ANEURYSMAL [adj.] – of or relating to an aneurysm

PROCONSUL [n] – a governor of a province in ancient Rome; a fossil hominoid primate found in Lower Miocene deposits in east Africa, one of the last common ancestors of both humans and great apes

GHIMEL - not found!

VENAL [adj] – showing or motivated by susceptibility to bribery

PECUNIARY [adj] – of, related to, or consisting of money

SACERDOTAL [adj] – relating to priests or the priesthood; in Theology, relating to or denoting a doctrine that ascribes sacrificial functions and spiritual or supernatural powers to ordained priests

PENURY [n] – extreme poverty, destitution

TIMOROUS [adj] – showing or suffering from nervousness, fear, or lack of confidence

SINUOUS [adj] – having many curves and turns; lithe and supple

SINOLOGY [n] – the study of Chinese language, history, customs, and politics

DIVAN [n] – a long, low sofa without a back or arms, typically placed against a wall

FELICITOUS [adj] – well chosen or suited to the circumstances; pleasing and fortunate

DITHYRAMB [n] – a wild choral hymn of ancient Greece, especially one devoted to Dionysus; a passionate or inflated speech, poem, or other writing

MNEMONIC [n] – a device such as a pattern of letters, ideas, or associations that assists in remembering something; [adj] aiding or designed to aid the memory

CARIES [n] – decay or crumbling of a tooth or bone

INDEFATIGABLE [adj] – (of a person or their efforts) persisting tirelessly

APODICTIC [adj] – clearly established or beyond dispute; from Greek apodeiktikos, ‘show off, demonstrate.’

APLOMB [n] – self confidence or assurance, especially when in a demanding situation

PERSPICACIOUS [adj] – having a ready insight or understanding of things

BAWDY [adj] – dealing with sexual matters in a comical way; humorously indecent

POGROM [n] – an organized massacre of an ethnic group, in particular that of Jews in Russia or Eastern Europe

SUPPED [v] – (dated or dialect) to take drink or liquid food by sips or spoonfuls; to eat supper

EQUANIMITY [n] – mental calmness, composure, and evenness of temper, especially in a difficult situation; from Latin aequanimitus, aequus “equal,” and animus “mind.”

IMPERIOUS [adj] – assuming power or authority without justification; arrogant and domineering

TETRAGRAMMATON [n] – the Hebrew name of God transliterated in four letters as YHWH or JHVH and articulated as Yahweh or Jehovah. From Greek, neuter of tetragrammatos: tetra “four,” and grammatos, “letter.”

MYOPE [n] – a nearsighted person

PROCRUSTEAN [adj] – ruthlessly disregarding individual differences or special circumstances; from PROCRUSTES, a murderous bandit in Greek mythology

PENELOPE [n] – a modest domestic wife; from the character Penelope in the Odyssey, Odysseus’ wife who waits for him to return for 20 years

LUCUBRATION [n] – hard and difficult study or the product of such study; from Latin LUX (light) and LUCERE (to shine or glitter), LUCUBRATION came to mean “difficult study” as such work was often done by lamplight before the advent of electricity

INTERNECINE [adj] – deadly, mutually destructive; involving conflict within a group; from Latin NECARE or NOXA, (killing or slaying) and Greek NEKROS, (corpse.)

PERPEND - to consider carefully, to ponder

DECLENSION - deterioration, decline; deviation from accepted standard

CALUMNY - a false statement maliciously made to injure another's reputation

CONTUMELY - rude treatment, insult, insolence

SPURN - to reject with disdain, scorn

FARDELS - a burden

BODKIN - Middle English; a long, pin-like instrument, dagger or stiletto

PROMONTORY - a high ridge of land or rock jutting out into water, a headland; within anatomy, a protuberant body part

TERRENE - belonging to this earth or world, not ideal or heavenly

LENTEN - suggesting Lent, as in frugality, austerity, or rigorousness; meager

MALEFACTION - an evil crime or wrongdoing

BLENCH - to draw back or shy away, as from fear

BECK - a gesture used to summon or direct someone - archaic for BECKON; a small brook,
especially with a swift current and steep banks

PRATING - to talk excessively and pointlessly, babble

GIBES - a derisive or taunting remark

CHALICE - a bowl-shaped cup for the consecrated wine of the Eucharist

ASPERITY - roughness or harshness of tone, climate, or surface

DUDGEON - sullen, angry, or indignant humor; (archaic) a dagger with a hilt made of such wood

