Word origins

• hecatompedMeasuring a hundred feet in length or width.
• hecatonicosachoronA four-dimensional object analogous to a dodecahedron, constructed out of one hundred and twenty dodecahedra, arranged 4 to a vertex.
• hecatontarchyA government of 100 rulers.
• hectocotylusA modified arm of any of several male cephalopods that functions as a reproductive organ by transferring sperm to the mantle of the female.
• HedoneThe Greek goddess of sensual pleasures. She is the daughter of Eros/Cupid and Psyche, and the grandaughter of Aphrodite/Venus and Ares/Mars. Her Roman counterpart is Voluptas.
• hedonicsThe ethical study of pleasure
• -hedralForms adjectives referring to solid figures bounded by a certain number of planes (polyhedra).
• -hedronForms the names of solid figures bounded by a certain number of planes (polyhedra).
• HegemoneOne of the Charites and a goddess of flowers and fruit, worshipped at Athens along with Auxo and Damia.
• hegumenThe head of a monastery of the Eastern Orthodox Church or Eastern Catholic Churches.
• hegumeneA female hegumen.
• HekatompedonThe Temple of Athena upon the Acropolis, formerly in the location of the present Parthenon.
• helcoidOf or pertaining to an ulcer; ulcerous.
• helcologyThe study, pathology, and treatment of ulcers.
• helcosisulceration
• helepolisan ancient Greek siege engine consisting of a wheeled tower containing machines for throwing stones and spears
• helianthophobiaThe fear of sunflowers (plant).
• heliastA judge in the supreme court of ancient Athens.
• helichryseAn unidentified plant with yellow flowers, anciently used in garlands.
• heliclineA curving or spiral-shaped ramp; (especially) the ramp at the 1939 New York World's Fair Theme Center.
• helicoidHaving the form of a flattened helix.
• helicotremaThe part of the cochlear labyrinth where the scala tympani and the scala vestibuli meet.
• HelikeAn ancient Greek city that was submerged by a tsunami in 373 BC.
• helio-Concerning the sun.
• heliocentrismThe theory that the Sun is the center of the universe.
• heliodorA richly coloured form of golden beryl found in southwest Africa.
• helioliteA variety of feldspar, closely related to orthoclase
• heliometerAn astronomical instrument, based on a telescope, for measuring the diameter of the sun; now used to measure the angular distance between stars and other celestial bodies.
• heliosisSunstroke.
• heliotypyA method of transferring pictures from photographic negatives to hardened gelatin plates from which impressions are produced on paper as by lithography.
• HelladicOf or relating to the civilization that flourished in mainland Greece during the Bronze Age (3000 to about 1100 B.C.E.).
• HellanodicA judge or umpire in certain games or combats.
• HellanodikasA judge of the Olympic Games.
• HellenismosSynonym of Hellenism.
• HellenistA specialist in the study of Greek language, literature, culture, or history, or an admirer of the Greek culture and civilization.
• Hellenistic GreekSynonym of Koine (the Greek language from the time of Alexander the Great)
• HellenizeTo use the language and culture of the ancient Greeks, to become Hellenistic.
• HellenophileSomeone who has a love of Greece or Greek culture, either Ancient or Modern.
• HellenophiliaA love of Greece and Greek culture, whether ancient or modern.
• helo-Forms words related to marshes.
• helophyteAny plant (typically found in marshy ground) whose buds overwinter under water; helophytes grow partially submerged, and regrow from beds below the water.
• helusIn scarabaeoid larvae, a coarse fixed spine located near the haptomerum.
• hematicOf, pertaining to, affecting or containing blood
• hematinHemoglobin with iron in ferric state.
• hematinonA red pigment consisting of silica, borax, and soda, fused with copper oxide and used in enamels, mosaics, etc.
• hematoliteA trigonal-pyramidal mineral containing aluminum, arsenic, hydrogen, magnesium, manganese, and oxygen.
• hemeralDaily; circadian; cyclical, with a period of 24 hours
• hemerodromeA courier in Ancient Greece who would run for a day
• hemerologyThe study of calendars, especially with a view to identifying propitious days.
