Word origins

• loranthaceousOf or relating to the family Loranthaceae of showy mistletoes.
• LotophagiThe lotus eaters; a people visited by Ulysses who subsisted on the lotus.
• lotus-eaterA member of the legendary people living on an island dominated by the lotus tree, who have forgotten their homes due to the fruits' narcotic and stupefying effect.
• loutrophorosAn Ancient Greek pottery vessel with elongated neck and two handles, used to hold water during marriage and funeral rituals.
• loxodromeA line on a surface (such as the Earth) that cuts all meridians at a constant angle (but not a right angle) – on Earth, the path followed by a ship or aircraft that maintains a constant course by the compass.
• LuwianA member of an ancient Anatolian people related to the Hittites.
• lychnobiteA person who works or labors at night and sleeps during the day.
• lychnomancyA form of divination using a lamp or a candle flame
• lychnoscopeA low side window in a church.
• lyco-wolf
• lydionA kind of Ancient Greek vase of Lydian origin: a small spherical perfume container without handles.
• lygophiliaThe love of darkness.
• lykoiA domestic cat of a breed that slightly resembles a werewolf.
• lymphangionThe functional unit of a lymph vessel, lying between two semilunar valves.
• lyo-solvent, dissolving, dispersion; freeze-drying
• lyophilicHaving an affinity for the dispersion medium and thus not easily precipitated.
• lyophilizeSynonym of freeze-dry.
• lyophobicHaving no affinity for the dispersion medium and thus easily precipitated.
• lyotropicdescribing a liquid crystal that exhibits phase transitions as a function of concentration
• lysinany substance or antibody that can cause the destruction (by lysis) of blood cells, bacteria etc
• -lysisdecomposition or breakdown
• LysitheaA mistress of Zeus.
• lyso-lysis; breakdown, disintegration
• -lyteWord-forming element used in making nouns corresponding to nouns in -lysis and adjectives in -lytic.
• lyterianOf or pertaining to lysis
• lyttaA fibrous muscular band lying within the longitudinal axis of the tongue in many mammals, such as the dog.
• macarena wingA flow-turning device. A drag-reduction device that rotates a drag-inducing downforce-producing wing element into a flipped upside-down position where it does not interfere with airflow.
• MacariaA little-known daughter of Hades.
• macarismHappiness as a result of praise.
• macarizeTo congratulate or laud; to pronounce blessed or happy.
• MachaonA healer and a son of Asclepius and Epione.
• macharomancyDivination by interpreting swords, daggers and knives. This was popular in Scotland where on July 31st it was performed to predict the deaths and marriages of the following year.
• machimosA low-ranking Ancient Egyptian soldier.
• -machyForming nouns with the sense of ‘battle, fight’.
• MacrisFormer name of Euboea.
• macro-large
• macrocephalicHaving an abnormally large or elongated head.
• macrocormicHaving a long torso in relation to the length of the lower limbs.
• macrodactylicHaving long toes; macrodactylous.
• macromastiaAbnormal enlargement of the breast.
• macromasticUnusually large.
• MacronesiaThe island of Australia and nearby islands, variously including New Guinea and New Zealand.
• macrophanerophyteAny phanerophyte between 30 and 50 metres in height
• macrotrichiumAn innervated hair on the integument or wing membrane of an insect.
• madarosisThe loss of the eyebrows or eyelashes.
• madaroticOf or pertaining to the loss of eyebrows or eyelashes.
• MaemacterionA month of the ancient Athenian calendar, equivalent to October–November.
• MaeoniaLydia (a historical region in western Anatolia, modern Turkey).
• magadisAn Ancient Greek musical instrument of unknown nature, probably a stringed instrument similar to a psaltery or harp.
• magadizeTo play a piece of music simultaneously at two different octaves.
• magdaleonA medical item in the form of a roll, especially a roll of plaster.
• magiricSynonym of culinary: Of or related to cooking.
• magiristSynonym of chef: A skilful or learned cook.
• magiritsaA Greek soup made from lamb offal.
• magirologyThe art of cooking.
• magnet-magnet, magnetic, magnetism
• magophonyThe slaughter of magi or priests.
• maieuticOf or related to the Socratic method.
• maieuticsSynonym of Socratic method.
• makhairaA type of sword with a backwards curve, originating in Ancient Greece
• malabathrumA fragrant substance imported by the ancient Romans from India, believed to have been made from the leaves of a type of cinnamon or cassia.
• malaco-Forms terms relating to molluscs.
• malacodermOne of a former tribe of beetles (Malacodermata), with a soft and flexible body.
• malacolitediopside
• malacosteonMorbid softness of the bones; osteomalacia.
• malacostracologycarcinology, the study of crustaceans
• malakoplakiaInflammation of the mucous membrane of a hollow organ (as the urinary bladder) characterized by the formation of soft granulomatous lesions.
• mano-rare, sparse, thin
• manographAn optical device for making pressure volume diagrams for high-speed engines, involving a light-tight box or camera having at one end a small convex mirror reflecting a beam of light onto the ground glass or photographic plate at the other end. The mirror is pivoted so that it can be moved so as to copy the motion of the engine piston on a smaller scale.
• manoscopemanometer
• manouriA Greek semi-soft cheese made from the milk of goats or sheep.
• manoxylicSparse, with much pith and cortex, and having wide parenchymatous rays.
• manticoraAny of various tiger beetles of genus Manticora.
• mark of the beastA mark on the person of worshippers of the Antichrist; without the mark one cannot buy or sell.
• marmarosisThe metamorphosis of limestone into marble.
• marmoliteA form of chrysotile
• MarpesiaThe queen of the Amazons, who ruled with her sister Lampedo, and helped to establish the Greek city of Ephesus.
• martyrionA church that contains relics of martyrs or marks the site of the grave of a martyr; a martyry.
• maschal-Armpit, axilla.
• maschaladenitisInflammation of the glands in the armpit.
• maschalagniaSexual attraction to the armpits.
• maschalephidrosisExcessive sweating in the armpits.
• maschaloncusA tumor or swelling in the armpit or axilla.
• maschalyperidrosisExcessive sweating in the armpits; axillary hyperhidrosis.
• MassaliaAn ancient Greek city and colony in modern southern France; modern Marseille.
• MassaliotA native or inhabitant of Massalia, now Marseille, France
• mast-mastoid process.
• mastaxThe pharynx of a rotifer. It usually contains four horny pieces. The two central ones form the incus, against which the mallei, or lateral ones, work so as to crush the food.
• -mastiaAn abnormality of the breast.
• mastidionA projection or bump on the chelicerae.
• mastigo-Whip, scourge, lash.
• mastigophoricCarrying or wielding a whip.
• mastigophorousCarrying a whip, scourge, or wand.
• mastikaA type of hard resin found on various acacia trees, which can be chewed.
• -mastixSuffix denoting a strong hatred and opposition of whatever thing the suffix is attached to.
• mastosAn Ancient Greek drinking vessel shaped like a woman's breast.
• mataeotechnyAn unprofitable or pointless science, skill, or activity.
• mateologyvain, pointless discourse or inquiry; waffle.
• mateotechnyAny unprofitable scheme.
• mathemeA quasi-scientific symbolic formula serving to represent an idea, used in the works of French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan.