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Vocabulary Flashcards

1
Q

Abjure

A

Verb:
To renounce upon oath; 2. to reject solemnly; 3. To abstain from.
Example: Galieo grudgingly abjured his belief in heliocentric theory.

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2
Q

Ablution

A

synonym for bathing

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3
Q

Abnegation

A

noun. The act of renouncing or rejecting something.

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4
Q

Abscond

A

Verb
to leave hurriedly and secretly; typically to avoid detection or arrest for unlawful action

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5
Q

Abstruse

A

Adjective
/ab stroos/ difficult to understand. Things that are not easily to understand or access for the lay person.

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6
Q

Adjutants

A

noun Adjutant is a military officer who acts as administrative assistant to a senior officer; he assists the commanding officer with unit administration, mostly the management of human resources in an army unit.

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7
Q

Afebrile / AY fee bril/

A

adjective. not feverish

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8
Q

Andiron /and iron/

A

noun. One of the pair of metal stands used for holding logs in the fireplace.

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9
Q

Ataraxia

A

Noun: A state of freedome from emotional disturbance and anxiety. Tranquility

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10
Q

Aver: /uh-vur/

A

Verb: to assert or affirm with confidence; declare in a positive or peremptory manner.
Aver “to assert with confidence” derives via Middle English and Middle French from Medieval Latin advērāre, roughly “to make true,” from Latin vērus “true.” The ultimate source of vērus is a Proto-Indo-European root of the same meaning that has an unexpected cognate in English: warlock. The war- part of warlock means “faith” as well as “agreement, covenant” in Old English, and the original meaning of warlock (Old English wǣrloga) was “oathbreaker.” Latin v frequently corresponds to English w, which is evident in other pairs of cognates from the two languages, such as Latin ventus and English wind, Latin via and English way, and Latin verbum and English word.

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11
Q

Avouch

A

Snyonym for Vouch. To make frank acknowledgment or affirmation of; declare or assert with positiveness.

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12
Q

Calaboose

A

Noun: synonym for jail. From the Spanish word calabozo meaning dungeon.

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13
Q

Climacteric

A

Noun: 1. a major turning point or critical stage; 2. menopause or stage of menopause.
From the Greek klimakter meaning rung of the ladder. Usually used as a major turning point in one’s life.

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14
Q

Concatenate: /kan ka’ te nate/

A

Verb: To link together in a series or chain.
From the Latin, “with chain”

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15
Q

Cordiform

A

Heart-shaped

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16
Q

Emissary

A

One designated as an agent of another; representative.

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17
Q

Epistemic /e-pa-stee-mik/

A

adj. of or relating to knowledge or knowing; cognitive

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18
Q

Emprise

A

Noun: an adverturous, daring, or chivalric enterprise.
“This whole quixotic emprise had been a bad idea from the start.”
From Anglo-French emprendre meaning “to undertake.”

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19
Q

Farceur /far ser/

A

Noun: Joker,; a writer or actor of farce.

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20
Q

Forfend:

A

Verb: To defend, secure, or protect. Use with an object.

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21
Q

Gnomon

A

Noun: the raised part of a sundial that casts the shadow.

Gnomon “the raised part of a sundial that casts the shadow” is a borrowing by way of Latin gnōmōn from Ancient Greek gnṓmōn “interpreter, discerner.” From there, gnṓmōn is derived from the verb gignṓskein (stem gnō-) “to know, perceive, judge,” and the stem gnō- also appears in other Ancient Greek-origin terms such as agnostic (literally “without knowledge”) and diagnosis (literally “means of discernment”). Because Ancient Greek and Latin are distantly related, Latin contains numerous words related to knowledge that also feature the telltale gn- element, including cognitive (“learned”), incognito (“unknown”), ignorant (“not knowing”), and recognize (“know again”). Gnomon was first recorded in English in the 1540s.

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22
Q

Haphephobia

A

Extreme fear of being touched

Greek noun haphe “a touch”. Haptic “of or relating to touch”

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23
Q

Ichnite: /ik’ night/

A

Noun: A fossil footprint

24
Q

kitchen cabinet

A

An informal group of advisors.

25
Q

laisser-aller: /le-say-a-lay’/

A

Noun: unchecked freedom or ease; unrestraint; looseness

26
Q

Oenology /e nology/

A

The science of viniculture, or wine making

27
Q

Pecksniffian (capitalize)

A

Adj. Affecting benevolence or high moral principals. Sanctimonious. Holier-than-thou.
Taken from the Dickens’ book Martin Chuzzlewit where the character Seth Pecknsiff was no angel but tried to pass himself off as one. Preach morality, but in reality would do anything to advance own selfish interests.
Synonym for hypocritical.

28
Q

Perigee:

A

Noun: the point in the orbit of a heavenly body, especially the moon, or artificial satelite at which it is nearest to the earth.

29
Q

Perilune:

A

Noun: The point in a lunar orbit that is nearest to the moon.
peri- “about, around, near” Greek. As in perimeter and periphery.

30
Q

Pinyin

A

Noun: A system for transliterating Chinese into the Latin alphabet; introduced in 1958 and adopted as the official system of romanization by the People’s Republic of China in 1979.

31
Q

Propitiate /pro-pi’-shee-ayt/

A

Verb: to gain or regain the favor or goodwill of; appease, conciliate.
Synonym to appease. Appease usually implies quieting insistent demands by making concessions, whereas propitiate tends to suggest averting the anger or malevolence of a superior being. Stronger term, in other words.

