adamantine |
adj. |
untameable |
adumbration |
noun |
a representation in faint outline |
advert to |
verb |
to refer to in speaking or writing |
aetiology |
noun |
the assignment of a cause or reason |
anodyne |
adj. |
able to relieve pain |
apocrypha |
noun |
writings of doubtful authenticity |
apposite |
adj. |
apt; well chosen |
ashlar |
noun |
a large square-cut stone used in building |
attar |
noun |
a fragrant essential oil, especially from rose-petals |
aught |
noun |
anything at all (archaic) |
auricular |
adj. |
of or relating to the ear or hearing |
aver |
verb |
to affirm |
avuncular |
adj. |
like or of an uncle, kind and fiendly, esp. towards younger persons |
bane |
noun |
cause of ruin or trouble |
beck |
noun |
a brook (North English) |
bedizen |
verb |
to deck out gaudily |
beeves |
noun |
oxen or cattle (archaic plural of beef) |
betimes |
adv. |
early; in good time |
bourne |
noun |
a destination |
bowdlerize |
verb |
to expurgate |
brindled |
adj. |
brownish or tawny with streaks of other colour (esp. of domestic animals) |
cachinnation |
noun |
a loud laugh |
Caduceous |
noun |
an ancient Greek or Roman herald’s wand |
cairn |
noun |
a mound of rough stones as a monument or landmark |
caitiff |
adj. |
base, despicable, cowardly (archaic) |
calliope |
noun |
a keyboard instrument resembling an organ, with a set of steam whistles |
callow |
adj. |
inexperienced, immature |
canker |
noun |
a destructive fungus disease of trees and plants |
catamite |
noun |
a boy kept for homosexual practises |
catchment |
noun |
a collection of rainfall |
caul |
noun |
the inner membrane enclosing a fœtus |
centripetal |
adj. |
moving or tending to move to a centre |
chiliastic |
adj. |
with reference to the doctrine of Christ’s reign of 1000 years |
chrestomathy |
noun |
a selection of passages, used esp. to help in learning a language |
con |
verb |
to learn by heart |
condign |
adj. |
severe and well-deserved (of a punishment) |
conflate |
verb |
to blend or fuse together |
congeries |
noun |
a disorderly collection; a mass or heap |
connubial |
adj. |
relating to marriage |
contemn |
verb |
to despise; to treat with disregard |
contumacy |
noun |
a stubborn refusal to obey |
contumeliously |
adj. |
reproachful, insulting or injurious |
conundrum |
noun |
a puzzle |
copacetic |
adj. |
excellent, in good order (US slang) |
coruscate |
verb |
to sparkle |
costive |
adj. |
constipated; niggardly |
coulter |
noun |
a vertical cutting blade fixed in front of a ploughshare |
coxcomb |
noun |
an ostentatiously conceited man |
cupreous |
adj. |
of or like copper |
cypher |
verb |
to do arithmetic |
despond |
verb |
to lose heart or hope |
dimity |
noun |
a cotton fabric woven with stripes or checks |
disquisition |
noun |
a long or elaborate treatise or disourse on a subject |
dote on |
verb |
to be foolishly or excessively fond of |
dovecote |
noun |
a shelter with nesting-holes for domesticated pigeons |
droll |
adj. |
quaintly amusing |
dun |
verb |
to pester; to importune for payment of a debt |
duplicitous |
adj. |
double-dealing |
egress |
noun |
the act or right of going out; an exit |
elision |
noun |
the omission of a vowel or syllable in pronouncing (as in "I’m"," let’s", etc.) |
embrocation |
noun |
a rubbing liquid |
emphysema |
noun |
a swelling of the air sacs of the lungs, causing breathlessness |
epigene |
adj. |
produced on the surface of the earth |
epistemology |
noun |
the theory of knowledge |
equable |
adj. |
even; not varying |
esculent |
adj. |
fit to eat; edible |
evince |
verb |
to show or make evident |
excogitate |
verb |
to think out; to contrive |
factitious |
adj. |
contrived, not genuine |
fain to |
adv. |
willing under the circumstances to (archaic) |
feral |
adj. |
wild, untamed, uncultivated (of an animal or plant) |
flagon |
noun |
a large bottle in which wine, cider, etc. are sold, usually holding 1.13 litres |
froward |
adj. |
perverse (archaic) |
gazebo |
noun |
a small building or structure such as a summer-house or turret, designed to give a wide view |
gird |
verb |
to gibe or taunt |
gloaming |
noun |
the twilight |
God wot |
saying |
God knows |
habited |
adj. |
clothed |
hackneyed |
adj. |
made commonplace or trite by overuse |
heliolatries |
noun |
rituals of sun worship |
henbane |
noun |
a poisonous plant with sticky, hairy leaves and an unpleasant smell |
hendiadys |
noun |
the expression of an idea by two words connected with ’and’, instead of one modifying the other (e.g. - "nice and warm" for "nicely warm") |
heterodox |
adj. |
not orthodox |
hierophant |
noun |
an initiating or presiding priest |
holm |
noun |
a piece of flat ground near a river |
hoyden |
noun |
a boisterous girl |
humbug |
adj. |
deceptive talk or behaviour |
imbrue |
verb |
to stain |
incubus |
noun |
an evil spirit supposed to descend on sleeping persons |
indurate |
verb |
to become hard |
ingress |
adj. |
the act or right of entering; the start of an eclipse (astronomy) |
inquorate |
adj. |
not constituting a quorum |
inured |
adj. |
to be accustomed to (something unpleasant) |
invidious |
adj. |