IRE - intense anger, wrath

PIQUE - sullen malice or malevolence; wound

GREENHORN - an untrained or inexperienced person, a naive or gullible person, or an immigrant who is "fresh off the boat"

DOLOROUS - full of, causing, or expressing pain or sorrow; grievous, mournful

ANTEDILUVIAN - before the Biblical flood, etymology: ante, before; diluvian, deluge (flood). Also refers to a very old person or something antiquated

ARGOT - a specialized idiomatic vocabulary belonging to a particular class or group, especially an underground world

IGNOMINY - great personal dishonor, contempt

OBLOQUY - censure, blame, or abusive language directed at a person or thing

IMPROVIDENT - lacking foresight, incautious, unwary

CURATIVE - serving to cure or heal; pertaining to remedial treatment (interesting relation to CURATE)

SUBLUNARY - situated beneath the moon, or between the moon and earth; of this earth, terrestrial

TELLURIAN - of, relating to, or inhabiting the earth

CODEX - a manuscript volume, particularly that of a classic work or pertaining to the Scriptures; (archaic) a code, book of statutes; a quire of manuscript pages held together by stitching: the earliest form of a book, replacing the scrolls and wax tablets of earlier times

TENDERFOOT - an inexperienced person, novice; one of the lowest ranks of the Boy / Girl Scouts of America; a newcomer to the ranching and mining regions of the Western US, unused to hardships

ROSENZWEIG - German, branch of roses

METE – dispense or allot justice, a punishment, or harsh treatment

APOSTATE – a person who renounces a religious or political belief or principle

STYMIE – prevent or hinder the progress of

IRENIC – aiming or aimed at peace; a part of Christian theology concerned with reconciling with different denominations and sects

ABROGATE – repeal or do away with (a law, right, or formal agreement)

MANICHAEISM – a dualistic religious system with Christian, Gnostic, and pagan elements, founded in Persia in the 3rd century by Manes. The system was based on a supposed primeval conflict between light and darkness. It spread widely in the Roman Empire and in Asia, and survived in Chinese Turkestan until the 13th century; a religious or philosophical dualism

COSMOGONY – the branch of science that deals with the origin of the universe, especially the solar system

BEELZEBUB – the devil, from Hebrew “lord of flies,” the name of a Philistine god

IBLIS – the Islamic manifestation of Satan; either etymologically from Greek diablos (Satan), or Arabic balasa (he despaired), directly he/it that causes despair

HUBRIS – excessive pride or self-confidence; (in Greek tragedy) excessive pride or defiance of the gods, leading to nemesis

PARAMOUNTCY – more important than anything else, supreme; having supreme power

VIRULENT – bitterly hostile

VITRIOL – cruel and bitter criticism

EXPOSTULATION – expression of strong disapproval or disagreement

EXTIRPATE – root out and destroy completely

EPISCOPATE – the office or term of office of a bishop

TITHES – one tenth of annual produce or earnings, formerly taken as a tax for the support of the church and clergy

AEGIS – the protection, backing, or support of a particular person or organization; (in classical mythology) an attribute of Zeus and Athena usually represented as a goatskin shield

VECTORS – a quantity having direction as well as magnitude, especially as determining the position of one point in space relative to another

RECALCITRANT – having an obstinately uncooperative attitude toward authority or discipline

OSSIFY – cease developing; become stagnant or rigid

VIZIER – a high official in some Muslim countries, especially in Turkey under Ottoman rule

PARLANCE – a particular way of speaking or using words, especially a way common to those with a particular job or interest

SULTAN – a Muslim sovereign

COMENSAL – an association between two organisms in which one benefits and the other derives neither benefit nor harm

CADRE – a small group of people specially trained for a particular purpose or profession; a member of such group

FILIAL – of or due from a son or daughter

VISTA – a pleasing view, especially one seen through a long, narrow opening; a mental view of a succession of remembered or anticipated events

DROSS – something regarded as worthless, rubbish; foreign matter, dregs, or mineral waste

DIKE – a long wall or embankment built to prevent flooding from the sea

THEODICY – the vindication of divine goodness and providence in view of the existence of evil

RAPPROACHMENT – an establishment or resumption of harmonious relations

FUTHARK – the runic alphabet

INTERSTICES – an intervening space, usually a very small one

BEDOUIN – a nomadic Arab of the desert

PERFUNCTORY – carried out with a minimum of effort or reflection

FRACTAL – a curve or geometric figure, each part of which has the same statistical character of the whole. Fractals are useful in modeling structures (such as eroded coastlines or snowflakes) in which similar patterns recur at progressively smaller scales, and in describing partly random or chaotic phenomena such as crystal growth, fluid turbulence, and galaxy formation.




