a priori adj. Not derived from experience; deductive; lacking evidence or proof; arguing from general principle to expected effect.
apriorism n. Philosophical belief that knowledge based on general principles may be used to evaluate experience.
apsis n. Astronomy, point at which heavenly body is most or least distant from centre of attraction; higher apsis, most distant point; lower apsis, least distant point.
asystole, asystolism n. In medicine, imperfect contraction of the ventricles of the heart.
asturian n. A native or inhabitant of Asturias; a region of northwest Spain, where an autonomous community resides, known for its rugged coast, mountains, religious sites and medieval architecture. Asturianu, formerly also known as bable is a West Iberian Romance language spoken. Asturian is part of a wider linguistic group, the Astur-Leonese languages.
atacamite n. A native muriate of copper, originally found in the desert of Atacama, between Chile and Peru.
athanasia n. 1. Immortality; ‘eternal life’. 2. A genus of flowering plants in the daisy family derived from the Greek a-, 'without', and thanatos 'death', alluding to the persistent dry involucral bracts.
atavism n. 1. The resemblance of offspring to a remote ancestor or to a distant member in the collateral line; the return to the original type, or the restoration of characters acquired by crossing or otherwise at a remote period. 2. In medicine, the recurrence of any peculiarity or disease of an ancestor in remote generations.
beguine n. One of an order founded in the twelfth century in the Netherlands, composed of women who united for devotion and charity, and lived together without monastic (religious) vows; the world’s oldest and most persecuted women’s movement. Lifelong celibacy was not a requirement -the women had the option to leave to pursue love, and marry if they pleased. Very few compounds—beguinages (or begijnhofs)— are still standing. The last known beguinage intact is said to be in Antwerp, Belgium.
bissextile n. [the sixth day before the calends of March, or twenty-fourth day of February, which was reckoned twice every fourth year, by the intercalation of a day.] Leap-year; every fourth year, in which a day is added to the month of February, on account of the excess of 6 hours which the civil year contains, above 365 days. This excess is 11 minutes, 14 seconds too much; that is, it exceeds by that much the real year, or the period of the annual revolution of the earth. Hence, at the end of every century divisible by 400 it is necessary to retain the bissextile day, and to suppress it at the end of those centuries which are not divisible by 400.
bivium n. In zoology, the two posterior ambulacra of echinoderms, the three anterior ones being known as the trivium.
blacksnake n. 1. An ophidian reptile, the Coluber constrictor, common in the United States. It is one of the largest North American serpents, reaching a length of five or six feet, and so agile and swift as to have been named the racer. 2. A Jamaican snake, Natrix atra. 3. A flexible, braided whip used for driving cattle or mule-teams.
bloodroot n. A white poppy which blooms in early spring, known to contain a red-orange juice in its roots and stems, used to cure colds; used for dying linens, basketware, or used to paint the face and body. Sanguinaria canadensis, also known as bloodroot, is a traditional medicine used by Native Americans to treat a diverse range of clinical conditions. The plants rhizome contains several alkaloids that individually target multiple molecular processes. These bioactive compounds, mechanistically correlate with the plant’s history of ethnobotanical use. To treat haemorrhoids, the Malechite Indians steamed the rhizome in a small kettle.
cacomix, cacomixle n. A racoon-like, carnivorous animal, Bassaris astuta, or allied species; a habitant of Mexico and southwestern United States.
caddisfly, caddicefly n. A phryganeid insect of the order Neuroptera, commonly called the May-Fly, the larva or grub of which forms a case of small stones, grass-roots, shells, etc., and lives under water till ready to emerge from the pupa state.
capibara n. The largest known rodent quadruped, Hydrochoerus capibara, of aquatic habits, native to South America. It is more than three feet in length, heavy-bodied, and its flesh is edible. Called also water-hog and water-cavy. Written also as capybara.
calidris minuta n. Eurasian species rarely seen in Alaska’s Aleutians and other Bering Sea islands, is a vagrant in spring and summer. Juveniles resemble juvinle Red-neckeds but have tertails edged in rufous and a mantle edged with a pale buffy line. Also known as Little Stint.
chlamydophorus n. A genus of small South American armadillos, covered with a small shell or coat of mail, like a cloak.
cistaceae n. [L. from Gr. kistos, kisthos, the rockrose.] A natural order of polypetalous exogens, consisting of low shrubby plants or herbs, with entire leaves, and crumpled, generally ephemeral, showy flowers. Some species exude a balsamic resin.
