1. dyspathy — antipathy, opposite of sympathy
By the strange alchemy of sympathy and dyspathy, these two rivals who by common judgment should have been uncompromising enemies were instead courteous and understanding adversaries.
2. cincture — girdle, belt; enclosure
He had gathered the rough buffalo hide he wore over his shoulders in a hempen cincture, from which depended a leathern satchel that clinked as he moved.
3. orotund — (of speech or voice) full and clear; (of style) pompous, inflated
Do not be deceived by our provost’s orotund manner of speaking; his bombastic loquacity conceals an incisive and insightful mind and wit.
4. syndic — governmental officer; official of corporation with plenipotentiary power to transact certain business
A gift of several cases of the wine we had found abandoned on the highway leading into the small village sufficed to assure the town’s syndic that our cause was honorable and just.
5. votress (var. of votaress) — female votary, religious, or devotee
The soft light of the moon somehow changed Miss Ellen’s face from that of a thin almost sickly spinster to that of an ancient votress of the primordial goddess of change and rebirth, full of sensuous passion on her lips and fire within her fervent eyes.
6. proctorize — to perform the duties of or to exercise the powers of a proctor (of a college or university)
It’s true that Mr. Eamons was in the bar that night, not for a nightcap, however, but only to proctorize any malefactor students who’d sneaked in for a forbidden beverage.
7. tisane — herbal tea; [archaic] medicinal drink
“Quickly, bring our cold and wet cousin a honey barley tisane before the cold gets into her chest.”
8. cwm — steep narrow valley, cirque
As we stepped within the ancient grove of giant yew trees at the head of the cwm, a preternatural quiet seemed to surround us, the birds falling suddenly silent and even our footsteps muted on the loamy soil.
9. orthognathous — having a jaw nearly in line with the forehead and so neither jutting nor receding
The noteworthy feature of ape genus Anoiapithecus is its orthognathous facial cross-section.
10. supremum — least upper bound, smallest element of partially ordered set greater than or equal to every element of a subset of the partially ordered set
Of course, for finite totally ordered sets the supremum and the maximum are identical.
Bonus Vocabulary
(perfumes)
Florida water — Cologne water developed in U.S. in early 19th century, with a distinctive spicy orange scent
She sprinkled Florida water liberally through her hair, hoping that the citrus smell would cover somewhat the lingering tobacco smoke odor that doubtless still clung to her coiffure after those hours of close confinement in the dreary coach.