot and bends the knee
  632. gatka – An Indian martial art associated with the Sikhs of the Punjab
  633. gauleiter – A person in a position of petty or local authority who behaves in an overbearing authoritarian manner (from a provincial governor in Germany under Hitler)
  634. gavage – Introduction of nutritive material into the stomach by means of a tube.
  635. gazump – To swindle or overcharge
  636. Gehenna – 1. A place or state of torment or suffering. 2. The abode of condemned souls; hell
  637. gelastician – One who causes laughter
  638. gentian – Any gentianaceous plant having blue, yellow, white, or red showy flowers
  639. gentilic – Derived from a place name that depicts the residents of that place; see demonym
  640. geoid – The hypothetical surface of the earth that coincides everywhere with mean sea level.
  641. ghat – Stairs or a passage leading down to a river (from the Hindi)
  642. gigue – A synonym for jig
  643. girn – To complain; to snarl or grimace (also gurn)
  644. gisarme – A halberd with a long shaft and two-sided blade, carried by medieval foot soldiers.
  645. glaive – A sword, especially a broadsword.
  646. glaucous – 1. Of a pale grayish or bluish green; 2. covered with a bluish waxy or powdery bloom
  647. glean – To gather (something) slowly and carefully in small pieces (comes from the word for gathering useful remnants of a crop from a field after a harvest)
  648. glymphatic – A functional waste clearance pathway for the vertebrate central nervous system.
  649. glyptothek – A collection of sculptures; also known as a Glyptotheque
  650. gnomic – Marked by aphorisms; aphoristic; tersely phrases e.g., using adages
  651. godown – Warehouse (esp. in India)
  652. goffer – An iron used for pressing ridges or narrow pleats, or ridges or pleats produced in this manner
  653. goliards – Mainly 12th-century scholar-poets interested mainly in earthly delights.
  654. gonfalon – A banner hung from a crosspiece, like in the Crusades
  655. gouache – A method of painting with opaque watercolors mixed with a preparation of gum.
  656. gound – The gunk that collects in the corners of the eyes
  657. gowpen – A bowl formed by two hands (Scottish)
  658. grace-and-favour – A house, flat, etc. owned by the sovereign and granted free of rent to a person to whom the sovereign wishes to express gratitude
  659. gracile – Gracefully slender
  660. gravamen – Material substance of a charge or complaint
  661. greaves – Shin armor/guards
  662. grebe – Any of various swimming and diving birds of the family Podicipedidae, having a pointed bill and lobed, fleshy membranes along each toe.
  663. greenmail – The practice of a company buying sufficient shares in another company to threaten takeover and making a quick profit as a result of the threatened company buying back its shares at a higher price
  664. griot – A member of a caste responsible for maintaining an oral record of tribal history in the form of music, poetry, and storytelling (chiefly in Western Africa)
  665. grisaille – A style of monochromatic painting in shades of gray
  666. grizzle – To make or become gray
  667. groat – An English silver coin worth four pennies, taken out of circulation in the 17th century
  668. groyne – Variant of groin
  669. grutch – To grudge; to begrudge
  670. gudgen – Pivot; hinge; small fish; one who is easily duped (page 86 of the Brothers Karamazov)
  671. guerdon – A reward; recompense
  672. guipure – A coarse large-patterned lace without a net background. Also called Venice lace.
  673. gurn – To complain, snarl or grimace (also girn; from the Scottish)
  674. gyoza – A pocket of dough that is stuffed, as with minced pork or shrimp, and fried, steamed, or boiled.
  675. gyp – A fraud or swindle, or some who perpetrates same
  676. ha-ha – A wall or other boundary marker that is set in a ditch so as not to interrupt the landscape
  677. habergeon – A short, sleeveless coat of mail; a hauberk.
  678. haboob – A penetrating sandstorm or dust storm with violent winds, occurring chiefly in Arabia, North Africa, and India.
  679. haecceity – The property that uniquely identifies an object
  680. hagridden – Tormented or harassed by nightmares or unreasonable fears
  681. halvah – A confection of Turkish origin, made chiefly of ground sesame seeds and honey
  682. hamartia – A tragic flaw; the flaw in character which leads to the downfall of the protagonist in a tragedy (e.g. Achilles’s heel)
  683. hapax legomenon – A word or form that occurs only once in the recorded corpus of a given language.
  684. hardtack – A hard biscuit or bread made with only flour and water. Also called sea biscuit, sea bread, ship biscuit
  685. haruspicy – Divination by natural means (e.g. lightning)
  686. hauberk – A long tunic made of chain mail
  687. haustorium – A specialized structure of a parasitic fungus or plant, used to absorb nutrients and water from the host plant.
  688. hawse – The part of a ship where the hawseholes are located; The space between the bows and anchors of an anchored ship.
  689. hebephrenic – A type of schizophrenia characterized by disorganized speech and behavior, flat or inappropriate affect, and sometimes silly or inappropriate mannerisms.
  690. hecatomb – A large-scale sacrifice or slaughter
  691. heliotrope – Any of various plants that turn toward the sun
  692. helotry – The condition of serfdom
  693. helve – A handle of a tool, such as an axe, chisel, or hammer.
  694. hendecagon – A polygon having eleven sides
  695. heresiarch – One who originates or is the chief proponent of a heresy or heretical movement
  696. hermeneutics – Theory of interpretation (esp. religious texts); determining the meaning of something
  697. heterachy – A formal structure (e.g. connected nodes) without any single permanent uppermost node
  698. heteroclite – an irregularly formed word; irregular or unusual
  699. heterophemize – To say something different from what you mean to say (e.g. as a false compliment)
  700. hetman – A Cossack chief; also called ataman
  701. hetmanate – All of the hetmans
  702. hiatal – Of, pertaining to, or involving a hiatus
  703. hierophant – An interpreter of sacred mysteries or arcane knowledge
  704. Hijri – The lunar calendar used by Muslims and reckoned from a.d. 622: the calendar year consists of 354 days and contains 12 months.
  705. hippocras – Wine flavored with spices
  706. homoeomery – The state or quality of being homogeneous in elements or first principles; likeness or identity of parts. (also Homoeomery)
  707. homologate – To approve, especially to confirm officially.
  708. horologium – A clock tower.
  709. horripilated – Having goosebumps from either fear or cold or excitement
  710. hortative – Urging to some course of conduct or action; exhorting; encouraging
  711. howdah – A seat for riding on an elephant’s back, esp. one with a canopy
  712. hoyden – Tomboy; a boisterous, high-spirited, saucy girl
  713. huckster – A person who sells small items door-to-door or from a stall
  714. humect – To moisten; to wet
  715. hunker – To squat on one’s heels (a synonym from Bill Burr: Vietnamese gambler squat)
  716. hustings – A place where political campaign speeches are made (chiefly British)
  717. hyaline – Resembling glass, as in translucence or transparency; glassy
  718. hypaethral – Wholly or partly open to the sky
  719. hypertelorism – Abnormal distance between two paired organs, esp. the eyes
  720. hypocaust – A space under the floor of an ancient Roman building through which flue gases from a furnace were passed to heat a room or a bath.
  721. hypostatis – The substance, essence, or underlying reality; any of the three persons of the Christian Trinity.
  722. latifundium – A large landed estate, especially of the ancient Romans.
  723. iatrogenic – Unintentionally induced by a physician
  724. icteric – Related to jaundice (to be ill with or a treatment)
  725. idiolect – Unique linquistic pattern with a small group; mini-dialect
  726. illeism – Referring to oneself in the third person
  727. imbricate – To overlap in a regular pattern; also used as imbrication to signify metaphorical layers of overlap between information domains.
  728. immanent – Inherent
  729. impecuniousness – The state of being poor; penury
  730. impecunity – The state of being poor; penury
  731. impetigo – A contagious bacterial skin disease characterized by the formation of pustules that develop into yellowish crusty sores
  732. impluvious – Wet with rain
  733. incalescent – Growing hotter or more ardent
  734. incarnadine – Of a fleshy pink color; blood-red
  735. incunabulum – An artifact of an early period (artifact of an early period); pl: incunabula; also known as incunables.
  736. indiscerpible – Not discerpible; inseparable
  737. indite – To set down in writing; to compose
  738. infundibulum – Any of various funnel-shaped bodily passages, openings, structures, or parts, esp. the stalk of the pituitary gland
  739. infusoria – Various microscopic organisms found in infusions of decaying organic matter
  740. ingenuous – Candid; lacking in guile
  741. inimical – Injurious or harmful in effect; adverse; unfriendly or hostile
  742. inspissate – To thicken, as by evaporation
  743. instauration – Renovation; restoration.
  744. intarsia – A decorative inlaid pattern in a surface, esp. a mosaic worked in wood
  745. indendant – An administrative official (such as a governor); director or manager in German
  746. inselberg – A mountain or rocky mass that has resisted erosion and stands isolated in an essentially level area. Also called a monadnock.
  747. instauration – The institution or establishment of something.
  748. intercalated – Interpolate in a calendar.
  749. intercostal – Located or occurring between the ribs.
  750. interpellate – To question (a member of the government) on a point of government policy, often interrupting the business of the day
  751. interpellation – An act of delaying or interrupting the continuity; see interpellate
  752. intransitive – An intransitive verb, on the other hand, describes an action that does not happen to something or someone
  753. inveigle – To obtain by cajolery; seduce
  754. inverter – Any device for converting a direct current into an alternating current
  755. invidious – Inciting ill will; troll-y; discriminatory; envious;
  756. invigilator – Monitor or proctor who watches examination candidates to prevent cheating
  757. ipseity – The quality of being oneself or itself; the essentia] element of identity
  758. irenic – Promoting peace; conciliatory.