32
Q

Recrudescence /ree kru de’ sunt/

A

Noun: a new outbreak after a period of abatement or inactivity.
From the Latin verb recrudescere, meaning to become raw again. Crudus in Latin means raw. Crude and Cruel are descendents of this word. Mainly a medical term for outbreaks.

33
Q

Ruly

A

Adj. Obediant, orderly. The opposite of unruly, but not nearly as popular.

34
Q

Sciamachy \sahy AM uh kee\
sigh am un key

A

Noun: Fighting an imaginary image or shadow
Sciamachy “an act of fighting a shadow” is adapted from Ancient Greek skiamachía, equivalent to skiá “shadow” and máchē “battle.” Skiá is sometimes romanized as scia-, consistent with the Latin trend of changing Greek kappa to Roman c, but other derivatives of skiá in English hew closely to the original spelling and appear as skia-, as in skiagraph “a photographic image produced by the action of x-rays or nuclear radiation.” Máchē is a popular element in technical terms related to fighting or warfare. When combined with taûros “bull,” we get tauromachy “bullfighting,” and when combined with lógos “word,” we get logomachy “a dispute about or concerning words.” Sciamachy was first recorded in English circa 1620.

Countries can fight imaginary enemies

35
Q

Telluric /te-loor-ik/

A

Adj. of or proceeding from the soil or earth. Much as Latin had two words for start – sidus and stella, as featured in the etymology for circumcellular Latin had two words for earth– tellus and terra. Terra won out but there is an element: Tellurium.

36
Q

Ungulate:

A

noun: A hoofed animal. From the late Latin ungulatus “having claws or hoofs.” Ungula means little nail.

37
Q

Yakka:

A

Noun: Work, especially hard work.
Yakka “work” is a term in Australian slang that used to be spelled variously as yacker or yakker, among other options. Because Australian English is a variety of English that is non-rhotic, dropping the r sound after a vowel, the original spelling of yakka may have changed to reflect this r-dropping tendency. While the ultimate source of yakka is obscure, the most popular hypothesis is a derivation from yaga “to work,” a word from the Yagara language. Yagara, also known as Turrbal, is a language native to Queensland, the northeasternmost state of Australia, and belongs to the Pama–Nyungan language family, as do three-quarters of all aboriginal languages of Australia. Yakka was first recorded in English in the late 1880s.

38
Q

Alacrity

A

noun: prompt response; cheerful readiness

39
Q

Allocution

A

n. A formal speech giving advice or a warning.

40
Q

Anamorphic

A

Anamorphic format is the cinematography technique of shooting a widescreen picture on standard 35 mm film or other visual recording media with a non-widescreen native aspect ratio. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzuFRgSUIyU

41
Q

Anathema /a-naa-the-ma/ s

A

noun. Something or someone who is vehemently hated. Adolf Hitler is an example of an anathema. The way I feel about Donald Trump as well. HWA.

42
Q

Animism

A

n. /anǝ mizǝm/ the attribution of a soul or spiritual essence to plants, inanimate objects, or natural phenomenon. Examples of Animism can be seen in forms of Shinto, Hinduism, Buddhism, pantheism, Paganism, and Neopaganism. Shinto Shrine: Shinto is an animistic religion in Japan.

43
Q

Anneal: verb /ǝ NEEL/

A

Heat (metal or glass) and allow it to cool slowly to remove internal stresses and make it easier to work. “Rather than painting his stained glass, Paul chose to anneal the colors into the glass.”

44
Q

Aphorism or aphoristic:

A

a pithy observation that contains a general of truth, such as “know thyself,” or “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” A concise, terse, laconic, or memorable expression.

45
Q

Apocryphal

A

adj. : doubtful authenticity, although widely circulated as being true (of a story or statement). Apocrypha is a plural word that originally denoted hidden or secret writings, to be read only by initiates into a given Christian group. It comes from Greek and is formed from the combination of apo (away) and kryptein (hide).non-canonical apocryphal texts. The adjective apocryphal is commonly used in modern English to refer to any text or story considered to be of dubious veracity or authority, although it may contain some moral truth. In this broader metaphorical sense, the word suggests a claim that is in the nature of folklore, factoid or urban legend.

46
Q

Apoplectic adj. /Apǝ’ plektik/

A

adjective. Overcome with anger, extremely indignant, outraged. Mark was apoplectic with rage at the decision.

47
Q

Apothegm and Apothegmatic
A pǝ them/ / A pǝ they ma tik/

A

nouns. Notice different pronunciations. Synonym for aphorism. Short, instructive saying.

48
Q

Aprosexia /a pro SEX ia/ l

A

Lack of power to keep the attention fixed on any subject. Extreme ADD.

49
Q

Arcane

A

adj. Known or understood by very few, mysterious, secret.

50
Q

Argot /ar go/

A

noun. the jargon or slang of a particular group or class. Often a secret vocabulary used by a group of people. Synonym for jargon, lingo, and patois.

51
Q

Arriviste \a-ri-veest\

A

n. One that is a new and uncertain arrival (as in social position or artistic endeavor). a person who has recently acquired
unaccustomed status, wealth, or success, especially by dubious means and without earning concomitant esteem.

52
Q

Assiduous

A

adj. Showing great care and perseverance.

53
Q

Auriferous /ôˈrifərəs/

A

adj. Containing gold. The discovery of auriferous quartz…His auriferous wristwatch…Her makeup has auriferous flakes.

54
Q

Auspicious adj. /o spi SHǝs/

A

Showing or suggesting future success is likely. Synonym to propitious.

55
Q

Propitious /prəˈpiSHəs/

A

giving or indicating a good chance of success; favorable.
“the timing for such a meeting seemed propitious” Synonym to Auspicious

My Words (2 decks)

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