1. cambion — child with one human and one demonic parent
As no one suspected Marta of being anything but a gullible human girl, and since the fishermen all knew her boy Toby to be a cambion, the village was convinced she’d been seduced by an incubus, likely taking the form of her own Long Tom, lost these many years ago in the storm of ’86.
2. patria potestas — [Latin] absolute power in law of a father in Roman times over his progeny
Still the debate rages today over whether the ancient claims of female guardianship came before those of patria potestas, the advocates of an archaic matriarchal society, of course, favoring such precedence.
3. spit — measure based on length of a gardening spade
Rhododendrons will grow well in furrows dug two spits deep.
4. hegumen — monastery head in Eastern Orthodox churches
By the time of the NEP the hegumen had become head of the committee providing aid to single mothers.
5. colorable — seemingly true
While both teams of lawyers were making colorable claims about jurisdiction and prior claims, Ernest was making his own arrangements with both sets of potential heirs.
6. vernal — of or related to spring; of youth
He stood, transfixed, as Ashley removed her large floppy hat and rolled her head back, eyes closed, enjoying the sun’s vernal warmth upon her face and shoulders.
7. anosognosia — neuropsychiatric disorder in which sufferer takes no cognizance of their own serious disability
Though Henry must have been found it quite painful to walk with the foot-long metal spike embedded through his heel, some strange anosognosia held him in thrall all during that long march back to camp, and his only complaints were directed at his boots, which he swore must have been manufactured poorly to cause him such difficulty in hiking across the rocky terrain.
8. barbola (also barbola work) — decorative fruit or flowers made from barbotine; such decoration when added to a craft piece
The top of the mirror was covered with fanciful barbola, as if the cornucopia of harvest fruits might make more fruitful the woman using the looking glass.
9. kudu — large striped African antelope
Our fears were raised when we saw a party of jackals feasting on a corpse, but when we got closer we discovered they were merely tearing the flesh off of a kudu carcass.
10. badmash — miscreant, ruffian, dishonest man or youth
Annie had no idea who the actual thieves were, and though the colonial police questioned the filthy badmash who had first stopped our party, he firmly denied any involvement in the affair.
11. drumlin — small elongated hills formed by glaciation
This part of Wisconsin is known for the highest concentration of drumlins ever seen, so you can be sure to find a geologist in every bar or restaurant, should you ever need one.
Bonus Vocabulary
(British)
twoc — to steal, esp. a car (from the phrase ‘taking without owner’s consent’)
As somebody who thought of twocking as merely a youthful folly, a rite of passage for certain chavs, I was surprised to find that in Australia it had the aspect of class war between bourgeois shop owners and aboriginals.