  759. irredentism – A national policy advocating the acquisition of some region in another country by reason of common linguistic, cultural, historical, ethnic, or racial ties.
  760. irrefragably – Admittedly; fairly
  761. jabot – An ornamental cascade of ruffles or frills down the front of a shirt, blouse, or dress.
  762. jasper – An opaque cryptocrystalline variety of quartz that may be red, yellow, or brown
  763. jejune – Naive, simplistic, or superficial
  764. jequirity – Indian liquorice seeds; used to make black rosary beads
  765. jouissance – Jollity; merriment
  766. katabatic – Of or relating to the downward flow of cold dense air
  767. keck – To retch or feel nausea; to feel or express disgust
  768. kedgeree – 1. A dish of India containing rice, lentils, and spices. 2. a dish of rice, fish, hard-boiled eggs, cream, and seasonings
  769. kedge – A light anchor used for warping a vessel; to warp (move) a vessel by means of a light anchor.
  770. kefir – A creamy drink made of fermented cow’s milk
  771. keloid – An abnormal proliferation of scar tissue, often pink, as on the site of a surgical incision
  772. kenning – A conventional poetic phrase used for or in addition to the usual name of a person or thing, esp. in Old Norse and Old English verse, as wave traveler for boat; see metonymy
  773. kermess – A fair or church dedication
  774. kipper – A herring or salmon that has been split, salted, and smoked
  775. kirtle – 1. A man’s knee-length tunic or coat; 2. a woman’s dress or skirt
  776. knelling – The process of disassembling something and arranging its parts
  777. knolling – A photography technique that arranges objects at 90 degree angles and shoots them from above.
  778. kurgan An ancient burial mound constructed over a pit grave: earliest occurrence 4th millennium b.c., in the Russian Steppes.
  779. kulak – A prosperous landed peasant in czarist Russia, characterized by the Communists during the October Revolution as an exploiter
  780. kukri – A knife with a curved blade that broadens towards the point, esp. as used by Gurkhas
  781. kvass – A Russian fermented beverage similar to beer, made from rye or barley
  782. kwashiorkor – Severe malnutrition of infants and young children, esp. soon after weaning, resulting from dietary deficiency of protein (comes from the Ghanan)
  783. kyriarchy – A social system or set of connecting social systems built around domination, oppression, and submission (used in feminist theory)
  784. lability – The susceptibility to error or lapses of any kind, as a human failing
  785. laburnum – Any leguminous tree or shrub of the Eurasian genus Laburnum, having clusters of yellow drooping flowers: all parts of the plant are poisonous
  786. laconically – Marked by terseness or concision
  787. lacuna – An empty space or a missing part; a gap
  788. lagniappe – A small gift given with a purchase
  789. lahar – A mass of volcanic fragments, often mixed with water (e.g. rain), moving rapidly down the side of a volcano
  790. lamasery – In Tibetan Buddhism, a monastery presided over by a lama.
  791. lambent – Flickering lightly (e.g. firelight); glowing with soft radiance, luminous
  792. lapalissade – An obvious, self-evident truth, especially humorously so; a tautology or truism.
  793. laparotomy – A surgical procedure involving small incisions through the abdominal wall to gain access into the abdominal cavity.
  794. lapidary – fd drawknives
  795. lapillus – A small, solidified fragment of lava (pl. lapilli)
  796. lapis lazuli – An opaque to translucent blue, violet-blue, or greenish-blue semiprecious gemstone composed mainly of lazurite and calcite.
  797. larrikin – A person given to comical or outlandish behavior; an imp; a hooligan (chiefly Australian)
  798. lascar – An East Indian sailor, army servant, or artillery trooper during the era of European colonialism in Asia
  799. laterality – Preference in using one side of the body over the other.
  800. laterite – A red residual soil formed by the leaching of silica and by the enrichment with aluminum and iron oxides, esp. in humid climates
  801. latibulate – To hide oneself in a corner
  802. leal – Loyal and honest
  803. lenition – To undergo an increase in sonority or become lenis. Said of consonant sounds, as when (p) changes to (b), (b) to (v)
  804. lenity – The condition or quality of being lenient; leniency
  805. Lepus – A constellation in the Southern Hemisphere near Orion and Columba
  806. letabund – Filled with joy
  807. Levallois – A filet-working technique in which a flint is trimmed so that a flake of predetermined size and shape can be struck from it
  808. leyden jars – An early form of capacitor consisting of a glass jar lined inside and out with tinfoil and having a conducting rod connected to the inner foil lining and passing out of the jar through an insulated stopper
  809. lictor – A Roman functionary who carried fasces when attending a magistrate in public appearances
  810. lief – Beloved; ready or willing
  811. limerence – Puppy love; a state of mind resulting from romantic attraction, characterized by feelings of euphoria, the desire to have one’s feelings reciprocated, etc
  812. liminal – Intermediate between two states, conditions, or regions; transitional or indeterminate
  813. lisle – A fine, smooth, tightly twisted thread spun from long-staple cotton
  814. lithotomy – Surgery to remove one or more stones from an organ or duct
  815. litotes – Understating by negation: no mean feat”
  816. littoral – A coastal region; a shore; the region or zone between the limits of high and low tides.
  817. locus – A locality; a place
  818. longueur – 1. A tedious passage in a work of literature or performing art; 2. a period of time filled with boredom or tedium
  819. lorgnette – A pair of eyeglasses or opera glasses mounted on a handle
  820. louche – Disreputable or sordid
  821. lubricious – Overtly sexual; salacious
  822. lucubrations – Writing or study; meditations
  823. ludic – Showing spontaneous and undirected playfulness
  824. lues – Any venereal disease (e.g. Syphilis); pestilence
  825. lumbago – A painful condition of the lower back, as one resulting from muscle strain or a slipped disk
  826. lupanarian – Pertaining to a brothel or prostitution; characteristic of illicit sexual desire or activity. (Also, lupinarian)
  827. lyceum – A hall in which public lectures, concerts, and similar programs are presented
  828. machicolation – A projecting gallery at the top of a castle wall, supported by a row of corbels and having openings in the floor through which stones and boiling liquids could be dropped on attackers (machiolate: to construct machicolations)
  829. macrocarpa – A large coniferous tree of New Zealand, Cupressus macrocarpa, used for shelter belts on farms and for rough timber. Also called: Monterey cypress
  830. maculate – (v): To spot, blemish, or pollute; (n): 1. Spotted, blotched, or stained. 2. Morally sullied or impure
  831. madding – Acting madly; frenzied
  832. maenad – 1. A frenzied woman; 2. a female member of the orgiastic cult of Dionysus
  833. magniloquent – Using high-flown or bombastic language.
  834. majolica – Italian earthenware covered with an opaque glaze of tin oxide and usu. highly decorated
  835. malesuete – Accustomed to poor habits
  836. malversation – Misbehavior and esp. corruption in an office, trust, or commission; corrupt administration
  837. mandala – Any of various designs symbolizing the universe, usually circular
  838. mandamus – A writ issued by a court requiring a public official or entity to perform a duty associated with that office or entity
  839. manqué – 1. Unfulfilled; potential; would-be; 2. Unfulfilled or frustrated in the realization of one’s ambitions or capabilities
  840. manumission – To free from slavery or bondage; emancipate
  841. manumit/manumission – To set free; release from slavery
  842. martingale – Part of a bridle; half-belt on the back of a coat; doubling the stakes after each loss; stability rigging for the bowsprit or jib (see definition)
  843. mascaron – A face, usually human, sometimes frightening or chimeric, whose alleged function was originally to frighten away evil spirits so that they would not enter the building.
  844. mascon – Any of several lunar regions of high gravity
  845. mataiotechnical – A skill that requires great patience and dedication to complete, but that, once completed, still amounts to nothing. It is impressive, but meaningless.
  846. mattock – A digging tool with a flat blade set at right angles to the handle.
  847. matutinal – Of, relating to, or occurring in the morning; early
  848. megatherium – A large, extinct ground sloth that lived from the Miocene through the Pleistocene Epochs, primarily in South America. It was as large as an elephant, had long curved claws, and ate plants
  849. mereology – The formal study of the logical properties of the relation of part and whole
  850. meretricious – Gaudy
  851. merkin – A pubic wig
  852. merlon – The solid portion between crenels
  853. mésalliance – A marriage with a person of inferior social position.
  854. mesoscopic – Pertaining to a size regime, intermediate between the microscopic and the macroscopic, that is characteristic of a region where a large number of particles can interact in a quantum-mechanically correlated fashion.
  855. metempsychosis – The theory of reincarnation
  856. metonym – A word used in metonymy
  857. metonymy – A synonym/metaphor; e.g. “brass” for upper officers or “plastic” for credit cards; see kenning
  858. mews – A group of buildings containing private stables that have been converted to residences
  859. mezzanine – A low story between two others in a building
  860. miasma – An unwholesome or oppressive atmosphere
  861. micrognathia – Abnormally small jaw
  862. micturition – urination; also, micturate
  863. milt – The sperm-containing fluid of a male fish
  864. mimetic – Of or relating to an imitation; imitative
  865. minatory – Of a menacing or threatening nature; minacious
  866. Mindanao – Second largest of the Philippine islands, NE of Borneo
  867. mirabile dictu – Wonderful to relate; amazing to say
  868. misericord – 1. Relaxation of monastic rules, as a dispensation from fasting. 2. A bracket attached to the underside of a hinged seat in a church stall on which a standing person may lean. Also called miserere 3. A narrow dagger used in medieval times to deliver the death stroke to a seriously wounded knight.
