Word origins

• virgalMade of twigs or rods.
• virgatedStriped; streaked with rod-shaped (long and narrow) streaks.
• VirgilianOf, pertaining to, or characteristic of Virgil (Roman writer).
• virgulaThe spines of a ray.
• virgularmade up of thin lines or strokes, usually with reference to an alphabet or writing system
• virgunculeA young virgin.
• viriditechlorite.
• viridityThe state or condition of being virid: greenness.
• viripotentAble to sire children; sexually mature.
• viroseHaving a nauseous odour; fetid
• viscuminAny of a group of toxic lectins present in mistletoe (Viscum album)
• visivePertaining to sight or the ability to see; visual.
• vis vitaevital force
• vitaceousOf or relating to the family Vitaceae of vines including grape.
• vitalometerA device used to test the vitality of the dental pulp.
• vitascopeAn early machine for exhibiting animated pictures.
• vitasphereThe portion of the Earth that contains living organisms.
• vitello-Yolk.
• vitiationA reduction in the value, or an impairment in the quality of something.
• vitiosityviciousness
• vitologyAn approach to healthy living promoted in the late 19th and early 20th century.
• vitrainA constituent of banded bituminous coal consisting of a horizontal glossy band of friable material.
• vitrellaOne of the transparent lens-like cone cells in the ocelli of certain arthropods.
• vitrescentBecoming glass; glassy, vitreous.
• vitrifactureThe manufacture of glass and glassware.
• vitriformHaving the shape or appearance of glass.
• vitriteA kind of glass with a low fusing point, used as an insulator in electrical lamps and other apparatus.
• VitroliteA kind of high-strength pigmented glass.
• vitrumGlass; a glassy material.
• vitulineOf or pertaining to a calf or veal.
• vituperablehighly censurable; worthy of vituperation or severe censure.
• VivationA form of breathwork that claims to improve wellbeing through the use of circular breathing.
• viva voceDone by word of mouth.
• vivencyliveliness, vitality, or manner of living.
• viverridAny member of the family Viverridae
• viverrineOf or pertaining to the mammals of the subfamily Viverrinae.
• vivificGiving life or vigor; reviving; enlivening.
• vivificateTo give life to; to animate or vitalise.
• vivisepultureThe practice of burying someone alive.
• VivitronA particle accelerator in Strasbourg, France.
• voces magicaeMagical formulae, typically consisting of incomprehensible words or syllables, as used in ancient and early-modern amulets and magical texts.
• vociferanceVociferation; clamour, noise.
• vociferantnoisy; clamorous
• vociferateTo cry out with vehemence
• vociferationThe act of exclaiming; violent outcry; vehement utterance of the voice.
• volcanianSynonym of volcanic, of or related to volcanoes and volcanism.
• volgivagantOf or pertaining to the uneducated masses.
• volitantflying; capable of flight.
• volitorialRelating to flight.
• VolsceOne of the Volsci; a Volscian.
• VolscianOr, or relating to, the people or language of the Volsci.
• volubilitythe state of being voluble
• voluntyThe positive aspect of God, encompassing light, love, creation, etc.
• VoluptasThe Roman goddess of sensual pleasures. She is the daughter of Eros/Cupid and Psyche, and the grandaughter of Aphrodite/Venus and Ares/Mars. She is the Roman counterpart of Hedone.
• volutationA circular movement; a rolling, wallowing, circulation or rotation.
• volvulateTo twist or form a knot: to undergo volvulus.
• volvulizeSynonym of volvulate.
• vomerThe vomer bone; the small thin bone that forms part of the septum between the nostrils.
• vomitoryThe entrance into a theater or other large public venue, where masses of people are disgorged into the stands; a vomitorium
• voraginousPertaining to a whirlpool; full of whirlpools; hence, devouring.
• vorarephileA person who has vorarephilia.
• vorarephiliaA paraphilia or fetish in role-playing, involving the devouring of or being devoured by another person or creature.
• -voreAn organism, usually animal, identified by its kind of diet.
• -vorousforming adjectives with the sense of ‘habitually eating, feeding on’
• vorticelSynonym of vorticella.
• vox angelicaan organ stop giving a gentle tremolo effect; the voix céleste
• VulcanianOf, related to, or created by Vulcan, the Roman god of fire and metalwork, considered equivalent to the Greek Hephaestus and several German and Celtic gods.
• vulnarySynonym of vulnerary.
• vulneraryUseful or used for healing wounds; curative, healing.
• vulnerateTo wound, cause to become vulnerable.
• vulnerationThe act of wounding.
• vulnificCausing wounds.
• vulpicideSomeone who kills foxes other than by hunting them with hounds.
• vulpinic acidvulpic acid
• vulturinePertaining to or having characteristics of vultures.
• warm the cockles of someone's heartEspecially of food or drink (particularly an alcoholic beverage): to cause someone to feel deeply warm and comfortable; to comfort, to satisfy.
• Wendens AmboA village and civil parish in Uttlesford district, Essex, England (OS grid ref TL5136).
• while the grass grows, the steed starvesIn the process of trying to achieve something, one's aspirations may be realized too late.
• white-necked mynaStreptocitta albicollis, a common species of myna often confused for a magpie due to its coloration, endemic to Indonesia.
• widow birdAny of several species of birds in the family Viduidae, incorporating whydahs and widow finches.
• WincarnisA spiced British tonic wine, popular in Jamaica and some other former British colonies.
• with privilegeused to indicate a book has been legally published or is entitled to special privileges, e.g., due to a royal monopoly
• xanthomonadAny of the genus Xanthomonas of proteobacteria.
• xenoparityThe condition of being xenoparous.
• xenoparousOf or relating to a reproductive strategy in which a female produces offspring of a different species without a process of hybridization.
• xerocomorubinA pigment found in Boletales fungi; the oxidized form of isoxerocomic acid.
• xyridAny of several North American plants, of the genus Xyris, resembling sedges.
• xystA xystus.
• yokibusA miscellaneous thing or whimsical contraption; a thingamajig.
• zelatorA zealot; the male counterpart of a zelatrix.
• ZenobiusA male given name from Ancient Greek, of historical usage.
• ZenonianPertaining to any of various people named Zeno or Zenon, or to their philosophies.
• zephyretteA type of light, crisp cracker, used primarily for some hors d'oeuvres.
• zetta-In the International System of Units and other metric systems of units, multiplying the unit to which it is attached by 10²¹ (a short scale sextillion or long scale trilliard).
• ZeuxisA transliteration of the Ancient Greek male given name Ζεῦξις (Zeûxis).
• zona pellucidaA glycoprotein membrane surrounding the plasma membrane of an oocyte.
• zoofulvinA yellow carotenoid pigment present in the feathers of some birds
• -zoonForming nouns indicating individual members of taxonomic groups whose names end in -zoa.
• zythumAn unfermented kind of Egyptian malt beer.