Word origins

• acerbSour, bitter, and harsh to the taste, such as unripe fruit.
• acerbateEmbittered; having a sour disposition or nature.
• acerbitudeSourness and harshness; acerbity.
• acericPertaining to, or obtained from, the maple.
• aceroseHaving the nature of chaff; chaffy.
• acerraIn Ancient Rome, a small box for holding incense.
• acersecomicA person who does not cut their hair.
• acervalPertaining to a heap.
• acervateHeaped, or growing in heaps, or closely compacted clusters.
• acervatioDeparting from the normal syntax of a series to increase its effect.
• acervationA heaping up; accumulation
• acervulusA small cluster, as of fungi appearing on bark or leaves.
• acescentTurning sour; readily becoming tart or acid; slightly sour.
• acetableAn ancient Roman measure, equivalent to about one eighth of a pint.
• acetabuliferousFurnished with fleshy cups for adhering to bodies, as cuttlefish, etc.
• acetariousUsed in salads or as salad
• acetatorA device wherein bacteria process a liquid containing alcohol with the help of oxygen into carboxylic acid.
• ac etiamUsed to introduce the statement of the real cause of action, in those cases where it was necessary to allege a fictitious one.
• acetifyTo convert into acid or vinegar.
• acetimeterAn instrument for estimating the amount of acetic acid in vinegar
• aceto-Containing a methyl group bonded to a carbonyl group (CH₃CO-); e.g., acetophenone
• acetousHaving a sour taste; sour; acid.
• acetractIn botanical medicine, a vinegar extract of herbs.
• acetumVinegar, sometimes medicated.
• AchaemenesThe founder of the Achaemenid dynasty.
• achaenocarpAny dry indehiscent fruit.
• AchelousA river in western Greece.
• AchilleidAn unfinished epic poem by Publius Papinius Statius devoted to Achilles.
• acicleSynonym of acicula.
• aciculaOne of the needlelike or bristlelike spines or prickles of some animals and plants; also, a needlelike crystal.
• aciculiformNeedle-shaped; acicular.
• aciculiteA sulfide of bismuth, lead, and copper.
• aciculumA needlelike spine or bristle, specially the seta of an annelid
• acidiferousContaining or yielding an acid.
• acidimeterAn instrument for ascertaining the strength of acids.
• acidimetryThe measurement of the strength of acids, especially by a chemical process based on the law of chemical combinations, or the fact that, to produce a complete reaction, a certain definite weight of reagent is required.
• acidulcisBoth sour and sweet.
• acidulousSlightly sour; subacid; sourish.
• aciduric(of bacteria) growing in acidic medium, but preferring an alkaline medium
• aciesThe full attention of one's sight, hearing or other senses, as directed towards a particular object.
• aciformShaped like a needle.
• acinaceousContaining seeds or stones of grapes, or grains like them.
• acinacesA short sword or saber.
• aciniformHaving the form of a cluster of grapes; clustered like grapes.
• acinoseConsisting of acini, or minute granular concretions.
• acinusOne of the small grains or drupelets which make up some kinds of fruit, as the blackberry, raspberry, etc.
• acne conglobataAn uncommon and unusually severe form of acne characterized by burrowing and interconnecting abscesses and irregular scars.
• acnodeAn isolated point not upon a curve, but whose coordinates satisfy the equation of the curve so that it is considered as belonging to the curve.
• AcoetesAn attendant of Bacchus.
• acousmaticReferring to a sound that has no visually identifiable cause.
• acquisiteacquired
• acridophagiA supposed locust-eating people in ancient ethnography, located by Diodorus Siculus, Jerome, Pliny the Elder, and Strabo, variously in Ethiopia, Libya, or Parthia.
• acritySharpness, keenness or acridity.
• acroamarhetorical declamation
• acroamaticOf or pertaining to hearing.
• acroasisAn oral discourse.
• AcroceraunianOf or relating to the Ceraunian Mountains.
• acrodactylumThe upper surface of a toe
• acromio-acromion
• 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.
• actaeonidAny sea slug of the family Actaeonidae.
• actio ad distansSynonym of action at a distance.
• actio popularisAction to obtain remedy by a person or a group in the name of the collective interest.
• actitationFrequent action; specifically, the debating of lawsuits.
• Acts of the ApostlesThe fifth book in the New Testament of the Bible.
• actuabilityCapable of being acted or actuated upon.
• actuoseVery active.
• acturienceimpulsiveness
• acu-hearing; sound.
• aculeateHaving a sting; sharp like a prickle.
• aculeatedHaving a sharp point; armed with prickles.
• aculeiformLike a prickle or thorn
• aculeousResembling or pertaining to a needle.
• aculeusA sharp spike or other projection growing on a plant, as in some brambles and roses.
• acultomancydivination using needles
• acuminoseTerminating in a flat, narrow end.
• acuminousCharacterized by acumen; keen.
• acupunctuateTo pierce with a needle; to treat with acupuncture.
• acute accentA diacritical mark ( ´ ) that can be placed above a number of letters in many languages of the Latin, Greek and Cyrillic writing systems.
• acutifoliateHaving sharp-pointed leaves.
• -acyDenoting quality, state, condition.
• -adA unit or set (especially of a specified number).
• ad-Doing, enacting, forming a verb.
• ad absurdumTo the point of absurdity.
• Adam's appleThe lump in the throat, usually more noticeable in men than in women; the laryngeal prominence.
• adarceA salty concretion found on reeds and grasses in marshy grounds. Soft and porous, it was formerly used for cleansing the skin and to treat leprosy. Nowadays it is unclear as to the exact nature of the substance.
• ad baculumTo appeal by force.
• ad captandumAttempting to win popular favour, or to dupe the public.
• ad coelumThe principle by which property rights extend vertically upwards and, sometimes, downwards from a property; it is used to describe air rights or no-fly zones, as well as rights to resources under the soil, such as mineral rights, among others.
• ad damnumSynonym of ad quod damnum.
• addimentSynonym of complement.
• additamentAn addition; something added.
• addititiousAdditive; Increasing.
• additurThe augmentation by a judge of damages awarded by a jury.
• addorsedSet back to back, facing away from each other.
• addubitationA doubting; insinuated doubt.
• adducentRelated to the muscles of the body which pull one part towards another.
• addulceTo sweeten; to soothe.
• adeemTo revoke (a legacy, grant, etc.) or to satisfy it by some other gift.
• ademptTo take away.