Word origins

• romanticOf a work of literature, a writer etc.: being like or having the characteristics of a romance, or poetic tale of a mythic or quasi-historical time; fantastic.
• polarOf, relating to, measured from, or referred to a geographic pole (the North Pole or South Pole); within the Arctic or Antarctic circles.
• renalPertaining to the kidneys.
• spontaneousSelf-directed; happening or acting without external cause or instigation; proceeding from natural feeling, temperament, or momentary impulse.
• prismAn object having the shape of a geometrical prism (sense 1).
• descriptorA name associated with certain data or documents in an information storage and retrieval system; an index term.
• prognosisA forecast of the future course or outcome of a situation based on what is presently known; a prediction.
• enemaAn injection of fluid into the large intestine by way of the rectum, usually for medical purposes.
• denominatorThe number or expression written below the line in a fraction (such as 2 in ½).
• FranciscanA friar of the religious order founded by Saint Francis of Assisi in 1209, now known as the Order of the Friars Minor.
• existentialOf or relating to existence.
• repertoryA repertoire.
• metastasisA change in nature, form, or quality.
• numeratorThe number or expression written above the line in a fraction (such as 1 in ½).
• deteriorateTo make worse; to make inferior in quality or value; to impair.
• hyphenThe symbol "‐", typically used to join two or more words to form a compound term, or to indicate that a word has been split at the end of a line.
• sphincterA ringlike band of muscle that surrounds a bodily opening (such as the anus or the openings of the stomach), constricting and relaxing as required for normal physiological functioning.
• captivateTo make (a person, an animal, etc.) a captive; to take prisoner; to capture, to subdue.
• millennialThousand-year-old; also (by extension, loosely) thousands of years old.
• liquidateSynonym of liquefy (“to make (something) into a liquid”); to liquidize.
• nosocomialOf an infection or its cause: arising from the environment of, or treatment in, a hospital.
• inconspicuousInvisible.
• syncopeThe elision or loss of a sound from the interior of a word, especially of a vowel sound with loss of a syllable.
• abracadabraA use of the mystical term ‘abracadabra’, supposed to work as part of a healing charm or a magical spell; any spell or incantation making use of the word.
• humerusThe bone of the upper arm.
• albumenSynonym of egg white (“(uncountable) the clear fluid part of an egg surrounding the yolk, being mostly the protein albumin and water, which turns stiff and white when beaten or cooked; (countable) the white of a particular egg”).
• bronchusEither of two airways, which are primary branches of the trachea, leading directly into the lungs.
• cappaThe thick wall on the proximal side of the corpus of a pollen grain.
• presbyterAn elder, priest, pastor, or minister in various Christian churches.
• volvulusObstruction of the bowel in which a loop of bowel has abnormally twisted on itself.
• mediatrixA female mediator.
• trapeziumA quadrilateral with two sides parallel.
• exotericOf a doctrine, information, etc.: suitable to be imparted to the public without secrecy or other reservations.
• HebraicaTexts or artifacts containing Hebrew writing.
• gravamenA grievance complained of.
• fimbriaAn individual thread in a fimbria, especially a fingerlike projection around the ovarian end of the Fallopian tube.
• pleromaA plant of the genus Pleroma.
• ab extraFrom outside.
• abliguritionProdigal expenditure on food.
• acrasiaLack of self-control; excess, intemperance; also, irregular or unruly behaviour.
• acrasySynonym of acrasia (“lack of self-control; intemperance, excess; also, irregular or unruly behaviour”); (countable) an instance of this.
• alexipyreticA medicine which reduces fever.
• animalculeA sperm cell or spermatozoon; also, the embryo that was formerly thought to be contained inside a spermatozoon in a fully developed state.
• animalculumSynonym of animalcule.
• apocopeThe loss or omission of the last vowel in a word, together with any consonants that follow it.
• apodosisThe consequential clause in a conditional sentence.
• ascesisself-discipline, particularly as a religious observance; asceticism.
• carnyxA bronze wind instrument used by Iron Age Celts (c. 200 B.C.E. – 200 C.E.) as a type of battle trumpet; held vertically when played, it was shaped like an elongated S with a mouthpiece at the lower end and a bell (often resembling an animal with an open mouth) at the upper end.
• coenobiumA conventual or monastic community; also, a convent or monastery.
• coetaneousBelonging to the same age, era or period; coeval or contemporary.
• diacopeSynonym of tmesis.
• discretiveMarking distinction or separation.
• effigiateTo form as an effigy or make a representation of; to illustrate or depict.
• formatrixA formative faculty.
• helluo librorumAn insatiable and obsessive bookworm (“avid book reader”).
• inculpationBlame; censure; crimination.
• irrefragableWhich cannot be refuted; clearly right, incontrovertible, indisputable, irrefutable.
• litotesA figure of speech whereby something is stated by denying its opposite.
• manducationThe act of eating.
• palingenesiaRebirth; regeneration.
• palingenesisRebirth; regeneration; (countable) an instance of this.
• pernoctationThe action of abiding through the night at a location; (countable) an instance of this; an overnight stay.
• pleonasmRedundancy in wording.
• procopeSynonym of apheresis.
• provocatrixA female provocator.
• siglumA letter or other symbol that stands for a name or word; specifically, one used in a modern literary work to refer to an early version of a text.
• skeletA skeleton.
• sublunarySituated beneath the moon; specifically, between the moon and the earth.
• terraqueousChiefly in terraqueous globe (that is, the Earth): consisting of both land and water.
• theosisThe likeness to or union with God; deification.
• tractileCapable of being drawn or stretched out in length.
• verrucoseCovered in warts; warty