Word origins

• poikiliticDescribing the texture of an igneous rock that has small crystals of one mineral scattered among larger crystals of another
• poikilo-Variable, subject to change.
• poimenicspastoral theology
• poioumenonA specific type of metafiction in which the story is about the process of creation (sometimes the creation of the story itself).
• polem-War, battle, fight.
• polemizeTo attack in speech or in writing.
• polemologyThe study of human conflict and war.
• polhodeThe wobble of a spinning body.
• polianiteA variety of pyrolusite, having tetragonal crystals
• policideThe intentional destruction of a nation.
• policlinicAn outpatient clinic, especially of a hospital.
• politarchA ruler or magistrate, especially one within a politocracy.
• political animalA person driven by political motives.
• poltophagyThe chewing of food long enough to reduce it to the consistency of porridge.
• -polyPertaining to the number of sellers in a market.
• poly-many
• polyacronA polyhedron.
• polyadelphousHaving stamens combined in more than two groups.
• polyandrionA mass grave or communal tomb.
• polyandrumA tomb
• polyarchA state of many rulers, many leaders.
• polycalicOf a termite or ant colony, spread over multiple mounds or nests.
• PolycaonThe son of Lelex, king of Laconia, by the Naiad nymph, Cleochareia.
• polycheteAny of many annelid worms, of the class Polychaeta, such as the lugworm; they have a segmented body with pairs of bristles on each segment.
• polychoronA four-dimensional polytope.
• polychrestA medicine that serves for many uses, or that cures many diseases.
• polycladousHaving many branches
• polycroticOf or pertaining to polycrotism; manifesting polycrotism
• polydactylPolydactylous.
• polydomyThe situation where an ant colony is established across multiple nest sites.
• polyeidicPassing through several distinct larval forms; having several distinct kinds of young.
• polylecticOf or relating to an insect (especially a bee) which collects pollen from the flowers of a variety of unrelated plants.
• polymastiaThe fact or condition of having more than two mammae or nipples.
• polymathyThe knowledge of many arts and sciences; variety of learning.
• polymeliaA congenital defect characterized by extra limbs
• PolymestorA king of Thrace whose wife was Ilione, the eldest daughter of King Priam.
• polymyodianDescribing a bird that has a syrinx with multiple distinct muscles
• PolynicesThe son of Oedipus and either Jocasta or Euryganeia, and the older brother of Eteocles.
• PolynoeOne of the nereids.
• polyommatousHaving many eyes or eye-like organs.
• polyoptrumAn old kind of kaleidoscope
• polypantheismBelief in multiple impersonal nontranscendent deities embodied by natural phenomena.
• polyphagiaAn excessive appetite for food
• polyphloisbicOf the sea, noisy, roaring, thundering.
• polyphonalSynonym of polyphonic.
• polyphoniaA kind of mouth organ or harmonica.
• polyphyodontAny animal whose teeth are continuously replaced.
• polypragmonA busybody or troublemaker or someone who looks only to their own concerns.
• polypragmosyneMeddlesomeness, officiousness.
• polypsychismThe belief that a person may have multiple souls; the theory that one's mind can contain multiple psychic elements.
• polyptotonA stylistic scheme in which words from the same root are used together, or a word is repeated in a different inflection or case.
• polyptychA work consisting of multiple painted or carved panels joined together, often with hinges.
• polytopianSomeone who visits many places.
• polytypichaving several different taxa of the next lower rank, especially having several subspecies
• pomatorhineHaving the nostril covered with a scale.
• ponerologyThe study of evil.
• ponophobiaA fear of overwork.
• poophyteA plant that grows best in grass-covered meadows.
• porionThe point on the human skull located at the upper margin of each ear canal, and underlying the tragus.
• porismA proposition affirming the possibility of finding such conditions as will render a certain determinate problem indeterminate or capable of innumerable solutions.
• poristicOf or relating to a porism; of the nature of a porism.
• pornerasticLascivious; licentious.
• porno-Relating to prostitutes or prostitution.
• porphyrogeneBorn into the purple (royalty or the ruling class)
• PortheusAn Arcadian prince killed by Zeus.
• posologyThe study of the dosages of drugs, especially the determination of appropriate dosages.
• posthe-Of the foreskin.
• potamianA softshell turtle (family Trionychidae)
• potamo-river
• potamographyAn account or description of a river, or rivers.
• potometerA device used for measuring the rate of water uptake of a leafy shoot due to photosynthesis and transpiration.
• potometricRelating to potometry.
• potometryMeasurement of the rate of water uptake of a leafy shoot due to photosynthesis and transpiration.
• pousThe Greek foot, a unit of length based on the shod foot, generally equal to 16 fingers (δάκτυλοι) or ¹⁄₆₀₀ stade (στάδια) but varying over time and location within Greece and the Hellenized world.
• powers that beThe holders of power or the authorities in a given situation, especially if seen as being faceless or unreasonably bureaucratic.
• practopoiesisThe theory concerning the hierarchic structure of mind and how it relates to processes in the brain
• pragmatographiaThe description of an action.
• praseo-green
• prasinophyteAny of various flagellate, unicellular green algae of the class Prasinophyceae
• praxeologyThe study of human action or conduct.
• -praxiaForms names of impairments of motor control.
• praying mantisAny of various predatory, cannibalistic insects of the order Mantodea that have a prayer-like stance.
• prelogismA word that has more recognition than a protologism but less recognition than a neologism.
• presbyopeOne who has presbyopia: a farsighted person
• presbypropriaInability of the proprioceptive system to accurately interpret actual limb position or movement due to physiological aging.
• pro-agreeing with; supporting; favouring
• proboleA bony projection, especially the occipital protuberance of the skull.
• procatarxisThe kindling of a disease into action; the procatarctic cause.
• prochoosAn ancient Greek jug, with or without a handle, for water or wine.
• procliticA clitic that joins with the following word phonetically, graphically, or both.
• ProcneThe daughter of king Pandion of Athens, in Greek mythology, who got revenge on her husband Tereus for raping her sister Philomela by feeding him his own son, and was later transformed into a bird by the gods.
• ProcrisIn Ancient Greek mythology, the daughter of Erechtheus, king of Athens, and his wife Praxithea.
• procto-Dealing with the rectum and anus; anorectal; sometimes also the distal colon.
• proctodeumThe back ectodermal part of an alimentary canal.
• proctuchousOf certain Turbellaria: having the digestive canal furnished with an anal aperture.
• ProdicusGreek sophist and pre-Socratic philosopher.
• prodiorthosisA statement intended to prepare one’s audience for something shocking or offensive; an extreme form of protherapeia.
• prodromosa skirmisher cavalry unit used in an Ancient Greek army for scouting ahead of the main force
• proecthesisA figure of reasoning in which, at the conclusion of an argument, a justifying reason is provided.
• proepiplexisA figure in which the speaker blames or reproaches oneself beforehand in order to secure the attention or favor of the audience; a form of protherapeia.