High voltage dielectric breakdown within a block of plexiglass creates a beautiful fractal pattern called a Lichtenberg figure. The branching discharges ultimately become hair-like, but are thought to extend down to the molecular level.

RHIZOME – a continuously growing horizontal underground stem that puts out lateral shoots and adventitious roots at intervals



Carl Jung used the word "rhizome", also calling it a "myzel", to emphasize the invisible and underground nature of life:

Life has always seemed to me like a plant that lives on its rhizome. Its true life is invisible, hidden in the rhizome. The part that appears above the ground lasts only a single summer. Then it withers away—an ephemeral apparition. When we think of the unending growth and decay of life and civilizations, we cannot escape the impression of absolute nullity. Yet I have never lost the sense of something that lives and endures beneath the eternal flux. What we see is blossom, which passes. The rhizome remains.
Prologue from "Memories, Dreams, Reflections"

Deleuze and Guattari used the term "rhizome" to describe theory and research that allows for multiple, non-hierarchical entry and exit points in data representation and interpretation. In A Thousand Plateaus, they opposed it to an arborescent conception of knowledge, which worked with dualist categories and binary choices. A rhizome works with horizontal and trans-species connections, while an arborescent model works with vertical and linear connections. Their use of the "orchid and the wasp" was taken from the biological concept of mutualism, in which two different species interact together to form a multiplicity (i.e. a unity that is multiple in itself). Horizontal gene transfer would also be a good illustration.
[from Wikipedia, accessed 4/21/08]

AREOPAGUS – in ancient Athens, a hill on which met the highest governmental council and later a judicial court

ARCHANGEL – in traditional Christian angelology, a being of the eighth order of the ninefold celestial hierarchy

ANGELOLOGY – theological dogma or speculation concerning angels

MONASTIC – of or relating to monks, nuns, or others living under religious vows, or the buildings in which they live

MONISM – a theory or doctrine that denies the existence of a distinction or duality in some sphere, such as that between matter and mind, or God and the world; the doctrine that only one supreme being exists

SELF FLAGELLATION – to flog someone, either as a religious discipline or for sexual gratification

ANIMISM – the attribution of a soul to plants, inanimate objects, and natural phenomena; the belief in a supernatural power that organizes and animates the material universe

GRIS-GRIS – a Vodou amulet that protects the wearer from evil or brings luck. This use of the word Gris-Gris usually describes a small cloth bag worn on the person. Inside is placed a mixture of one or more of the following: herbs, oils, stones, bones, hair, nails, grave dirt, or other personal items. Recreationally, it refers to any implements that aid in the act of making love.

SANTERIA – a pantheistic Afro-Cuban religion developed from the beliefs and customs of the Yoruba people and incorporating some elements of the Catholic religion.

HANSEN’S DISEASE – another term for LEPROSY; a progressive chronic infectious disease caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium leprae. Leprosy is primarily a granulomatous disease of the peripheral nerves and mucosa of the upper respiratory tract, skin lesions are the primary external symptom.

AUTOMATON – a moving mechanical device made in imitation of a human being

UN JARDIN D’HIVER – French, "winter garden," a garden of plants, such as evergreens, that flourish in winter

PAYSAGE D’HIVER – French, “the landscape of winter”

VESTIGE – a trace of something that is disappearing or no longer exists; the smallest amount, used to emphasize the absence of something

LEXICON – the vocabulary of a person, language, or branch of knowledge

POLYVALENT – having many functions, forms, or facets

ADUMBRATE – foreshadow or symbolize, indicate faintly

HETERODOX – not conforming with accepted or orthodox standards or beliefs

MISE-EN-SC´ENE – the setting or surroundings of an event or action

INTERPOLATE – to insert something between fixed points; interject a remark in conversation

REBUS – a puzzle in which words are represented by combinations of pictures and individual letters; for instance apex might be represented by a picture of an ape followed by the letter X

STRAAT – Dutch, “street”

MONOMANIA – exaggerated or obsessive enthusiasm for or preoccupation with one thing

ATAVISTIC – relating to or characterized by reversion to something ancient or ancestral

AHRIMAN – the evil spirit in the doctrine of Zoroastrianism, the opponent of Ahura Mazda

ZOROASTRIANISM – a monotheistic pre-Islamic religion of ancient Persia founded by Zoroaster in the 6th century BC.

