Word origins

• lamprophyreAn uncommon, small-volume ultrapotassic igneous rock primarily occurring as dikes, lopoliths, laccoliths, stocks and small intrusions.
• lanthopineAn alkaloid found in opium.
• LaodiceneSynonym of Laodicean.
• lapacticpurgative; laxative
• laparo-flank, side
• LapithOne of a semi-legendary, semi-historical race of Thessaly.
• larnaxA small closed coffin, box or cinerary urn often used as a container for human remains in Ancient Greece.
• latreuticRelating to latria.
• latreuticalOf or pertaining to latria, the highest form of worship.
• latriaThe highest form of worship, named adoration, properly given to the triune God alone.
• LavrioA town in south-east Attica, Greece.
• lebesAn Ancient Greek cauldron, normally of bronze, and often supported by a tripod.
• lecithalHaving or relating to a yolk.
• lecticalOf or relating to speech, words, or learning.
• lecythiformshaped like a bowling pin, a flask, or a bottle.
• leiothrixEither of two babblers of the genus Leiothrix within the family Leiothrichidae.
• Leiotrichihuman races with smooth hair
• lekaneAn Ancient Greek bowl or basin with horizontal handles.
• lekythionIn classical Greek and Latin poetry, a metric pattern defined by a sequence of seven alternating long and short syllables at the end of a verse.
• lekythosA pottery flask with a narrow neck, used in Ancient Greece for storing oil.
• LenaiaAn ancient Athenian annual festival in honour of Dionysus Lenaios.
• lenosA trough used in ancient winemaking.
• leontocephaliclion-headed
• lepalA sterile transformed stamen.
• lepidicscaly; growing as a scaly covering
• lepido-Scaly.
• lepidopterologyThe scientific study of butterflies and moths (the Lepidoptera).
• lepidosirenA lungfish.
• -lepsya specified form of possession (noun sense 5 or noun sense 6), fit or seizure
• -lepticOf or relating to a condition of seizing, as in nympholeptic.
• LeptinesA transliteration of the Ancient Greek male given name Λεπτίνης (Leptínēs).
• lepto-thin, fine, narrow, slender
• leptocephalusThe flat, transparent larva of an eel, originally thought to be a distinct species.
• leptolithicUpper Paleolithic.
• leptomaA thin-walled area on a pollen grain
• LesbosianA native or inhabitant of Lesbos.
• letheticFailing to mirror reality, purely escapist or nonsensical.
• lethologicaThe inability to remember the correct word.
• leucisticAffected by leucism.
• leucoOf or relating to leuco dyes and their related compounds.
• leuco-Latinized Alternative spelling of leuko- (“white; colourless; leucocyte”).
• leucomaAn opaque area or scar on the cornea of an eye
• leuconychiaWhite discoloration of the nails.
• leucophoreAny chromatophore that shows white in reflected light.
• leuko-white
• leukorrheaThick, whitish vaginal discharge.
• lexiarchIn ancient Athens: someone whose role it was to ensure that only citizens entered the ecclesia ("the public legislative assembly of the Athenians").
• lexico-words; speech.
• lexicologistan expert at lexicology
• libanomancyDivination by interpreting the smoke or ash of incense.
• lidodermA transdermal patch of lidocaine, used to help reduce pain or itching.
• liknonA winnowing fan in Ancient Greece, involved in Dionysian rites and the Eleusinian Mysteries.
• lilapsophobiaFear of tornadoes and hurricanes.
• -limnionA part of a stratified lake.
• limno-lake, pond
• limnodophyteHelophyte
• limoniadA meadow nymph.
• limosisA ravenous appetite caused by disease; morbid excessive hunger.
• linothoraxA kind of upper body armor made of linen used in the ancient Mediterranean world, from the sixth century BCE through at least the second century CE.
• lipo-lipids: oils, cholesterols, fat/lard, tallow, and so on.
• lipochrinA yellow pigment found in the small round fat drops in the retinal epithelium cells. Its composition is unknown.
• lipogramA word or writing that does not use a particular symbol or symbols.
• lipogrammaticOf the nature of a lipogram, i.e. omitting a letter; composed of words not having a certain letter or letters.
• lipostomyCongenital absence or smallness of the mouth.
• lipothymicTending to swoon; fainting.
• lirophthalmy"lewd-eyed-ness"
• lissosphincterThe part of a sphincter composed of smooth muscle
• lissotrichousStraight-haired or smooth-haired; belonging to the lissotrichi.
• listhesisA forward (anterior) displacement (slippage) of a vertebra over a lower segment.
• -liteUsed to form the names of rocks and minerals.
• lith-stone
• lithectasyThe extraction of calculi through the mechanically dilated urethra.
• litholabeA forceps-like instrument for grasping a calculus and holding it while it is crushed.
• lithopedionA calcium-encased foetus that occurs in ectopic abdominal pregnancies when the foetus dies and is not reabsorbed by the maternal body, whereby the maternal system encases the foreign body (foetus) in calcium to isolate it.
• lithophysaA spherical or lenticular felsic volcanic rock with a spherulitic structure and interior cavity with concentric chambers.
• LithosianAny of various moths once grouped in the former family Lithosiidae, now mostly classified in the subfamily Arctiinae of family Erebidae.
• lithotecnonThe true form of a lithopedion, in which the fetus itself is calcified.
• lithotomeAn instrument used for cutting the bladder to remove a calculus; a cystotome.
• litopternAn extinct hoofed mammal of the order †Litopterna, from the Cenozoic period.
• litrameterAn instrument for measuring the specific gravity of liquids by the height to which they rise in vertical tubes under a definite air pressure.
• LityersesAn illegitimate son of Midas (or of Comis) and Demeter, who challenged people to harvesting contests and beheaded those he beat, putting the rest of their bodies in the sheaves. Heracles won the contest and killed him.
• lochageThe head of a lochos in Ancient Greece; an officer or commander.
• lochagosThe captain or leader of an Ancient Greek lochos.
• -logiaForms names of speech disorders.
• logionA traditional saying of a religious leader.
• logo-word; speech.
• logodaedalyCleverness or skill in the coining of new words.
• logogriphA kind of puzzle where a series of verses give clues leading to a particular word.
• logopedicsThe study, and correction, of speech and language defects, disorders in communication and swallowing disorders.
• logopoeiaOne of Ezra Pound's three kinds of poetry, consisting of the use of words for more than their denotation, taking advantage of the context associated with a word.
• logorrheaExcessive talkativeness.
• loidoriaAbusive speech, railing, reviling; a figure of speech characterized by verbal abuse or invective directed at a person.
• loimicOf or pertaining to the plague or contagious disorders.
• loimologySynonym of epidemiology (“the study of infectious diseases”).
• lophA ridge of enamel connecting the cusps of a molar or cheek tooth.
• lophineA nitrogenous organic base obtained by the oxidation of amarine, and regarded as a derivative of benzoic aldehyde.
• lopho-ridge, crest
• lophobranchAny member of the obsolete order Lophobranchii of fishes, now roughly corresponding to order Syngnathiformes.
• lophulidA small crest on a tooth
• lopolitha mass of volcanic or igneous rock found within strata which has spilled downward into underlaying strata and forms depressed regions.