  869. misfeasance – Improper and unlawful execution of an act that in itself is lawful and proper.
  870. misprision – Neglect in performing the duties of public office.
  871. moidore – A former Portuguese gold coin
  872. moiety – One half
  873. mojibake – The garbled text that is the result of text being decoded using an unintended character encoding.
  874. Moloch – Something possessing the power to exact severe sacrifice; a Semitic deity to whom parents sacrificed their children
  875. monadnock – See inselberg.
  876. mondegreen – Misinterpretation of song lyrics (e.g. Israeli Men” instead of “It’s Raining Men”)”
  877. monkey-puzzle – A coniferous evergreen tree (Araucaria araucana) native to Chile and Argentina, having whorled branches covered with scalelike, overlapping, sharp-pointed leaves.
  878. monomachy – Single combat, or a duel
  879. Monophysite – A person who holds that there is only one nature in the person of Christ, which is primarily divine with human attributes
  880. monopsony – A situation in which the entire market demand for a product or service consists of only one buyer
  881. monophthongization – A sound change by which a diphthong becomes a monophthong, a type of vowel shift
  882. morbific – Causing disease; pathogenic
  883. morganatic – A marriage between nobility and lower rank, where titles and wealth are not shared
  884. morion – A crested metal helmet; black or blackish-brown smoky quartz
  885. morphetic – Of or relating to sleep or dreams
  886. motet – A polyphonic composition based on a sacred text and usually sung without accompaniment.
  887. moufflon – A small wild sheep
  888. moulinet – A circular cut or swing of the sword
  889. mountebank – A flamboyant charlatan
  890. mucopus – A mucopurulent discharge; a mixture of mucous material and pus.
  891. mudra – Ritual hand movements in Hindu religious dancing
  892. mulct – 1. To penalize by fining or demanding forfeiture; 2. to cheat or defraud
  893. mulga – The outback; bush
  894. mullein – Any of various Eurasian plants of the genus Verbascum of the figwort family, especially V. thapsus, naturalized in North America, having a tall spike of yellow flowers and leaves covered with dense woolly down.
  895. mullet – Freshwater, spiny-finned fish
  896. mullion – A vertical member, as of stone or wood, dividing a window or other opening.
  897. Munda – A family of languages spoken by scattered peoples throughout central India
  898. murine – A family of rodents that includes mice and rats
  899. murrain – Redwater fever, affecting livestock; a plague, epidemic or crop blight
  900. muskeg – A peat bog formed by an accumulation of sphagnum moss, leaves, and decayed matter, often with scattered small trees, and found especially in northern North America.
  901. musquash – Another name for muskrat
  902. musth – A periodic state of heightened sexual activity and aggression in adult male elephants, characterized by the discharge of secretions from glands near the eyes and the continuous dribbling of urine.
  903. mutatis mutandis – The necessary changes having been made (e.g. when applying a concept from one domain to another, e.g. maritime law to space travel)
  904. myocyclonic – Of or relating to a sudden irregular twitching of muscles or parts of muscles, occurring in various brain disorders
  905. myrmidon – Soldier or a subordinate civil officer who executes orders of a superior without protest or pity; – sometimes applied to bailiffs, constables, etc.
  906. mythopoeic – Serving to create or engender myths; productive in mythmaking
  907. nankeen – A sturdy yellow or buff cotton cloth (or trousers made of same).
  908. naphthalene – A white crystalline volatile solid with a characteristic penetrating odour: an aromatic hydrocarbon used in mothballs and in the manufacture of dyes, explosives
  909. natality – Birthrate
  910. natant – Floating or swimming in water
  911. navvy – A laborer, esp. one employed in construction or excavation projects
  912. neep – A dialect name for a turnip, chiefly British
  913. nefandous – Too odious to be spoken of
  914. nenuphar – Either a white or yellow water lily
  915. neotenous – The retention of juvenile characteristics in the adults of a species, as among certain amphibians.
  916. nepenthe – Something that induces forgetfulness of sorrow or eases pain (mentioned in the Odyssey)
  917. nephrologist – Specialist in conditions related to the kidney
  918. nescience – Ignorance; absence of awareness
  919. Nestorianism – The doctrine that Christ was two distinct persons, divine and human, implying a denial that the Virgin Mary was the mother of God. It is attributed to Nestorius and survives in the Iraqi Church
  920. netty – A lavatory, originally an earth closet (chiefly British)
  921. neuralgic – Sharp, severe paroxysmal pain extending along a nerve or group of nerves
  922. nevus – Any congenital anomaly of the skin, including moles and various types of birthmarks; also naevus
  923. nightjar – Any of numerous nocturnal goatsuckers of the subfamily Caprimulginae, having a short bill and a wide mouth used for scooping up insects in midflight; they have a cryptic plumage and large eyes and feed on insects
  924. niello – A black metallic alloy (sulfur and copper, silver or lead
  925. nigrescent – Blackish; dark
  926. noctilucent – Luminous at night
  927. noddle – n: The head or brains, chiefly British; v: to nod (the head), as through drowsiness
  928. noetics – The laws of logic; the science of the intellect.
  929. noisome – x
  930. nolens volens – Whether willing or not; for better or worse
  931. nonplused – Filled with bewilderment
  932. noosphere – The part of the biosphere that is affected by human thought, culture, and knowledge
  933. nosology – The science of classification of diseases
  934. numeraire – A unit or an item of commerce in which prices are measured
  935. numinous – awe-inspiring, mysterious or spiritual; supernatural
  936. nibble – Four bits; also semi-octet, quadbit, or quartet; Brit: nybble
  937. nystagmus – A persistent, rapid, involuntary side-to-side eye movement
  938. oakum – A preparation of tarred fibers used to seal gaps, esp. in boats
  939. obeah – 1. A form of belief involving sorcery, practiced in parts of the West Indies, South America, the southern U.S., and Africa. 2. A fetish or charm used in practicing obeah.
  940. obganiate – To annoy by repeating over and over and over and over
  941. objurgate – To scold or rebuke sharply; berate.
  942. oblation – Any offering made for religious or charitable purposes (e.g. offering of the bread and wine of the Eucharist to God)
  943. obloquy – 1. calumny; detractive language; 2. ill repute
  944. obovate – Egg-shaped and flat, with the narrow end at the base
  945. obscurantist – Practicing deliberate vagueness
  946. obsequies – Funeral or burial rites (singular: obsequy)
  947. obsidional – Relating to a siege
  948. occiput – Back of the head
  949. ocherous – Ocher in color (or a mineral used to make that color)
  950. octarine – The Color of Magic or the King Color, the eighth color of the Discworld spectrum, visible only to wizards and cats, a greenish purple yellow color.
  951. ofay – A derogatory term for a White person (see cracker, honky, peckerwood)
  952. ogee – A double curve, resembling an S, formed by the union of a concave and a convex line (often a molding or arch in this shape)
  953. ogive – A diagonal rib or groin of a Gothic vault; 2. A distribution curve in which the frequencies are cumulative
  954. okrug – A type of administrative division in some Slavic-speaking states.
  955. oligopsony – A market with only very few buyers
  956. oliphant – Elephant
  957. omphalic – Of or relating to the navel
  958. omphaloskepsis – Literally, the contemplation of one’s navel, which is an idiom usually meaning complacent self-absorption
  959. oneiric – Dream-like
  960. onomastics – The study of the etymology, history, and use of proper names
  961. ontogenesis – The development of an individual organism or a part of an organism from inception to maturity.
  962. ontology – The study of the essence of being
  963. opprobrium – Ignominy; cause of shame or disgrace
  964. opsimath – A person who learns late in life
  965. optative – Indicating or expressing choice, preference, or wish
  966. orgulous – Haughty; proud (archaic)
  967. orison – A prayer, a devout petition to God or an object of worship
  968. orogenesis – The process of mountain formation, esp. by a folding and faulting of the earth’s crust
  969. orotund – Pompous and bombastic; resonant; booming
  970. orthography – The art or study of correct spelling according to established usage
  971. orthophemistic – Plainly denotative; not euphemistic or dysphemistic
  972. osculation – A kiss (page 332 of Doctor Sleep)
  973. osier – Any of several willows having long rodlike twigs used in basketry; A twig of one of these shrubs or trees.
  974. osmically – Of or relating to odors or the sense of smell
  975. osteitis – Inflammation of bone or bony tissue
  976. ostler – Man who looks after horses at an inn
  977. otiose – Lazy; indolent; serving no useful purpose
  978. otoconia – Minute calcareous particles in the gelatinous membrane surmounting the macula in the inner ear; also statoconia, otoliths, or statoliths
  979. oviparous – Producing eggs lain outside of the body
  980. paillasse – A straw-filled mat or mattress (var. of palliasse)
  981. palapa – A structure, such as a bar or restaurant in a tropical resort, that is open-sided and thatched with palm leaves.
  982. palimpsest – A manuscript, typically of papyrus or parchment, that has been written on more than once, with the earlier writing incompletely scraped off or erased and often legible.
  983. palingenesis – The doctrine of transmigration of souls; metempsychosis; the supposed repetition by an organism during its embryonic development of the stages in the evolution of its species, as asserted by the discredited biogenetic law
  984. Palio – Italian Renaissance or Medieval festival
  985. Palladian – Of, relating to, or characterized by wisdom or study
  986. palliasse – A straw-filled mat or mattress (var. of paillasse)
  987. palp – Either of a pair of sensory appendages that arise from the mouthparts of crustaceans and insects
  988. pandit – Brahmin scholar
  989. panicle – A loosely branched inflorescence, especially a branching raceme.
