Voltaire's Philosophical Dictionary Flashcards
Amalgam (n)
Am-al-gum
a mixture or combination esp of metals - specifically mercury and another metal.
ETY: c. 1400, “a blend of mercury with another metal;
soft mass formed by chemical manipulation,” from
Old French amalgame.
:
Anathema (n)
Anath-e-ma
something or someone that one vehemently dislikes
EX: Credit controls are anathema to the government.
SYN: curse
ETY: 1520s, “an accursed thing,” from Latin anathema “an excommunicated person; the curse of excommunication,” from Ecclesiastical Greek anathema “a thing accursed.
Archetype (n)
Ar-ch-type
-an original model or the original model of a thing after which similar things are made.
-a typical example of something
EX: The United States is the archetype of a federal society.
SYN: Prototype
Dehort (transitive verb)
De-hort
-To urge or try and persuade someone to abstain or refrain; to dissuade
-to advise against
ETY: dehortation: Late latin, dehortari “to dissuade.
dissuasion, advice or counsel to the contrary of
what is proposed,” 1520s
Despoil (transitive verb)
De-spoil
- to strip of belongings, possessions, or value
- to take all the valuable or beautiful objects from a
place
SYN: Pillage
ETY:c. 1200, despoilen, “rob, plunder, ravage;” c. 1300, “strip off” (clothes, armor, etc.); from Old French
Entelechy (n)
En-tel-ech-y
- the actualization of form-giving cause as contrasted
with potential existence - a hypothetical agency not demonstrable by scientific
methods that in some vitalist doctrines is considered
an inherent regulating and directing force in the
development and functioning of an organism
ETY: c. 1600, from Latinized form of Greek entelekheia
“actuality,” from en “in” (see en- (2)) + telei, dative
of telos “perfection” (see telos) + ekhein “to have”.
- In Aristotle, “the condition in which a potentiality
has become an actuality.
Ether (n)
E-ther
- Chemistry: a clear liquid used as a solvent (a mixture that changes solid substances into liquid) or for making people unconscious
- -
Iniquity
Gross immorality or injustice; wickedness
Liturgy
A prescribed form or set of forms for public religious worship
Lest
For fear that
Metempsychosis
the migration of a soul from one body to another
Odious
Arousing or meriting strong dislike, aversion, or intense displeasure
SYN: Offensive, repugnant
Pontif
a former title of the pagan high priest at Rome, later used of popes and occasionally of other bishops, and now confined exclusively to the pope
Pedant
a person who is excessively concerned with minor details and rules or with displaying academic learning
Pederasty
a sexual act between two males, especially when one is a minor
