ADM
Words that took my fancy
The following words are ones that have taken my fancy. There must be many scores more that I have not yet encountered, and I may add at some time in the future. Some of the words are part of my normal vocabulary but I am uncertain of the spelling and I have listed them here for that reason
Académie Français The French body that looks after their language
Algorism a skill of computation using any system of numerals
Algorithm a logical arithmetic procedure that will lead to the solution to a problem
Allelopathy one plant living on another
Ambage(s) not in modern or common use. circumlocution, a devious way of expressing something, hence ambagious , ambagitory
Amice a rectangular piece of white linen worn by priests around the neck and shoulders under the ald. It was formally worn on the head.
Anaphylactic
shock a severe, sometime fatal, reaction to a
substance which a person has an extreme
sensitivity
Anilungus sexual stimulus involving oral, anul and penis contact (see cunnilingus and fellatio)
Algorism a skill of computation using any system of numerals
Algorithm a logical arithmetic procedure that will lead to the solution to a problem
Allelopathy one plant living on another
Allotrope
a physically different but chemically identical element (or compound)
carbon and diamond are a pair of examples.
Ambage(s)
not in modern or common use. circumlocution,
a devious way of expressing something,
Hence, ambagious , ambagitory
Angiogenesis the generation of blood vessels, often by way of the growing of a tumour
Anilungus sexual stimulus involving oral, anal and penis contact (see cunnilingus and fellatio)
Aphesis
the gradual disappearance of an unstressed vowel at the beginning of a
word. Hence
'aphetic' and 'aphetically'.
Apodeictic unquestionably true by virtue of demonstration
Apodosis the consequent of a conditional statement, as “the game will be cancelled in “if it rains the game will be cancelled”.
Apologue an allegory or moral fable
Apophasis the device of mentioning a subject by stating that it will not be mentioned
Aporia a doubt, real or professed, about what to do or say
Aposiopesis the device of suddenly breaking off in the middle of a sentence as if unwilling to continue
Apostate a person who abandons his religion, party or cause
Apostrophe
a punctuation mark.
A digression from a discourse, .especially an address
to an
imaginary or absent person or a personification.
A
priori relating to, or
involving deductive reasoning from a general principle to the expected
facts or effects
Apriorism
the physical doctrine that there may be genuine knowledge independent of
experience.
Archaic: distinguished, eminent
Autarky national self-sufficiency in the production of the country’s needs
Autocidal
introducing a sterile or genetically modified creature into the wild
population as a means
of pest control
Balaam A Mesopotamian diviner who, when summoned to cure the curse of the Israelites, prophesied future glories for them instead, after being reproached by his ass. (Numbers 22-23)
Balaam
Cliff of St Mary’s Church Wollaton told me it is a receptacle that holds
items to be looked
at later. Collins English Dictionary Millennium Edition quotes: A
Mesopotamian
diviner who, when summoned to cure the curse of the Israelites, prophesied
future glories
for them instead, after being reproached by his ass. (Numbers 22-23)
Bathos
in speech; a ludicrous change in speech or writing style from exalted to
trite. A nadir in
style. Insincere or excessive pathos.
Blepharitis inflammation of the eyelid
Boustrophedon of writing that alternates in direction from line to line. Like ploughing a field
Cacoepy a bad or mistaken pronunciation
Cacography bad handwriting
Cacology a bad choice of words, faulty speech
Calotte a skullcap worn by Roman Catholic clergy
calumet less common name for peace pipe
Catharsis
(in Aristotelian literary criticism) the purging or purification of the
emotions through to
evocation of pity and fear, as in tragedy.
Psychoanalysis: the bringing of repressed ideas
or experiences into consciousness , thus
relieving tensions
Ceilidh an Irish party with music and dancing (pronounced ‘kaylee’)
Censorious harshly critical
Clawking
(English Midlands dialect) scratching of the skin; (appears to be a verb
derived from the
noun or verb ‘claw’)
Cocoethes
an uncontrollable urge or desire for something
harmful (eg. “a
cocoethes for smoking”)
pronounced ‘kakothis’
Cunnilingus sexual stimulus involving oral, anal or penis contact (see fellatio)
Cuspidor a spittoon
Cutis ansirina medical name for goose flesh
Die a mediaeval word for a sexual orgasm
Disbursement payment of a cost added to a solicitor’s bill
Egregious Outstandingly bad, flagrant. (eg an egregious lie) Archaic: distinguished, eminent
Elenchi a point that relates to the proposition
elenchus
refutation of an argument by proving the contrary of its conclusion
especially
syllogistically. Socratic elenchus is: the drawing
out of the consequences of a
position in
order to show them to be contrary to some accepted position.
