| telluric | adj. | of or related to the earth; of or from the soil; of or containing tellurium | ||
| telomere | n. | protective sequences of nucleotides found at the end of chromosomes | ||
| telpherage | n. | automatic and usually electrically powered cable car system for moving minerals or other goods | ||
| telson | n. | terminal segment or appendage in abdomen of many arthropods and some embryonic insects | ||
| temerarious | adj. | reckless, rash, heedless | ||
| temerity | n. | overconfidence, recklessness | ||
| tempestivity | n. | timeliness, quality of occurring at the proper season or time | ||
| tenebrescence | n. | reversible change in color upon exposure to sunlight | ||
| tenebrosity | n. | darkness, gloominess, obscurity | ||
| tenon | n. | projecting part formed by cutting wood away | ||
| tent | n. | heed, attention; to attend, to take heed | ||
| tenter | n. | frame upon which cloth is stretched to dry evenly | ||
| tenuity | n. | thinness of size; thinness of texture or density; paucity, weakness | ||
| tepidarium | n. | warm room in ancient Roman baths | ||
| teratogenic | adj. | disrupting development of fetus or embryo, thus causing birth defects | ||
| teratological | adj. | monstrous, of or related to congenital malformations | ||
| tercel | n. | (also sp. tiercel) the male of a hawk, esp. of the goshawk, peregrine falcon, or gyrfalcon | ||
| terebinth | n. | tree of the Mediterranean region noted for its longevity and turpentine | ||
| teredo | n. | wood boring “shipworm” (actually a mollusk) | ||
| tergiversate | v. | to hem and haw, to equivocate; to change one’s mind, to be apostate | ||
| termagant | n. | violent ill-tempered woman, virago | ||
| termitary | n. | termite’s nest, often mound-shaped (var. of termitarium) | ||
| terpsichorean | adj. | of or related to dancing; of or related to Terpsichore | ||
| tertium non datur | n. | Law of the Excluded Middle, lit. “no third (option/choice) is given” | Latin | |
| tester | n. | bed canopy; canopy suspended above an important personage | ||
| tetany | n. | medical condition characterized by involuntary muscular spasms | ||
| tetrachromat | n. | person who is able to perceive many more colors than usual due to a fourth type of cone cells in the retina | ||
| thatness | n. | quality of existence, of being a specific thing | ||
| the Big Smoke | n. | London; any big city | British | |
| thence | adv. | from that place; from that time; from that cause or source | ||
| theodicy | n. | vindication of divinity in the face of worldly evils | ||
| theodolite | n. | portable surveying instrument with telescopic sight for measuring horizontal, and sometimes vertical, angles | ||
| theomachy | n. | fight against or among gods | ||
| theophany | n. | appearance or manifestation of god to someone | ||
| therblig | n. | basic unit of motion used by manual workers (according to system created by Frank and Lillian Gilbreth, American industrial psychologists) | ||
| theretofore | adv. | previously | ||
| theriac | n. | antidote; specifically a medical paste compounded of many ingredients used by Greeks to cure poisons | ||
| theriomorphic | adj. | of animal or beastly form | ||
| thermotaxic | adj. | of or related to biological heat regulation | ||
| thesicle | n. | subthesis | ||
| theurgist | n. | practitioner of ‘white magic’ of Egyptian type, magician | ||
| thigmotropism | n. | change in a plant’s growth based upon touch stimulus | ||
| thimblerig | n. | rigged game in which the mark is asked to guess under which cup the operator has hidden the pea, shell game | ||
| thirl | v. | to pierce, to drill | ||
| thitherward | adv. | toward that place; on the way thither | ||
| thoroughbrace | n. | leather strap suspending carriage for comfort and dampening | ||
| thrang | adj. | busy, occupied with work | Scots | |
| thrasonical | adj. | bragging, boastful | ||
| thrawn | adj. | twisted, misshapen; perverse, obstinate | ||
| threap | v. | to chide, scold, rebuke, blame, reprove; to bicker, argue, quarrel, dispute |
