Word origins

• invocatorOne who invocates the spirits of the dead.
• irrefragableWhich cannot be refuted; clearly right, incontrovertible, indisputable, irrefutable.
• irreptionA creeping in.
• ithyphallicOf or pertaining to the erect phallus that was carried in bacchic processions.
• juratorialOf or belonging to a jury.
• juratoryRelating to or comprising an oath.
• justiciarA high-ranking judicial officer of medieval England or Scotland.
• lacertusA bundle or fascicle of muscular fibres.
• laticlaveA badge of two wide purple stripes, worn by senators and certain other high-ranking people in ancient Rome.
• -latryworship of
• laudemiumPayment made to the lessor of an emphyteusis when the property is sold or gifted to a new lessee.
• lavatoriumA washroom or -place.
• lecanomancyDivination by interpreting the sound or effect of an object or substance (commonly a gem) falling into a body of water.
• levirA husband's brother.
• levirate marriageA marriage in which a widow marries her late husband's brother in order to maintain the family community.
• litotesA figure of speech whereby something is stated by denying its opposite.
• longanimityPatience or tolerance in the face of adversity; forbearance, long-suffering.
• machicolationAn opening between corbels that support a projecting parapet, or in the floor of a gallery or the roof of a portal, of a fortified building from which missiles can be shot or heated items dropped upon assailants attacking the base of the walls.
• madefactionThe act of madefying, or making something wet.
• MaglocuneA male given name from Proto-Brythonic, of historical usage, notably borne by Maelgwn Gwynedd.
• magniloquySynonym of magniloquence.
• maleficiatecursed; bewitched
• mammothreptA spoiled child.
• manducationThe act of eating.
• manipleA division of the Roman army numbering 120 (or sometimes 60) soldiers exclusive of officers; (generally, obsolete) any small body of soldiers.
• manuductionThe act of guiding or a means of guidance; direction, guidance, instruction.
• marasmusA condition of chronic undernourishment especially in children, caused by a diet deficient in calories or the inability to digest protein and presenting as a severe loss of body weight.
• mediterranean seaA mostly enclosed sea that has limited exchange of deep water with outer oceans, and where the water circulation is dominated by salinity and temperature differences rather than winds.
• megapolitanOf or pertaining to a megapolis (“a very large city or urban complex”).
• meliorateTo make better; to improve; to solve a problem.
• meliorativeThat meliorates; curative, improving, salutary.
• mesenteriumThe mesentery.
• meseraicMesenteric.
• metabasisA change from one subject to another.
• metempsychosisTransmigration of the soul, especially its reincarnation after death.
• metramorphosisA creative principle supposed to be responsible for changes in borderlines.
• Michaelmas termThe first term of the legal year, running from October to December, during which the upper courts of England and Wales, and Ireland, sit to hear cases.
• miliarenseA large silver coin of Ancient Rome, introduced in the early 4th century.
• minaciousSynonym of threatening, in its various senses.
• minaciouslySynonym of threateningly: in a minacious manner.
• minaciousnessSynonym of threateningness: the quality of being minacious.
• minacitySynonym of menace: The action or process of threatening or the tendency to threaten.
• minorationReduction; lessening.
• mithridatiumSynonym of mithridate.
• mithridatumSynonym of mithridate.
• monachalOf or pertaining to monks or their lifestyle; monastic.
• monachismMonasticism.
• mosaicalMosaic.
• muliebrityThe state or quality of being a woman; the features of a woman's nature; femininity, womanhood.
• multivocalHaving many different interpretations, meanings, or values.
• mummiaA medicinal preparation of mummified human flesh; mummy.
• mutatis mutandisWith the necessary changes being made; with the necessary modifications; with such changes as are necessary to ensure congruence.
• mutilitydeformity, defectivity
• mygaleA shrew or ferret.
• mythusSynonym of mythos.
• nepotationprodigal, dissolute, or uproarious behavior
• NeustriaThe western part of the Frankish empire, corresponding roughly to modern-day northern France.
• NicolaiteA Nicolaitan.
• noctivagantWalking or wandering in the nighttime, nightwandering.
• nonageThe state of being under legal age; minority, the fact of being a minor.
• notoryPertaining to magical signs or symbols.
• novenniumA nine-year period.
• oblatumAn oblate spheroid; a figure described by the revolution of an ellipse about its minor axis.
• obnubilationThe action of darkening or fact of being darkened, as with a cloud; obscuration.
• obstipateTo induce severe constipation through an intestinal blockage
• octaplaA Biblical octapla: an edition of the Bible in eight parallel versions or languages.
• octateuchA collection of eight books; especially, the first eight books of the Old Testament.
• octenniumAn eight-year period.
• octuplicateA set of eight like or identical things.
• omnipotencyOmnipotence.
• omnisciencyOmniscience.
• oolithA spherical granule of which oolite is composed, formed by concentric accretion of thin layers of a mineral (usually calcium carbonate (limestone) but also others such as dolomite and silica) around a core; an ooid.
• oppugnancyThe act of oppugning; opposition; resistance
• OrigenistOf or relating to Origenism, the teachings of Origen of Alexandria that were anathematized by the Synod of Constantinople (543).
• OstrogothAny member of an ancient East Germanic tribe, one branch of the Goths (the Visigoths being the other), which invaded Italy in the sixth century.
• ovulumAn ovum.
• palatopharyngeusA long, fleshy longitudinal muscle, narrower in the middle than at either end, that arises from the soft palate, contributes with the mucous membrane covering its surface to the structure of the palatopharyngeal arch, and is inserted into the thyroid cartilage and the wall of the pharynx; it serves to constrict the fauces and draw the larynx and pharynx upwards.
• palilogyEmphatic repetition of a word or phrase.
• palingenesiaRebirth; regeneration.
• palingenesisRebirth; regeneration; (countable) an instance of this.
• panduraAn Ancient Greek stringed instrument, a kind of lute with three strings that were stopped with a fingerboard to alter the tone, and with either a mandolin- or banjo-like shape.
• paragogeThe addition of a sound, syllable or letter to the end of a word, either through natural development or as a grammatical function.
• paragramA play on words; a pun.
• paraphernaA woman's property which was not made a part of her marriage dower, but remained her own.
• pari passuSimultaneously; likewise, equally.
• partibleDivisible, able to be divided or partitioned.
• patheticalArousing sympathy; pathetic.
• pedilaviumThe rite of foot-washing based on the act carried out by Jesus Christ on his disciples at the Last Supper. Depending on the church or denomination, it may be carried out at baptism, during Holy Communion, or as part of a Maundy Thursday service; maundy.
• pedunculateHaving a peduncle or stalk.
• pentarchyGovernment by five persons.
• pentasyllabicHaving five syllables.
• per accidensBy chance; by reason of an accidental, incidental or non-essential circumstance; contingently; indirectly.
• per annumIn a year.
• perfervidExtremely, excessively, or feverishly passionate; zealous.
• pericopeA section of text forming a coherent thought, suitable for use in a speech.
• perimetriumThe outer serosa layer of the uterus.
• perioecusSomeone living on the same latitude as someone else, but on a different or opposite side of the world; one's antithesis.
• peripeteiaA sudden reversal of fortune as a plot point in Classical tragedy.
• peristerionThe herb vervain (Verbena officinalis).
• pernoctationThe action of abiding through the night at a location; (countable) an instance of this; an overnight stay.