Word origins

• ante litteramBefore the term existed; before the term was coined.
• anthropophagusA man-eater; a cannibal.
• antiaeThe frontal points.
• antigraphA manuscript from which a copy (apograph) is made.
• AntiochenaA historical region of West Asia. Capital: Antioch.
• AntiochiaSynonym of Antioch: various former cities in Southwest Asia.
• antipatheticHaving or showing a strong aversion or repugnance.
• antiputrescentCounteracting, or preserving from, putrefaction; antiseptic.
• antiquateTo cause to become old or obsolete.
• antistropheIn Greek choruses and dances, the returning of the chorus, exactly answering to a previous strophe or movement from right to left.
• antonomasiaThe substitution of an epithet or title in place of a proper noun.
• antonomasticRelating to, or characterized by, antonomasia.
• ApamenaA historical region of Syria. Capital: Apamea.
• ApameneSynonym of Apamean.
• apheliumSynonym of aphelion.
• AphrodisiumAny of various ancient cities associated with Aphrodite.
• api-Forming terms related to bees or honeybees.
• ApicianOf or pertaining to Marcus Gavius Apicius, a notorious Roman epicure.
• aplustreAn ornamental appendage of wood at the stern of a Roman ship, usually spreading like a fan and curved like a bird's feather.
• apocopateShortened by apocope; lacking a final sound or syllable
• apostrophusThe omission of a vowel or syllable from a word, usually indicated by the apostrophe symbol ( ' ). examples: 'til, can't
• apozemA decoction or infusion.
• appositioAddition of an element not syntactically required for purpose of description or explanation.
• approbateApproved.
• approbatorA person who gives formal approval.
• apricityThe light or warmth of the Sun.
• aptoteA noun (broadly speaking) which has no distinction of cases; an indeclinable noun.
• AquaterraCollectively, all the submerged lands that were once above water in ice age glacial periods, since the start of the Pleistocene.
• AquilonThe Roman god of the North Wind, equivalent to the Greek god Boreas.
• -arOf, near, or pertaining to; adjective suffix appended to various words, often nouns, to make an adjective form. Often added to words of Latin origin, but used with other words also.
• ArachosiaAn ancient Achaemenid and Seleucid satrapy in the eastern part of their respective empires, around modern-day southern Afghanistan.
• araeostyleA type of intercolumniation
• araeosystyleAn arrangement of columns that alternates between araeostyle and systyle.
• AramaismAn idiom from the Aramaic language.
• ArameaSynonym of Aram
• ArbacesThe first king of Media according to Ctesias
• arbiter elegantiaeAn arbiter of good taste or proper behavior.
• archangelicOf, relating to, resembling, or characteristic of archangels.
• ArchebulusAn ancient Greek poet
• ArchemachusAn ancient Greek historian
• archontologyThe study of historical offices and the people who held them.
• arduityThe state or quality of being arduous; steepness, difficulty.
• arenaceousSandy; characterised by sand.
• areno-sand
• AreopagiticOf or pertaining to the Areopagus (council of ancient Athens).
• argenteousSilvery.
• argentousOf, pertaining to, or containing silver.
• ArgolicRelating to Argolis (various subdivisions which such name) in the Peloponnesus.
• Argo NavisA former constellation of the southern sky, said to represent the mythical ship Argo. In 1763, it was divided into the three new constellations: Carina (keel), Puppis (stern), and Vela (sail).
• argumentum ad baculumThe use or threat of force to coerce acceptance of an argument.
• argumentum ad consequentiamA logical fallacy in which a statement is determined to be true or false based on whether it would be pleasant or desirable, rather than based on reality.
• argumentum ad hominemA type of fallacious argument in which the attempt is made to refute a theory or belief by discrediting the person(s) who advocate that theory or belief; an ad hominem argument.
• argumentum ad ignorantiamA fallacious argument asserting that a proposition is true because it has not yet been proven false, or vice versa.
• argumentum baculinumThe use of physical force to win an argument.
• armariumSynonym of ambry (“cupboard or storage area”).
• armariusThe librarian in a medieval monastery, who kept, repaired and catalogued its manuscripts and books.
• armigerAn esquire, originally carrying the armour of a knight; (hence, later) a man of the gentry ranking below a knight.
• armillaAn armband awarded as a military decoration in Ancient Rome.
• arrectorSynonym of erector.
• arreptitiousPossessed; raving; isolated from reality.
• arrhaMoney or some other valuable item given to evidence a contract; a pledge or earnest.
• ArsacesThe dynastic name of several Parthian and Armenian kings of the Arsacid dynasty.
• ArsacidOf or pertaining to the Parthian dynasty established by Arsaces I which ruled the Parthian Empire during 247 BC – 224 AD, Armenia during 54–428, as well as Iberia and Caucasian Albania
• ArsamosataAn ancient city situated on the bank of the Murat River (called the Arsanias in classical sources), near the present-day city of Elazığ in Turkey.
• ars antiquaThe medieval music of Europe during the High Middle Ages, between approximately 1170 and 1310.
• ars novaA musical style that flourished in the Kingdom of France and its surroundings during the Late Middle Ages, particularly between the preparation of the Roman de Fauvel (1310s) and the death of composer Guillaume de Machaut in 1377.
• artemonA square foresail on a Roman oared ship.
• arteriacOf or pertaining to the arteries; arterial.
• arteria innominataThe innominate artery or brachiocephalic artery.
• artes liberalesSynonym of liberal arts
• artes servilesSynonym of servile arts
• arundinaceousOf, pertaining to, or resembling a reed or cane
• ArvernA member of the Arverns or Arverni, the ancient Gaulish (Celtic) tribe which inhabited what is now the Auvergne region of France.
• ArverniAn ancient, powerful Gallic tribe living in what is now the Auvergne region of France, who opposed the Romans on several occasions.
• asarabaccaAn acrid herbaceous plant, Asarum europaeum, the leaves and roots of which were used for emetic and cathartic purposes.
• asclepiadAny one of the children of Asclepius and Epione (or Aristodama).
• AsclepiadesA male given name of historical usage
• Asia MinorA large peninsula, mostly coterminous with Anatolia, between the Mediterranean Sea, the Aegean Sea and the Black Sea; it makes up the Asian part of Turkey.
• asinarySynonym of asinine (“ass-like, donkey-like, in sutbbornness, foolishness, or other ways”).
• asperitasA cloud formation characterized by wavy undulations in the cloud base.
• asperousRough, rugged, uneven.
• asperseTo sprinkle or scatter (liquid or dust).
• asportAn object that is spontaneously moved or "teleported" to another place.
• assassinatrixA female assassin.
• assentatorAn obsequious flatterer; a yes-man.
• asseverateTo assert earnestly, seriously, and confidently
• assiduateunremitting, requiring a lot of effort
• assumpsitA promise or undertaking, either express or implied, founded on a consideration.
• assumptioThe introduction of a proposition into a speech, especially an extraneous one.
• AssyriacSynonym of Assyrian
• -astsomeone associated with something
• astipulateTo assent.
• astragalo-Pertaining to the astragalus, the anklebone
• astromancyDivination by the stars; astrology in its modern prophetic aspect.
• Astyagesthe last king of Media, son of Cyaxares
• asyndesisA pattern of spoken or written discourse demonstrating inability or diminished capacity to connect ideas.
• asyndetonOmission of conjunctions, especially for rhetorical effect.
• -ateforms adjectives with meaning "having the specified thing"
• a tergofrom behind
• athambiaimperturbability, ataraxia