HOLOGRAPH – a manuscript handwritten by the person named as its author

TREPAN – a hole saw for surgeons perforating the skull [may be used as a verb]

HOMUNCULUS – a very small human or humanoid creature; a supposed microscopic but fully formed human being from which a fetus was formerly believed to develop

ENDOGAMY – the custom of marrying only within the limits of a local community, clan, or tribe

EXOGAMY – the custom of marrying outside a community, clan, or tribe.

PHLEGMATIC – having an unemotional and stolidly calm disposition

STOLID – calm, dependable, and showing little emotion or animation

EBULLIENT – cheerful and full of energy; [archaic / poetic] boiling or agitated as if boiling

PELL-MELL – in a confused, rushed, or disorderly manner; recklessly hasty or disorganized, headlong

EUPHONY – pleasant, harmonious sound

IMPECUNIOUS – poor, having no money

SOBRIQUET – nickname

PECCADILLOS – minor sin or offense

INCARNADINE – blood red in color

OROTUND – pompous

SOPORIFIC – causing sleep or lethargy

SYNCOPATION – temporary irregularity in musical rhythm

RECUSANT – a person who refuses to submit to authority or comply with a regulation; a Roman Catholic in England who refused to attend services of the Church of England [adj. and noun form]

AUGUST – dignified, grandiose; respected and impressive

TURGID – swollen as from a fluid, bloated; distended

SPECIOUS – deceptively attractive; seemingly plausible but fallacious

SCINTILLA – trace amount

RIBALD – humorous in a vulgar way

LACHRYMOSE – tearful or given to weeping; from Latin lacrima (tear), concerned with the secretion of tears; [anatomy] lachrymal vase, a small bone forming part of the eye socket

IRASCIBLE – easily made angry

NADIR – lowest point (i.e. in a career)

PALLID – lacking color or liveliness (typically of a person); feeble or insipid

INSIPID – lacking flavor or interest

PASTICHE – a work of art imitating other works, typically from an earlier era

ORRERY – a mechanical model of the solar system, or of just the sun, earth, and moon, used to represent their relative positions and motions; [named after the early 18th century fourth Earl of Orrery, for whom one was made

FIAT – a formal authorization or proposition; a decree

BACHELOR MACHINE – no fucking clue

VITRIOLIC – cruel and bitter criticism

BRAVURA – great technical skill shown in a performance or activity; the display of great daring

DINT – an impression or hollow in a surface; a blow or stroke, typically one made with a weapon in fighting; force of attack, impact

LACUNA – an unfilled space or interval, a gap; a missing portion of a book or manuscript; [anatomy] a cavity or depression, especially in bone

PHYSIOGNOMY – a person’s facial features or expression, especially regarded as indicative of character or ethnic origin; the general form or appearance of something

APORETIC – tending to doubt, skeptical

SAPIENCE – wise, or attempting to appear wise (from sapien)

ENTROPY – lack of order or predictability, gradual decline into disorder

DUBIOUS – hesitating or doubting

LARGESSE – generosity in bestowing money or gifts upon others

VERTIGINOUS – causing vertigo, especially by being extremely high or steep

NUMINOUS – having strong religious or spiritual quality; indicating or suggesting the presence of divinity

ANTINOMIAN – of or relating to the view that Christians are released by grace from the obligation of observing the moral law

DESPOTIC – a ruler or other person that holds absolute power, typically one who rules in a cruel or oppressive way

MESSIANIC – of or relating to the Messiah; inspired by hope or belief in the Messiah; fervent or passionate

HESSIAN – of the German state of Hesse

HELLENISTIC – of or relating to Greek history, language, and culture from the death of Alexander the Great to the defeat of Cleopatra and Mark Antony by Octavian in 31 BC. During this period Greek culture flourished, spreading through the Mediterranean and into the Near East and Asia and centering on Alexandria in Egypt and Pergamum in Turkey

