Word origins

• satireA literary device of writing or art which principally ridicules its subject often as an intended means of provoking or preventing change or highlighting a shortcoming in the work of another. Imitation, humor, irony, and exaggeration are often used to aid this.
• eminentNoteworthy, remarkable, great.
• vitalityThe capacity to live and develop.
• ironyThe quality of a statement that, when taken in context, may actually mean something different from, or the opposite of, what is written literally; the use of words expressing something other than their literal intention, often in a humorous context.
• organiseNon-Oxford British standard spelling of organize.
• metaphorThe use of a word, phrase, concept, or set of concepts to refer to something other than its literal meaning, invoking an implicit similarity between the thing described and what is denoted by the word, etc., that is used.
• hazeVery fine solid particles (smoke, dust) or liquid droplets (moisture) suspended in the air, slightly limiting visibility. (Compare fog, mist.)
• surchargeAn addition of extra charge on the agreed, stated, or baseline price. Sometimes portrayed by a buyer as excessive and rapacious; usually portrayed by a seller as justified and necessary.
• poeticRelating to poetry.
• gasketA length of rope or canvas band used for reefing a sail, or holding a stowed sail in place.
• mosqueA place of worship for Muslims, often having at least one minaret; a masjid.
• insultTo be insensitive, insolent, or rude to (somebody); to affront or demean (someone).
• implicationThe act of implicating.
• decisiveHaving the power or quality of deciding a question or controversy; putting an end to contest or controversy; final; conclusive.
• patheticArousing pity, sympathy, or compassion; exciting pathos.
• adherenceA close physical union of two objects.
• agilityThe quality of being agile; the power of moving the limbs quickly and easily; quickness of motion
• familiarityThe state of being extremely friendly; intimacy.
• impotencePowerlessness; incapacity.
• regainTo get back; to recover possession of.
• fertileOf land, etc.: capable of growing abundant crops; productive.
• expressiveEffectively conveying thought or feeling.
• infectTo bring (the body or part of it) into contact with a substance that causes illness (a pathogen), so that the pathogen begins to act on the body; (of a pathogen) to come into contact with (a body or body part) and begin to act on it.
• obsceneOffensive to standards of decency or morality.
• diffuseTo spread (something) over or through as in air, water, or other matter, especially by fluid motion or passive means.
• ratificationThe act or process of ratifying, or the state of being ratified.
• sanctionAn approval, by an authority, generally one that makes something valid.
• odeA short poetical composition proper to be set to music or sung; a lyric poem; especially, now, a poem characterized by sustained noble sentiment and appropriate dignity of style.
• coherenceThe quality of cohering, or being coherent; internal consistency.
• DelleA female given name.
• militantFighting or disposed to fight; belligerent, warlike.
• discourageTo extinguish the courage of; to dishearten; to depress the spirits of; to deprive of confidence; to deject.
• axiomA seemingly self-evident or necessary truth which is based on assumption; a principle or proposition which cannot actually be proved or disproved.
• conferTo grant as a possession; to bestow.
• lapseA temporary failure; a slip.
• irradiationa process of sterilization whereby radiation is passed through a bag containing food, utensils, etc., to sterilize the contents.
• prosperousCharacterized by success.
• persuasiveAble to persuade; convincing.
• cysticOf or pertaining to a cyst.
• perpendicularAt or forming a right angle (to something).
• meteorAn atmospheric or meteorological phenomenon. These were sometimes classified as aerial or airy meteors (winds), aqueous or watery meteors (hydrometeors: clouds, rain, snow, hail, dew, frost), luminous meteors (rainbows and aurora), and igneous or fiery meteors (lightning and shooting stars).
• disastrousOf the nature of a disaster; calamitous.
• billetA short informal letter.
• pedagogyThe profession of teaching.
• grammaticalNot breaching any constraints of the grammar, or morpho-syntax, of the relevant language.
• offendTo hurt the feelings of; to displease; to make angry; to insult.
• predominantCommon or widespread; prevalent.
• liturgyA predetermined or prescribed set of rituals that are performed, usually by a religion; a book in which they are recorded.