• hemerophyteAny cultivated plant, especially one introduced from elsewhere
• hemi-Half.
• hemicarpA mericarp.
• hemiektonAn ancient Attic dry measure of capacity, equivalent to 4.36 litres.
• hemigynousHaving characteristics of both male and female of the species but the sexual organs for one gender only.
• hemimeliaThe congenital absence of part of one or more limbs. With legs, usually clarified as pedal (foot), fibular (outer lower leg), tibial (inner lower leg), or full hemimelia. With arms, usually clarified as manual, radial, ulnar, or full hemimelia.
• hemiolaThe articulation of two bars in triple time as if they were three bars in duple time.
• hemippeThe Syrian wild ass (Equus hemionus hemippus).
• hemoclysmA violent and bloody conflict, a bloodbath; specifically (chiefly with capital initial), the period of the mid-twentieth century encompassing both world wars.
• hendeca-eleven
• hendecaneAny saturated aliphatic hydrocarbon, C₁₁H₂₄, having eleven carbon atoms.
• hendiadysA figure of speech used for emphasis, where two words joined by and are used to express a single complex idea.
• hendiatrisA figure of speech or literary device in which three words are used to express one idea.
• henidA vague, half-formed thought or feeling.
• henologyThe philosophical discourse on "The One" that appears most notably in the philosophy of Plotinus.
• henoticOf or pertaining to the production of peace and harmony; unifying
• HenotikonA Christological document issued by the Byzantine emperor Zeno in 482, in an unsuccessful attempt to reconcile the differences between the supporters of the Council of Chalcedon and the council's opponents.
• heort-(religious) feast
• hepatizeTo impregnate with sulphureted hydrogen gas (formerly called hepatic gas).
• hepato-Pertaining to the liver.
• hepatoscopyDivination by the liver of an animal or bird. The liver was divided into sections, each section representing a deity, and the markings in these zones were important.
• hepta-Seven.
• heptachordA system of seven sounds.
• heptagonA polygon with seven sides and seven angles.
• heptakis-A variant of hepta-, used for multiplication with a second numerical prefix.
• heptalemmaA figure that gives an exhaustive enumeration of seven possibilities in a specified situation.
• heptapodyA measure or series consisting of seven feet.
• heptasemea unit of seven morae or units of time.
• HermaphroditusThe son of Hermes and Aphrodite who merged bodies with a naiad.
• hermeneutA practitioner of hermeneutics, someone who interprets a text, especially a holy text.
• hermeo-Relating to Mercury
• HermippeOne of the moons of Jupiter.
• herpanginamouth blisters; a painful mouth infection caused by coxsackieviruses
• herpet-reptile
• herpetologistOne who studies reptiles and amphibians; a reptile and amphibian specialist.
• herpetophobiaFear of reptiles, amphibians, and similar animals.
• hesychasmThe religious practices of the Hesychasts.
• hetaeraA highly cultivated hired female companion who would entertain upper-class male clients and might perform sex acts for them.
• hetaerismA theoretical early state of human society (as postulated by 19th-century anthropologists) which was characterized by the absence of the institution of marriage in any form, and where women were the common property of their tribe, and the children never knew their fathers.
• hetaerocracyRule by courtesans.
• hetaeroliteA tetragonal-ditetragonal dipyramidal black mineral containing manganese, oxygen, and zinc.
• hetairosA companion of an ancient Greek king, as a member of the aristocracy and later elite cavalry.
• hetegonyThe study of the origin of the planets in the solar system.
• heteracanthHaving spines of different sizes.
• hetero-Varied, heterogeneous; a set that has variety with respect to the root.
• heterochthonicNot indigenous; foreign.
• heterochthonousNot indigenous; foreign.
• heterodontHaving teeth of different types (like most mammals).
• heterogynousHaving females very unlike the males in form and structure.
• heterokontHaving flagella of unequal length.
• heterologicalOf a word, not describing itself.