| argal | conj. | therefore (used facetiously to suggest clumsy reasoning) | ||
| argand | n. | argand lamp, improved oil lamp developed in 18th Century by Aimé Argand | ||
| argosy | n. | large merchant ship; merchant fleet; large supply | ||
| argy-bargy | n. | vigorous verbal dispute, loud wrangling | ||
| Arimaspian | n. | legendary single-eyed peoples of northern Scythia | ||
| aristarchian | adj. | very or overly critical | ||
| armamentarium | n. | materials and methods for performing given duties | ||
| armscye | n. | armhole in a garment | ||
| arnophilia | n. | bestial sexual congress between men and sheep | ||
| aroint | v. | begone, get hence | archaic | |
| arpent | n. | old French unit of area roughly equal to an acre, still used in Francophone America | ||
| arrack | n. | liquor made from fermented sap of palm or cane or fermented rice, typically distilled in India and Southeast Asia | ||
| arrant | adj. | notorious, unmitigated | ||
| arras | n. | rich tapestry; hanging screen of such | ||
| arris | n. | sharp edge formed by join of two surfaces | architecture | |
| arseniuretted | adj. | combined with arsenic to form an arsenide | ||
| arshin | n. | measurement of about 28 inches used in Imperial Russia and up to 1925 | ||
| artemon | n. | square sail on a sharply steeved spar at the bow of ancient Roman or Greek merchant vessels and ships | ||
| asafetida | n. | stinky gum used in cooking, derived from plant of the same name | ||
| ascend | v. | to move upward | ||
| aseity | n. | metaphysical quality of absolute self-sufficient self existence, existence derived solely from self | ||
| ashlar | n. | square-cut stone; masonry made of such stone | ||
| asininity | n. | stupid obstinacy, extreme foolishness; stupid remark | ||
| asker | n. | newt | idiom | |
| aspergillum | n. | holy water sprinkler | ||
| asperse | v. | to bespatter with false accusations; to slander, to traduce | ||
| assart | v. | to root up trees and bushes from land for cultivation | ||
| assertoric | adj. | of a proposition which states fact neither self-evident nor merely possible | ||
| asseverate | v. | to assert, to aver | ||
| assiduous | adj. | persistently diligent, constant | ||
| assort | v. | to distribute like things according to type | ||
| astart | v. | to befall; to escape, to start off | ||
| asthenia | n. | debility, lack of strength | ||
| astonied | adj. | stunned; dazed | archaic | |
| astragal | n. | anklebone; bead-shaped molding; molding at junction of double doors to prevent drafts | ||
| astride | adv. | with legs on either side | ||
| asyndeton | n. | figure omitting conjunctions | rhetoric | |
| atabal | n. | Moorish tambour or kettle-drum | ||
| ataraxy | n. | state of freedom from emotional distress and anxiety | ||
| athodyd | n. | ramjet | ||
| athwart | adv. | across from side to side, transversely; (nautical) from side to side of a ship; across the course of | ||
| atrabilious | adj. | melancholy; splenetic | ||
| atramental | adj. | of or related to ink or blacking | ||
| atresic | adj. | of or related to congenital lack or pathological obstruction of bodily cavity or opening | ||
| attap | n. | mangrove palm used in the construction of homes and buildings in villages throughout Malaysia, Indonesia, etc.; thatch roof made of such material | ||
| attar | n. | essential oil made from flowers, esp. from roses | ||
| attenuate | v. | to make thin or thinner; to reduce the force of | ||
| attrit | v. | to wear down or erode (usu. by physical action); [military] to lose troops by engagement with larger forces or firepower | ||
| aubade | n. | song or poem in honor of the dawn | ||
| aubergine | n. | eggplant; dark purple |
