Word origins

• locus classicusAn authoritative passage from a standard work that is often quoted as an illustration; a classic case or example.
• loganiaAny of the genus Logania of plants native to Australia and New Zealand.
• longus capitisA muscle of either side of the front and upper portion of the neck that arises from the third to sixth cervical vertebrae, is inserted into the basilar portion of the occipital bone, and bends the neck forward.
• lophosteonThe central keel-bearing part of the sternum in birds, or the keel itself.
• lorateHaving the form of a thong or strap.
• lumbricalWorm-like.
• lumbricalisSynonym of lumbrical.
• lycopinA resinous extract of Lycopus virginicus, formerly used as an internal hemostatic.
• lymphoglandulaSynonym of lymph node.
• lymphonodusSynonym of lymph node.
• lyrateShaped like a lyre.
• macrochaetaA large chaeta found in certain organisms
• mantidmantis (insect)
• mantoidOf, relating to, or resembling the order Mantodea.
• marinoramaA representation of a sea view.
• mastupratemasturbate
• mater lectionisA consonant letter used to represent a vowel sound in Semitic scripts.
• matrassA bolt for a crossbow.
• maxillary palpA small, antenna-like sensory appendage in certain invertebrates emerging from the maxilla.
• medulla oblongataThe lower portion of the brain stem.
• melidectesAny of a number of birds in the genus Melidectes in the honeyeater family, endemic to New Guinea and New Britain.
• menaionThe annual fixed liturgical cycle of services used in the Eastern Orthodox and Greek-Catholic Churches, containing a list of the services and large collection of liturgical texts for an entire month. Twelve volumes are usually offered for the year, as a set known as the menaia.
• meninxA membrane, especially one of the three membranes lining the skull and vertebral canal and enclosing the brain and spinal cord in vertebrates.
• mentalisA paired central muscle of the lower lip, situated at the tip of the chin; it originates in the incisive fossa of the mandible, inserts in the skin of the chin, and raises the chin and pushes up the lower lip.
• merithallusAn internode.
• mermithergateA worker ant that is deformed by parasitic nematodes.
• mesogasterThe mesogastrium.
• mesopodiumThe middle portion of the foot in the gastropods and pteropods.
• mesorchiumThe fold of peritoneum that attaches the testis to the dorsal wall of the body cavity or scrotum.
• metanotumThe dorsal portion of the metathorax of insects
• metapodeThe posterior division of the foot in the Gastropoda and Pteropoda.
• metosteonThe posterolateral ossification in the sternum of birds, or the part resulting from such ossification.
• micropodA member of the superseded taxonomic order Micropoda, which possess a diminutive foot or lack one, such as oysters.
• monasticonA book describing or giving an account of monasteries.
• monerulaA germ in that stage of development in which its form is simply a non-nucleated mass of protoplasm.
• monochasiumA type of cyme on which each single axis bears one flower.
• monopetalousHaving only one petal, or the corolla in one piece, or composed of petals cohering so as to form a tube or bowl; gamopetalous.
• monoxylonA canoe or boat made from a hollowed out tree.
• morganaticDesignating a marriage (or the wife involved) between a man of higher rank and a woman of lower rank, often having various legal repercussions (typically that such a wife has no claim on the husband's possessions or title). It was not an aspect of English law, but was common in other royal houses, especially in Germany.
• muco-mucus.
• myeloplaxmegakaryocyte or osteoclast
• mylohyoidRelating to or in the region of the lower jaw and the hyoid apparatus, or the mylohyoid muscle.
• mylohyoideusThe mylohyoid muscle.
• nasalisA small muscle on each side of the nose that constricts the nasal aperture by the action of a triangular transverse portion which draws the lateral part of the aperture upward and a quadrangular alar portion which draws it downward.
• naupliusA crustacean larva that has three pairs of locomotive organs (corresponding to antennules, antennae, and mandibles), a median eye, and little or no segmentation of the body.
• nervus intermediusThe branch of the facial nerve that contains sensory and parasympathetic fibers and that supplies the anterior tongue and parts of the palate and fauces.
• New CaesareaFormer name of New Jersey (“colonial province”): A former colony, a former province of the 13 Colonies, British North America, British Empire.
• nidiformShaped like a nest.
• noctilucousShining in the night or darkness; luminescent.
• northern dawnSynonym of aurora borealis.
