1. brangle — to squabble, to noisily dispute
Though I’ve had to contend with many a bothersome neighbor, this Kenneth was the only one I ever had predisposed to brangle over any issue, no matter how small.
2. nonage — legal minority; immaturity
Due to this similarity in name he had had judgement passed against him whilst still he was in his nonage, and he spent hundreds in decades of pleadings to have it reversed.
3. mulct — to fine, to impose a penalty; to take by fraud, to swindle
The transaction fees were exorbitant, however, and when Peavey sat down and went over the books, he found that his ‘counselor’ had mulcted almost the entire principal of the trust.
4. batrachian — of or related to frogs and toads
The gout had given his visage a batrachian form, with his once cheery cheeks now swollen like a toad in heat.
5. discerption — pulling or tearing into separate pieces, rending
Just as the soul in Swedenborgian theology can be lost by discerption, so too can the human mind be rent into fractured parts.
6. palmer — religious pilgrim
The other cell was occupied by a palmer who had committed some unknown crime against the seigneur, though he was permitted to keep in his cell the sad branch of palm he had carried since his trek to the Holy Land.
7. acromegaly — disease causing growth of head, hands and feet due to disfunction of pituitary gland
The two films which most featured Hatton’s acromegaly were released only after his death from the consequences of his disease.
8. definiens — words which define (a dictionary entry)
Though theoretically the words the definiens can be substituted for the definiendum any place where it is used, in practice this may not always make the best logical, grammatical, or stylistic sense.
9. pyroclastic — consisting of or related to rocks from a volcano
Microscopic examination reveals the pyroclastic origin of these conglomerates, showing the characteristics of andesitic eruptive rock.
10. primogeniture — being the firstborn; inheritance through the eldest child (usu. the male)
He had that natural confidence which is often a consequence of primogeniture.
Bonus Vocabulary
(legal Latin)
lex talionis — legal principle that the punishment should be commensurate to the crime
But the court ruled that having to stand out in the snow with his tongue affixed to the damaged light pole violated the lex talionis, and removed that part of his sentence.