| lusus naturae | n. | freak, sport of nature, deformed creature | Latin | |
| lute | n. | sticky clay | ||
| lute | v. | to attach or to fix with lute | ||
| luthier | n. | maker of stringed instruments | ||
| maar | n. | crater-shaped landform caused by volcanic explosion | ||
| Macaronesia | n. | the four island groupings west of Gibraltar, consisting of the Azores, Madeira, the Canary Islands, and Cape Verde | ||
| macerate | v. | to soften or separate by steeping in liquid; to make thinner | ||
| machan | n. | hunting platform in tree | ||
| machicolated | adj. | provided with openings between parapets or flooring through which stones or other defensive weapons may be hurled or dropped | ||
| mack daddy | n. | successful pimp; playa with the ladies | slang | |
| mackerel | adj. | suggestive of fish scales | ||
| macron | n. | straight horizontal mark over a letter | ||
| maculate | v. | to spot or stain, to defile | ||
| madding | adj. | frenzied, acting like a madman; tending to drive (one) insane | ||
| madreporic | adj. | of or related to madrepore coral; resembling stony coral | ||
| maelstrom | n. | turbulent or tumultuous situation; violent whirlpool | ||
| maenadic | adj. | frenzied, of or related to a maenad | ||
| magniloquent | adj. | lofty or grandiose in expression; pompous; bombastic | ||
| maidan | n. | open space near or in a town; parade ground | ||
| maieutic | adj. | of or related to the Socratic method of education | ||
| majolica | n. | glazed earthenware decorated in opaque color | ||
| majority | n. | adulthood, legal age | ||
| make a hames of | v. | to spoil or ruin through clumsiness, make a mess of | idiom | |
| make a pig’s ear of | v. | to botch, to make a mess of | idiom | |
| malacologist | n. | one who studies mollusks | ||
| Malagasy | n. | person from Madagascar | ||
| malapert | adj. | impudent, overly saucy | ||
| malefaction | n. | evil deed, wrong-doing | ||
| malefic | adj. | producing evil, baleful | ||
| malversation | n. | corrupt or improper conduct in office | ||
| Mameluke | n. | former military slaves who seized power in Egypt in the 13th C., ruling for centuries | ||
| mammer | v. | to stammer, to mutter; to hesitate, to vacillate | obsolete | |
| manchet | n. | wheat bread of the finest flour; loaf of such bread | archaic | |
| manciple | n. | steward in charge of supplies for a college, monastery, or law offices | ||
| mangel-wurzel | n. | fodder beet | ||
| mangle | n. | wringer, device with rollers used for drying laundry by wringing | ||
| mangonel | n. | old war engine for hurling large stones | ||
| manicule | n. | typographic mark of pointing hand: ☞ | ||
| manky | adj. | worthless; unpleasant, foul | British | |
| manometer | n. | instrument for measuring pressure | ||
| manqué | adj. | “That might have been but is not.” [Oxford] | ||
| mansuete | adj. | mild, gentle, meek | ||
| mantelet | n. | short cloak | ||
| mantic | adj. | of or related to divination | ||
| manticore | n. | legendary beast with human face on the body of a lion and the tail of a scorpion or dragon | ||
| mantissa | n. | 1 | decimal part of logarithm | |
| mantissa | n. | 2 | small part or addition of little importance | obsolete |
| mantuamaker | n. | dressmaker | ||
| manubrium | n. | upper part of the sternum connecting to the clavicles | ||
| manustupration | n. | masturbation | archaic |
