Word origins

• AcheuleanOf or pertaining to a lower Paleolithic period characterized by the presence of flaked bifacial hand axes.
• acierateTo convert (iron) into steel, or to coat with a layer of steel by converting only the surface of the iron.
• acrazeTo weaken, impair, or enfeeble in mind, body, or estate; craze.
• acroterAn acroterium.
• aeolipileA steam engine powered by rocket propulsion due to escaping steam, consisting of a pressure vessel mounted on a bearing, with one or more tubes which exhaust steam tangentially to the rotation axis so as to create rotation, which is mostly regarded as a curiosity with no practical use.
• aerianOf or belonging to the atmosphere or to the air; aerial.
• aerobeAny organism (but especially a bacterium) that can tolerate the presence of oxygen, or that needs oxygen to survive.
• aerophaneA thin fabric resembling crape
• affamishTo cause (somebody) to die of hunger; to starve.
• afferenceThe brain’s reception of signals from the body.
• affinitionThe state or quality of being affined; mental affinity or attraction.
• agnésienneSynonym of witch of Agnesi.
• aguerriedaccustomed to war
• aiguillesqueShaped like an aiguille.
• AlbigensesThe inhabitants of Albi, a city in southern France.
• alegarvinegar produced from fermented ale.
• alkekengiA herbaceous plant of the nightshade family (Alkekengi officinarum).
• allantoidThe allantois.
• allemande leftMove in which two facing dancers take left hands or forearms, turn halfway around to the left, let go, and step forward.
• AlleymanA German, especially during the First World War.
• AllorA surname from French.
• alouatteA South American howler monkey (of the genus Alouatta).
• alunogenAn aluminium sulfate mineral often found on the walls of mines and quarries.
• amassmentThe act of amassing.
• AmazonomachySynonym of Amazonomachia (“a battle with Amazons (“mythical female warriors thought to inhabit the Black Sea region”); also (art), an artistic representation of such a scene”).
• ameroA proposed unified currency of Canada, the United States, and Mexico.
• amnicolousThat lives by a river.
• AmourouxA surname from French.
• anaerobiesanaerobes
• anapnographA form of spirometer.
• ancestrulaThe initial zooid of a bryozoan colony
• anecicBuilding deep vertical burrows and surfacing to feed.
• angelomorphicHaving the form of an angel; representing a specified person or object in such a manner.
• AngoulêmeA city, the capital of Charente department, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France.
• anhelationBreathing difficulty, shortness of breath.
• anosmaticLacking olfactory organs, and so having no sense of smell; anosmic.
• AntjuanA male given name from French, equivalent to English Anthony.
• AntwineA surname.
• apeakIn a vertical line, the cable having been sufficiently hove in to bring the ship over it.
• apophonyModification of an internal vowel sound in a word or linguistic root, especially so as to establish a lexical distinction.
• aporeticTending to doubt.
• aposteriorismThe view that all knowledge is derived from sense experience; empiricism as opposed to apriorism.
• apostilA marginal note; a gloss.
• apostolicityThe quality of being apostolic, notably of preserving authenticity within the mission and tradition of the Christian church as founded by Jesus Christ and his twelve original Apostles, through their representatives and successors in the papacy and episcopate.
• apothegmA short, witty, instructive saying; an aphorism or maxim.
• appanagistA prince to whom an apanage has been granted.
• appendanceAn appendage, attachment
• apprenticeageApprenticeship.
• apriorismThe idea that some knowledge of the physical world can be derived logically from general principles.
• araguatoA South American howler monkey, the ursine howler (Alouatta arctoidea).
• archduchyThe territory (principality) of an archduke.
• archivoltAn ornamental molding or band following the curve on the underside of an arch.
• argentrySilver material, or silverness in color.
• arithmosophyA form of numerology that equates letters or words with numbers.
• armozeenA thick plain silk, generally black, used for clerical garments.
• arollaSwiss stone pine
• arriereThat which is behind or subordinate; the rear.
• arriere-banA proclamation, as of the French kings, calling not only their immediate feudatories, but the vassals of these feudatories, to take the field for war.
• arrivantA person who is arriving or has just arrived.
• arroseTo drench; to besprinkle; to moisten.
• ars gratia artisSynonym of art for art's sake.
• ashetA large, shallow, oval dish used for serving food.
• asineshe-ass.
• assationRoasting, baking.
• assecutionacquisition; an obtaining
• assignatA banknote used during the French Revolution, on the security of state land.
• a tauntoOf a ship, especially a tall square-rigged one: in which all running rigging is hauled taut; having all spars hoisted aloft; having all sails set.
• atomic pileAn early nuclear reactor fueled by uranium and moderated with graphite.
• atrousJet-black in color.
• attack au ferAn attack on the opponent's blade, e.g. beat, expulsion, pressure
• attrapTo entrap; to ensnare.
• auditiveOf or relating to hearing; auditory.
• au fonddeep down, in the end
• au mieuxOn intimate terms.
• automatizeTo make or become automatic.
• avant-courierA person dispatched before another person or company, to give notice of his or their approach; a scout or herald.
• avant-gardismthe novel, experimental approach of the avant-garde
• aviophobiaFear of flying.
• aye-ayeThe lemur Daubentonia madagascariensis, a solitary nocturnal quadruped found in Madagascar and remarkable for their long fingers, sharp nails, and rodent-like incisor teeth.
• azotateA nitrate (any salt or ester of nitric acid).
• azotosomeA theoretical nitrogen-based counterpart to liposome structures composed of acrylonitrile self-assembled membrane in a liquid methane bath
• babillardThe lesser whitethroat of Europe
• BabouvistA supporter or follower of François-Noël Babeuf or his ideas, including universal equal income and the abolition of private property.
• babuinaA female baboon.
• BachelardianOf or relating to Gaston Bachelard (1884–1962), French philosopher.
• baculeA rod-like element on the surface of some pollen.
• Baie VerteA town in Newfoundland, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.
• Baine HarbourA town in Newfoundland, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.
• balizeA pole, post or frame used as a sea beacon or road waymark.
• ballotineA boned piece of meat or fish that has been rolled around a stuffing, tied into a bundle, and roasted or braised
• banalisationThe action of making something banal; trivialization.
• banalizationAmerican and Oxford British English standard spelling of banalisation.
• bancorA hypothetical supranational currency.
• bandeauxA bandeau, a single band (or a set of such bands) for a woman’s hair.
• bandeletA small band or fillet; any little band or flat moulding, compassing a column, like a ring.
• barbaresquehaving a barbaric form or style
• barbituric acidA heterocyclic compound derived from pyrimidine that is the basis of all barbiturate drugs.
• baroque pietyAn ostentatious form of popular Catholic piety, especially in Counter-Reformation Europe.
• baryeA unit of pressure under the CGS system; symbol Ba; equal to 1 dyne per square centimeter. 1 Ba = 0.1 Pa = 0.1 N/m2 = 1x10⁻⁶ bar.
• base courtThe secondary, inferior, outdoor or rear courtyard of a large house, palace or castle.