FOUNT – a source of a desirable quality or commodity

LEVANT – the Eastern part of the Mediterranean with its islands and neighboring countries; to run away, typically leaving unpaid debts

DERISION – contemptuous ridicule or mockery

PHOENICIA – an ancient country on the shores of the eastern Mediterranean Sea, corresponding to modern Lebanon and the coastal plains of Syria. It consisted of a number of city-states, including Tyre and Sidon, and was a flourishing center of Mediterranean trade and colonization during the early part of the 1st millennium BC

AUTOCHTHON – an original or indigenous inhabitant of a place; an aborigine

ELEUSINIAN MYSTERY – the annual rites performed by the ancient Greeks at the village of Eleusis near Athens in honor of Demeter and Persephone

EUHEMERIZE – [Euhemerus,] (working late 4th century BCE) was a Greek mythographer at the court of Cassander, the king of Macedonia. Euhemerus' birthplace is disputed, with Messina in Sicily or Messene in the Peloponnese as the most probable locations, while others champion Chios, or Tegea. He is chiefly known for a rationalizing method of interpretation, known as Euhemerism, that treats mythological accounts as a reflection of actual historical events shaped by retelling and traditional mores. In the skeptic philosophical tradition of Theodorus of Cyrene and the Cyrenaics, Euhemerism forged a new method of interpretation for the contemporary religious beliefs. The reputation of Euhemerus was that he believed that much of Greek mythology could be interpreted as natural events subsequently given supernatural characteristics. Living at court in the generation following the superhuman feats of Alexander the Great and Alexander's subsequent deification, with the contemporaneous "pharaoization" of the Ptolemies in a fusion of Hellenic and native Egyptian traditions, Euhemerus was trained in the rational philosophizing current of Hellenistic culture; the two strains meet in his materialist rationalizing of Greek myth. Euhemerus may be credited as the writer who systematized and explained an ancient and widely accepted popular belief, namely that the dividing line between gods and men is not always clear

HELIOCENTRIC – having or representing the sun as the center, as in the accepted astronomical model of the solar system; as compared with geocentric.

RUCTION – unpleasant reactions to or complaints about something

LYRE – a stringed instrument like a small U-shaped harp with strings fixed to a crossbar, used especially in ancient Greece. Modern instruments of this type are found mainly in East Africa.

ARDOR – enthusiasm or passion

ARDENT – burning / glowing / eager

GANYMEDE – [Greek mythology] a Trojan youth who was so beautiful he was carried off to by Zeus to be the cupbearer for the Olympic gods

PERIPETEIA – a sudden reversal of fortune or change in circumstances, especially in reference to fictional narrative

BESTIARY – a descriptive or anecdotal treatise on various real or mythical kinds of animals, especially a medieval work with a moralizing tone

EMPYREAN – belonging to or deriving from heaven; the visible heavens, the sky

ESCHATOLOGY – the part of theology concerned with death, judgment, and the final destiny of the soul and human kind

ACQUILINE – (of a person’s nose) hooked or curved like a beak

MERCURIAL – subject to sudden or unpredictable changes of mood or mind; sprightly, lively; of the planet or substance Mercury

SATURNINE – (of a person and their manner) slow and gloomy

RAISON D’ÊTRE – a purely political reason for action on the part of a ruler or government, especially where a departure from openness, justice, or honesty is involved

DEUCALION – the son of Prometheus. With his wife Pyrrha he survived a flood sent by Zeus to punish human wickedness; they were then instructed to throw stones over their shoulders, and these turned into humans that repopulated the world

PERFUCTORY – (of an action or gesture) carried out with a minimum of effort or reflection

DEFT – neatly skillful and quick in one’s movements

SALSIFY – an edible European plant of the daisy family, with a long root like that of a parsnip

NOISOME – having an extremely offensive smell

BOWER – a pleasant shady place under trees or climbing plants in a garden or wood; a summerhouse; a lady’s private room

LISLE – a fine, smooth cotton thread used especially for hosiery

BEREFT – archaic past participle of BEREAVE

FLAC-SOLED – (Faulkerian neologism) referring to the lightened coloration found on a black person’s hands

