Word origins

• umbretteSynonym of hammerkop (Scopus umbretta, a bird)
• undéWaving or wavy; applied to ordinaries, or division lines.
• under erasureOf a piece of text, written and struck through; hence, figuratively in some sense both present and absent.
• urdéPointed, as a cross, or having a point projected, as a bend; varriated.
• vacheryA dairy, a vaccary.
• vadouvanA paste of burnt garlic and onion with herbs, from India; a type of masala.
• valinchA pipette-like tube for drawing liquor from a cask through the bung-hole.
• vamplateA round of iron on the shaft of a tilting lance, to stabilize and protect the hand.
• van-courierSomeone sent in advance; an avant-courier, precursor, or scout.
• vaporationevaporation
• varecThe incinerated ash of certain coarse seaweeds, formerly used for the production of soda and iodine, among other compounds.
• vauntmureA false wall raised in front of the main wall as a fortification.
• vavasoryThe quality or tenure of the fee held by a vavasour.
• veinageveining; veins collectively
• vendeuseA saleswoman in a fashionable clothing store.
• ventifactA pebble or little stone shaped and polished by wind-blown sand.
• veraisonA stage in the ripening process of grapes or olives. It is the relatively short period during which the firm, green berries begin to soften and change colour.
• verdailleA method of painting or other work which employs only varying shades of green, or work executed with this method.
• verd antiqueA mottled green serpentine marble.
• verdererAn official in charge of a royal forest; in modern times, still extant in the New Forest and the Forest of Dean
• verdineA green aniline dye.
• verditerverdigris
• verdoyCharged with leaves, fruits, flowers, etc.; said of a border.
• vermeilleA brownish-red variety of almandine garnet.
• vers de societeA type of light poetry suited to the amusement of polite upper-class society.
• vertebreA joint of the back.
• vibratilityThe quality or state of being vibratile; tendency to vibrate or oscillate.
• viceroyaltyThe office or term of service of a viceroy; viceroydom.
• Ville PlatteA city, the parish seat of Evangeline Parish, Louisiana, United States.
• VinceletteA surname from French.
• vin chaudMulled wine.
• vingtaineA subdivision of a parish, corresponding to a cueillette in the parish of Saint Ouen.
• vin jauneAn unusual white wine made in the Jura region of France from late harvest Savagnin grapes, a local white variety.
• ViredazA surname from French.
• viretonAn arrow or bolt for a crossbow having feathers or brass placed at an angle with the shaft to make it spin in flight.
• VirgouleuseA variety of winter pear.
• viroleA ring surrounding a bugle or hunting horn.
• vitraillistAn artist who uses stained glass as a medium.
• vituperousVituperative.
• viversprovisions; victuals
• VodouisantA practitioner of voodoo.
• volplaneA steep, controlled dive, especially by an aircraft with the engine off.
• voulgeA medieval poleaxe bearing resemblance to a glaive or a Lochaber ax, although the blade portion is somewhat more elongated.
• VuillardianOf or relating to Édouard Vuillard (1868–1940), French painter and artist.
• wagon-litA sleeping car, often used in international trains in continental Europe; the Wagons-Lits company also ran dining cars.
• warineA guariba: a South American monkey (sapajou).
• water sapphireA deep blue variety of iolite, sometimes used as a gem.
• Welsh MarchesThe lands in the vicinity of the Welsh-English border.
• whallahvoila; ta-da, presto; lo and behold
• -ylA univalent radical or functional group formed from a given molecule. Thus propyl from propane, benzyl from benzene, and so forth.
• yperiteSynonym of mustard gas.
• YpresianOf or pertaining to a geological epoch, the oldest age or lowest stratigraphic stage of the Eocene.
• zangeeThe marbled swamp eel (Synbranchus marmoratus).
• zaptiehA Turkish policeman.
• zombitudeThe condition of being, resembling, or acting like a zombie.
• zorilleAny member of species Ictonyx striatus of small, carnivorous, nocturnal African mammals, resembling a skunk.
• zygoteneThe intimate pairing of homologous chromosomes during the synaptic stage of meiosis