  990. panjandrum – A pompous self-important official or person of rank
  991. pantechnicon – 1. A large van, esp. one used for furniture removals; 2. a warehouse where furniture is stored
  992. pap – 1. A teat or nipple (archaic); 2. material lacking real value or substance; 3. soft or semiliquid food, as for infants
  993. papillote – 1. A paper frill around cutlets; 2. cooked in oiled greaseproof paper or foil
  994. pappus – A ring of fine feathery hairs surrounding the fruit in composite plants, such as the thistle; aids dispersal of the fruits by the wind
  995. paraphilia – Any abnormal sexual behavior; sexual anomaly or deviation
  996. parapraxis – A Freudian slip
  997. paregoric – An opium derivative used to treat diarrhea
  998. pareidolia – The perception of a recognizable image or meaningful pattern where none exists or is intended, as the perception of a face in the surface features of the moon.
  999. paresis – Slight or partial paralysis
  1000. pareve – Prepared without meat, milk, or their derivatives and therefore permissible to be eaten with meat or dairy dishes according to dietary laws
  1001. pari passu – At an equal pace; side by side
  1002. parlous – full of danger or uncertainty
  1003. paromologia – Admitting a weaker point in order to make a stronger one. (See concessio.)
  1004. paronomasia – Pun; play on words
  1005. parrhesia – Boldness or frankness of speech; the act of asking forgiveness for speaking in such a way
  1006. parterre – A formally patterned flower garden
  1007. partizan – A weapon of the 16th and 17th centuries with long shaft and broad blade
  1008. parturition – The act or process of giving birth to one or more offspring
  1009. parve – Containing neither meat nor milk products and so fit for use with either meat or milk dishes (from Judaism)
  1010. passerine – An order of birds characterized by the perching habit: includes the larks, finches, crows, thrushes, starlings, etc.
  1011. pastern – The part of a horse’s foot between the fetlock and hoof
  1012. pauce – Being scarce or insufficient
  1013. pauldron – Shoulder protection in a suit of armor
  1014. pavis – A medieval shield large enough to protect the whole body.
  1015. pawl – A hinged or pivoted device adapted to fit into a notch of a ratchet wheel to impart forward motion or prevent backward motion.
  1016. peaky – Wan, emaciated, or sickly
  1017. peavey – An implement consisting of a wooden shaft with a metal point and a hinged hook near the end, used to handle logs.
  1018. peccant – Sinful; guilty; corrupt
  1019. peccary – A gregarious pig-like mammal that is found from the southwestern U.S. to Paraguay. (reference was “swarm […] like army ants on a drove of peccaries”.)
  1020. peculation – Embezzlement
  1021. pecuniary – Relating to money
  1022. pedipalp – One of the second pair of appendages near the mouth of a chelicerate, such as a spider or horseshoe crab, used for various reproductive, predatory, or sensory functions.
  1023. pedlars – Persons who travel about the country with merchandise, for the purpose of selling it; salesmen
  1024. pedology – 1. The scientific study of soils, including their origins, characteristics, and uses; 2. the study of the physical and mental development and characteristics of children
  1025. pelf – Lucre; wealth or riches, esp. when dishonestly acquired
  1026. pellicle – A thin skin or membrane; film; scum
  1027. pellucid – Transparent or translucent
  1028. penectomy – Penis removal through surgery, generally for medical or personal reasons.
  1029. pentimento – A visible trace of earlier painting beneath a layer or layers of paint on a canvas
  1030. penurious – Poverty-stricken; stingy; meager
  1031. peplum – A short overskirt or ruffle attached at the waistline of a jacket, blouse, or dress.
  1032. percale – A closely woven cotton fabric used for sheets and clothing
  1033. percipient – Perceptive
  1034. perdurable – Enduring continuously; immortal
  1035. perdure – To last permanently; endure
  1036. peremptory – Subject to no further debate or dispute; final and unassailable
  1037. perfervid – Extremely or extravagantly eager; impassioned or zealous.
  1038. perfidy – Treachery; deliberate breach of faith
  1039. periagua – Another name for pirogue; Also piragua; A canoe made from a hollowed tree trunk
  1040. peripatetic – Mobile on foot; an itinerant
  1041. periphrastic – The use of circumlocution. A roundabout way of expressing something.
  1042. peristalsis – The wavelike muscular contractions of the digestive tract or other tubular structures by which contents are forced onward toward the opening
  1043. peristyles – 1. A series of columns surrounding a building or enclosing a court; 2. A court enclosed by columns.
  1044. perseverate – To repeat a word, gesture, or act insistently or redundantly
  1045. persiflage – Banter; small-talk
  1046. perspicacious – Acutely perceptive or discerning
  1047. perspicuous – Clearly expressed or presented; lucid
  1048. pertinacious – Tenacious; Holding tenaciously or stubbornly to a purpose, opinion, or course of action; Extremely persistent or unyielding
  1049. pessary – A device for inserting into the vagina, either as a support for the uterus or (diaphragm pessary) to deliver a drug, such as a contraceptive
  1050. petecure – Modest cooking; cooking on a small scale; the opposite of epicure
  1051. petitio principii – A form of fallacious reasoning in which the conclusion has been assumed in the premises; begging the question
  1052. petrichor – The distinctive smell given off by earth, rock, or pavement at the beginning of a rain after a period of warm, dry weather.
  1053. Petronius – Roman courtier who is credited with writing the Satyricon
  1054. pettifogging – 1. Dishonest or unethical in insignificant matters; meanly petty; mean; quibbling; 2. to engage in legal chicanery
  1055. pettish – Ill-tempered; peevish (see shirty)
  1056. phaeton – A light, four-wheeled open carriage, usually drawn by a pair of horses
  1057. phalanstery – A self-sustaining cooperative community of the followers of Fourierism. Also called phalanx, or the buildings in such a community
  1058. pharisaic – Of, relating to, or characteristic of the Pharisees
  1059. philippic – A verbal denunciation characterized by harsh, often insulting language; a tirade
  1060. phillumenist – A person who collects matchbox labels
  1061. philogynist – A lover or friend of women; one who esteems woman as the higher type of humanity; antonym of misogynist
  1062. phimosis – An abnormal constriction of the foreskin that prevents it from being drawn back to uncover the glans penis.
  1063. phlebotomy – The act or practice of opening a vein to let or draw blood as a therapeutic or diagnostic measure
  1064. phlegmatic – Having or suggesting a calm, sluggish temperament; unemotional or apathetic
  1065. Phoebus – The sun
  1066. phthisis – A disease characterized by the wasting away or atrophy of the body or a part of the body (e.g. pulmonary tuberculosis)
  1067. phylactery – 1. A reminder or aid to remembering; 2. an amulet or charm (archaic); 3. either of the pair of blackened square cases containing parchments inscribed with biblical passages, bound by leather thongs to the head and left arm, and worn by Jewish men during weekday morning prayers (also called: Tefillah)
  1068. phylogenetic – The evolutionary development and history of a species or trait of a species or of a higher taxonomic grouping of organisms
  1069. piacular – Making expiation for sacrilege; wicked
  1070. pibroch – A series of variations on a martial theme or traditional dirge for the highland bagpipes.
  1071. pied-à-terre – A secondary or temporary place of lodging.
  1072. pilchard – A small, S European marine fish, Sardina pilchardus, related to the herring but smaller and rounder
  1073. pillock – A stupid or annoying person (chiefly British)
  1074. pilum – The heavy javelin of a Roman foot soldier
  1075. pinchbeck – Appearing valuable, but actually cheap and tawdry; an alloy of zinc and copper used as imitation gold.
  1076. pinnace – Any of various kinds of ship’s tender or boat
  1077. piquant – Pleasantly sharp taste
  1078. pirogue – Any of various kinds of dugout canoes; also called piragua
  1079. piscatorial – Of or relating to fish, fishing, or fishermen
  1080. pistic – Referring to or having a pure and genuine faith.
  1081. plafond – A decorated ceiling.
  1082. plangent – Loud and resounding
  1083. plastron – 1. A metal breastplate worn under a coat of mail; 2. a quilted pad worn by fencers to protect the torso and side; 3. The front of a man’s dress shirt; 4. the ventral part of the shell of a turtle or tortoise
  1084. pleach – To plait or interlace (branches or vines, for example), esp. in making a hedge or an arbor (similar to caning for making chairs from same)
  1085. pleiotropy – The phenomenon of one gene affecting more than one phenotypic characteristic
  1086. plenteous – Ample; abundant; copious
  1087. pleonasm – A newly created word
  1088. pleroma – The state of total fullness or abundance, relating particularly to the nature of God
  1089. pleura – A thin serous membrane in mammals that envelops each lung and folds back to make a lining for the chest cavity
  1090. pleurisy – Inflammation of the pleura, characterized by pain that is aggravated by deep breathing or coughing
  1091. Plimsoll mark – A load line painted on the side of a cargo ship
  1092. plinth – A block or slab on which a pedestal, column, or statue is placed
  1093. plover – Any shore bird of the family Charadriidae, typically having a round head, straight bill, and large pointed wings
  1094. pneumatophore – 1. A gas-filled sac serving as a float in some colonial marine hydrozoans, such as the Portuguese man-of-war. 2. A specialized respiratory root in certain aquatic plants, such as the bald cypress, that grows upward and protrudes above the water or mud into the air.