MORIBUND – at the point of death; in terminal decline, lacking vitality

DROPSICAL – affected with or characteristic of dropsy; edematous

DROPSY / EDEMA – a condition characterized by an excess of watery fluid collecting in the cavities or tissues of the body

INDOMITABLE – impossible to subdue or defeat

SOMNOLENT – sleepy, drowsy

BILLET – a place, usually a civilian’s house or other nonmilitary facility where soldiers are lodged temporarily

PROFUNDITY – not much different from “profoundness”

SACQUE – (Faulknerian) loose fitting gown or robe

CALLOW – inexperienced and immature

SONOROUS – (of a person’s voice) imposingly deep and full

MAGISTERIAL – having or showing great authority; domineering, dictatorial

SIBILANT – (of a speech sound) sounded with a hissing effect

ALACRITY – brisk and cheerful readiness

FICELLE – a small loaf of French bread

DICHASIUM – a cyme in which each flowering branch gives rise to two or more branches symmetrically placed

CYME – a flower cluster with a central stem bearing a single terminal flower that develops first, the other flowers in the cluster developing as terminal buds of lateral stems

INFLORESCENCE – the complete flowerhead of a plant including stems, stalks, bracts, and flowers; the arrangement of flowers on a plant; the process of flowering



ALCESTIS – wife of Admetus, king of Pherae in Thessaly, whose life she saved by consenting to die on his behalf

CANAILLE – the common people; the masses

PERIPATETIC – traveling from place to place, especially working or based in various places for relatively short periods of time; an Aristotelian philosopher

RAIMENT – (archaic) clothing

GARRULOUS – excessively talkative, especially on trivial matters

GARRET – a top floor or attic room, especially a small or dismal one, commonly inhabited by artists

SUBJUGATE – to bring under domination or control, especially by conquest

DOUR – relentlessly severe, stern, gloomy, or dismal in manner or appearance

FICE – regional dialect for feist, a small, wiry dog of mixed ancestry prized for hunting

CAPER – to skip or dance about in a lively or playful way

SCHICK TEST – a test for previously acquired immunity to diptheria, using an intradermal injection of diptheria toxin

REDUCTIO AD ABSURDUM – a method of proving the falsity of a premise by showing that its logical consequence is absurd or contradictory

ARRANT – complete, utter; what arrant nonsense!

SUBSUME – include or absorb

AXIOMATIC – self-evident or unquestionable

IRREVOCABLE – not able to be changed, reversed, or recovered

PAEAN – a thing that expresses enthusiastic praise

VOCIFERATE – shout, complain, or argue loudly or vehemently

ADMIX – to mix something with something else

EFFACE – to erase a mark from a surface

SUBLIMATE – divert or modify (especially an instinctual impulse) into a culturally higher or socially more acceptable activity

MONAD – an undividable single unit such as a person or atom

EXTIRPATE – root out and completely destroy

THEOLOGUMENON – that a theological statement within Christian theology, which required no denominational faith statement or belief truth (Dogma), but as a fundamentally important part of the control of religious teaching is viewed

EXEGESIS – critical explanation or interpretation of a text, especially in literature

HERETIC – a person holding an opinion at odds with what is generally accepted

RETICENT – not revealing one’s thoughts or feelings readily

PUERILE – childishly silly and trivial

MINX – an impudent, cunning, or boldly flirtatious girl or young woman

PROCACIOUS – petulant, forward, saucy

SEDITIOUS – arousing to action or rebellion, especially against a state or monarch

VIPER – a spiteful or treacherous person

SALLY – a sudden charge out of a besieged place against the enemy, a sortie; a brief journey or sudden start into activity; a witty or lively remark, especially one made as an attack or diversion in an argument, a retort

LITHE – readily bent, supple; the lithe body of a ballerina

VENAL – showing or motivated by susceptibility to bribery

JOCUND – cheerful and lighthearted

FECUND – producing or capable of producing an abundance of offspring or new growth, fertile

SUFFUSE – gradually spread through or over

ADULATION – excessive admiration or praise, obsequious flattery

OSEQUIOUS – obedient or attentive to an excessive or servile degree

PRO TANTO – to such an extent; to that extent

LUBRICIOUS – offensively displaying or meant to arouse sexual desire; smooth or slippery with oil or a similar substance

QUIESCENT – in a state or period of inactivity or dormancy

CONGENIAL – pleasant because of a personality,

TERGIVERSATE – make conflicting or evasive statements; equivocate

CONCATENATE – linking things together in a chain or series

SPURIOUS – not being what it purports to be; false or fake; apparently but not actually valid (of a line of reasoning)

VAYEIRA – (Hebrew) “and He appeared” the first word in the parshah.

