1. meteoroid — small body moving through space
When a meteoroid enters the atmosphere of the earth, the resultant friction causes it to emit light and the streaking body is called a meteor, and if it is not entirely consumed by its contact with the atmosphere, and falls to the ground, it is then called a meteorite.
2. castrametation — the science of laying out a military camp
It did not require an expert in castrametation to see the inherent problems with using Dien Bien Phu as a base of operations from which to attack the Viet Cong, and indeed every subordinate officer protested when the initial plan was proposed.
3. axletree — fixed bar of wood or iron on the opposite ends of which the wheels of a wagon or carriage revolve
At first we thought that the wagon was useless, as its forward axletree was warped beyond all possibility of repair.
4. trenail — (also treenail) hardwood pin used to fasten together timbers
Naturally the Viking longships used trenails instead of nails, not because of any rarity of iron, but because the action of water on the wood tended to make the fastenings tighter as the pins swelled in their moist environment.
5. bonze — Buddhist monk, particularly of Japan, so-called by Europeans
An old bonze in a bright yellow robe stood beside the ancient metal bell, looking as if hewn from the same beams from which the bell depended.
6. absit omen — said when referring to bad thing in order to forestall its arrival, similar to ‘God forbid’ (Latin for ‘may this omen be absent’)
“In this country you must constantly be on the lookout for venomous reptiles, absit omen.”
7. lexeme — basic lexical unit, which may appear in actual language in different forms due to inflection, tense, number, etc.
You cannot just blindly use a bilingual dictionary to determine the meaning of a particular lexeme, but have to look comparatively at its use in similar contexts and similar constructs.
8. instant — of the current calendar month
My order of the 3rd instant still has not been received nor acknowledged, and we must have those solvents by the 27th at the very latest.
9. veronica — (also vernicle) image of Jesus Christ impressed upon handkerchief, after the relic of Saint Veronica
For the pilgrims unladen with sufficient coin to purchase indulgences or pieces of the Holy Rood, a lace-maker peddled lovely veronicas guaranteed to be exact replicas of the original in Rome.
10. godown — warehouse or storage building
Not only was the silk godown behind strong fences topped with barbed wire, its dock was patrolled by a large contingent of burly toughs, led by a fierce one-eyed Malay addicted to the foulest cigars in the East.