Word origins

• apophaticPertaining to knowledge of God obtained through negation rather than positive assertions.
• apophygeA curvature found on the top or bottom of certain columns.
• aporesisKnowing perplexity, knowing the extent of one's wisdom.
• aposematismAn adaptation, especially a form of coloration, that warns off potential predators.
• apotelesmaticRelating to the casting of horoscopes.
• apotemnophiliaA psychological disorder characterized by the intense and long-standing desire for amputation of a specific limb.
• apotemnophobiaA fear of amputation (afraid that one will lose appendages), fear of amputations (fear of amputations on others), fear of amputees (persons with amputations).
• apotheciumA type of fructification of some ascomycete fungi, forming cyst structures of various shapes. Often the fungal components of lichens have this sort of fertile structure.
• apothegmaticRelating to, or in the manner of, an apothegm; sententious; pithy.
• apothegmaticalRelating to, or in the manner of, an apothegm; sententious; pithy.
• apothegmatistA collector or maker of apothegms.
• apothemThe perpendicular distance from the center of a circle to a chord of the same circle.
• apothesisA place on the south side of the chancel in primitive churches, furnished with shelves, for books, vestments, etc.
• apotomeThe difference between two quantities or lengths commensurable only in power, as between 1 and the square root of 2, or between the diagonal and side of a square.
• apotropaicIntended to ward off evil.
• apotropaionSomething that wards off evil; an amulet or magic charm.
• apoxyomenosA conventional subject of ancient Greek votive sculpture: an athlete caught in the familiar act of scraping sweat and dust from his body with a strigil.
• aprosdoketonA figure of speech where an expected word in an idiom is replaced unexpectedly by an unusual one, as in Rome wasn't built in a teacup.
• apsideSynonym of apsis.
• apteralapterous, wingless
• apteranAny of the Aptera, an obsolete taxonomic category of wingless arthropods.
• apteriumAn area of bare (featherless) skin on a bird.
• aptychusA hard calcareous plate forming part of the body of an ammonite.
• apulosisthe formation of scar tissue as part of the healing process
• arachno-Arachnid; arachnidial; spider.
• ArameanAny member of a West Semitic semi-nomadic and pastoralist people who lived in the Levant and later also in upper Mesopotamia during the Late Bronze Age and the Iron Age. Their homeland is referred to in the Hebrew Bible as Aram. They spoke Aramaic.
• araphorosticSeamless, unsewn.
• arbelosA plane region bounded by a semicircle of diameter 1, connected to semicircles of diameters r and (1 − r), all oriented the same way and sharing a common baseline.
• Arcadocypriot GreekThe dialect of Ancient Greek spoken in Arcadia and on Cyprus. Not attested in literature, but contributed a few forms to Epic Greek.
• archae-ancient; antediluvian; archaic; old; prehistoric; primitive.
• archaeo-ancient, early, primitive.
• archaeographyDescriptive aspects and practices of early antiquarianism, and later archaeology in general.
• archaeologismthe use of ponderous, old-fashioned language.
• archaeomancyDivination using sacred relics.
• archaeophyteA plant which was introduced to an area by humans (or arrived naturally, but from an area in which it was present as a human introduction) and became naturalized before 1500 C.E. (but especially in prehistoric times).
• Archaeopolisan ancient city in Colchis
• archaizeTo give an archaic quality or character to; make archaic, to suggest the past.
• -archeforms medical terms for the onset of certain changes in puberty
• archegeteThe founder, progenitor, originator of a group, tradition, or institution.
• archegetesLeader or founder; an epithet of the god Apollo.
• archenteronA primitive alimentary cavity
• archeopteryxA specimen of the species Archaeopteryx lithographica, being the earliest and most primitive known bird, representing a transition in the evolution of dinosaurs to birds.
• archeusThe vital principle or force believed by the Paracelsians to be responsible for alchemical reactions within living bodies, and hence for the growth and continuation of life.
• archicalchief; primary; primordial
• archididascalosA school principal.
• archimimeThe chief jester or mimic who would imitate the dead person as part of ancient Roman funeral processions.
• archontiaAn archontate.