citharexylum n. A genus of shrubs and trees, natives of tropical Americana; valuable for building-material because of the hardness and durability of their wood; often called fiddle-wood.
clysmian adj. Greek, "a place washed by the waves"; Connected with, or related to, the deluge, or to a cataclysm. Pertaining to or due to flood. clysmic, adj. cleansing.
coelacanth n. Large, spiny, bony-plated fish—probably link between the fishes and amphibious reptiles—believed to have become extinct 60 million years ago, live specimens of which were caught in 1952.
coltsfoot n. A wildflower which blooms along rivers, often mistaken for dandelions: a plant used for centuries as a homespun remedy for colds [ Kieran, J., 1959] ; also -horse-foot, bull-foot, foal-foot. Its root is placed on live coals of cypress wood, the fumes inhaled through a funnel for chronic cough [Pliny].
dervish n. [Turk. dervish; Ar. darwish; Per. derwesch, a dervish from Old Per. derew, to beg.] A Mohammedan priest or monk, who professes extreme poverty, and leads an austere life, partly in monasteries, partly itinerant.
diabrotica n. A large genus of beetles of the Chrysomelidoe family, including the common striped cucumber-beetle. They are very destructive to fruit trees, vegetables, etc.
down n. 1. Ridges of undulating chalk and limestone hills in southern England, with few trees and used mainly for pasture. Sometimes meaning a gently rolling hill, the word itself is perhaps ultimately of Celtic origin and related to Old Irish dún and obsolete Welsh din ‘fort’, which are from an Indo-European root shared by town. 2. A feeling or period of unhappiness or depression, i.e., unwelcome experiences or events.
dravidian a. Of or pertaining to Dravida, or Dravira, an old province of India; specifically applied to a family of tongues spoken in southern India and Ceylon, supposed some to be Turanian, by others to belong to the Aryan class of languages. It includes Tamil, Telugu, Canarese, Malayalam or Malabar, Tulu, etc.
dwale n. [ME. dwale, dwole; AS. dwala, dwola, error, delusion, heresy.] 1. In heraldry, a sable or black color. 2. The deadly nightshade, Atropa Belladonna. 3. A sleeping-potion.
echophenomenon n. Greek ἠχώ (ēkhṓ) "echo, reflected sound"; automatic imitative actions without explicit awareness, or pathological repetitions of external stimuli or activities, actions, sounds, or phrases, indicative of an underlying disorder.
ectomorph n. Psychophysical type with long thin bones and large surface relative to weight, often inhibited and shy. These individuals have difficulty gaining muscle mass as well as fat; a human physical type (somatotype) tending toward linearity.
enuresis n. The inability to control ones urine; urine discharged involuntarily; scientific term for bed-wetting; the spontaneous voiding of urine during sleep in a child five years or older. Also: Nocturnal enuresis. Plagues adults as well, labeled in this case as ‘secondary enuresis’.
epenthesis n. (/ɪˈpɛnθəsɪs, ɛ-/; Greek ἐπένθεσις) The introduction of sound into word; removal of vowel into preceding syllable. In phonology, epenthesis means the addition of one or more sounds to a word, especially to the interior of a word (at the beginning prothesis and at the end paragoge are commonly used).
epistolography n. The art of letter writing; a genre of literature similar to rhetoric that was popular with the intellectual elite of the Byzantine age. Letters were of great importance as communicative tools in the ancient world, whether for private, administrative, legal, diplomatic, didactic, dogmatic, or propaganda purposes. Basically, the letter constituted a written communication between two or more individuals who were separated by distance or by social status. Its primary function was to make or maintain contact, provide information, give instructions, or make requests. A letter could also be used as part of a literary work. Ultimately, the purpose of the letter depended on the nature of the relationship between sender(s) and recipient(s).
equivorous adj. The act of eating horse-flesh. Origin: L. Equus horse – vorare to eat (to chew and swallow as food; to devour; said especially of food not liquid) greedily.
esotropia n. Convergent squint (how the eye turns); a form of strabismus in which one or both eyes turns inward. The condition can be constantly present, or occur intermittently, and can give the affected individual a "cross-eyed" appearance. The most common type of strabismus is in infants. If the turn is upwards it is called a hypertropia, if the turn is downwards it is called a hypotropia.
