Word origins

• secundogenitureThe condition of being secondborn
• semelfactiveThat denotes a momentary or punctiliar action.
• septaemiaSynonym of septicemia.
• septenateHaving seven parts.
• sesquidiurnalBased on a cycle of 36 hours (one-and-a-half days)
• sexennialPertaining to a period of six years; taking place once every six years.
• ShavianaObjects or texts relating to George Bernard Shaw.
• siliciumThe chemical element silicon.
• simiidA member of the Simiidae; a monkey or ape excluding lemurs and humans.
• simultaneumA simultaneous occurrence of unrelated events.
• sinus venosusThe first chamber of the heart in fish, amphibians, and reptiles, emptying into the right atrium.
• sittineOf or relating to the family Sittidae, or nuthatches.
• SocinianA member of a particular nontrinitarian Christian denomination founded in the late 16th century.
• sorusAny reproductive structure, in some lichens and fungi, that produces spores.
• spermuleA spermatozoon.
• sporidiumA secondary spore borne on a promycelium, or a filament produced from a spore, in certain kinds of minute fungi.
• squamuloseHaving small scales.
• staminodeAn abortive stamen, or any organ modified from an abortive stamen; a staminodium
• stapediusA small muscle of the middle ear that arises from the wall of the tympanum and is inserted into the neck of the stapes by a tendon that sometimes contains a slender spine of bone; it is the smallest skeletal muscle in the human body, serving to stabilize the stapes to check and dampen its vibration.
• steatopygasteatopygia
• steatopygousPertaining to steatopygia; having fat or prominent buttocks.
• sternocleidomastoidRelating to or involving the sternum, the clavicle and the mastoid process of the temporal bone.
• sternohyoidOf or relating to the sternum and the hyoid bone.
• sternohyoideusSynonym of sternohyoid muscle.
• sternothyroidRelating to the sternum and the thyroid cartilage.
• stichidiumA special pod-like or fusiform branch containing tetraspores, found in certain red algae.
• stipitatePossessing a stalk.
• stomiumThe region of a sporangium where dehiscence takes place
• strigilloseSet with stiff, slender bristles.
• strobilaA jointed series of segments of an organism, as of the body of a tapeworm, posterior to the unjointed collum.
• struthiformResembling an ostrich.
• styloglossusA small muscle that arises from the styloid process of the temporal bone, inserts along the side and underpart of the tongue, and functions to draw up the sides of the tongue to create a trough for swallowing.
• stylohyoidOf or relating to the styloid process of the temporal bone and to the hyoid bone.
• stylohyoideusSynonym of stylohyoid muscle.
• stylopharyngeusA slender muscle in the head that arises from the base of the styloid process of the temporal bone, inserts into the side of the pharynx, and acts with the contralateral muscle in swallowing to increase the transverse diameter of the pharynx by drawing its sides upward and laterally.
• subclaviusA muscle which (in humans) originates from the first costal cartilage and inserts on to the undersurface of the clavicle, acting to elevate the first rib or fix the clavicle.
• sublativeA case of nouns in Finno-Ugric languages used to express the destination of movement, originally onto the surface of something (e.g. climb onto a tree), and, by extension, in other figurative meanings as well (e.g. to university, or about (a subject)).
• subluxSynonym of subluxate: to partially dislocate or displace.
• subluxateTo cause the subluxation of something: to partially dislocate or displace.
• subregnumA subkingdom.
• subrisivePlayful, tongue-in-cheek.
• subsultoryBounding; leaping; moving by sudden leaps or starts.
• subsultusA twitching, or convulsive motion.
• subtribusSynonym of subtribe.
• sudorificIn a state of perspiration; covered in sweat; sudoriferous, sweaty.
• suppositiousSpurious; substituted for the genuine, counterfeit; fake.
• syconiumA collective fleshy fruit, in which the ovaries are hidden within a hollow receptacle, as in the fig; a hollow ball with a stalk at one end and an opening (ostiole) at the other, with flowers or fruits on the inside
• sylvaniumtellurium
• syncarpA kind of aggregate fruit in which the ovaries cohere in a solid mass, with a slender receptacle, as in the magnolia.
• synchondrosisA form of only slightly moveable articulation between bones joined by hyaline cartilage, as in the spinal vertebrae.
• syndesmosisA slightly movable articulation or joint where the contiguous bony surfaces are rough and are united by an interosseous ligament (e.g. between the fibula and tibia at the ankle).