• bruteWithout reason or intelligence (of animals).
• maneuverThe planned movement of troops, vehicles etc.; a strategic repositioning; (later also) a large training field-exercise of fighting units.
• devastationThe act of devastating, or the state of being devastated; a laying waste.
• hoppinghop picking, the practice of picking hops; for Londoners a holiday period working in the hop gardens of Kent.
• paternityFatherhood, the state or quality of being a father.
• deceptiveLikely or attempting to deceive.
• eruptionA violent ejection, such as the spurting out of lava from a volcano.
• PorteThe Ottoman court; (hence), the government of the Ottoman empire.
• disparityThe state of being unequal; difference.
• inductiveOf, or relating to logical induction, by generalizing a universal claim or principle from the observed particular instances.
• indifferenceThe state of being indifferent.
• fecalOf or relating to feces.
• naturalizationThe action of naturalizing somebody; act of granting citizenship.
• atheismBelief that no deities exist (sometimes including rejection of other religious beliefs).
• aptitudeA natural ability to acquire knowledge or skill.
• inaugurationThe act of inaugurating, or inducting into office with solemnity; investiture by appropriate ceremonies.
• disgraceThe condition of being out of favor; loss of favor, regard, or respect.
• reinA strap or rope attached to a bridle or bit, used to control a horse, other animal or young child.
• awningA rooflike cover, usually of canvas, extended over or before any place as a shelter from the sun, rain, or wind.
• matrimonialOf, or having to do with matrimony and marriage.
• deportationThe act of deporting or exiling, or the state of being deported; banishment; transportation.
• neutralityThe state or quality of being neutral; the condition of being unengaged in contests between others; state of taking no part on either side.
• ejectTo compel (a person or persons) to leave.
• evasionThe act of eluding or evading or avoiding, particularly the pressure of an argument, accusation, charge, or interrogation; artful means of eluding.
• nitrousPertaining to or composed of nitre; having the properties of nitre, bitter.
• narrationThe act of recounting or relating in order the particulars of some action, occurrence, or affair; a narrating.
• contentiousMarked by heated arguments or controversy.
• saultAssault.
• agateA semitransparent, uncrystallized silicate mineral and semiprecious stone, presenting various tints in the same specimen, with colors delicately arranged and often curved in parallel alternating dark and light stripes or bands, or blended in clouds; various authorities call it a variety of chalcedony, a variety of quartz, or a combination of the two.
• scarabA beetle of the species Scarabaeus sacer, sacred to the ancient Egyptians.
• venerableCommanding respect because of age, dignity, character or position.
• elaborationThe act or process of producing or refining with labor; improvement by successive operations; refinement.
• degradeTo lower in value or social position.
• conscientiousThorough, careful, or vigilant in one’s task performance; painstaking.
• figurativeOf use as a metaphor, simile, metonym or other figure of speech, as opposed to literal; using figures.
• communicativeEager to communicate; talkative.
• anilThe indigo shrub; or the indigo dye obtained from the plant.
• lashThe thong or braided cord of a whip, with which the blow is given.
• amuletA religious article, protective charm, or ornament, usually bearing cultural or magical symbols, worn for protection against ill will, negative influences, the evil eye, or evil spirits.
• vegetativeOf or relating to plants; especially to their growth.
• diocesanPertaining to a diocese.
• cessAn assessed tax, duty, or levy; billeting.
• lusterThe ability or condition of shining with reflected light; sheen, gleam, gloss, sparkle, shine, etc.
• surpassTo go beyond or exceed (something) in an adjudicative or literal sense.
• humanistA scholar of one of the subjects in the humanities.
• imputationThe act of imputing or charging; attribution; ascription.
• combustibleCapable of burning.
• perfusionThe act of perfusing, the passage of fluid through the circulatory system.
• invincibleImpossible to defeat, destroy, or kill; too powerful to be defeated or overcome.
• votiveDedicated or given in fulfillment of a vow or pledge.
• milletAny of a group of various types of grass or its grains used as food, widely cultivated in the developing world.
• invertTo turn (something) upside down or inside out; to place in a contrary order or direction; to make (something) the opposite of itself.