  1095. poetaster – A writer of insignificant, meretricious, or shoddy poetry
  1096. poleaxe – (n): An axe having a hammer face opposite the blade, used to slaughter cattle; v: To strike or fell with or as if with a poleaxe
  1097. poleyn – Knee protection in a suit of armor
  1098. polyglossy – The coexistence of multiple languages in the same geographic area. Also polyglossia.
  1099. polygyny – The condition or practice of having more than one wife at one time
  1100. polymath – A person of great or varied learning
  1101. polysemy – The ability of words, signs and symbols to have multiple meanings.
  1102. pomace – The pulpy material remaining after the juice has been pressed from fruit, such as apples or grapes. Also called marc
  1103. pomaceous – Of, relating to, bearing, or characteristic of pomes, especially apples.
  1104. poignard – See poniard
  1105. poniard – 1. A small, slender dagger; 2. a dagger typically having a slender three- or four-sided blade
  1106. pong – A disagreeable or offensive smell; stink
  1107. pontine – Of or relating to a pons, especially the pons Varolii (a region of the medulla in the brain).
  1108. poplin – A ribbed fabric of silk, rayon, wool, or cotton, used in making clothing and upholstery
  1109. posset – A drink of hot milk curdled with ale, beer, etc, flavoured with spices, formerly used as a remedy for colds
  1110. postern – Secondary door or gate in a fortification such as a city wall or castle curtain wall
  1111. postillion – A person who guides a horse-drawn coach or post chaise while mounted on the horse or one of a pair of horses. By contrast, a coachman controls the horses from the vehicle itself.
  1112. potash – Potassium carbonate, esp. the crude impure form obtained from wood ashes.
  1113. pothouse – A small tavern or pub (chiefly British)
  1114. potsherd – A broken pottery fragment, esp. one of archaeological value
  1115. prang – 1. An accident or crash in an aircraft, car, etc; 2. to bomb from the air
  1116. prattlement – Chatter, prattling
  1117. precatory – Relating to or expressing entreaty or supplication. Relating to prayer.
  1118. preceptor – A teacher; an instructor; a practising physician giving practical training to a medical student
  1119. prefatory – Of, relating to, or constituting a preface
  1120. prelapsarian – Of or relating to the period before the fall of Adam and Eve
  1121. premonitory – Giving premonition; serving to warn beforehand
  1122. preponderant – Having superior force, importance, or influence; Having greater weight; heavier
  1123. prepossession – A prejudice or bias, esp. a favorable one
  1124. presbyopia – A progressively diminishing ability of the eye to focus, noticeable from middle to old age, caused by loss of elasticity of the crystalline lens
  1125. prescind – To separate in thought; abstract.
  1126. preterite – 1. Bygone; former 2. A tense of verbs used to relate past action, formed in English by inflection of the verb, as jumped, swam
  1127. primogeniture – The state of being the firstborn or eldest child of the same parents.
  1128. primus inter pares – Literally (in Latin), first among equals
  1129. procumbent – 1. Lying face down; prone. 2. In botany: trailing along the ground but not rooting
  1130. prodrome – An early symptom indicating the onset of an attack or a disease.
  1131. profligate – 1. Shamelessly immoral or debauched; 2. wildly extravagant or wasteful
  1132. progeria – A rare genetic disorder of childhood that is characterized by rapid onset of the physical changes typical of old age, usually resulting in death before the age of 20
  1133. prolegomenon – A preliminary discussion, especially a formal essay introducing a work of considerable length or complexity
  1134. proleptic – 1. The anachronistic representation of something as existing before its proper or historical time, as in the precolonial United States; 2. the use of a descriptive word in anticipation of the act or circumstances that would make it applicable, as dry in They drained the lake dry
  1135. prolix – Tediously prolonged; wordy; longwinded
  1136. prone – Lying flat or face downwards; prostrate
  1137. propaedeutic – Providing introductory instruction; preparatory instruction
  1138. propinquitous – Near; close in time, place or kinship (page 12 of Main Street)
  1139. propitious – Favorable; auguring well; gracious or favorably inclined
  1140. proprioception – Unconscious awareness of body movement, e.g. as the inner ear for balance (page 515 of Reamde)
  1141. proscenium – The area of a modern theater that is located between the curtain and the orchestra.
  1142. prosector – A person who prepares or dissects anatomical subjects for demonstration
  1143. prosopagnosia – An inability to recognize faces
  1144. prosopography – 1. description of a person’s life and career; 2. A study, often using statistics, that identifies and draws relationships between various characters or people within a specific historical, social, or literary context
  1145. prosopopoeia – Literary device involve an absent person speaking; personification; ascribing agency to an inanimate object or concept
  1146. protanopia – A form of colorblindness characterized by defective perception of red and confusion of red with green or bluish green.
  1147. protasis – The dependent clause of a conditional sentence (i.e. the “if” part)
  1148. protodialectical – Definition unknown (from Oblivion by David Foster Wallace) (dialectical means “the art or practice of arriving at the truth by the exchange of logical arguments”)
  1149. psalmody – The act of singing psalms or hymns
  1150. psephology – The study of political elections and polling
  1151. psithurism – The whispering of leaves moved by the wind
  1152. psittacosis – A rickettsial disease affecting birds of the parrot family, pigeons, and domestic fowl, caused by the chlamydia Chlamydia psittaci and transmissible to humans
  1153. psychogenic – Having origin in the mind or in a mental condition or process
  1154. ptosis – Ptosis is the term used for a drooping upper eyelid
  1155. puericratic – [definition unknown] (from Oblivion by David Foster Wallace)
  1156. pugnacious – Combative in nature
  1157. pulchritude – Beauty
  1158. pullulate – To breed rapidly or abundantly
  1159. pulsion – The act of driving forward
  1160. punctilio – A fine point of etiquette
  1161. punnet – A small basket for fruit, such as strawberries
  1162. purblind – 1. Slow in understanding or discernment; dull 2. Having poor vision; nearly or partly blind
  1163. purdah – Muslim practice of screening women from other men or strangers
  1164. purlieus – An outlying or neighboring area; outskirts; environs
  1165. purslane – A trailing plant (Portulaca oleracea) native to Eurasia, having small yellow flowers, reddish stems, and fleshy obovate leaves that can be cooked as a vegetable or used in salads
  1166. purulent – Containing, discharging, or causing the production of pus
  1167. pusillanimous – Cowardly
  1168. putto – A representation of a small child, often naked and having wings, used especially in the art of the European Renaissance. Pl.: putti
  1169. pyaemia – Blood poisoning characterized by pus-forming microorganisms in the blood
  1170. quadrille – A square dance in 6/8 or 2/4 time of French origin, composed of five sections and performed by four couples.
  1171. quag – To shake (said of something that is soft or flabby)
  1172. quarto – The page size obtained by folding a whole sheet into four leaves.
  1173. quasiergot – A pseudo language/lingo
  1174. quern – A simple hand mill for grinding grain, typically consisting of two stones
  1175. quiddity – 1. Essence of a thing; 2. a quibble
  1176. quidnunc – Busybody; Yenta
  1177. quiff – 1. A tuft of hair, esp. a forelock; 2. A woman regarded as promiscuous
  1178. quinquennial – Happening once every or lasting for five years.
  1179. quintain – A rotating target used in jousting exercises
  1180. quire – A set of twenty-four uniform sheets of paper
  1181. quirt – A riding whip with a short, stiff handle and a lash made of two or more loose thongs
  1182. quit-rent – Payment for distinct rights that were connected with the full enjoyment of the land but not parceled up in the ownership of the land (mostly replaced with property taxes today)
  1183. quoin – An exterior angle of a wall or other piece of masonry
  1184. quokka – A short-tailed herbivorous marsupial (Setonix brachyurus) found in coastal areas of southwestAustralia
  1185. quondam – Former
  1186. raceme – A flower cluster in which each flower grows on its own stalk from a common stem. The lily of the valley and snapdragon have racemes.
  1187. racketeering – A person who engages in an illegal business or other organized illegal activities
  1188. raddled – Twisted together; interwoven
  1189. radome – A domelike shell transparent to radio-frequency radiation, used to house a radar antenna
  1190. raillery – Good-natured teasing or ridicule; banter
  1191. raiponce – French name for a biennial Eurasian plant (Campanula rapunculus) having bell-shaped lilac flowers and an edible root. Known in English as rampion.
  1192. ramify – To have complicating consequences or outgrowths; to send out branches or subordinate branchlike parts.
  1193. ramose – Having many branches
  1194. ranseur – Also called roncone, was a polearm similar to the partisan used in Europe up to the 15th century.
  1195. ravel – 1. To separate the fibers or threads of; to unravel; 2. To tangle or complicate
  1196. ravelin – An outwork having two embankments at a salient angle
  1197. rawboned – Having a lean, gaunt frame with prominent bones
  1198. Reaumur – archaic: a temperature scale with the freezing point of water at 80º.
  1199. rebarbative – Tending to irritate; repellent
  1200. rebeck – Medieval instrument; a lute-like violin
  1201. recondite – Obscure; abstruse
  1202. recreant – 1. A faithless or disloyal person; 2. A coward
  1203. recrudescent – To break out anew or come into renewed activity, as after a period of quiescence
  1204. recumbentibus – A knockdown blow
  1205. redolent – Suggestive
  1206. reef – A vein of ore
  1207. reeve – 1. Any of various minor officers of parishes or other local authorities. 2. A bailiff or steward of a manor in the later medieval period.