• syndesmoticRelating to syndesmosis
• synonymiconSynonym of thesaurus.
• synoviaSynonym of synovial fluid.
• syntexisA change in the structure of magma by melting or the assimilation of a different type of rock.
• taphrenchymaSynonym of bothrenchyma
• tarantismAn extreme urge to dance, popularly thought to have been caused by the bite of a tarantula (Lycosa tarantula) and prevalent in southern Italy in the 15th through 17th centuries.
• tarsaleA tarsal bone or cartilage, especially one of the series articulating with the metatarsals.
• tectiformRoof-shaped; sloping downwards on two sides from a raised central ridge.
• TelescopiumA small faint constellation of the southern winter sky, said to resemble a telescope. It lies south of the constellation of Corona Australis.
• telesmA magical talisman, amulet or charm.
• teliumA sorus, in the form of a pustule, in the tissue of plants infected with rust fungi.
• tendinousOf, pertaining to, or resembling a tendon or sinew.
• tenebrificProducing darkness, obscuring; (loosely) gloomy.
• tensor fasciae lataeA muscle that arises especially from the anterior part of the iliac crest and from the anterior superior iliac spine, is inserted into the iliotibial band of the fascia lata about one third of the way down the thigh, and acts to flex and abduct the thigh.
• tensor tympaniA small muscle of the middle ear that is located in the bony canal just above the bony part of the Eustachian tube, that arises from the canal containing it, from the cartilaginous portion of the Eustachian tube, and from the adjacent greater wing of the sphenoid bone, that is inserted by a long tendon into the manubrium of the malleus near its base, and that serves to adjust the tension of the tympanic membrane.
• tensor veli palatiniA ribbonlike muscle of the palate that arises from the scaphoid fossa, from the spine of the sphenoid bone, and from the lateral cartilaginous wall of the Eustachian tube, that is attached by a tendon which hooks around the pterygoid plate of the sphenoid bone to insert especially into the soft palate, and that acts especially to tense the soft palate.
• tentaculumA tentacle.
• tentorium cerebelliAn arched fold of dura mater that covers the upper surface of the cerebellum, supports the occipital lobes of the cerebrum, and has its posterior and lateral border attached to the skull and its anterior border free.
• tessulartesseral
• testificatorA testifier.
• theciumThe hymenium
• thlipsisCompression, especially constriction of vessels by an external cause.
• thoriaThe rare earth thorium oxide.
• thriambusA hymn to Dionysus, sung in processions in his honour.
• thuliaThe rare earth thulium oxide, Tm₂O₃.
• thuriferAn acolyte who carries a thurible.
• thyroarytenoidOf or pertaining to both the thyroid and arytenoid cartilages of the larynx.
• thyroglossalOf or pertaining to the thyroglossal duct
• thyroglossal ductAn embryonic anatomical structure which connects the initial area of development of the thyroid gland to its final position
• thyrohyoidOf or pertaining to the thyroid cartilage of the larynx and the hyoid arch.
• thyroid glandA large butterfly-shaped endocrine gland situated on the front of the neck that produces various hormones.
• tomiumThe cutting edge of the bill of a bird.
• torus tubariusA protrusion on the lateral wall of the nasopharynx marking the pharyngeal end of the cartilaginous part of the Eustachian tube.
• toxemicaffected by or otherwise relating to toxemia, organically poisoned
• trehalaManna from the cocoons of the insects Larinus maculatus and Larinus nidificans.
• -tremeHaving a trema (hole or aperture) or tremata of the type, position or number specified by the prefix.
• trepanationThe practice of drilling a hole in the skull as a physical, mental, or spiritual treatment.
• tripsistrituration
• trismusThe inability to open the mouth normally, typically as a result of disease.
• tritordeumAn amphiploid cereal derived from the cross between a South American wild barley (Hordeum chilense) and durum wheat.
• tylarusOne of the soft pads on the undersurface of the toes of some birds, such as owls and ospreys.
• tyrotoxicondiazobenzol
• ubicateTo find and specify the location of (someone or something); to locate.
• ubicationThe condition or fact of being in, or occupying, a certain place or position; whereness, ubiety; also, a location.
• ubiquitaryUbiquitous.
• umbilicateHaving a navel.
• umbonateHaving an umbo
• uncinatumThe hamate bone.
• urachusA band of fibrous tissue extending from the bladder to the umbilicus.