DokuWiki

affianced: betrothed, bound to be married

amphigory: a nonsense verse; a rigmarole, with apparent meaning, which on further attention proves to be meaningless

apothegm: pithy bit of wisdom or maxim

arrant: consummate, thoroughgoing, complete

asperity: hardship, rigor, tribulation

athwart: From side to side; crosswise

benthos: The collection of organisms living on or in the bottom of a body of water; the bottom of a body of water

catawampus: Out of alignment, crooked, cater-corner; fierce, destructive

chanson: a song (especially in French)

debark: to unload freight; to disembark

defilade: to arrange (fortifications) so as to protect the lines from frontal or enfilading fire and the interior from fire from above or behind (see enfilade)

diapason: full, rich outpouring of melodious sound; tuning fork

dromomaniac: someone with the uncontrollable urge to walk or wander.

enfilade: volley of gunfire from a flanking position (see defilade)

ephemeron: a collectible

escalade: the act of climbing a wall as a siege tactic

esthesis: an elementary awareness of stimulation

estivate: to go dormant in the summer

faience: glazed earthenware decorated with opaque colors

hebdomad: a group of seven

hebetude: lethargy, torpor, or dullness

hegira: an exodus or migration

helicon: a large brass instrument resting on the shoulder

hemostat: clamp for stopping bleeding

holdfast: The part of an aquatic plant that anchors it to something

howdah: majestic perch atop an elephant

incus: anvil in the middle ear

intestate: One who dies without a legal will.

isobar: a line on a weather map connecting points of equal atmospheric pressure.

lucubrate: write or study, especially by night.

luster: a glass pendant in a chandelier

mantic: of or relating to the faculty of divination: prophetic.

moire: fabric with a rippled pattern

natant: swimming or floating

neonate: a newborn infant, esp. less than 1 month old

nesselrode: kind of pie similar to tutti-fruti

nugatory: of little or no consequence

nunatak: Rocky peak sticking out of a glacier

paludiculture: wet agriculture and forestry on peatlands

pronoiac: A person who feels that the world around them conspires to do them good (opposite of paranoiac)

risible: laugh inducing, ludicrous

saturnine: slow and gloomy; when relating to appearance, dark in coloring; moody or mysterious

tantivy: at a full gallop

taphonomy: the study of how organisms decay and become fossilized or preserved in the paleontological record.

teander: Feature of a sinuous river

volant: Flying or capable of flying; Moving quickly or nimbly; agile; depicted with the wings extended as in flying.

volte-face: total reversal of stance