  1208. relict – 1. Something that has survived; a remnant 2. A species that inhabits a much smaller geographic area than it did in the past, often because of environmental change
  1209. reliquary – A receptacle, such as a coffer or shrine, for keeping or displaying sacred relics
  1210. renascent – Becoming active or vigorous again
  1211. reperfusion – The restoration of blood flow to an organ or tissue that has had its blood supply cut off, as after a heart attack.
  1212. repine – To be discontented or low in spirits; complain or fret; to yearn after something
  1213. retort – A closed laboratory vessel with an outlet tube, used for distillation, sublimation, or decomposition by heat.
  1214. retromingent – One who urinates backwards
  1215. retronym – A new word coined for an existing or older thing to distinguish it from something newer or more recent (e.g. analog watch or electric guitar)
  1216. retropulsion – An abnormal tendency to walk backwards: a symptom of Parkinson’s disease
  1217. revanchism – The act of retaliating, esp. by a nation or group to regain lost territory or standing; revenge
  1218. revenant – 1. One that returns after a lengthy absence; 2. One who returns after death
  1219. revetments – 1. A facing, as of masonry, used to support an embankment; 2. A barricade against explosives
  1220. Rhadamanthine – Strictly and uncompromisingly just
  1221. rhonchus – A snore or chest rattle
  1222. rhotacism – Difficulty pronouncing r sounds
  1223. ricasso – An unsharpened section of a sword or knife blade next to the hilt.
  1224. riprap – Piled broken stones used as a foundation or to stabilize an easily eroded bank or slope
  1225. risible – 1. Eliciting laughter; ludicrous 2. capable of laughing or inclined to laugh
  1226. Risorgimento – The period of or the movement for the liberation and political unification of Italy, beginning about 1750 and lasting until 1870 (from the Italian for “resurgence”)
  1227. roman à clef – A novel in which actual persons, places, or events are depicted in fictional guise
  1228. rosser – A bark-removing machine
  1229. rota – A work schedule
  1230. roué – A man who recklessly indulges in sensual pleasures; a rake
  1231. roundel – A circular architectural or decorative element, such as a painted panel or a stained glass window.
  1232. roundelay – A poem or song with a regularly recurring refrain (as much popular music)
  1233. rumbustiousness – Uncontrollably exuberant; unruly
  1234. Ruritanian – Of or relating to an imagined European kingdom characterized by provincialism, nationalism, and political intrigue; used in discussions of international law or economic theory
  1235. rusk – A light, soft-textured sweetened biscuit
  1236. sabine – A member of an ancient people of central Italy, conquered and assimilated by the Romans in 290 bc.
  1237. Sadhu – A person who dedicates themself to the pursuit of enlightenment through a life of isolation, self-deprivation, and feats of physical endurance.
  1238. Saiva – One who worships Shiva
  1239. sacerdotal – Of or relating to priests or the priesthood; priestly.
  1240. sacerdotalism – The belief that priests act as mediators between God and humans.
  1241. Salesian – Of or relating to St Francis of Sales or to the religious orders founded by him or by St John Bosco in his name
  1242. salient – 1. A military position that projects into the position of the enemy. 2. A projecting angle or part.
  1243. salmagundi – A mixture; a potpourri
  1244. saltatrix – A Bluefish; Bluefish are known as tailor in Australia and New Zealand, elf and shad in South Africa.
  1245. saltire – A cross in heraldry
  1246. saltpeter – Naturally occurring potassium nitrate, used in making fireworks, gunpowder
  1247. salubrious – Wholesome; healthy
  1248. salvific – Having the intention or power to bring about salvation or redemption
  1249. salwar – Loose pajamalike pants, typically having a drawstring waist and legs that narrow at the bottom, usually worn with a kameez
  1250. sambar – A large deer of southern Asia and the East Indies, with a rough shaggy mane and long curved antlers; also sambhur.
  1251. samizdat – Underground newspaper (from the Russian)
  1252. samphire – An edible coastal plant (Crithmum maritimum) in the parsley family, native to Eurasia (see glasswort)
  1253. samsara – The eternal cycle of birth, suffering, death, and rebirth (in Hinduism or Buddhism)
  1254. sanguine – Cheerfully optimistic
  1255. sanicle – Any plant belonging to the genus Sanicula, of the parsley family, as S. marilandica, of North America, used in medicine.
  1256. sapper – 1. A military engineer who lays, detects, and disarms mines; 2. a soldier who digs trenches
  1257. Sapphism – Lesbianism
  1258. Sassanian – Of or relating to a Persian dynasty (AD 224-651) and the last line of Persian kings before the Arab conquest.
  1259. sastrugi – A long wavelike ridge of snow, formed by the wind and found on the polar plains
  1260. satori – A spiritual awakening sought in Zen Buddhism, often coming suddenly
  1261. satrap – Governor of a province in ancient Persia
  1262. satrapy – The territory or sphere under the rule of a satrap
  1263. satsuma – A seedless mandarin orange originally cultivated in Japan.
  1264. saturnine – Slow and gloomy; morose
  1265. sawyer – A bobbing tree in a body of water
  1266. scansion – Analysis of verse into metrical patterns.
  1267. scapular – A monk’s sleeveless outer garment that hangs from the shoulders and sometimes has a cowl
  1268. schtum – Silent (from the German stumm)
  1269. sciatheric – Belonging to a sundial
  1270. scienter – Knowledge that one’s actions are wrong or contrary to law, where such knowledge is an element of a criminal offense or a basis for liability.
  1271. sciolist – A pretentious attitude of scholarship; superficial knowledgeability
  1272. scordatura – The technique of altering the normal tuning of a stringed instrument to produce particular effects.
  1273. scoria – Porous cinderlike fragments of dark lava. Also called cinders, slag
  1274. scoriatic – Cinder- or slag-like; rocky, craggy
  1275. scotophliic – Functioning best in darkness
  1276. scourge – A whip or lash
  1277. scramasax – A single-edged knife or sword used by the Anglo-Saxons
  1278. scringe – To shrug the back or shoulders from cold
  1279. scripturient – Having a strong urge to write
  1280. scrouge – To inconvenience or discomfort a person by pressing against him or her or by standing too close
  1281. scutelliphile – The hobby of collecting patches or badges
  1282. searce – To sift (obsolete)
  1283. sebum – The semifluid secretion of the sebaceous glands, consisting chiefly of fat, keratin, and cellular material
  1284. secateurs – Pruning shears; a small pair of shears for pruning, having a pair of pivoted handles, sprung so that they are normally open, and usually a single cutting blade that closes against a flat surface
  1285. secondment – Temporary transfer to another position or employment
  1286. sedulously – Assiduous; constant in effort; persevering (from A very short history of driving while black)
  1287. seigneur – A man of rank, esp. a feudal lord in the ancien régime
  1288. seigniorage – Revenue or a profit taken from the minting of coins
  1289. seine – A fishing net or the act of using one (page 653 of Reamde)
  1290. semasiology – Semantics; the study of semantic change
  1291. semiotics – The study of systems of communication
  1292. sempiternal – Infinite; enduring forever
  1293. sempstress – A rare word for seamstress
  1294. seneschal – A steward or major-domo (in charge of servants)
  1295. sententious – Given to moralizing in a pompous or affected manner
  1296. septentrional – Of the north; Germanic; used mostly on maps
  1297. sepulchritude – Tomb-like; also, sepulchral
  1298. sequacious – Unthinking and uncritical; slavish
  1299. sequela – A secondary consequence or result; condition resulting from a disease
  1300. seraglio – A large harem.
  1301. serotype – A group of closely related microorganisms distinguished by a characteristic set of antigens
  1302. sesquipedalian – Given to using long words
  1303. shako – A stiff, cylindrical military dress hat with a metal plate or badge in front, a short visor, and a plume or pompom
  1304. shambles – A slaughterhouse.
  1305. sheela na gig – Figurative carvings of naked women displaying an exaggerated vulva.
  1306. shibboleth – 1. An inappropriate or outdated custom; 2. A word or pronunciation that distinguishes people of one group or class from those of another
  1307. shiplap – Wooden siding rabbeted so that the edge of one board overlaps the one next to it in a flush joint.
  1308. shirty – Ill-tempered; angry
  1309. shockheaded – Having a head of bushy or tousled hair
  1310. shotcrete – Concrete conveyed through a hose and pneumatically projected at high velocity onto a surface.
  1311. Shrovetide – The three days, Shrove Sunday, Shrove Monday, and Shrove Tuesday, preceding Ash Wednesday.
  1312. shufti – A quick look around
  1313. sibilent – Hissing sound
  1314. siderite – A meteorite consisting mainly of iron and nickel.
  1315. sine qua non – An essential element or condition
  1316. singultus – A hiccup
  1317. sinistre – Left-hand; sinister (fr.)
  1318. skittles – Nine-pin bowling
  1319. slapper – A promiscuous woman
  1320. slub – A soft thick nub in yarn that is either an imperfection or purposely set for a desired effect.