• arctogealOf or relating to the Arctogea, a biogeographical division comprising the holarctic and paleotropical regions, as opposed to Notogea, the rest.
• arctophiliathe love of teddy bears
• AreanOf or related to Ares, the Greek god of war, counterpart of the Roman Mars.
• areo-Relating to Mars.
• areoidThe analogue of the geoid for the planet Mars; the Martian geoid. The gravitational and rotational equipotential surface for Mars. The surface that provides the datum line (the equivalent for sea level) for Mars.
• aretaicOf or pertaining to virtue or excellence.
• aretaicsThe ethical theory which excludes all relations between virtue and happiness; the science of virtue; contrasted with eudaemonics.
• aretalogyA form of sacred biography in which a deity's attributes are listed, in the form of poem or text, in the first person.
• AretasThe name of various kings of the Nabataeans
• aretegenicConducive to or producing virtue.
• aretocracyA form of governance or political organization in which authority or eligibility for public office is based on virtue, moral excellence, or demonstrated civic merit.
• ArgeathaeAn ancient settlement in Greece.
• argilpotter's clay.
• argillanA clay skin, a kind of cutan.
• argilloferruginousContaining clay and iron.
• ArginusaeThree islands off the Dikili Peninsula on the coast of modern-day Turkey, famous as the site of the Battle of Arginusae during the Peloponnesian War.
• ArgolidA regional unit in eastern Peloponnese, Greece, which has its modern capital at Nafplio. Its original capital was at Argos.
• argyr-silver
• argyraspidA soldier in the army of Alexander the Great who carried a silver shield.
• argyricOf, pertaining to, or afflicted with argyria.
• argyrothecologyThe collection of money boxes.
• arheicHaving no drainage channels due to lack of rainfall.
• AristaeusA minor god of rustic, rural arts such as beekeeping, herding and hunting.
• aristarchyGovernment by the best people.
• aristeiaA scene in epic poetry where the hero has his finest moments in battle.
• aristo-upper class, nobility
• aristologyThe art or science of dining.
• arithmancyDivination using numbers that are the equivalent of letters of a name
• arithmo-numbers; arithmetic
• aromorphosisThe trend in evolution towards a greater amount of organization
• arrhenotokyThe production of male offspring by parthenogenesis.
• ArtemidesThe seven daughters of the Semitic goddess Astarte as mentioned by Eusebius (quoting Philo of Byblos) in the Praeparatio evangelica, understood as midwives, with their name echoing Artemis's role as a goddess of childbirth.
• ArtemisiumA cape in the north of the island of Euboea, Greece.
• -arthriaForms names of speech impairments, especially relating to the ordering of words.
• arthro-articulation = joint (as for example in arthroplasty).
• arthrocentesisThe clinical procedure of using a syringe to collect synovial fluid from a joint capsule, used in the diagnosis of gout, arthritis, and synovial infections.
• arthrodiaA plane joint
• arthrodyniaAn affliction characterized by pain in or around a joint, not dependent upon structural disease like arthritis.
• arthroereisisThe support or propping up of a joint.
• arthronAn articulation or joint.
• arthroncusA tumor or swelling of a joint.
• arthrostracousPertaining to the Arthrostraca, an obsolete grouping of crustaceans with segmented thoraxes and abdomens, bearing seven pairs of thoracic legs; included in this group are the isopods and amphipods.
• arthrousOf, pertaining to, or being the use of a term together with a grammatical article.
• artiadhaving an even valence (one divisible by two without a remainder).
• artolaterA worshipper of bread; one who takes part in artolatry.
• artophagousbread-eating
• aruraAn ancient measure of arable land, a square of 100 Egyptian cubits (mḥ) on each side.
• aryballosA small Ancient Greek flask used to hold perfume or oil.
• asbolinAn acrid oil obtained from wood soot.
• AsclepieionAn Ancient Greek healing temple dedicated to Asclepius.
• ascoliasmFestive Athenian boys' game of jumping on a slippery goathide or leatherbag.
• asitiaLack of appetite, or loathing of food or eating.
• askosAn Ancient Greek pottery vessel used to pour small quantities of liquids such as oil.