likely to excite resentment |
irenic |
adj. |
aiming or aimed at peace |
labile |
adj. |
unstable |
lambent |
adj. |
softly radiant (of a light or fire) |
lea |
noun |
a piece of meadow or pasture |
limn |
verb |
to paint; to illuminate |
lour |
verb |
to look sullen; to look dark and threatening |
lucubrations |
noun |
literary writing, esp. of a pedantic or elborate character; nocturnal study or meditation |
meliorative |
adj. |
imroving |
meretricious |
adj. |
showily but falsely attractive |
metempsychosis |
noun |
the supposed transmigration of the soul of a human being or an animal at death into a new body of the same or different species |
mullioned |
adj. |
divided by vertical bars (of a window) |
murrey |
adj. |
the colour of a mulberry; a deep red or purple |
nescient |
adj. |
lacking knowledge; ignorant |
nugatory |
adj. |
futile, trifling, worthless |
numinous |
adj. |
indicating the presence of a divinity (a numinous icon) |
objurgate |
verb |
to scold or chide |
oleaginous |
adj. |
oily; obsequious |
ontology |
noun |
the branch of metaphysics dealing with the nature of being |
orotund |
adj. |
full, round; imposing (of the voice or phrasing) |
ostler |
noun |
a stableman at an inn |
otiose |
adj. |
serving no purpose |
palsied |
adj. |
rendered helpless |
peccant |
adj. |
sinning |
penurious |
adj. |
poor, destitute |
percipient |
adj. |
able to perceive; conscious |
perfervid |
adj. |
very fervid |
pertinacious |
adj. |
stubborn, persistant |
phashed |
adj. |
trimmed or sheared, neatened up |
pilulous |
adj. |
as a small pill |
pith |
noun |
the essential part |
plangent |
adj. |
loud and reverberating (of a sound) |
plash |
verb |
to bend down and interweave (branches, twigs, etc.) to form a hedge |
pollard |
noun |
an animal that has lost or cast its horns; a tree whose branches have been cut off |
positivism |
noun |
the recognition only of observable phenomena and facts |
preternatural |
adj. |
outside the ordinary course of nature |
prolepsis |
noun |
anticipation; the representation of a thing as existing before it actually does or did so ("he was a dead man when he entered"); the anticipation and answering of possible questions in rhetorical speech |
proleptic |
adj. |
anticipatory |
pronate |
verb |
to put (the hand or forearm) into a prone position (with the palm downwards) |
propinquity |
adj. |
nearness in space; proximity |
propitiate |
verb |
to appease |
propitious |
adj. |
favourable |
purlieus |
noun |
a person’s bounds or limits |
pyracanth |
noun |
a dark evergreen schrub |
recension |
noun |
a revision of a text; a particular form or version of a text resulting from such revision |
recondite |
adj. |
abstruse |
recusant |
noun |
a person who refuses submission to an authority |
refulgent |
adj. |
shining, gloriously bright |
rill |
noun |
a small stream |
rood |
noun |
a crucifix; 1/4th of an acre |
saltatory |
adj. |
leaping or dancing |
sanguine |
adj. |
optimistic, confident |
saponaceous |
adj. |
of, like or containing soap; unctuous, flattering |
saturnine |
adj. |
of a sluggish, gloomy temperament |
sciolist |
noun |
a superficial pretender to knowledge |
sedulous |
adj. |
persevering, diligent, assiduous |
self-subdual |
noun |
self-conquest |
sentient |
adj. |
having the power of perception by the senses |
sere |
adj. |
withered, dried up |
settle |
noun |
a bench with a high back and arms, often with a box fitted below the seat |
skein |
noun |
a tangle or confusion |
sloe-eyed |
adj. |
eyes of a bluish-black colour (as of the fruit of a blackthorn) |
solipsism |
noun |
the view that the self is all that exists or can be known |
sough |
verb |
to make a moaning, whistling or rushing sound |
spoony |
adj. |
sentimental, amorous |
springe |
noun |
a noose or snare for catching small game |
steadings |
noun |
farm outbuildings |
stile |
noun |
an arrangement of steps allowing people but not animals to climb over a fence or wall |
stiver |
noun |
the smallest amount or quantity |
subfuscous |
adj. |
dull, gloomy |
sublunary |
adj. |
of this world, earthy |
supine |
adj. |
lying face upwards, inert |
swede |
noun |
a large yellow-fleshed turnip |
syllogism |
noun |
a false form of deductive reasoning |
tawdry |
adj. |
showy but worthless |
tester |
noun |
a canopy, esp. over a four-poster bed |
tippet |
noun |
a covering of fur etc. for the shoulders, formerly worn by women |
transpontine |
adj. |
on the other side of a bridge |
trivet |
noun |
an iron tripod or bracket for a cooking pot or kettle to stand on ("as right as a trivet") |
trope |
noun |
a metaphore, a figurative use of a word |
turbid |
adj. |
muddy, thick; not clear; (of a colour, of a style, etc.) confused, disordered |
uxorial |
adj. |
of or relating to a wife |
uxorious |
adj. |
greatly or excessively fond of one’s wife |
valance |
noun |
a short curtain round a bedstead |
valedictory |
adj. |
serving as a farewell |
valetudinarian |
noun |
a person of poor health or unduly anxious about health |
vatic |
adj. |
prophetic or inspired |
vaticination |
noun |
a prophesy |
votary |
noun |
a person vowed to the service of God or of a cult |