Word origins

• luculentShining, brilliant.
• LuculleanLucullian.
• LucullianPertaining to or reminiscent of the Roman quaestor and politician Lucullus, famous for his wealth and banquets; lavish, extravagant.
• ludibrioussportive; wanton
• ludibundsportive, playful, frolicsome
• ludificationDerision; mockery.
• ludificatoryenjoyable; fun
• ludo-Of or relating to games, especially video games.
• ludomaniaAddiction to games or gambling; problem gambling.
• ludophileA person who loves games and puzzles.
• ludophiliaThe love of play.
• LudoSportA modern, lightsaber-inspired combat sport created in Italy, blending martial arts, fencing, and Star Wars fantasy into a fitness-focused activity with codified techniques, forms, and tournaments.
• lumbricAn intestinal parasitic worm.
• lumicanThe major keratin sulfate proteoglycan of the cornea.
• luminaphoneA kind of organ whose keys project light beams through perforated revolving disks onto selenium cells in order to produce electrical vibrations that generate the sound.
• luminationIllumination; specifically, artificial illumination.
• luminiferousProducing or transmitting light; luminous.
• luminophoreThat part of a molecule that is responsible for a given emission band when it undergoes luminescence.
• lumirhodopsinA pigment formed when rhodopsin is irradiated with light; it undergoes further degradation to retinal and opsin
• lumirubinA structural isomer of bilirubin, formed during phototherapy used to treat neonatal jaundice.
• luna corneahorn silver, or fused silver chloride, a tough, brown, translucent mass
• lunanautAn astronaut who travels to the Moon; a lunarnaut.
• luni-moon
• lunicurrentRelated to changes in currents that depend on the moon's phases.
• lupanarA brothel.
• lupicideThe killing of a wolf or wolves.
• lupulinSmall hairs obtained from the strobili of the hop plant.
• lusitanizeTo make Portuguese or more Portuguese-like.
• lusoriousPertaining to a sport, game or pastime.
• lustrateSynonym of purify, to ritually cleanse or renew, particularly to do so with a propitiatory offering or (historical) the lustration, quinquennial ritual of the Roman censor to cleanse the city after a census.
• lutaceousHaving the nature of clay.
• lutariousOf, pertaining to, or like mud; living in mud.
• lutationThe act or method of luting vessels, of cementing vessels using lute (the material)
• luteinizing hormoneA hormone, produced by anterior part of the pituitary gland, that stimulates ovulation and the development of the corpus luteum in female mammals, and the production of androgens by male mammals.
• luteo-orange-yellow; brownish yellow
• lutoseCovered with clay or dirt, or appearing to be so; miry.
• lutrineOf, pertaining to, or characteristic of an otter.
• lutulentPertaining to mud, muddy.
• Lyme RegisA coastal town and civil parish with a town council in south-west Dorset, England (OS grid ref SY3492).
• lymphangitisInflammation of the lymphatic channels, the result of infection at a site distal to the channel.
• lympho-Pertaining to lymph, lymphoid or lymphatic tissues or vessels, or lymphocytes.
• machicolatedHaving machicolations.
• macilentLean; thin; emaciated
• macrolabiamacrocheilia
• macropodA marsupial of the family Macropodidae, which includes the kangaroos, wallabies, tree kangaroos and pademelons.
• mactationThe act of killing a victim for sacrifice.
• macula luteamacula (yellow spot in the human eye)
• MaediA member of a Thracian or Illyrian tribe once occupying the area between Paionia and Thrace.
• magico-magic, magical.
• magistricideThe killing of one's master or teacher.
• magnaliaWonders, great things.
• magnalityA great or wonderful thing; a marvel.
• magnascopeA large optical instrument used to get a close-up of small objects.
• magni-large, big
• magnicideThe assassination of a major political figure.
• magniloquentUsing pompous speech; speaking with deliberately long or esoteric words.
• magniloquousmagniloquent
• magnitudinalRelating to magnitude
• magnitudinousHaving (great) magnitude
• magnoperateTo magnify the greatness of (someone or something); to exalt.
• magnorderA taxon one rank above a superorder, and below gigaorder or a class. A magnorder is the highest taxonomic ranking of order.
• make positionTo cause a syllable that contains a short vowel to scan as metrically long (heavy) instead of metrically short (light) by being positioned immediately after it, without affecting the length of the vowel itself.
• malacissationThe act of making soft or supple.
• malefactionA crime, an offense, an evil deed.
• maleic acidan unsaturated organic dicarboxylic acid, cis-butenedioic acid; HOOCCH=CHCOOH, the geometric isomer of fumaric acid; it is found in unripe fruit, and is used industrially in the production of polyester resins
• malleationThe act or process of malleating (beating into a plate, sheet, or leaf, as a metal)
• malleinA protein fraction obtained from Burkholderia mallei, used in testing for glanders.
• maltheismThe belief that further to any deity's existence being rejected, the low evaluation of their properties would result in them not being worthy of worship.
• malum in seA wrong in itself; that which is injurious in its consequence.
• malvaceousOf or pertaining to plants in the mallow family, Malvaceae.
• mammiformShaped like a breast.
• mammo-relating to the mammary organs (mammary glands, breasts, udders, and dugs), or to females
• manationThe act of emanation or flowing out.
• manicateCovered with hairs or pubescence so interwoven as to form a mass easily removed.
• manichordA clavichord.
• maniformHaving the form of a hand.
• manipularof or relating to a maniple (Roman army division)
• mansuetudinousOf, pertaining to, or characterized by mansuetude; mild; meek; gentle.
• manuableEasily handled or carried.
• manubialTaken as or relating to the spoils of war; funded from the spoils of war (especially in the Roman Empire).
• manubriumThe broad, upper part of the sternum.
• manuductorThe chief novice in an order.
• manumotorA small wheeled vehicle, similar to a velocipede but powered by the seated occupant's arms.
• manuportA natural (not man-made) object of an excavation site, which was originally brought into the site by humans.
• manutenencymaintenance
• mappemondeA medieval map of the known or imagined world.
• marasmus senilisprogressive atrophy of the aged
• marcescentWithered, but still attached.
• marco poloA renowned traveler.
• marcourThe state of withering or wasting; leanness; loss of flesh.
• mare clausumA body of water within the jurisdiction of a particular nation, and not part of the open sea.
• margaritiferousProducing pearls.
• margaritomancyDivination by pearls.
• MariaviteOf or relating to the Mariavite Church.
• marigenousProduced in or by the sea.
• marigraphA device used to measure tidal levels.
• mariticideThe act of killing one's spouse, especially the murder of a husband by his wife.
• marmoraceousContaining, or similar to, marble.
• marmoratevariegated like marble; marbly
• marmorationA covering, casing or encrusting of marble