Word origins

• atramentInk or an inklike substance.
• atrayTo vex; trouble; frighten; torment; harass.
• atredeTo surpass or outdo in counsel.
• atrenTo run away; escape.
• atrideTo ride away; escape (by riding).
• atrinTo run away; escape (from).
• atrineTo touch.
• atrokeTo fail; give out; become faint.
• atroutTo rush away; escape.
• atsakeTo deny.
• atshakeTo flee away; escape.
• atshootTo shoot away; shoot away from.
• atsitTo remain sitting; stay; abide.
• atslikeTo slip away.
• atslipTo slip away.
• atspringTo spring forth; emerge; spring into existence; originate.
• atstandTo stand still; remain; stay.
• atstuntTo bring to an end; put a stop to.
• atstutTo remain; to stay.
• attaintConvicted, attainted.
• attemperTo temper by adjusting relative quantities, or blending qualities.
• attemperancetemperance; temperament
• attercopA spider.
• atterlyPoisonous; attery
• atternVenomous; poisonous.
• atteryPoisonous; venomous
• atweenBetween.
• atwiteTo blame or reproach (someone); to twit.
• atwixbetween; betwixt
• austringerA keeper of goshawks.
• avaleTo cause to descend; to lower; to let fall
• avant-gardeThe vanguard of an army or other force.
• Ave MariaHail Mary (Catholic prayer, part of the rosary)
• avorebefore
• avoutererAn adulterer.
• avowryThe act of avowing and justifying in one's own right the distraining of goods.
• avowtryadultery
• awaiterOne who awaits.
• awarnTo warn.
• awelessWithout fear; fearless, unafraid.
• axle toothA molar tooth; molar.
• axletreeA bar or beam of wood or iron, connecting the opposite wheels of a carriage, on the ends of which the wheels revolve.
• axtreeAn axle or axletree.
• ayelA grandfather.
• ayieldTo yield up.
• ayrantNesting.
• babe in armsAn infant.
• babooneryBaboonish behavior.
• bachelryCollectively, aspiring knights.
• back-Back in its adverbial senses.
• backbiteTo make spiteful slanderous or defamatory statements about someone.
• backbiterA person who says nasty things about another person behind the second person's back: that is, out of their sight and hearing.
• badlingOne who is considered bad.
• bainlyreadily, willingly; at once.
• bairnishHaving the manners of a child; childish; silly.
• bairnlesschildless
• bakemeatAny baked product (such as a pie)
• balefireA bonfire, any large outdoor fire (for example those used in a funeral pyre, or in witches' rituals).
• balefullyIn a baleful, ominous manner.
• ballowRound; pot-bellied.
• bannutAn English walnut.
• bansticklethree-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus).
• baptizationBaptism.
• bare-footenBarefoot.
• bareleggedHaving uncovered legs.
• barmclothAn apron.
• barmedfrothy
• barmskinA blacksmith's leather apron.
• barnfulThe amount that can fit in a barn
• baronagebarons or nobles collectively
• barratorOne who is guilty of barratry, vexing others with frequent and often groundless lawsuits; a brangler and pettifogger.
• barrelfulAs much as a barrel will hold.
• barrulyTraversed (transversely) by barrulets or small bars.
• BarsabeBathsheba
• bascinetA light helmet, typically with a high, pointed skull, either open-faced (in early models) or made with a visor (later models).
• baselingOne who is base or inferior
• basinfulAs much as a basin will hold.
• basketfulThe amount that will fit into a basket
• bastardryThe state of being a bastard (illegitimate child).
• batfulRich; fertile, as in reference to land or soil.
• battailousWarlike, battle-ready.
• battledoreA game played with a shuttlecock and rackets (properly battledore and shuttlecock); a forerunner of badminton.
• battlefulFull of battles or conflicts.
• bay windowA window space projecting outward from the main walls of a building and forming a bay in a room.
• be-By, near, next to, around, close to.
• beadfulPrayerful.
• beadhookA kind of boathook.
• beadleryThe office or jurisdiction of a beadle.
• beadsmanA petitioner; someone who seeks some type of favour from another, usually from a superior.
• beamyResembling a beam in size and weight; massy.
• bearbaitingA blood sport in which dogs are set upon a chained bear
• bearlingA small, young, or juvenile bear.
• bear outTo corroborate, prove, or confirm; to demonstrate; to provide evidence for.
• bearwardSomeone who handles and keeps bears (and sometimes other animals such as apes and bulls), especially for use in public entertainments such as baiting or dancing displays; a bearherd.
• bear-whelpThe whelp of a bear.
• bearwortA perennial alpine plant, Meum athamanticum.
• bebarTo put a bar around; bar about; debar.
• bebarkTo bark at or about; to criticize.
• bebatheTo bathe all over; bathe completely; suffuse.
• bebayTo bay around or about; embay; hem in; surround.