  1321. slunk – A prematurely born calf or other animal
  1322. snarge – A collision of an aircraft with a bird (or the remnants thereof)
  1323. soca – A style of music, originating in the West Indies, that is a blend of soul and calypso
  1324. sociolects – A language variety that is associated with a specific social group (e.g. a profession-specific argot)
  1325. sockdolager – Something outstanding; a final blow or remark, coup de grace
  1326. sodality – Fellowship; fraternity; association; society
  1327. solon – A wise lawgiver; a legislator
  1328. sonic – Relating to or containing sodium
  1329. soi-disant – Self-styled; so-called
  1330. solastalgia – A form of emotional or existential distress caused by environmental change
  1331. solecism – A grammatical error; more generously, a non-standard usage
  1332. solon – A legislator
  1333. somatically – Corporeal or physical; of, relating to, or affecting the body, esp. as distinguished from a body part, the mind, or the environment
  1334. somaticize – To convert (anxiety) into physical symptoms.
  1335. sommian – A volcanic caldera that has been partially filled by a new central cone
  1336. sortilege – The act or practice of foretelling the future by drawing lots.
  1337. soteriological – The branch of theology dealing with the nature and means of salvation.
  1338. soviet – One of the popularly elected legislative assemblies that were created after the Russian Revolution (1917) and existed at local, regional, and national levels in the former Soviet Union.
  1339. sozzled – Intoxicated; drunk; see temulent and squiffy
  1340. spadix – A fleshy clublike spike bearing minute flowers, usually enclosed within a sheathlike spathe, characteristic of aroid plants such as the jack-in-the-pulpit
  1341. spall – A chip, fragment, or flake from a piece of stone or ore
  1342. spanandry – Scarcity of males in a population.
  1343. spandrel – The roughly triangular space between the left or right exterior curve of an arch and the rectangular framework surrounding it.
  1344. sparge – 1. To spray or sprinkle; 2. To run additional water through (a partly or completely drained mash) to extract more fermentable sugars; 3. To introduce air or gas into (a liquid)
  1345. spatchcock – To prepare for roasting or grilling by splitting open
  1346. spathe – A leaflike bract that encloses or subtends a flower cluster or spadix, as in the jack-in-the-pulpit
  1347. spatterdashes – Long leather leggings worn in the 18th century, as to protect from mud when riding
  1348. spavined – Decrepit or worn out
  1349. speculum – 1. A mirror or polished metal plate used as a reflector in optical instruments; 2. An instrument for dilating the opening of a body cavity for medical examination; 3. A bright, often iridescent patch of color on the wings of certain birds, esp. ducks 4. A transparent spot in the wings of some butterflies or moths.
  1350. sphingid – A hawk moth.
  1351. spinel – A hard, glassy mineral composed of magnesium-aluminum oxide found in metamorphosed limestones and many basic and ultrabasic igneous rocks
  1352. spinet – A small, compact upright piano
  1353. spitchcock – An eel split and grilled or fried; see spatchcock
  1354. sporran – A leather or fur pouch worn at the front of the kilt in the traditional dress of men of the Scottish Highlands
  1355. sprezzatura – Studied nonchalance; graceful conduct or performance without apparent effort
  1356. sprue – 1. The hole through which molten material is channeled into a mold; 2. The usually plastic rod or framework that secures molded objects, such as model parts
  1357. squamous – Covered with or formed of scales; scaly
  1358. squiffy – Intoxicated; drunk; see temulent and sozzled
  1359. squireen – A pretty squire
  1360. staggers – Any of various diseases in animals, esp. horses, cattle, or other domestic animals, that are characterized by a lack of coordination in moving
  1361. stalagnates – Stalagnates look “stagnant” or completely formed (even though they are still growing).
  1362. starosta – The headman of a Russian village, the chief administrator of a Polish county, or regional Polish nobleman who had official or royal duties
  1363. steatopygia – An extreme accumulation of fat on the buttocks.
  1364. stele – An upright stone or slab with an inscribed or sculptured surface, used as a monument or as a commemorative tablet in the face of a building.
  1365. stenosis – A constriction or narrowing of a duct or passage; a stricture.
  1366. sterlet – A small sturgeon (Acipenser ruthenus) native to rivers flowing into the Black and Caspian Seas, having roe that is used for caviar.
  1367. stochastic – Of, relating to, or characterized by conjecture; Involving or containing a random variable or process
  1368. stolon – A long thin stem that usually grows horizontally along the ground and produces roots and shoots at widely spaced nodes, as in a strawberry plant. Also called runner.
  1369. stook – A group of sheaves of grain stood on end in a field
  1370. stot – To jump straight up with straight legs (e.g. antelope)
  1371. stoush – A fight or brawl
  1372. strabismus – The condition of being cross-eyed
  1373. strath – A strath is a large valley, typically a river valley that is wide and shallow
  1374. Strega – The Italian word for witch
  1375. stridulate – To produce a shrill grating, chirping, or hissing sound by rubbing body parts together, as certain insects do
  1376. stroppy – Bad-tempered and argumentative
  1377. stylobate – The immediate foundation of a row of classical columns
  1378. suasion – Persuasion
  1379. subaltern – A person of inferior rank or position
  1380. subfusc – 1. Of a dark, dull, or somber color; 2. Dark, dull clothing.
  1381. subtiliation – 1. The act of making something thin, rare, or subtile; 2. To think subtly
  1382. succussation – Trotting, shaking
  1383. Suetonius – Roman historian whose major work, Lives of the Caesars, is an account of the lives of the first 12 Roman emperors
  1384. sui generis – Unique
  1385. Sukkot – A harvest festival commemorating the booths in which the Israelites resided during their 40 years in the wilderness
  1386. sump – A depression at the bottom of a shaft where water collects before it is pumped away
  1387. sumptuary – Laws or limits on private expenses
  1388. superannuated – Retired or ineffective because of advanced age
  1389. supererogation – Doing more than required
  1390. supernacular – First-rate
  1391. supernumerary – 1. One that is in excess of the regular, necessary, or usual number; 2. An actor without a speaking part, as one who appears in a crowd scene.
  1392. supersedure – Replacement of an old or diseased queen bee with a new one.
  1393. supine – Lying on the back or having the face upward
  1394. surfactant – A substance, such as detergent, that is added to a liquid to increase its ability to spread.
  1395. suzerain – A nation that controls another nation in international affairs but allows it domestic sovereignty.
  1396. sweetmeat – A sweet delicacy, such as a piece of candy or crystallized fruit
  1397. swingeing – Extreme in effect; drastic
  1398. swot – To cram; derogatory term for a person who crams
  1399. syce – A stableman or groom, esp. in India
  1400. syenite – An igneous rock composed primarily of alkali feldspar together with other minerals, such as hornblende
  1401. syllepsis – See zeugma
  1402. sylph – A slim, graceful woman or girl.
  1403. sympatetic – A walking companion
  1404. syncope – 1. The shortening of a word by omission of a sound, letter, or syllable from the middle of the word; for example, bos’n for boatswain.2. A brief loss of consciousness caused by inadequate blood flow to the brain.
  1405. syncretic – 1. Reconciliation or fusion of differing systems of belief, as in philosophy or religion, esp. when success is partial or the result is heterogeneous; 2. The merging of two or more originally different inflectional forms in linguistics.
  1406. synecdoche – A trope whereby a part is used as a label for the whole (e.g. “hand” for “sailor”); see metonymy
  1407. synodic – Relating to the period of time required for an object to complete a single orbital period.
  1408. tabard – A tunic or capelike garment worn by a knight over his armor and emblazoned with his coat of arms
  1409. tabes – A wasting of a bodily organ or part
  1410. tabun – A poisonous liquid that is soluble in organic solvents, C5H11N2O2P, used as a nerve agent in chemical warfare.
  1411. tacenda – Things not to be mentioned; matters that are passed over in silence
  1412. tallboy – A high chest of drawers made in two sections and placed one on top of the other; chest-on-chest
  1413. talmudic – Related to the collection of ancient Rabbinic writings constituting the basis of religious authority in Orthodox Judaism
  1414. tamarisk – Any shrub or small tree having small scalelike or needle-shaped leaves and feathery racemes of small white or pinkish flowers
  1415. tangible – Discernible by the touch; palpable
  1416. taphonomic – The study of the events and processes, such as burial in sediment, transportation, and decomposition, that affect the remains of an organism after it dies.
  1417. taphonomy – The branch of paleontology that deals with the processes of fossilization.
  1418. tapotement – Rapid massage
  1419. tarpon – Either of two large marine game fishes having a bluish-green back and silvery sides (Megalops cyprinoides of the Pacific and Indian Oceans or M. atlanticus of Atlantic coastal waters)
  1420. Tartaros – The abysmal regions below Hades where the Titans were confined.
  1421. Tefillin – See phylactery.
  1422. tegument – A natural outer covering; an integument
  1423. Telemachus – The son of Odysseus and Penelope, who helped his father kill Penelope’s suitors
  1424. teleology – The philosophical interpretation of natural phenomena as exhibiting purpose or design
  1425. telluric – Of or relating to Earth; terrestrial
  1426. telluride – A chemical compound of tellurium and another element.
  1427. telos – End of a goal-oriented process
  1428. temerarious – In an audacious manner
  1429. tempera – A painting medium in which pigment is mixed with water-soluble glutinous materials such as size or egg yolk
  1430. temulent – Intoxicated; drunk; see sozzled and squiffy
  1431. tendentious – Partisan; marked by or favoring a particular point of view
  1432. tenebrous – Dark and gloomy
  1433. tensegrity – An architectural technique that involves tensional integrity or floating compression (see Wikipedia)
  1434. tenue – A way of carrying oneself
  1435. tephra – Solid matter that is ejected into the air by an erupting volcano
  1436. tergiversate – To use evasions or ambiguities; to evade, to equivocate using subterfuge; to deliberately obfuscate.
  1437. termagant – A scold; a shrew
  1438. tertium quid – Something that cannot be classified into either of two groups considered exhaustive; an intermediate thing or factor.