• nota augensAn Old Irish pronominal clitic added to the end of an accentual unit containing a pronoun, now more commonly called emphatic suffixes.
• oblongateSynonym of oblong.
• occipitalisA muscle of the head that arises from the lateral two-thirds of the superior nuchal lines and from the mastoid part of the temporal bone, inserts into the galea aponeurotica, and acts to move the scalp; it is sometimes considered to be part of the occipitofrontalis muscle.
• occipitofrontalisA large flat muscle on each side of the vertex of the skull, consisting of an occipital portion (arising from the occipital and temporal bones) and a frontal portion that are separated by the epicranial aponeurosis, and serving to draw the scalp backwards, raising the eyebrows and wrinkling the forehead.
• OccitaniaA cultural region in southwestern Europe where Occitan has historically been spoken, consisting of southern France, parts of Catalonia in Spain, and some valleys in northwestern Italy.
• octariusThe pint (eighth of a gallon) in the apothecaries' system.
• oidiumA fragile spore produced by some fungi.
• ommateumA compound eye, found on, for example, insects and crustaceans.
• omnitudeThe fact or condition of being all.
• omohyoidOf or relating to the shoulder and the hyoid bone.
• omohyoideusSynonym of omohyoid muscle.
• onco-Pertaining to tumors.
• oncoticRelating to osmotic pressure caused by the presence of colloids.
• oncotripsyThe selective targeting of cancer tissue using ultrasound.
• ooeciumAn ovicell of a bryozoan.
• ophiureAny echinoderm of the class Ophiuroidea
• opisthionThe middle of the posterior margin of the foramen magnum of the skull.
• orbicularis oculiA muscle of the face that encircles the orbit and passes through the eyelids, serving to close the eye.
• orbicularis orisA muscle made up of several layers of fibers passing in different directions that surrounds the mouth and controls most movements of the lips (as compressing, closing, or pursing movements).
• orbitalisA muscle that controls protrusion of the eyeball.
• ordaliumTrial by ordeal.
• orichalceousPertaining to, or resembling, orichalch; having a colour or lustre like that of brass.
• orthognathousStraight-jawed.
• oryctologyThe study of things dug out of the earth, including minerals and fossils.
• osculatrixA curve whose contact with a given curve at a given point is of a higher order (or involves the equality of a greater number of successive differential coefficients of the ordinates of the curves taken at that point) than that of any other curve of the same kind.
• -osisfunctional disease or condition such as hepatosis
• ostracodermAny of the armored jawless fishes of the Paleozoic.
• ostracumA fragment of pottery.
• painted wolfSynonym of African hunting dog.
• palaceousOf a leaf: having a spade-like shape.
• palaeotypeAn old book printed between 1500 and 1550.
• palatoglossusA small fleshy muscle, narrower in the middle than at either end, that arises from the soft palate on each side, contributes to the structure of the palatoglossal arch of the fauces, and is inserted into the side and dorsum of the tongue; it serves to raise the back of the tongue and constrict the fauces.
• palpebratePertaining to the eyelids.
• panlogismThe Hegelian doctrine that the universe is the act or realization of Logos, and therefore logic and ontology are the same study.
• panmicticOf, or pertaining to panmixia.
• panmixiaA situation in which an individual is just as likely to mate with a randomly chosen individual as any other in the population.
• panmixisPanmixia.
• papilionaceousPertaining to a butterfly or butterflies.
• paragnathusOne of the two lobes forming the lower lip, or metastoma, of Crustacea.
• parallacticOf or pertaining to parallax.
• parallelopipedonA parallelopiped.
• parapterumIn certain insects, a parapteron
• patellulaA cup-like sucker on the feet of certain insects.
• patrologythe study of the lives and works (especially the writings) of the Church Fathers.
• pauciennialRecurring once every few years.
• Pax BritannicaThe period of British hegemony over the seas and most oversea colonies between the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 and the onset of World War I in 1914.
• pedicatioanal sex
• pedicellariaA small, stalk-shaped structure of the sea urchin and other echinoderms, which has three pincer-like structures at the end that perform cleaning functions and serve as defense against predators.
• pedipalpEither of a second pair of appendages near the mouth of many arachnids, variously specialized as pincers, sensory or locomotory organs.
• peleaSynonym of melicope: a plant of the genus Pelea.