Word origins

• acroamaticOf or pertaining to hearing.
• acroasisAn oral discourse.
• AcroceraunianOf or relating to the Ceraunian Mountains.
• acrodactylumThe upper surface of a toe
• acroteriumOne of the small pedestals, for statues or other ornaments, placed on the apex and at the basal angles of a pediment, or upon the gables in Gothic architecture.
• actio ad distansSynonym of action at a distance.
• actuabilityCapable of being acted or actuated upon.
• aculeusA sharp spike or other projection growing on a plant, as in some brambles and roses.
• acuminoseTerminating in a flat, narrow end.
• acuminousCharacterized by acumen; keen.
• ad-Doing, enacting, forming a verb.
• ad absurdumTo the point of absurdity.
• ad captandumAttempting to win popular favour, or to dupe the public.
• ad damnumSynonym of ad quod damnum.
• additurThe augmentation by a judge of damages awarded by a jury.
• adepsSoft or liquid animal fat.
• ad eundemAwarded by one institution to an alumnus of another.
• adhibitionThe act of adhibiting.
• adiaphorousneither harmful nor beneficial
• ad idemin agreement
• ad infinitumEndlessly; for ever; never-endingly.
• ad interimIn or for the meantime; temporarily.
• aditusthe entrance to a cavity or channel
• adjectitiousAdded; additional.
• adlectTo choose or elect, especially to promote someone to higher office before they have served in a lower capacity.
• ad libitumAs much as desired, to one's fill, without restriction.
• ad litemFor the purpose of a legal case, as in guardian ad litem.
• ad litteramTo the letter.
• ad loc.There, at the specified location
• adminicleSomething that aids or supports.
• adminicularSupplying help; auxiliary; corroborative; explanatory.
• admittaturThe certificate of admission formerly given in some American colleges, such as Harvard.
• ad modum DondersOf vision, by the Donders standards.
• admonitorAn admonisher; a monitor.
• admoveTo move toward.
• ad nauseamTo a nauseating or sickening degree.
• ad orientemFacing liturgical east, that is, in the same direction as (and thus, away from) the congregation.
• ad personamGiven exclusively to one specific person, and not transferrable to or heritable by others. (of a role, title, privilege, etc.)
• ad quod damnumAccording to the harm (done).
• ad referendumSubject to agreement by others and finalization of details, especially an ad referendum contract.
• ad remPertinent; relevant.
• AdrianopolitanOf or pertaining to Adrianople (modern-day Edirne).
• ad seriatumsequential
• adulatorOne who lavishes excessive praises or flattery; one who adulates.
• adulatoriousAdulatory, flattering.
• adumbrateTo foreshadow vaguely.
• aduncCurved inward, hooked.
• aduncityCrookedness, curvaceousness, hookedness.
• adureTo burn, completely or slightly.
• ad valoremMeasured by or in proportion to value.
• adveneTo accede or to come to; to be superadded to, to be added to something or become a part of it, though inessential.
• adventiveAccidental.
• Adventus SaxonumThe arrival en masse of Germanic settlers or invaders in Britain in the 5th–6th centuries CE.
• ad verbumOn a word-by-word basis, without rephrasing; word for word; verbatim.
• adversantOpposed; adverse.
• adversionA tendency or wish to avoid someone or something.
• advesperationThe approach of evening.
• ad vitam aut culpamFor life or fault: a kind of appointment or tenure in Scotland.
• ad vivumfrom life
• advocationAdvocacy; the act of advocating or pleading.
• advocatrixA female advocate, especially as a title of Mary, mother of Jesus.
• advokeTo summon or call (to a higher tribunal).
• adytumThe innermost sanctuary or shrine in a temple, from where oracles were given.
• AeacusA king of the island of Aegina in the Saronic Gulf, one of the three judges in Hades.
• AeaeaThe mythical island said to be the home of the sorceress Circe.
• aediculaA painted framed niche giving the appearance of depth.
• aedileAn elected official who was responsible for the maintenance of public buildings, regulation of festivals, supervision of markets and the supply of grain and water.
• AeëtesA king of Colchis, son of Helios and Perseis.
• AeolisAn area of Ancient Greece that comprised the west and northwestern region of Asia Minor, mostly along the coast, and also several offshore islands (particularly Lesbos), where the Aeolian Greek city-states were located.
• aeolo-In continuous change.
• AequiAn Italic tribe of northeast Latium and the central Apennines of Italy who appear in the early history of ancient Rome.
• aerariumThe state treasury of Ancient Rome.
• aerugoMetallic rust, particularly of brass or copper; verdigris; patina.
• AesacusA son of King Priam, either by the naiad Alexirrhoë or the seer Arisbe, who interpreted the dreams of Queen Hecuba when she bore Paris and who mourned the deceased daughter (either Asterope and Hesperia) of the river-god Cebren; in Ovid’s Metamorphoses transformed by Tethys (Cebren’s mother) into a diving seabird (perhaps a cormorant or Scopoli’s shearwater) when he threw himself from atop a sea-cliff in grief.
• aestivationA state of inactivity and metabolic depression during summer: the summer version of hibernation.
• aestiveOf or relating to summer.
• ÆternalesA heretical sect which belived that the world would remain in its present state even after the second coming of Jesus.
• AethusaA daughter of Poseidon and the Pleiad Alcyone, daughter of Atlas. She was loved by Apollo and bore to him Eleuther and Linus.
• aetiologiaAttributing a cause for a statement or claim made, often as a simple relative clause of explanation.
• AetoliaA mountainous region of Greece on the north coast of the Gulf of Corinth, forming the eastern part of the modern prefecture of Aetolia-Acarnania.
• afferentiaAny afferent vessels, whether blood or lymph vessels; specifically, the afferent arteries of the kidneys.
• affirmatioMaking a statement as if it were in response to a question or were in dispute, especially when it is not.
• afflateTo fill, especially with divine inspiration.
• afflatusA sudden rush of creative impulse or inspiration, often attributed to divine influence.
• affuseTo pour out or upon.
• agallochumSynonym of agalloch.
• AgathangelusA male given name from Koine Greek.
• AgatharchusA male given name from Ancient Greek.
• AgathinusA male given name from Ancient Greek
• AgathonicusA male given name from Ancient Greek.
• AgathusA male given name from Ancient Greek.
• AgathyrsiA tribe of Sarmatia
• ager publicusThe public land of Ancient Rome, usually acquired by expropriation from enemies of Rome.
• aggenitalPositioned near, or on both sides of, the genital area.
• agitoAn asymmetric crescent that is a symbol of the Paralympic movement.
• AglaeaOne of the Charites (the youngest, although Homer names another younger).
• agnizeTo recognise; to acknowledge.
• agnomenAn additional cognomen given, as an honour, to a Roman citizen.
• Agnus DeiA liturgical chant recited as part of the Mass, beginning with those words, or the music to which it is set.
• agrimensorA land surveyor in Ancient Rome.