  1439. thaumaturgic – The working of miracles or magic feats
  1440. theodicy – A vindication of God’s goodness and justice in the face of the existence of evil
  1441. theodolite – A surveying instrument
  1442. theophany – An appearance of a god to a human; a divine manifestation
  1443. theriac – An ointment or potion of varying composition, used as an antidote to a poison
  1444. thermobaric – Detonated by means of an explosive substance reacting spontaneously with air
  1445. thill – Either of the two long shafts between which an animal is fastened when pulling a wagon or cart.
  1446. throstle – 1. Any of various thrushes, esp. a song thrush; 2. A machine formerly used for spinning fibers such as cotton or wool
  1447. thurible – A censer used in certain ecclesiastical ceremonies or liturgies
  1448. thylacine – Tasmanian tiger; an extinct or very rare doglike carnivorous marsupial
  1449. thymos – The Ancient Greek concept of ‘spiritedness’ (as in “a spirited stallion” or “spirited debate”).[1] The word indicates a physical association with breath or blood and is also used to express the human desire for recognition.
  1450. tierce – The third of the seven canonical hours; 1/3 of a pipe or 42 gallons; three cards of the same suit; third position in fencing; an interval of a third
  1451. tillandsia – Any of various usually epiphytic bromeliad plants of the genus Tillandsia, such as Spanish moss, of tropical and subtropical America.
  1452. tilth – 1. Tilled earth; 2. The fitness of soil for cultivation, as measured by its structure and composition.
  1453. tippet – A scarf-like narrow piece of clothing, worn over the shoulders
  1454. tipstaff – 1. A staff tipped with metal, formerly carried as a badge of office, as by a constable; 2. any official who carried such a staff
  1455. titivate – To decorate or spruce up
  1456. tittle – 1. A small diacritic mark, such as an accent, vowel mark, or dot over an i. 2. The tiniest bit; an iota
  1457. tocsin – An alarm sounded on a bell
  1458. tontine – A common fund with increasing annuity for each member’s death and the last living member gets everything
  1459. toothsome – Delicious, luscious, pleasant, attractive, sexually attractive or exciting
  1460. topolect – The language or speech of a particular place (e.g. Züridütsch)
  1461. toponym – A place name; a name derived from a place or region
  1462. toponymy – The place names of a region or language; the study of such place names; also toponomy
  1463. torpid – Mentally or physically inactive; lethargic
  1464. torrid – 1. Parched with the heat of the sun; intensely hot; 2. Passionate; ardent
  1465. tosh – Rubbish; nonsense
  1466. tournure – Implement to expand a dress; a bustle
  1467. towhee – A strikingly marked, oversized sparrow of the East, feathered in bold black and warm reddish-browns
  1468. toxophily – Archery; toxophilite: A student or lover of archery
  1469. tracklement – Savory jelly served with meat
  1470. traduce – To expose to shame or blame by means of falsehood and misrepresentation
  1471. traduction – A transmission or communication; a translation into a different language
  1472. transducer – Any device, such as a microphone or electric motor, that converts one form of energy into another
  1473. tref – Unfit to be eaten; not kosher (corresponds to haram or not halal in Islam)
  1474. trenchant – Clear-cut; forceful or convincing
  1475. trepidation – A state of alarm or dread; apprehension
  1476. tressure – A narrow inner border on a shield, usually decorated with fleurs-de-lys
  1477. trews – Trousers; chiefly British
  1478. tricontagon – A closed plane figure bounded by three or more line segments.
  1479. tripe – Something of no value; rubbish
  1480. trope – Metaphor or non-literal figure of speech
  1481. trow – To think or suppose
  1482. truckle – 1. A small wheel/caster; 2. to be servile
  1483. truckling – To be servile or submissive
  1484. trug – A shallow, usually oval gardening basket made with wide strips of wood
  1485. trull – A woman prostitute.
  1486. trypophobia – An intense, irrational fear of objects with small holes
  1487. tsuris – Problems or difficulties (Yiddish)
  1488. tumid – 1. Swollen; distended. Used of a body part or organ; 2. Of a bulging shape; protuberant; 3. Overblown; bombastic
  1489. tumulus – An ancient grave mound; a barrow (pl. tumuli)
  1490. turnkey – Supplied, installed, or purchased in a condition ready for immediate use, occupation, or operation
  1491. tutoyer – To speak to (someone) on familiar terms
  1492. tympany – Excessive pride or arrogance; inflated manner or style; bombast.
  1493. tzitzit – Specially knotted ritual fringes, or tassels worn by Jewish men around their waist
  1494. ukase – An authoritative order or decree; an edict
  1495. ultracrepidarianism – The habit of giving opinions and advice on matters outside of one’s knowledge or competence.
  1496. unasinous – Sharing the same amount of stupidity; displaying ignorance or foolishness by all.
  1497. unction – Something that serves to soothe; a balm
  1498. unctuous – Excessively ingratiating or insincerely earnest; oily
  1499. undecillion – The cardinal number equal to 1036; British: 1066
  1500. undisonant – Making the sound of waves
  1501. unprepossessing – Creating an unfavorable or neutral first impression
  1502. usquebaugh – Whiskey
  1503. usufruct – Right to use the property of others
  1504. uxorious – Love of or submission to one’s wife
  1505. vade mecum – 1. A useful thing that one constantly carries about; 2. A book, such as a guidebook, for ready reference.
  1506. vair – Red-squirrel fur; often used a trimming
  1507. valetudinarian – 1. Chronically ailing; sickly; 2. Constantly and morbidly concerned with one’s health
  1508. vambrace – Forearm armor
  1509. vastation – Quick destruction; from the Italian vastare.
  1510. vatic – Of or characteristic of a prophet; oracular (see veridical)
  1511. vecturist – A collector of tokens used in buses and subways
  1512. veisalgia – A hangover (from the Norwegian for “suffering after debauchery”)
  1513. vellum – A fine parchment made from calfskin, lambskin, or kidskin and used for the pages and binding of books
  1514. venal – Open to bribery; mercenary
  1515. venery – The indulgence in or pursuit of sexual activity
  1516. venire – The panel of prospective jurors from which a jury is selected
  1517. ventre à terre – belly to the ground; at full speed; flat out
  1518. venule – A small vein, especially one joining capillaries to larger veins.
  1519. verdigris – A green patina or crust of copper sulfate or copper chloride formed on copper, brass, and bronze exposed to air or seawater for long periods of time
  1520. veridical – 1. Truthful; veracious; 2. Coinciding with future events or apparently unknowable present realities (see vatic)
  1521. verisimilitude – Believable; appearing to be true
  1522. vermian – Resembling or of the nature of a worm; of or relating to worms.
  1523. vermilion – Brilliant or vivid red (also written vermillion)
  1524. vernacular – 1. The everyday language spoken by a people as distinguished from the literary language 2. Built in the local style of ordinary houses, rather than a grand architectural style
  1525. vernix – The waxy white substance found coating the skin of newborn human babies
  1526. versipellous – Changeable, protean
  1527. vesicle – A sac or cyst, esp. one containing fluid
  1528. vespertine – Of, relating to, or occurring in the evening (e.g. active or blooming in the evening)
  1529. vetch – Any of several climbing plants of the legume family, bearing pea-like flowers
  1530. vicambulist – One who walks about in the streets
  1531. vicissitude – Alternation between opposite or contrasting things
  1532. vigorish – 1. A fee charged for the placement of bets by an illegal gambling broker or establishment; 2. Frequent and excessive interest payments charged by an illegal moneylender
  1533. villein – One of a class of feudal serfs who held the legal status of freemen in their dealings with all people except their lord
  1534. vinous – 1. Of, relating to, or made with wine; 2. Having the color of wine
  1535. violaceous – Of a violet color; reddish blue
  1536. virago – 1. A woman regarded as noisy, scolding, or domineering; 2. A large, strong, courageous woman
  1537. vitiate – Spoil or impair the quality or efficiency of
  1538. voivode – A Slavic military commander or a governor of a town or province in parts of SE Europe
  1539. volvulus – Abnormal twisting of the intestine causing obstruction
  1540. wale – One of the heavy planks or strakes extending along the sides of a wooden ship
  1541. weeper – A hole or pipe in a wall to allow water to run off
  1542. whelm – To cover with water; submerge
  1543. whin – Any spiny European evergreen shrub having rudimentary leaves and yellow flowers (also called gorse or furze)
  1544. whipping boy – Scapegoat; a boy formerly raised with a prince or other young nobleman and whipped for the latter’s misdeeds
  1545. white goods – Large appliances, like refrigerators and washing machines; compare to brown goods, which are TVs, radios, etc.
  1546. widdershins – In a contrary or counterclockwise direction
  1547. windlestraw – A thin, dried stalk of grass.
  1548. withe – Also withy; a tough, supple twig, used to bind
  1549. woad – An annual Eurasian plant (Isatis tinctoria) in the mustard family, formerly cultivated for its leaves that yield a blue dye.
  1550. xenium – A gift given to a guest
  1551. yegg – A thief, especially a burglar or safecracker
  1552. yonic – Related the vagina, esp. religious rel. to Shakti
  1553. zazen – The primary form of meditation in Zen Buddhism, practiced while sitting cross-legged
  1554. zeugma – When a word applies to two others in jarringly different ways (e.g. John and his license expired yesterday.)
  1555. zoetrope – A mechanical device consisting of a rotating drum ringed with narrow apertures through which an animated image is viewed
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