1. paraphyletic — of or related to taxonomic group containing most but not all of the descendants of a common ancestor
The Italic branch of Indo-European is paraphyletic as usually delineated, as it leaves out the modern Romance languages.
2. aorist — simple past tense in Ancient Greek, with no further limitations or restrictions; undefined
While the aorist usually denotes action occurring in the past, it is important that the action so denoted is conceived of as being completed, as in Matthew 26:65.
3. hyalescent — becoming translucent or transparent, turning or being hyaline
Staring at my face in the mirror, the skin on my forehead seemed hyalescent as I clearly saw the blood coursing through the vessels pulsing at my temples.
4. formication — sensation as if ants are crawling on one’s skin
I do not trouble myself too much when I have infrequent bouts of formication—all of us have our moments both good and ill—but I do begin to worry when I actually see the little buggers crawling across my forearms and legs.
5. frot — to rub, to chafe, to stroke; [tanning] to make supple by rubbing
By frotting firmly the injured leg, we lessened the animal’s pain.
6. flavid — yellow, sulphur yellow
The package oozed a bright flavid goo at one corner, and suddenly I imagined I smelt some indefinable something in the air.
7. eyas — nestling hawk, esp. one removed from nest for training
Many months were spent training the eyas simply to fly, for he had been taken too early from the nest.
8. ciborium — baldachin, canopy over a high altar; receptacle for the Eucharist
The wash basin had been fashioned from a bronze ciborium pilfered from the nearby demolished church, and the hammered letters “IHS” were still faintly visible.
9. hypocephalus — small disks placed beneath head of the dead in Late Period Egyptian funeral practice
Joseph Smith’s purported translation of the hypocephali which he studied was no more credible than that of ancient Mayan by most so-called experts before 1950.
10. tonitruate — to thunder
We found the back entrance of the club easily, led by the pounding bass that tonitruated through the walls.
Bonus Vocabulary
(British)
cuckooing — exploitation of vulnerable people’s homes for criminal activity, esp. that related to the distribution of drugs
The explosion of county lines drug trafficking has seen a concomitant rise in cuckooing as weak-minded individuals are coerced into letting their flats or houses become storage depots for drugs.