Word origins

• cynosureThat which serves to guide or direct; a guiding star.
• interposeTo insert something (or oneself) between other things.
• couranteAny of a family of old French dances from the late Renaissance and the Baroque era in triple metre.
• reliquaryA container to hold or display religious relics.
• preoccupyTo distract; to draw attention elsewhere.
• novitiateA novice.
• prejudgeTo form a judgment of (something) in advance.
• olfactionThe sense of smell; the detection of airborne molecules.
• repartitionA distribution or apportioning of something again.
• fiefLand held of a superior, particularly on condition of homage, fealty, and personal service, especially military service.
• contortionThe act or result of contorting; the state of being contorted: the twisting of something, especially oneself.
• recommenceTo begin again.
• stolidHaving or revealing little emotion or sensibility.
• precognitionKnowledge of the future; understanding of something in advance, especially as a form of supernatural or extrasensory perception.
• fecundHighly fertile; able to produce offspring.
• macrocosmA complex structure, such as a society, considered as a single entity that contains numerous similar, smaller-scale structures.
• straintStrain (tension of overexertion).
• repercussionA consequence or ensuing result of some action.
• inextricableImpossible to untie or disentangle.
• amortAs if dead; depressed
• inconsolableNot consolable; unable to be consoled or comforted, usually due to grief, disappointment, or other distress.
• explicableAble to be explained.
• crepusculeTwilight.
• parolWord of mouth.
• rapacityThe quality of being rapacious; voracity.
• assortTo sort or arrange according to characteristic or class.
• nauticSynonym of nautical.
• immutabilityThe state or quality of being immutable; immutableness.
• impugnTo assault, attack.
• disunionSeparation (disintegration) of a union; lack of union where union would be desirable.
• antechamberA small room used as an entryway or reception area to a larger room.
• justiciableOf or pertaining to justiciability; able to be evaluated and resolved by the courts; that can be adjudicated.
• gambThe leg or shank, typically of an animal, especially of a lion, on a coat of arms, crest, etc.
• oracularOf or relating to an oracle.
• serailA seraglio.
• monseigneurAn honorific form of address for an eminent person in France, especially under the Ancien Régime.
• disgorgeTo vomit or spew, to discharge.
• philomelThe nightingale.
• portanceThe manner in which one carries oneself; behaviour.
• MaecenasA generous benefactor; specifically, a patron of literature or art.
• balusterA short column used in a group to support a rail, as commonly found on the side of a stairway or around a balcony.
• insupportableThat cannot be tolerated or endured.
• pentameterA line in a poem having five metrical feet.
• capelinA fish of species Mallotus villosus, a type of smelt found in the Atlantic and Arctic oceans.
• brocketA stag in its second year, before its horns have started branching.
• impertinenceLack of pertinence; irrelevance.
• tendrilA thin, spirally coiling stem that attaches a plant to its support.
• palpitationAn abnormal beating of the heart that may be perceived by the patient, a result of excitement, exertion, or illness.
• halberdA two-handed pole weapon, consisting of a long pole with an axe-like blade mounted on it (at a right angle like an axe, not on the tip like a spear), and (opposite the blade) typically a spike or hook.
• naturalizeTo grant citizenship to someone not born a citizen.
• petardA small, hat-shaped explosive device, used to breach a door or wall.
• fratricideThe killing of one's brother (or sister).
• ducatA gold coin minted by various European nations.
• incivilityThe state of being uncivil; lack of courtesy; rudeness in manner.
• gambolTo move about playfully; to frolic.
• risibleOf or pertaining to laughter.
• mendaciousLying, untruthful or dishonest.
• confraternityA group with a common interest.
• inadvertenceThe state or quality of being inadvertent; inadvertency; heedlessness; carelessness; negligence.
• roilTo render turbid by stirring up the dregs or sediment of.
• navicularShaped like a boat.
• effaceTo erase (as anything impressed or inscribed upon a surface); to render illegible or indiscernible.
• seigniorageAll the revenue obtained by a feudal lord from his vassals.
• impostA tax, tariff or duty that is imposed, especially on merchandise.
• indissolubleLasting; indestructible; not possible to dissolve, disintegrate or break up.
• protoplastCreated first; archetypal.
• imprudenceThe quality or state of being imprudent; lack of prudence, caution, discretion or circumspection.
• festalfestive, relating to a festival or feast
• domesticateTo make domestic.
• perspireTo emit (sweat or perspiration) through the skin's pores.
• impostureThe act or conduct of an impostor; deception practiced under a false or assumed character; fraud or imposition.
• indivisibilityThe state of being indivisible, incapable of being divided.
• volubleFluent or having a ready flow of speech.
• diaconalOf or pertaining to a deacon or the diaconate.
• reconquestThe act or process of conquering something again, such as a territory.
• reverberantTurned up sigmoidally, with the end pointing outward; reboundant.
• docilityThe quality of being docile.
• burseA purse.
• mummeryMumming; disguising oneself to perform as a mummer, or to take part in some other festivities or performance.
• hieroglyphAn element (individual sign or glyph) of a hieroglyphic writing system.
• petulanceRudeness, insolence.
• rarefactionA reduction in the density of a material, especially that of a fluid.
• cassockAn item of clerical clothing: a long, sheath-like, close-fitting, ankle-length robe worn by clergy members of some Christian denominations.
• perspicacityAcute discernment or understanding; insight.
• denudationThe act of stripping off covering, or removing the surface; a making bare.
• abscondTo flee, often secretly; to steal away.
• cochinealA scale insect of the species Dactylopius coccus, native to the tropical and subtropical Americas, which lives on prickly pear cacti (genus Opuntia).
• pasturageA pasture; land that is used for pasture.
• incommensurablehaving a ratio that is not expressible as a fraction of two integers.
• misfeasanceAn actual or alleged wrong that arises from an action; often, the wrongful use of legal authority.
• auspicePatronage or protection.
• purgativepurging
• braggartSomeone who constantly brags or boasts.
• flatulentAffected by gas in the intestine; likely to break wind.
• accostTo approach and speak to boldly or aggressively, as with a demand or request.
• impetuosityThe quality of making rash or arbitrary decisions, especially in an impulsive or forceful manner.
• detestationHate coupled with disgust; abhorrence.
• countersignA second signature added to a document to affirm the validity of the signature of the first person.
• vacanceA vacation.
• impalementThe act of torturing or executing someone by impaling them on a sharp stake.