Unit 27 Flashcards
Emollient
(adj) soothing; mollifying
(n) an agent that soothes or makes more acceptable
e.g. The politician’s speech is filled with emollient phrases to make his message more palatable.
Empirical
(adj) derived from observation or experiment
- Empiricism (n)
e.g. Some people erroneously cite the theory of relativity as support for ethical relativism, whereas in reality the former is a scientific theory, while the latter is a moral issue, and thus by its nature is not subject to empirical verification.
Erroneously
(adv) in a mistaken way; incorrectly
e. g. He was erroneously reported dead.
Emulate
(v) to imitate; copy
e. g. Bionics used technology to emulate nature, but sometimes a similar process occurs in reverse, in which scientists use technology as a heuristic tool to better understand natural processes.
Encomium
(n) a formal expression of praise
e. g. The prime minister asked her speechwriter to compose an encomium for the retiring general.
Endemic
(adj) inherent; belonging to an era
e. g. Malaria, once endemic to the area, has now been largely eradicated.
Enervate
(v) to weaken; sap energy from
e. g. During World War II Russian commanders counted on the bitter cold to enervate German soldiers invading their country.
Engender
(v) give rise to; to cause; produce
e. g. Freudians believe that the traumatic events of infancy often engender repression that creates neuroses.
Enhance
(v) to increase; improve
e. g. His refusal does nothing to enhance his reputation.
Entomology
(n) the scientific study of ants
e. g. Considering that there are approximately 925000 species of insects (more than all other species combined), entomology is a vast field of study.
Enunciate
(v) to pronounce clearly
e. g. In everyday speech the sounds of many words are not enunciated clearly.
