| minster | n. | church of a monastery; also gen. any large church | ||
| minutia | n. | tiny detail (usu. pl.) | ||
| miosis | n. | excessive contraction of the pupil | ||
| mirabile dictu | adv. | wonderful to relate, incredible as it seems | Latin | |
| misandry | n. | hatred of men | ||
| mischieve | v. | to harm, to inflict loss; to ruin | ||
| misdoubt | v. | to doubt, to disbelieve; to suspect | archaic | |
| misease | n. | misery, discomfort, suffering | archaic | |
| misericord | n. | room in monastery where some relaxation of monastic rules was permitted; small ledge on folding church seat providing support for people standing; small dagger or pike designed for making a killing ‘mercy’ stroke against a wounded enemy | ||
| misgive | v. | to make doubtful or fearful; to suspect, to fear | archaic | |
| misoneism | n. | hatred of novelty or change | ||
| misprize | v. | to undervalue, to be contemptuous of, to fail to appreciate | ||
| missal | n. | book detailing service of mass for a year; prayer-book | ||
| missioner | n. | missionary | ||
| mistrustless | adj. | unsuspecting, trusting | ||
| mitosis | n. | part of cell division cycle in which replicated chromosomes divide into separate nuclei; by extension, cell division itself | biology | |
| mixtilinear | adj. | bounded or formed from lines of different types | ||
| mizmaze | n. | maze; bewilderment | ||
| mizzle | n. | 1 | fine, drizzling rain | |
| mizzle | v. | 2 | to suddenly depart, to vanish | British |
| mob-handed | adv. | as a mob or in a group, esp. with violent designs | British | |
| mobcap | n. | soft cloth cap with gathered brim for women’s indoor wear | ||
| mod cons | n. | modern conveniences | informal | |
| modest | adj. | without ostentation | ||
| modiste | n. | fashionable milliner or dressmaker | ||
| modus ponens | n. | logical principle governing ‘if-then’ statements, whereby given a true conditional statement and a true antecedent (e.g., “if A then B”, where A is presumed to be true), the consequent must be true (B in the example); literally “affirming mode | Latin | |
| Mohock | n. | violent aristocratic thugs who tormented London in the early 18th Century | ||
| moiety | n. | half; part; [anthropology] either of two parts into which a tribe is divided | ||
| moil | v. | to drudge, to work hard; to wallow in mire | ||
| mole | n. | very large construction in water, as a pier, breakwater, or causeway | ||
| molinary | adj. | of or related to the grinding of corn | ||
| mollify | v. | to appease, to pacify; to reduce a burden; to soften | ||
| mollitude | n. | softness, luxuriousness | ||
| Monel | n. | alloy of nickel and copper | ||
| mongery | n. | trade, the business of buying and selling | ||
| monkey nut | n. | peanut, ground-nut | British | |
| monocable | n. | aerial ropeway using single wire rope for both support and transit | ||
| monoceros | n. | unicorn; one-horned fish | obsolete | |
| monody | n. | ode or song in a single voice, dirge, threnody | ||
| mononymously | adj. | using a single-word name | ||
| monopsonistic | adj. | of or related to a situation or market where only one buyer exists for given goods or services | ||
| monostich | n. | a one-line poem | ||
| Monothelite | n. | believer in heretical doctrine that Christ has only a single divine will | ||
| monotonically | adj. | in or with a monotone; [mathematics] (of a function) generating ever-increasing or -decreasing values ad seriatum | ||
| monovision | n. | presbyopia treatment in which differently adjusted contact lenses are used, one for far vision and the other to correct for near vision | ||
| montane | adj. | of or growing in or living in mountain regions | ||
| mootah | n. | marijuana | slang | |
| moraceous | adj. | of or about mulberry plants | ||
| moraine | n. | mound of rocks and debris left by passage of a glacier | ||
| morbific | adj. | causing disease |
