Word origins

• allodianAllodial.
• alloquialOf or pertaining to a speech or address made to someone, particularly in a formal or public setting.
• alloquyAct of speaking to another; an address to another person.
• all that glitters is not goldThings that appear valuable or worthwhile might not actually be so; things that appear nice might not be as good as they appear.
• alluvionThe increase in the area of land due to the deposition of sediment (alluvium) by a river.
• alluviousalluvial
• alma materA school, college, or university which a person has graduated from or attended.
• alogyunreasonableness, absurdity
• alopecia androgeneticaSynonym of male pattern baldness.
• alpestrinePertaining to the Alps, or other high mountains; Alpine.
• alpha privativeThe prefix a- (or an- when prefixing a root which begins with a vowel) found in some English words of Greek derivation. It expresses negation or absence. The prefix has cognates in other Indo-European languages, including in- in Latin and un- in English, all traceable back to Proto-Indo-European *n̥-.
• alphosAny disease causing dull white or silvery spots on the skin, including non-contagious forms of leprosy and psoriasis.
• AlpianAlpine.
• alsinaceousOf or pertaining to the Alsinaceae (Caryophyllaceae) family, especially chickweed.
• altercateTo argue, quarrel or wrangle.
• alter egoAn individual's alternate personality or persona; another self.
• altiloquencePompous language; lofty speech.
• altitudinarianLofty in doctrine, aims, etc.
• altitudinousLofty; very high.
• altivolantFlying high; soaring.
• altometerA theodolite.
• altricesaltricial birds.
• alutaceousleathery in color or texture.
• alvearyA beehive, or anything resembling a beehive.
• alveolareThe lowest point on the septum between the central incisors of the upper jaw.
• alveolateHaving a structure containing honeycomb-like cavities.
• alveoliformHaving the form of alveoli, or little sockets, cells, or cavities.
• alveusThe bed or channel of a river, especially when the river is flowing in its natural or ordinary course; (also) the trough of the sea.
• alvineOf or pertaining to the belly or intestines.
• alvinolagniasexual attraction to or paraphilia involving the stomach or belly
• alvinophiliaSynonym of alvinolagnia.
• amabilitylovableness
• AmadeaA female given name from Latin, masculine equivalent Amadeus.
• amandationThe act of sending someone away.
• Amanusa mountain range dividing the coastal region of Cilicia from inland Syria
• amaracusMarjoram.
• amarantusamaranth (rare, formal)
• amasiusA male paramour, typically in extramarital or illicit contexts
• amatonormativityThe assumption that all human beings pursue love or romance, especially by means of a monogamous long-term relationship.
• amatoriousamatory
• amaziaThe absence of one or both of the mammary glands, with the nipple and areola present.
• ambagiousRoundabout, circuitous, vague.
• ambi-Either or both.
• ambidexterityThe property of being equally skillful with each hand.
• ambigenousOf two kinds or natures.
• ambiguationact of ambiguating
• ambilevousHaving equally bad ability in both hands; clumsy; butterfingered.
• ambitusThe range of a melody, especially those of ecclesiastical chants.
• amblosisabortion (termination of pregnancy)
• AmbraciotOf or pertaining to the city of Ambracia; Ambracian.
• ambrosiacHaving the qualities of ambrosia; delicious.
• ambrosinAn early coin struck by the dukes of Milan, and bearing the effigy of St. Ambrose on its horseback.
• ambulacrumA row of pores in an echinoderm, for the protrusion of appendages such as tube feet.
• ambulatorA walker; one who walks.
• ambulismA disorder involving walking.
• -ambulistwalker, one who walks
• ambulomancyAny of various forms of divination that involve walking, often in circles.
• ambulophobiaFear of walking or standing.
• amburbiumAn ancient expiatory procession round the city of Rome at which sacrifices were offered.
• ambustionA burn or scald.
• a mensa et thoroThat does not dissolve the marriage bond, but merely authorizes the husband and wife to live apart from each other.
• amensalRelating to amensalism.
• amentiaMental impairment; state of being mentally handicapped.
• amentumA catkin.
• amicicidekilling of a friend
• amissibleLiable or likely to be lost.
• amissiondeprivation; loss
• AmmianAmmianus Marcellinus: a Roman soldier and historian from Late Antiquity.
• ammodyteOne of the genus Ammodytes of fishes; the sand eel.
• Ammon's hornhippocampus
• amnioteAny of the Amniota group of vertebrates having an amnion during the development of the embryo; mammals, birds and reptiles.
• amoebaeumA poem in which people are represented speaking alternately.
• amoebeanDescribing a form of prosody (amoebaeum) featuring alternating responses.
• amolitionA putting away; a forcible removal; the act of amolishing.
• amomumAny of several spices of genus Amomum, family Zingiberaceae, including cardamom.
• amor fatiAn attitude in which one sees everything that happens in one's life, including suffering and loss, as good or at least necessary; associated with the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche.
• amotionremoval; ousting
• amoveTo set in motion; to stir up, excite.
• ampeliteAn earth abounding in pyrites, used by the Ancients Greeks as a pesticide on vines.
• amphibologiaAmbiguity of grammatical structure.
• amphibolousAmbiguous; doubtful or unclear.
• amphibrachA metrical foot in ancient Greek or Latin consisting of two short syllables surrounding one long one (e.g. amāta).
• amphibrachicConsisting of amphibrachs, metrical feet consisting of either a long syllable between two that are short, or an accented syllable between two that are not accented.
• amphictyonOne of the deputies from the confederated states of Ancient Greece to a congress or council. They considered both political and religious matters.
• amphimacerA metrical foot consisting of an unaccented or light syllable between two accented or heavy syllables; a cretic.
• amphiprostyleHaving columns at either end but not along the sides.
• amphisbaenaA mythical serpent having a head at each end of its body, able to move in either direction.
• amphoricOf or related to an amphora, either as a large vessel or a Roman unit of liquid measure.
• amplectTo embrace.
• amplexTo engage in amplexus.
• amplexationAn embrace.
• amplexus reservatusSynonym of coitus reservatus.
• ampliateHaving the outer edge prominent; said of the wings of insects.
• ampliatioThe use of an epithet for effect, when that epithet is not truly applicable to the referent.
• ampliationEnlargement; amplification.
• amplificateTo amplify.
• amplitudinalRelating to amplitude.
• ampullateHaving an ampulla; flask-shaped; bellied.
• ampulliformHaving the shape of a flask.
• amurcaThe sediment in olive oil.