Word origins

• misadventureSynonym of misfortune, bad luck or mishap, an instance of bad luck.
• servileExcessively eager to please; obsequious.
• diademAn ornamental headband worn as a badge of royalty.
• tushA tusk.
• tittleAny small dot, stroke, or diacritical mark, especially if part of a letter, or of a letter-like abbreviation; in particular, the dots over the Latin letters i and j.
• suffocateTo suffer, or cause someone to suffer, from severely reduced oxygen intake to the body.
• espyTo find out or observe (someone or something, especially if not easy to see) by spying or looking; to catch sight of; to see; to spot.
• stepdaughterThe daughter of one's spouse from a previous relationship.
• hallowA saint; a holy person; an apostle.
• quaternionA group or set of four people or things.
• abbreviateTo shorten by omitting parts or details.
• assailTo attack with harsh words or violent force.
• neer(anatomy) Kidney.
• worshipfulTending to worship; showing reverence.
• forethoughtThinking beforehand or in advance, planning; prior or previous consideration.
• madderA herbaceous plant, Rubia tinctorum, native to Asia, cultivated for a red-purple dye (alizarin) obtained from the root.
• cacaExcrement; feces.
• unrecoverableNot recoverable; that cannot be recovered.
• firebrandA torch or other burning stick with a flame at one end.
• brevetA military document entitling a commissioned officer to hold a higher rank temporarily, but without an increase in pay.
• fusibleAble to be fused or melted.
• seleHappiness, fortune.
• LondonerA person from, or an inhabitant of, London.
• lopeTo travel an easy pace with long strides.
• heritableThat can legally be inherited.
• noyTo annoy; to harm or injure.
• TheophilusThe addressee of the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles.
• sticklerA referee or adjudicator at a fight, wrestling match, duel, etc. who ensures fair play.
• ablutionOriginally, the purifying of oils and other substances by emulsification with hot water; now more generally, a thorough cleansing of a precipitate or other non-dissolved substance.
• handcuffOne ring of a locking fetter for the hand or one pair.
• demureModest, quiet, reserved, or serious.
• capperA device or person that applies caps, as to bullets or bottles.
• westyWaste; desert.
• tearyOf a person, having eyes filled with tears; inclined to cry.
• sowerOne who or that which sows.
• greeterA person who greets people on their arrival.
• scarryLike a scar, or rocky eminence.
• cygnetThe young of a swan.
• riotousHaving the characteristics of a riot.
• abrogateTo annul (as a law, decree, ordinance, etc.) by an authoritative act; to abolish by the authority of the maker or their successor; to repeal.
• fazeTo frighten or cause hesitation; to daunt, put off (usually used in the negative); to disconcert, to perturb.
• henchmanA loyal and trusted follower or subordinate.
• basiliskA mythical snake-like dragon, so venomous that even its gaze is deadly.
• ajarSlightly turned or opened.
• interjectionA phrase or word with no particular grammatical relation to a sentence but which serves to express emotion or as a filled pause; an exclamation.
• wildnessThe state or quality of being wild.
• deathlyAppearing as though dead, or on the verge of death.
• chickweedespecially common chickweed (Stellaria media), a common, edible weed in North America and Europe.
• amelEnamel.
• entreatTo ask earnestly or beg for (something, such as a benefit or favour).
• brainlessHaving no brain.
• litheMild; calm.
• courtierA person in attendance at a royal court.
• impetuousMaking arbitrary decisions, especially in an impulsive and forceful manner.
• clearnessBrightness, brilliancy.
• embroiderTo stitch a decorative design on fabric with needle and thread of various colours.
• unchangeableNot changeable; incapable of being changed or of changing; immutable.
• droopyTending to droop; sagging; wilting.
• rudredness or blushing
• impregnationThe act of making pregnant; fertilization.
• immolationThe act of immolating, or the state of being immolated.
• trivetA stand with three short legs, especially for cooking over a fire.
• chantryAn endowment for the maintenance of a priest to sing a daily mass for the souls of specified people.
• cloudlessWithout any clouds.
• cheerfulnessThe state of being cheerful; joy.
• fatherlessWithout a (living) father.
• disparageInequality in marriage; marriage with an inferior.
• tristeSad; sorrowful; gloomy.
• cluckThe sound made by a hen, especially when brooding, or calling her chicks.
• tasseA piece of armor for the hips and thighs: one of a set of plates (each being of one piece or segmented) hanging from the bottom of the breastplate or from faulds.
• stridingThe act of one who strides; a long step.
• leavenAny agent used to make dough rise or to have a similar effect on baked goods.
• loutA troublemaker, often violent; a rude violent person; a yob.
• cubitThe distance from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger used as an informal unit of length.
• groundlessWithout any grounds to support it; baseless.
• ameliorationThe act of making better.
• warkPain; ache.
• alacrityEagerness; liveliness; enthusiasm.
• drawbridgeA hinged bridge which can be raised (to prevent its being crossed, as across a moat, or to allow watercraft to travel beneath it).
• howsoeverRegardless of the way in which.
• rejoinderThe defendant's answer to the replication.
• dilateTo enlarge; to make bigger.
• netterOne who nets (in any sense), or who uses a net.
• clothierA person who makes or sells cloth or clothing.
• likenFollowed by to or (archaic) unto: to regard or state that (someone or something) is like another person or thing; to compare.
• wordlessConveyed without the use of words; unspoken or unsaid.
• revelryJoyful or riotous merry-making.
• defaceTo damage or vandalize something, especially a surface, in a visible or conspicuous manner.
• meteTo dispense, measure in order to dispense, allot (especially punishment, reward etc.).
• liefBeloved, dear, agreeable.
• litigiousOf or relating to litigation.
• ruinousCausing ruin; destructive, calamitous.
• luggingThe process by which something is lugged from one place to another; a laborious carrying or dragging.
• sunshadeSomething to keep the sun off, or create shade from the sun; a parasol or awning.
• shudA shed.
• CaxtonAny book printed by William Caxton, the first English printer.
• blitheCasually careless or indifferent; showing a lack of concern; nonchalant.
• paralyzeTo afflict with paralysis.
• tillingThe act of one who tills.
• languishTo lose strength and become weak; to be in a state of weakness or sickness.