Word origins

• spiculeA sharp, needle-like piece.
• stipendiaryReceiving a stipend.
• pneumonicOf, or relating to the lungs; pulmonary.
• centalA weight of one hundred avoirdupois pounds.
• PythianOf or relating to Delphi or to its priestess, Pythia.
• proconsulA magistrate who served as a consul and then as the governor of a province.
• ursineOf, pertaining to, or characteristic of bears.
• canticlesSynonym of Song of Songs, a canonical book of the Hebrew Bible and Christian Old Testament.
• ValentinianOf or relating to Valentinus, a 2nd-century Egyptian gnostic.
• taeniaA ribbon worn in the hair in ancient Greece.
• fulvicOf or pertaining to fulvic acid or its derivatives.
• pyrrhicOf or characterized by pyrrhics (metrical feet with two short syllables).
• insectivorousFeeding on insects.
• albiteA plagioclase feldspar, the first member of the Albite-Anorthite solid solution series.
• GallienA surname.
• exultantVery happy, especially at someone else's defeat or failure.
• delphinRelating to the dauphin of France; delphinal
• macerationThe act or process of macerating.
• visualityThe quality of being visual
• precipitatorOne who or that which precipitates (causes something to happen or urges it on with vehemence or rashness).
• auricleAny appendage in the shape of an ear or earlobe.
• pythonicOf or pertaining to, or resembling, a python (“large constricting snake of the family Pythonidae”); pythonlike.
• pineneEither of two isomeric bicyclic monoterpene hydrocarbons that are the principal components of pine resin.
• enunciateTo make a definite or systematic statement of.
• MedeAny of a Western Iranian people who inhabited the ancient region of Media.
• AmataA female given name from Latin; always rare in English.
• altitudinalOf or in relation to altitude
• lagopusThe ptarmigan.
• cancellousHaving low density and strength but high surface area, of the kind that fills the inner cavity of long bones.
• gregoA type of rough jacket with a hood.
• truncusThe thorax of an insect.
• invigilatorA person who supervises students during an examination; a proctor
• contrapuntalOf or in counterpoint.
• ophidianAny species of the suborder Serpentes; a snake or serpent.
• PergamumAn ancient Greek city, in western Anatolia, near modern Bergama.
• jocularHumorous, amusing or joking.
• obliteransProducing obstruction due to inflammation and fibrosis.
• lateriteA red hard or gravel-like soil or subsoil formed in the tropics that has been leached of soluble minerals leaving insoluble iron and aluminium oxides and hydroxides; used to make bricks and roads.
• spissthick, compact, dense, or crowded
• proponeTo propose or put forward for discussion or consideration.
• dracaenaAny of the genus Dracaena of liliaceous plants with woody stems and funnel-shaped flowers.
• prelationThe setting of one item above another; preference.
• veridicalTrue.
• myostatinA protein that acts as an inhibitor to the growth of muscle tissue.
• BenedictaA female given name from Latin, a rare feminine form of Benedict.
• intumescentThat becomes swollen, especially upon exposure to heat.
• talinAny of a group of cytoskeletal proteins
• CapitolineOf or relating to Capitoline Hill in Rome or (historical) the various temples there in antiquity.
• calcaneusThe large bone making up the heel of the human foot, the heel bone.
• obturatorAn object used to obstruct a hole, such as a fissure of the palate.
• librationThe act of librating.
• OphiuchusA zodiacal constellation of the northern summer said to depict a man (Asclepius) holding a serpent; the serpent is the constellation Serpens.
• traductortranslator.
• adipicPertaining to, or derived from, fatty or oily substances; applied to certain acids obtained from fats by the action of nitric acid.
• spinetA short, compact harpsichord or piano.
• abortifacientProducing miscarriage.
• amputateTo cut off, to prune.
• auxiliarauxiliary
• MancunianRelated or pertaining to Manchester, England, in the United Kingdom.
• miliaryOf or pertaining to millet seeds.
• decorousMarked by behaviour, manners, etc., regarded as proper, tasteful, and in accordance with accepted standards; becoming, seemly.
• perplexionCondition or state of being perplexed; perplexity.
• decimaA tithe or tax of one-tenth (now usually in historical Italian contexts).
• diffidenceThe state of being diffident, timid or shy; reticence or self-effacement.
• nephriteA semi-precious stone, one of the two types of stone commonly referred to as jade (the other being jadeite).
• bacchanalRelating to Bacchus or his festival.
• consilienceThe concurrence of multiple inductions drawn from different data sets.
• hesperianOf or relating to the land where the sun sets; western
• volveTo turn over in the mind; to ponder.
• pinnateResembling a feather.
• vastusOne of the great muscles upon the front of the thigh.
• CaelumA summer constellation of the southern sky, said to resemble a chisel.
• VenitA surname from Italian.
• pinnipedA marine mammal belonging to the parvorder Pinnipedia, comprising walruses, eared seals and earless seals, characterized by four limbs modified into flippers.
• AdamicOf, relating to, or resembling the Biblical character Adam.
• substantialityThe state of being substantial; substantialness.
• seleucidRelating to the Greek-Macedonian dynasty which ruled (312–63 BCE) an empire created by Seleucus out of the eastern conquests of Alexander the Great.
• CassianA male given name from Latin of mostly historical use.
• profligacyCareless wastefulness.
• MelkiteIn 5th-century Syria and Egypt, a sobriquet applied to Chalcedonians by their opponents, denoting the Chalcedonians' fidelity to the Byzantine emperor.
• FilomenaA female given name from the Romance languages Synonym of Philomena.
• breviaryA book containing prayers, hymns, and so on for everyday use at the canonical hours.
• JairusThe father of a young girl resurrected by Jesus Christ.
• mollinA soft soap of potassium hydroxide and coconut oil, used as a basis for ointments.
• ArgentiaA neighbourhood of Placentia, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.
• mitisA process for producing malleable iron castings by melting wrought iron, to which from 0.05 to 0.1 per cent of aluminum is added to lower the melting point, usually in a petroleum furnace, keeping the molten metal at the bubbling point until it becomes quiet, and then pouring the molten metal into a mold lined with a special mixture consisting essentially of molasses and ground burnt fire clay.
• juxtaIn males of most species of order Lepidoptera, an organ that supports the aedeagus and is located between the two valvae.
• scienterdeliberately, knowingly
• DelphinusA small summer constellation of the northern sky, said to resemble a dolphin. It lies between the constellations Cygnus and Aquila.
• recensionA census, an enumeration, a review, a survey.
• gularParticularly of an animal: of, pertaining to, or located at the gula (“the upper front of the neck next to the chin”) or the throat.
• macrocarpaThe Monterey cypress, Cupressus macrocarpa.
• lexemeThe abstract minimum unit of language or meaning that underlies such a set.
• cohabitTo live together with someone else, especially in a romantic and sexual relationship but without being married.
• globoseHaving a globular form.
• inflectTo cause to curve inwards.
• elisionThe deliberate omission of something.
• prolateElongated at the poles.
• interspaceA space or interval between two things; an interstice
• salubriousPromoting health or well-being; wholesome, especially relating to food or air.