|
|
|
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| afflatus | inspiration or powerful impulse, as of an artist or poet. |
| al·lit·er·a·tion | The repetition of usually initial consonant sounds in two or more neighboring words or syllables (as wild and woolly, threatening throngs) -- called also head rhyme, initial rhyme |
| ambergris | a grayish, waxy substance from the intestinal canal of sperm whales, often found floating in tropical seas: it is used in some perfumes. |
| amyg·da·la |
Pronunciation: &-'mig-d&-l& Function: noun Inflected Form(s): plural amyg·da·lae /-"lE, -"lI/ Etymology: New Latin, from Latin, almond, from Greek amygdalE : the one of the four basal ganglia in each cerebral hemisphere that is part of the limbic system and consists of an almond-shaped mass of gray matter in the anterior extremity of the temporal lobe -- called also amygdaloid nucleus |
| au·to·di·dact |
Pronunciation: "o-tO-'dI-"dakt, -dI-', -d&-' Function: noun Etymology: Greek autodidaktos self-taught, from aut- + didaktos taught, from didaskein to teach : a self-taught person |
| dolorous | very sorrowful or sad; mournful. 2. Painful. |
| energumen | A person supposedly possessed by an evil spirit; demoniac. 2. A fanatic; enthusiast. |
| fissiparous | Reproducing by fission |
| gallimaufry | 1. orig., a hash made of meat scraps 2. a hodgepodge; jumble |
| inamorata | A woman in relation to the man who is her lover; sweetheart or mistress |
| inchoate | 1. just begun; in the early stages; incipient; rudimentary 2. not yet clearly or completely formed or organized; disordered 3. Law not yet completed or made effective; pending |
| jeremiad | a lamentation or tale of woe: in allusion to the Lamentations of Jeremiah |
| kakistocracy | goverment by the worst men. |
| panegyric | 1. a formal speech or writing praising a person or event 2. high or hyperbolic praise; laudation |
| pule | Whine, whimper |
| so·lip·sism |
Pronunciation: 'sO-l&p-"si-z&m, 'sä- Function: noun Etymology: Latin solus alone + ipse self Date: 1874 : a theory holding that the self can know nothing but its own modifications and that the self is the only existent thing - so·lip·sist /'sO-l&p-sist, 'sä-l&p-, s&-'lip-/ noun - so·lip·sis·tic /"sO-l&p-'sis-tik, "sä-/ adjective - so·lip·sis·ti·cal·ly /-ti-k(&-)lE/ adverb |
| San·he·drin | san-'he-dr&n, sän-; san-'hE-, 'sa-n&- : the supreme council and tribunal of the Jews during postexilic times headed by a High Priest and having religious, civil, and criminal jurisdiction |
| synecdoche | A figure of speech in which a part is used for a whole, an individual for a class, a material for a thing, or the reverse of any of these. (Ex.: bread for food, the army for a soldier, or copper for a penny) |
| tergiversate | 1. to desert a cause, party, etc.; become a renegade; apostatize 2. to use evasions or subterfuge; equivocate |
| ukase |
Pronunciation: yü-'kAs, -'kAz, 'yü-"; ü-'käz Function: noun Etymology: French & Russian; French, from Russian ukaz, from ukazat' to show, order; akin to Old Church Slavonic u- away, Latin au-, Sanskrit ava- and to Old Church Slavonic kazati to show 1 : a proclamation by a Russian emperor or government having the force of law |
| wastrel | 1. A person who wastes; esp., a spendthrift. 2. same as GOOD-FOR-NOTHING |