Sunday, August 12, 2012

Vocabulary list--#13


POSP stringer Tim's new list...

anthophilous 

an-THAH-fuh-lus

adjective

Feeding upon or living among flowers.


aphotic

ey-FOH-tik

adjective

Lightless, dark.


apoplectic

ap-uh-plek-tik

adjective

1. Intense enough to threaten or cause a stroke.
2. Of or pertaining to apoplexy.
3. Having or inclined to apoplexy.

noun

1. A person having or predisposed to apoplexy.


argot 

AHR-goh

noun

An often more or less secret vocabulary and idiom peculiar to a particular group.


armamentarium

ahr-muh-muhn-TAIR-ee-uhm

noun

1. A fruitful source of devices or materials available or used for an undertaking.
2. The aggregate of equipment, methods, and techniques available to one for carrying out one's duties.


banausic 

buh-NAW-sik

adjective

Serving utilitarian purposes only; mechanical; practical: architecture that was more banausic than inspired.


Bildungsroman

BIL-doongz-roh-mahn

noun

A type of novel concerned with the education, development, and maturing of a young protagonist.


borborygmus

bor-buh-RIG-mus

noun, plural borborygmi

Intestinal rumbling caused by moving gas.


chrestomathy

kres-TOM-uh-thee

noun

A collection of selected literary passages.


compeer

kuhm-PEER

noun

1. Close friend, comrade.
2. An equal in rank, ability, accomplishment, etc., peer, colleague.


divulse

dahy-VUHLS

verb

To tear away or apart.


ectopic

ek-TOP-ik

adjective

Occurring in an abnormal position or place; displaced.


fugacious 

fyoo-GAY-shus

adjective

Lasting a short time, evanescent.


imbriferous

im-bri-fe-ris

adjective

Rainy, showery, rain-bearing, auguring rain.


incondite

in-KON-dit

adjective

1. Ill-constructed,  unpolished, incondite prose.
2. Crude, rough, unmannerly.


ingeminate

in-JEM-uh-neyt

verb

To repeat, reiterate.


integument

in-TEG-yuh-muhnt

noun

1. A natural covering, as a skin, shell, or rind.
2. Any covering, coating, enclosure, etc.


intrapreneur

in-truh-pruh-NUR

noun

An employee of a large corporation who is given freedom and financial support to create new products, services, systems, etc., and does not have to follow the corporation's usual routines or protocols.


larrup

LAR-uhp

verb

To beat or thrash.


levigate

LEV-i-geyt

verb

1. To rub, grind, or reduce to a fine powder.
2. Chemistry. To make a homogeneous mixture of, as gels.

adjective

Botany. Having a smooth, glossy surface; glabrous.


lookism 

LOOK-iz-um

noun

Prejudice or discrimination based on physical appearance and especially physical appearance believed to fall short of societal notions of beauty.


luciferin

loo-SIF-uh-rin

noun

Any of various organic substances in luminescent organisms (as fireflies) that upon oxidation produce a virtually heatless light.


maffick

MAF-ik

verb

To celebrate with boisterous rejoicing and hilarious behavior.


matrilineal

ma-truh-LIN-ee-uhl

adjective

Inheriting or determining descent through the female line.


noctilucent 

nok-tuh-LOO-suhnt

adjective

Visible during the short night of the summer.


numen

NOO-min

noun

Divine power, especially one who inhabits a particular object.


obtest

ob-TEST

verb

1. To supplicate earnestly, beseech.
2. To invoke as witness.
3. To protest.
4. To make supplication, beseech.


omphalos

OM-fuh-luhs

noun

1. The central point.
2. The navel; umbilicus.
3. Greek Antiquity. A stone in the temple of Apollo at Delphi, thought to mark the center of the earth.


orectic 

aw-REK-tik

adjective

Of or pertaining to desire, appetitive.


pelagic

puh-LAJ-ik

adjective

1. Of or pertaining to the open seas or oceans.
2. Living or growing at or near the surface of the ocean, far from land, as certain organisms.


pochismo

poh-CHEEZ-moh

noun

1. An English word or expression borrowed into Spanish.
2. A form of speech employing many such words.
3. An adopted U.S. custom, attitude, etc.


pother

POTH-er

noun

1. A heated discussion, debate, or argument, fuss; to-do.
2. Commotion, uproar.
3. A choking or suffocating cloud, as of smoke or dust.


prorogue

proh-ROHG

verb

1. To defer, postpone.
2. To discontinue a session of (the British Parliament or a similar body).


putative 

PYOO-tuh-tiv

adjective

1. Commonly accepted or supposed.
2. Assumed to exist or to have existed.


spruik

sprook

verb

To make or give a speech, especially extensively, spiel.


tawpie

TAW-pee

noun

A foolish or thoughtless young person.


usageaster 

YOO-sij-as-ter

noun

A self-styled authority on language usage.


varlet


VAHR-lit

noun

1. A knavish person, rascal.
2A. An attendant or servant.
2B. A page who serves a knight.


ventose

VEN-tohs

adjective

Given to empty talk, windy.


vicinage

VIS-uh-nij

noun

1. The region near or about a place, vicinity.
2. A particular neighborhood or district, or the people belonging to it.
3. Proximity.


vilipend 

VIL-uh-pend

verb

1. To hold or treat as of little worth or account.
2. To express a low opinion of, disparage.


welkin

WEL-kin

noun

1A. The vault of the sky, firmament
1B. Heaven.
2. The upper atmosphere.


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