TITULAR – holding or constituting a purely formal position or title without any real authority; denoting a person or thing from whom or which the name of an artistic work or similar is taken: the work’s titular song.

TENDENTIOUS – expressing or intending to promote a particular cause or point of view, especially controversial one

ADUMBRATE – report or represent in outline; foreshadow or symbolize; indicate faintly

OTIOSE – serving no practical purpose or result

SAGACIOUS – having or showing keen mental discernment and good judgment; shrewd

COROLLARIES – a proposition that follows from (and is often appended to) one already proved; a direct or natural consequence or result

TAUTOLOGY – the saying of the same thing twice in different words, generally considered to be a fault of style; in logic, a statement that is true by necessity by virtue of its logical form

INTRACTABLE – hard to control or deal with

PROGENY – a descendant or descendants of a person, plant, or animal; offspring

REGALE – entertain or amuse (someone) with talk

LAIC – nonclerical, lay

MIEN – a person’s look or manner, especially one of a particular kind indicating their character or mood

HORROR VACUI – a fear or dislike of leaving empty spaces, especially in artistic composition

VACUOUS – having or showing a lack of thought or intelligence

PERSIAN WAR – The wars began in 490 BC when Darius I sent an expedition to punish the Greeks for having supported the Ionian cities in their unsuccessful revolt against Persian rule; the Persians were defeated by a small force of Athenians at Marathon. Ten years later, Darius’ son Xerxes I attempted an invasion. He devastated Attica, but Persian forces were defeated on land at Platea and in a sea battle at Salamis (480 BC), and retreated. Intermittent war continued until peace was signed in 449 BC.

ANTINOMY – a contradiction between two beliefs or conclusions that are in themselves reasonable; a paradox

CIPHER – a secret or disguised way of writing; a code.

SENTENTIOUS – given to moralizing in a pompous or affected manner.

COMMISAR – an official of the Communist party, especially in the former Soviet Union or present-day China, responsible for political education and organization.

LURID – very vivid in color, so as to create an unpleasantly harsh or unnatural effect.

EPIGONE – a less distinguished follower or imitator of someone, especially an artist or philosopher.

EVINCE – to reveal the presence of (a quality or feeling); be evidence of, indicate.

BANDY – pass on or discuss a rumor or idea in a casual way.

CATACHESIS – the use of a word in a way that is not correct, for example, the use of mitigate for militate.

MILITATE – (of a fact or circumstance) be a powerful or conclusive factor in preventing.

PREVARICATE – to speak or act in an evasive way.

PITHY – (of language or style) concise and forcefully expressive.

TERSE – sparing in the use of words, abrupt.

CHICANERY – the use of trickery to achieve a political, financial, or legal purpose.

RECALCITRANT – having an obstinately uncooperative attitude toward authority or discipline.

EXIGENCY – an urgent need or demand.

DESULTORY – lacking a plan, purpose, or enthusiasm; occurring randomly or occasionally; (of a conversation or speech) going constantly from one subject to another in a halfhearted way, unfocused.

INNOCUOUS – not harmful or offensive

TESTADURA – erasure, stubborn? Used as a character by Danto.

ZEUXIS – (and Parrhasius) are painters of Ephesus in the 5th century BC, are reported four hundred years later in the Naturalis Historia of Pliny the Elder to have staged a contest to determine which of the two was the greater artist. When Zeuxis unveiled is painting of grapes, they appeared so luscious and inviting that birds flew down from the sky to peck at them. Zeuxis then asked Parrhasius to pull aside the curtain from his painting, only for Parrhasius to reveal the curtain itself was a painting, and Zeuxis was forced to concede defeat. (from Wikipedia)

TROMPE-L’OEIL – a painting technique involving extremely realistic imagery in order to create the optical illusion that the depicted objects really exist, instead of being mere, two-dimensional paintings. From “trick the eye.”

RETICENCE – not revealing one’s thoughts or feelings readily.

