24-25 Spelling Vocab List

abate

abate

1. To reduce in amount, degree, or intensity; lessen

2. a. To put an end to b. To make void c. To reduce for some period of time

3. To fall off in degree or intensity; subside

   Origin: Middle English

abhorrence

1. One that is disgusting, loathsome, or repellent.

2. A feeling of repugnance or loathing.

acciaccatura

An ornament note that is one half step or one whole step higher or lower than a principal note and is sounded at the same time as the principal note, adding dissonance to a harmony

Origin: French

acolyte

1. A person who assists the celebrant in the performance of liturgical rites.

2. A devoted follower or attendant.

   Origin: Middle English, Old French

ad nauseam

To a disgusting or ridiculous degree; to the point of nausea.

Origin: Latin

aileron

Either of two movable flaps on the wings of an airplane that can be used to control the plane's rolling and banking movements.

Origin: French

allude

To make an indirect reference

Origin: Latin

amperage

The strength of an electric current expressed in amperes.

analogous

1. Similar or alike in such a way as to permit the drawing of an analogy.

2. Similar in function but not in structure and evolutionary origin.

   Origin: From Latin, Greek

anaphylaxis

A sudden, usually systemic allergic reaction, characterized by vasodilation resulting in decreased blood pressure, smooth muscle contraction resulting in shortness of breath, and hives, caused by hypersensitivity induced by a secondary exposure to a foreign substance, such as a drug or protein, after an initial sensitizing exposure.

anathematize

To proclaim an anathema on; curse.

Origin: Latin

Andorra

A tiny country of southwest Europe between France and Spain in the eastern Pyrenees. Although it pays nominal yearly homage to its suzerains in France and Spain, it is an independent republic. _______ la Vella is the capital.

anemia, anaemia

A pathological deficiency in the oxygen-carrying component of the blood, measured in unit volume concentrations of hemoglobin, red blood cell volume, or red blood cell number.

Origin: New Latin, Greek

anthropometry

The study of human body measurement for use in anthropological classification and comparison.

antinome

One that is contradictory or contrary to another; an opposite.

Origin: Greek

antiphony

1. Responsive or antiphonal singing or chanting.

2. A composition that is sung responsively.

3. A responsive or reciprocal interchange, as of ideas or opinions

apprehensible

Capable of being understood

argumentation

1. The presentation and elaboration of an argument or arguments.

2. Deductive reasoning in debate.

3. A debate.

ascetic

1. A person who renounces material comforts and leads a life of austere self-discipline, especially as an act of religious devotion.

2. Relating to, characteristic of, or leading a life of self-discipline and self-denial, especially for spiritual improvement.

   Origin: Greek

assimilable

Capable of being assimilated (to take in, understand fully or cause to resemble)

au courant

1. Informed on current affairs; up-to-date.

2. Fully familiar; knowledgeable.

   Origin: French

Auckland

The largest city of New Zealand, on an isthmus of northwest North Island. It is a major port and an industrial center.

Averno

A small crater lake of southern Italy near the Tyrrhenian Sea west of Naples. Because of its gloomy aspect and intense sulfuric vapors, now extinguished, the ancient Romans regarded it as the entrance to the underworld.

avoirdupois

Weight or heaviness, especially of a person.

Origin: Middle English

ballistics

1 .a. The study of the dynamics of projectiles. b. The study of the flight characteristics of projectiles. 2. a. The study of the functioning of firearms. b. The study of the firing, flight, and effects of ammunition.

Barents Sea

A shallow section of the Arctic Ocean north of Norway and northwest Russia. The North Atlantic Current keeps its southern ports ice-free all year.

bel esprit

A cultivated, highly intelligent person.

Origin: French

Benghazi, Bengasi

A city of northeast Libya on the Gulf of Sidra. Inhabited since Greek and Roman times, it is a major port and was a capital of Libya from 1951 to 1972.

besotted

To muddle or stupefy, as with alcoholic liquor or infatuation.

Origin: Old French

Bethesda

An unincorporated city of west-central Maryland, a residential suburb of Washington, DC. The National Institutes of Health and Naval Medical Center are here.

bicaudal

Having two tails.

bioassay

1. Determination of the strength or biological activity of a substance, such as a drug, by comparing its effects with those of a standard preparation on a test organism.

2. A test used to determine such strength or activity.

boondoggle

1. An unnecessary or wasteful project or activity.

2. a. A braided leather cord worn as a decoration especially by Boy Scout. b. A cord of braided leather, fabric, or plastic strips made by a child as a project to keep busy.

bouillabaisse

1. A highly seasoned stew made of several kinds of fish and shellfish, tomatoes, olive oil, and often saffron.

2. A combination of various different, often incongruous elements

   Origin: French

bresaola

Salt-cured, air-dried beef, often served sliced and dressed with olive oil, lemon juice, and black pepper.

