1. messuage — dwelling house along with its outbuildings and attached lands dedicated to household use We had a small messuage in my youth, though to be fair the only outbuilding was a leaky prefab toolshed poorly placed in the sloping backyard. 2. byre — shed for cows The beeves in the byre became …
Category Archives: Vocabulary
Friday Vocabulary
1. indite — to compose, to create a literary composition; (obsolete) to dictate A review of the cuneiform records reveals that the governor of the far-flung province continued to indite missives imploring the High King to send aid long after the military disaster. 2. epistemology — science of the origin and method of knowledge …
Friday Vocabulary
1. purl — to flow with whirling motion; to flow and burble They sat together on a small blanket spread out upon the grassy bank, watching the gentle brook as it purled through the mossy rocks on its lazy way to the lake. 2. coppice — copse, thicket or underwood grown for intermittent cutting …
Friday Vocabulary
1. losel — wastrel, scoundrel, profligate You say you pity him, that sad losel in his cups, but you would not give him a pfennig of concern if you knew the families he has ruined, the wealth he has squandered, and the love he has scorned. 2. patten — overshoe of wood or metal …
Friday Vocabulary
1. sannyasi — Hindu religious mendicant Although one might have seen young sannyasis and sannyasinis wandering the streets of San Francisco during the so-called Summer of Love, in most views of Hindu philosophy, that path of near total renunciation was reserved for those Brahmans who had entered their twilight years and were approaching their final …
Friday Vocabulary
1. conduce — to lead, to bring about Far from seeing this as a setback, I believe it will conduce to his eventual success if he learns from the experience. 2. crypt — depression or sinkage surrounding a villus in the intestinal epithelium Each villus may be surrounded by many crypts, and within these—among …
Friday Vocabulary
1. tarlatan — thin, open-mesh muslin, used frequently for ballroom gowns We could discern Jason’s sisters only with difficulty, hidden as they were within a cloud of tarlatan finery of pink and green. 2. scratty — (colloquial) unkempt, scruffy; scrawny By this time, Peele was living in a scratty little SRO by the bus …
Friday Vocabulary
1. lac (also lakh) — (in India) one hundred thousand, esp. of rupees; (fig.) a large, indeterminate number He died as he lived, the master of lac on lac of rupees, without even an ostentatious tomb to mark his passing. 2. indiction — fifteen year time period used in Roman Empire from time of …
Friday Vocabulary
1. boscage — mass of shrubs or trees, thicket His naked legs were covered with scratches from the thorns in the surrounding boscage he had forced his way through. 2. entablature — (architecture) horizontal construction supported by columns in classical temples and the like, consisting of an architrave, a frieze, and a cornice The …
Friday Vocabulary
1. barracoon — temporary holding place for prisoners, esp. slaves The king wished to drive the emigrants away from Port Cresson so that the barracoon could be reopened and his lucrative trade in human souls could recommence. 2. caftan (also kaftan) — loose-fitting, full-length garment with long wide sleeves, worn throughout the Middle East, …