Dictionary

A list of words I found some reason to write down.

Some were curious, some were lovely, and some were ones I just didn’t want to forget. Some were a combination of these, and some were all.

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ablution

1. a washing or cleansing of the body (especially as part of a rite)
2. the act of washing oneself (in general)

antediluvian

1. of or relating to the period before the biblical flood
2. made, evolved, or developed a long time ago
3. extremely old, outmoded, old-fashioned

apparition

1. an unusual or unexpected sight
2. a ghostly figure, specter
3. the act of becoming visible, appearing

atavism

1. the reappearance of a characteristic in an organism after several generations of abscence (usually due to genetic recombination)
2. an individual or a part that exhibits atavism
3. the return of a trait or previous behavior after a period of abscence

calumniate

1. (transitive verb) to make maliciously or knowingly false statements about
2. (intransitive verb) to accuse maliciously or falsely of an offense

chrestomathy

1. a selection of literary passages (usually by one author)
2. a selection of passages used in studying a language

clandestine

1. kept or done in secret, often to conceal an illicit or improper purpose

concede

1. to acknowledge or admit, often reluctantly, as being true, just, or proper
2. to relinquish grudgingly or hesitantly

diaspore

1. a group of people who spread from one original country to others
2. a hydrous aluminum oxide, found in bauxite, corundum and dolomite

diegetic

1. of or relating to artistic elements that are perceived as existing within the world depicted in a narrative work

epitaph

1. an inscription on a tombstone in memory of the one buried there
2. a brief literary piece commemorating a deceased person

equanimity

1. the quality of being calm, even-tempered, or composed
2. the psychological or physical state of being calm, stable and composed

exigent

1. requiring immediate aid or action; urgent
2. having or making urgent demands; demanding

felicitous

1. well suited or expressed; apt
2. marked by happiness or good fortune; delightful

impute

1. to relate (something, usually something bad) to a cause or source
2. to credit or ascribe (something) to a person or a cause; attribute

indelible

1. impossible to remove, erase, or wash away; permanent
2. something making a mark no easily erased or washed away
3. unable to be forgotten; memorable

indigent

1. suffering from want or need; impoverished
2. (archaic) lacking; deficient; wanting; – used with of

insalubrious

1. not conducive to health; unwholesome

lambaste

1. to give a thrashing to; beat
2. to attack verbally; berate

languor

1. lack of physical or mental energy; lethargy
2. a dreamy, hazy, or sensual quality, as of expression

maudlin

1. weakly and effusively sad or sentimental
2. drunk enough to be emotionally silly

panurgian

1. knave; roguish; coward; mirthful; villainous
2. relating to the character of Panurge in a series of novels by Rabelais

preclude

1. to make impossible by necessary consequence; prevent
2. to exclude or prevent (someone) from a given condition or activity

prescience

1. knowledge of actions or events before they occur; foresight

prosody

1. the study of the metrical structure of verse
2. a particular system of versification
3. the set of speech variables that distinguish vocal patterns

putative

1. generally regarded as such; supposed
2. accepted by supposition rather than as a result of proof

senescence

1. the state of growing old; decayed by time
2. the process of ageing, especially in humans
3. ceasing of mitosis due to shortening telomeres or excessive DNA damage

sibylline

1. coming from, characteristic of, or relating to a sybil
2. prophetic; oracular

sundry

1. various; miscellaneous; several; diverse

tenebrous

1. shut off from the light; dark; gloomy
2. hard to understand; obscure

wry

1. funny in an understated, sarcastic, or ironic way
2. temporarily twisted in an expression of distaste or displeasure
3. abnormally twisted or bent to one side; crooked