Elenti refuting an argument by proving the falsehood of its conclusion
Emesis the technical name for ‘vomiting’
Emetogenic the potential for causing vomiting
Enneagram a word relating to the analysis of handwriting
Enneagram a word relating to the analysis of handwriting
Eponymous named after a person or place
Etor a word coined by Julian Jaynes (Note 1)
Euphemism a word of reduced severity seeking to avoid causing offence
Ex-officio a member of a body who is elected as a result of their status, or position
Exopsychic a word coined by Julian Jaynes (Note 1)
Fellatio sexual stimulus involving oral, anul or penis contact (see anilungus and cunnilingus)
Gelatology The science or study of laughter
Goatham Various spellings of:
Goatham
Goteham
Goteham
Gotham
the
Heliacal rising the rising of a celestial object at the same time as the rising of the sun
Hendiadys
a rhetorical device by which two nouns joined by a conjunction (usually
‘and’) are used
instead of a noun and a modifier,
as in “to run with fear and haste” instead of “to run with
fearful haste”
Hypocorism a pet name, a diminutive, a euphemism
Hypostasis the essential nature of a substance as opposed to its attributes
Iatrogenic disease or ailment caused by a doctor’s (or treatment’s) words or action
Iatrogenic disease or ailment caused by a doctor’s (or treatment’s) words or action
Ignoratio
put simply, refuting a proposition that was not posited, but making a
statement related to
the argument
Ignoratio
elenchi a
purported refutation of a proposition that does not in fact prove it false
but merely
establishes a related but
strictly irrelevant proposition.
ALSO – the fallacy of arguing this
way.
Ignotum per ignnotus an explanation that is more obscure than the thing to be explained
Iinteriorisation another word for internalisation
Isotope a chemically identical, bur nuclear-different substance
Ker a word coined by Julian Jaynes (Note 1)
Koine a language among speakers of different languages. A sort-of lingua franca
Kradie a word coined by Julian Jaynes (Note 1)
Lex loci the law of a place
Lex non scripta unwritten, or common law
Lex scripta written or statute law
Lex talionis law of revenge or retaliation
Lex a system or body of law
Lingua franca (1) A language used for communication among people of different mother tongues.
(2) A hybrid language containing elements from different languages used in this way.
(3) Any system of communication providing mutual understanding
Llogogriph a word puzzle especially one based on the recombination of the letters of a word
Logolepsy an obsession with words
Logomachy argument about words or the meaning of words
Logomisia a disgust for particular words
Logorrhoea uncontrollable and incoherent talkativeness
Metaphier a word coined by julian Jaynes (Note 1)
Metaphrand a word coined by Julian Jaynes (Note 1)
Metrology the science of measurement
Metastasis the spread of cancerous cells
Nominative having a name that reflects the trade of profession of the person named determinism
Noos a word coined by Julian Jaynes (Note 1)
Oblique stroke other names are oblique, solidus, diagonal, seperastrix, shilling sign
Obloquy defamatory or censorious statement normally directed against one person
Oobsequious acting in a craven manner, or using overly humble language
Octothorpe
another name for the hash sign, Often known by Americans as “the pound
sign” as it was
an abbreviation for the pound avoirdupois
Oesophagus
the gullet. A muscular tube about 23 cm long that extends from the
pharynx to the
stomach.. It is lined with mucus
membrane, whose
secretions lubricate food as it
passes
from the mouth to he stomach. Waves of peristalsis assist the
lassage of the food.
Diseases of the
oesophagus include
achalasis, carcinoma, hiatus hernia, oesophageal
varices, oesophagitis
and peptic ulcer.
Ordnung
the unwritten creed of the Amish that stresses simplicity and detachment
from the world.
It stipulates that personal belongings be plain,
decoration minimal, and to rely on
simplicity.
Oxymoron self-contradictory word or phrase. eg “a highly educated moron”
Paraphiers a word coined by Julian Jaynes (Note 1)
Pathos speech or writing intended to raise sympathy or sorrow
Persiflage light frivolous conversation or friendly teasing
Pharaoh early Egyptian king
Pharisee
in figurative use not generally with a capital letter.
A self-righteous or hypercritical
person
Philistine a person who is insensitive to the finer meanings of life
Phrenes a word coined by Julian Jaynes (Note 1)
Pickelhaube The German WW1 helmet with a spike on top
Pleonasm
using more words than are necessary.
‘Tautology’ is one example of pleonasm. ‘A great
big man’ is another example
Prosopagnosia inability to recognise faces
Résistance the principal item if a series of items
Sauerkraut German pickled cabbage
Savant a highly learned person
Schadenfreude taking delight in another’s misfortune
Sciolism The practice of opinionating on subjects of which one has only superficial knowledge
Shock amounts of histamine from tissue, and swelling may endanger life
Shtreimel a fur hat worn by Hassidic Jews
Sidoo-ism a pithy phrase coined by Siddoo, an Indian cricket commentator
Slash solidus, diagonal, separatrix, shilling mark, slash, stroke, virgule
Solipcism an extreme form of scepticism
Sortilege the act or practice of divination by drawing lots
Stroke shilling mark, slash, stroke, virgule, solidus, diagonal, separatrix
Syllepsis
a form of words in which one word modifies two other words with only one
of the two
being grammatically correct. Also called zeugma.
Example, ‘Mr Pickwick took his hat
and his leave’.
Thumos A word coined by Julian Jaynes (Note 1)
Tmesis interpolation of a word, or group of words, within a compound word
Triage
sorting according to need. Used in hospital A&E departments to decide
who shall be
treated first
Twibil(l) a mattock with an adze-like blade at one end and an axe-like blade at the other end
Vespine of, or relating to, a wasp
Vorführeffekt
the chance of a demonstration going wrong is in direct proportion of the
number and
importance of the people watching the demonstration
Zeugma See ‘syllepsis’
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Note 1
Julian James is an American author who wrote a book on the rise of intelligence
in
man.
In his thesis he coined a lot of words. Refer to my page
AEF