ASTRAL – of or relating to the stars.

PAVLOV, IVAN (pavlovian) – Russian psychologist, born 1849, died 1936. He is best known for his studies on the conditioned reflex. He showed by experimenting with dogs how the secretion of saliva can be stimulated not only by food but also by the sound of a bell associated with food. Won the 1904 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine.

PUTTO (pl. putti) – a representation of a naked child, especially a cherub or cupid in Renaissance art.

PARIAH – an outcast; historically a member of a low caste or no caste in southern India.

INDIGENT –poor, needy.

STARVELING – archaic, an undernourished or emaciated person or animal.

PREHENSILE – chiefly of an animal’s limb or tail, capable of grasping.

IMPLORE – to beg someone earnestly or desperately to do something.

MARABOU – a large African stork with a massive bill and large neck pouch, feeding mainly by scavenging; raw silk that can be dyed without being separated from the gum.

LANGUOR – the state of feeling, often pleasant, of tiredness or inertia; an oppressive stillness of the air.

LOTUS EATERS – a legendary plant whose fruit induces a dreamy forgetfulness and unwillingness to depart.

INSENTIENT – incapable of feeling or understanding things, inanimate.

POLDER – a piece of low-lying land reclaimed from the sea or a river and protected by dikes, especially in the Netherlands.

DIKE - a long wall or embankment built to prevent flooding from the sea; a ditch or watercourse.

IMPORTUNATE – persistent, especially to the point of annoyance or intrusion.

TORPOR – a state of physical or mental inactivity, lethargy.

SARTORIAL – of or relating to tailoring, clothes, or style of dress.

CORPULENT – (of a person) fat.

SCHOLIAST –a commentator on ancient or classical literature.

VULPINE – of or relating to a fox or foxes; crafty, cunning.

SIMIAN – relating to, resembling, or affecting apes or monkeys.

DANDLE –to move (a baby or young child) up and down in a playful or affectionate way.

LUGUBRIOUS –looking or sounding sad or dismal.

OBSEQUIOUS – obedient or attentive to an excessive or servile degree.

OBSECRATION – earnest pleading or supplication.

SUPPLICATE – to ask or beg for something earnestly or humbly.

PONTUS - an ancient region in northern Asia Minor on the Black Sea coast north of Cappadocia. By the first century B.C. it had been defeated by Rome and absorbed into the Roman Empire.

ODESSA - a city and port on the southern coast of Ukraine, on the Black Sea.

TATAR - a member of a Turkic people living in Tatarstan and other various part of Russia and Ukraine. They are the descendants of the Tatars who ruled central Asia in the 14th century.

ONEIRIC - of or related to dreams or dreaming.

VERDIGRIS - a bright bluish-green encrustation or patina formed on copper or brass by atmospheric oxidation, consisting of basic copper carbonate.

SPINDRIFT - spray blown from the crests of waves by the wind.

ALEMBIC - a distilling apparatus, now obsolete, consisting of a rounded, necked flask and a cap with a long beak for condensing and conveying the products to a receiver.

RECONNOITER - make a military observation of (a region.)

GLOTTIS - the part of the larynx consisting of the vocal cords and the slit-like opening between them. It effects voice modulation through expansion or contraction.

JACKDAW - a small, grey-headed crow that typically nests in tall buildings and chimneys noted for its inquisitiveness.

COLCHIS - an ancient region south of the Caucasus Mountains at the eastern end of the Black Sea. In classical mythology it was the goal of Jason's expedition for the Golden Fleece.

GOLDEN FLEECE - the fleece of a golden ram, guarded by an unsleeping dragon, that was sought and won by Jason with the help of Medea; a goal that is highly desirable but difficult to achieve.

MEDEA - a sorceress, daughter of Aeetes king of Colchis, who helped Jason obtain the Golden Fleece and married him. When Jason deserted her for Creusa, the daughter of King Creon of Corinth, she took revenge by killing Creon, Creusa, and her own children, then fled to Athens.

CORINTH - a prominent city-state in ancient Greece, as well as a modern Greek city located on the northern coast of the Peloponnese, built in 1858.

GORGON - each of three sisters, Stheno, Euryale, and Medusa, with snakes for hair, who had the power to turn anyone who looked at them to stone; a fierce, fighting, or repulsive woman.