Origin: Italian

cachinnation

To laugh hard, loudly, or convulsively; guffaw.

Origin: Latin

caconym

A taxonomic name that is unacceptable for linguistic reasons.

caïque

1. A long narrow rowboat traditionally used on the Bosporus.

2. A small sailing vessel used in the eastern Mediterranean.

   Origin: French, Italian

canvasser

1. To examine carefully or discuss thoroughly; scrutinize

2. a. To go through (a region) or go to (persons) to solicit votes or orders. b. To conduct a survey of (public opinion); poll.

3. To make a thorough examination or conduct a detailed discussion.

4. To solicit voters, orders, or opinions.

5. An examination or discussion.

6. A solicitation of votes or orders.

7. A survey of public opinion.

capriccioso

Lively and free. Used chiefly as a direction.

Origin: Italian

carafe

1. A glass or metal bottle, often with a flared lip, used for serving beverages, such as water or wine.

2. A glass pot with a pouring spout, used in making coffee.

   Origin: French

carnassail

Adapted for tearing apart flesh

A tooth adapted for tearing apart flesh, especially one of the last upper premolar or first lower molar teeth in carnivorous mammals.

Origin: French

cassoulet

A casserole of white beans, various meats, vegetables, and herbs, slowly simmered or baked in a slow oven.

Origin: French

catarrh

Copious discharge of mucus associated with inflammation of mucous membranes, especially of the nose and throat.

Origin: Middle English

catenate

To connect in a series of ties or links; form into a chain.

Origin: Latin

caveat

1. a. A warning or caution b. A qualification or explanation.

2. A formal notice filed by an interested party requesting postponement of a court proceeding or other action until the filer can be heard.

chanoyu

A Japanese ceremony consisting of the serving and taking of tea in accordance with an elaborate ritual.

chrestomathy

1. A selection of literary passages, usually by one author.

2. An anthology used in studying a language.

   Origin: Greek

circumambient

Encompassing on all sides; surrounding.

coadjutant

A helper; an assistant.

coeval

Originating or existing during the same period; lasting through the same era. One of the same era or period; a contemporary.

Origin: Latin

comestibles

Fit to be eaten; edible. Something that can be eaten as food

Origin: French

comme il faut

Being in accord with conventions or accepted standards; proper.

Origin: French

con spirito

With spirit and vigor. Used chiefly as a direction.

Origin: Italian

condonation

The act of condoning, especially the implied forgiveness of an offense by ignoring it.

congeries

A collection; an aggregation

Origin: Latin

connotation

1. The act or process of connoting.

2. a. An idea or meaning suggested by or associated with a word or thing. b. The set of associations implied by a word in addition to its literal meaning.

3. The set of attributes constituting the meaning of a term; intension.

consuetude

Custom; usage.

Origin: Middle English

cosmopolite

1. A cosmopolitan person

2. An organism found in most parts of the world.

   Origin: Greek

counterintelligence

The branch of an intelligence service charged with keeping sensitive information from an enemy, deceiving that enemy, preventing subversion and sabotage, and collecting political and military information concerning the enemy's covert activities.

craniofacial

Of or involving both the cranium and the face

credulous

1. Disposed to believe too readily; gullible.

2. Arising from or characterized by credulity.

Creüsa

The wife of Aeneas who was lost while fleeing from Troy but came back as a ghost to warn Aeneas of his future.

dacquoise

1. A cake made with layers of nut meringue and whipped cream or buttercream.

2. One of the layers of meringue used in this cake.

   Origin: French

de trop

Too much or too many; excessive or superfluous

Origin: French

debacle

1. A sudden, disastrous collapse, downfall, or defeat; a rout.

2. A total, often ludicrous failure.

3. The breaking up of ice in a river.

4. A violent flood.

   Origin: French

Debussy

French composer best known for impressionist works such as the tone poem Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune (1894).

declassification

To remove official security classification from (a document).

definitive

1. Serving to define or identify as distinct from others

2. Supplying or being a final settlement or decision; conclusive:

3. Authoritative and complete

4. Mass produced in indefinite quantities over an indefinite period of time. Used of postage stamps.

5. Fully formed or developed, as an organ or structure.

6. A word that defines or limits

7. A _______ postage stamp.

degenerate

1. Having declined, as in function or nature, from a former or original state

2. Morally corrupt or given to vice.

3. Relating to two or more quantum states that share the same quantum numbers

4. Characterized by great density and consisting of atoms stripped of electrons

5. Characterized by degeneration, as of tissue, a cell, or an organ.

6. Having lost one or more highly developed functions, characteristics, or structures through evolution

7. Relating to or being a gene that has multiple codons for the same amino acid.

8. A depraved or corrupt person

9. To fall below a normal or desirable state, especially functionally or morally; deteriorate

10. To decline in quality Origin: Latin

demoniac

1. Possessed, produced, or influenced by a demon

2. Of, resembling, or suggestive of a devil; fiendish

3. One who is or seems to be possessed by a demon.

   Origin: Middle English

demurrage

1. Detention of a ship, freight car, or other cargo conveyance during loading or unloading beyond the scheduled time of departure.

2. Compensation paid for such detention.

deportee

A deported person.

desideratum

Something considered necessary or highly desirable.

Origin: Latin

deterge

To wash or wipe off (a wound, for example); cleanse.

Origin: French

devastator

1. To lay waste; destroy.

2. To overwhelm; confound; stun.

   Origin: Latin

diazinon

An amber liquid, C12H21N2O3PS, used as an insecticide.

dimorphism

1. The existence among animals of the same species of two distinct forms that differ in one or more characteristics, such as coloration, size, or shape.

2. The occurrence of two distinct forms of the same parts in one plant, as in the juvenile and adult leaves of ivy.

discursive

1. Covering a wide field of subjects; rambling.

2. Proceeding to a conclusion through reason rather than intuition.

   Origin: Medieval Latin

divestiture

1. An act of divesting.

2. The sale, liquidation, or spinoff of a corporate division or subsidiary.

   Origin: Medieval Latin

dolce vita

A luxurious, self-indulgent way of life.

dulcify

1. To make agreeable or gentle; mollify.

2. To sweeten.

   Origin: Latin

dyad

1. Two individuals or units regarded as a pair

2. One pair of homologous chromosomes resulting from the division of a tetrad during meiosis.

3. a. A function that draws a correspondence from any vector u to the vector (v·u)w and is denoted vw, where v and w are a fixed pair of vectors and v·u is the scalar product of v and u. For example, if v = (2,3,1), w = (0,-1,4), and u = (a,b,c), then the ____ vw draws a correspondence from u to (2a + 3b + c)w. b. A tensor formed from a vector in a vector space and a linear functional on that vector space.

4. Made up of two units.

   Origin: Greek

echelon

1. a. A formation of troops in which each unit is positioned successively to the left or right of the rear unit to form an oblique or steplike line. b. A flight formation or arrangement of craft in this manner. c. A similar formation of groups, units, or individuals.

2. A subdivision of a military or naval force

3. A level of responsibility or authority in a hierarchy; a rank

4. A form used in certain diffraction gratings that resembles a flight of stairs of equal heights and equal widths.

   Origin: French

ectogenous

1. Exogenous.

2. Able to live and develop outside a host, as certain pathogenic microorganisms do.

efferent

1. Directed away from a central organ or section.

2. Carrying impulses from the central nervous system to an effector. n.An _______ organ or body part, such as a blood vessel.

   Origin: Latin

egalitarian

Affirming, promoting, or characterized by belief in equal political, economic, social, and civil rights for all people.

Origin: French

élan

1. Enthusiastic vigor and liveliness.

2. Distinctive style or flair.

   Origin: French

embarrassment

1. The act or an instance of embarrassing

2. The state of being embarrassed

3. A source or cause of being embarrassed

4. An overabundance

5. Financial difficulty

encephaloma

A tumor of the brain.

ennead

A group or set of nine.

Origin: Greek

enteritis

Inflammation of the intestinal tract, especially of the small intestine.

epergne

A large table centerpiece consisting of a frame with extended arms or branches supporting holders, as for flowers, fruit, or sweetmeats.

Origin: French

epicycloid

The curve described by a point on the circumference of a circle as the circle rolls on the outside of the circumference of a second, fixed circle.

epigrammatic

1. Of or having the nature of an epigram.

2. Containing or given to the use of epigrams.

   Origin: Latin

eremitic

A recluse or hermit, especially a religious recluse.

Origin: Middle English

euphuism

1. An affectedly elegant literary style of the late 1500s and early 1600s, characterized by elaborate alliteration, antitheses, and similes.

2. Affected elegance of language.

   Origin: After Euphues (character), Greek

excelsior

Slender, curved wood shavings used especially for packing.

excrescence

1. An outgrowth or enlargement, especially an abnormal one, such as a wart.

2. A usually unwanted or unnecessary accretion

   Origin: Middle English

exempli gratia

For example.

Origin: Latin