English Learning Online: Vocabulary: Word of The Day 14 June 2012

English Learning Online: Vocabulary: Word of The Day 14 June 2012

For this post, in Vocabulary section, I would like to continue sharing with you latest words of the day as following...

fugitive \FYOO-ji-tiv\, adjective:

1. Fleeting, transitory, elusive.
2. Having taken flight, or run away.
3. Changing color as a result of exposure to light and chemical substances present in the atmosphere, in other pigments, or in the medium.
4. Dealing with subjects of passing interest, as writings; ephemeral.
5. Wandering, roving, or vagabond.

boon \boon\, noun:

1. Something to be thankful for; blessing; benefit.
2. Something that is asked; a favor sought.

pyknic \PIK-nik\, adjective:

1. Having a rounded build or body structure.

noun:
1. A person of the pyknic type.

grouse \grous\, verb:

1. To grumble; complain.

noun:
1. A complaint.

zeitgeber \TSAHYT-gey-ber\, noun:

An environmental cue, as the length of daylight, that helps to regulate the cycles of an organism's biological clock.

sylph \silf\, noun:

1. A slender, graceful woman or girl.
2. (In folklore) one of a race of supernatural beings supposed to inhabit the air.

ephebe \ih-FEEB\, noun:

A young man.

agley \uh-GLEE\, adjective:

Off the right line; awry; wrong.

tony \TOH-nee\, adjective:

High-toned; stylish.

caparison \kuh-PAR-uh-suhn\, verb:

1. To dress richly; deck.
2. To cover with a caparison.

noun:
1. A decorative covering for a horse or for the tack or harness of a horse; trappings.
2. Rich and sumptuous clothing or equipment.

cumshaw \KUHM-shaw\, noun:

A present; gratuity; tip.

apotropaic \ap-uh-truh-PEY-ik\, adjective:

Intended to ward off evil.

macaronic \mak-uh-RON-ik\, adjective:

1. Composed of a mixture of languages.
2. Composed of or characterized by Latin words mixed with vernacular words or non-Latin words given Latin endings.
3. Mixed; jumbled.

noun:
1. Macaronics, macaronic language.
2. A macaronic verse or other piece of writing.

approbate \AP-ruh-beyt\, verb:

To approve officially.

irriguous \ih-RIG-yoo-uhs\, adjective:

Well-watered, as land.

aperçu \a-per-SY\, noun:

1. A hasty glance; a glimpse.
2. An immediate estimate or judgment; understanding; insight.
3. An outline or summary.

xenophilia \zen-uh-FIL-ee-uh\, noun:

An attraction to foreign peoples, cultures, or customs.

reconnoiter \ree-kuh-NOI-ter\, verb:

1. To make an inspection or observation.
2. To inspect, observe, or survey (the enemy, the enemy's strength or position, a region, etc.) in order to gain information for military purposes.
3. To examine or survey a region or area for engineering, geological, or other purposes.

bona fides \BOH-nah FEE-des\, noun:

1. Good faith; the state of being exactly as claims or appearances indicate.
2. (Sometimes italics) (used with a plural verb) the official papers, documents, or other items that prove authenticity, legitimacy, etc., as of a person or enterprise; credentials.

agnomen \ag-NOH-muhn\, noun:

1. A nickname.
2. An additional, fourth name given to a person by the ancient Romans in allusion to some achievement or other circumstance, as “Africanus” in “Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus.”

hsien \shyuhn\, noun:

1. One of a group of benevolent spirits promoting good in the world.
2. In China, a county or district.

obtuse \uhb-TOOS\, adjective:

1. Not quick or alert in perception, feeling, or intellect.
2. Not sharp, acute, or pointed; blunt in form.
3. (Of a leaf, petal, etc.) rounded at the extremity.
4. Indistinctly felt or perceived, as pain or sound.

germinal \JUR-muh-nl\, adjective:

1. Being in the earliest stage of development.
2. Of or pertaining to a germ or germs.
3. Of the nature of a germ or germ cell.

fard \fahrd\, verb:

1. To apply cosmetics.

noun:
1. Facial cosmetics.

barnburner \BAHRN-bur-ner\, noun:

1. Something that is highly exciting or impressive.
2. Chiefly Pennsylvania. A wooden friction match.
3. (Initial capital letter) A member of the progressive faction in the Democratic party in New York State 1845–52.

nosh \nosh\, verb:

1. To snack or eat between meals.
2. To snack on.

noun:
1. A snack.

adenoidal \ad-n-OID-l\, adjective:

1. Being characteristically pinched and nasal in tone quality.
2. Of or pertaining to the adenoids; adenoid.
3. Having the adenoids enlarged, especially to a degree that interferes with normal breathing.

littoral \LIT-er-uhl\, adjective:

1. Pertaining to the shore of a lake, sea, or ocean.
2. (On ocean shores) of or pertaining to the biogeographic region between the sublittoral zone and the high-water line and sometimes including the supralittoral zone above the high-water line.
3. Of or pertaining to the region of freshwater lake beds from the sublittoral zone up to and including damp areas on shore.

noun:
1. A littoral region.

ensconce \en-SKONS\, verb:

1. To settle securely or snugly.
2. To cover or shelter; hide securely.

aphotic \ey-FOH-tik\, adjective:

Lightless; dark.

ort \awrt\, noun:

A scrap or morsel of food left at a meal.

kowtow \KOU-TOU\, verb:

1. To act in an obsequious manner; show servile deference.
2. To touch the forehead to the ground while kneeling, as an act of worship, reverence, apology, etc., especially in former Chinese custom.

noun:
1. The act of kowtowing.

numen \NOO-min\, noun:

Divine power, especially one who inhabits a particular object.

fulcrum \FOOL-kruhm\, noun:

1. The support, or point of rest, on which a lever turns.
2. Any prop or support.
3. Zoology. Any of various structures in an animal serving as a hinge or support.

verb:
1. To fit with a fulcrum; put a fulcrum on.

besot \bih-SOT\, verb:

1. To infatuate; obsess.
2. To intoxicate or stupefy with drink.
3. To make stupid or foolish: a mind besotted with fear and superstition.

mensch \mench\, noun:

A decent, upright, mature, and responsible person.

sudorific \soo-duh-RIF-ik\, adjective:

1. Causing sweat.
2. Sudoriparous.

noun:
1. A sudorific agent.

pother \POTH-er\, noun:

1. A heated discussion, debate, or argument; fuss; to-do.
2. Commotion; uproar.
3. A choking or suffocating cloud, as of smoke or dust.

verb:
1. To worry; bother.

cicatrix \SIK-uh-triks\, noun:

1. New tissue that forms over a wound.
2. Botany. A scar left by a fallen leaf, seed, etc.

obtest \ob-TEST\, verb:

1. To supplicate earnestly; beseech.
2. To invoke as witness.
3. To protest.
4. To make supplication; beseech.

prorogue \proh-ROHG\, verb:

1. To defer; postpone.
2. To discontinue a session of (the British Parliament or a similar body).

sibilant \SIB-uh-luhnt\, adjective:

1. Hissing.
2. Phonetics. Characterized by a hissing sound; noting sounds like those spelled with s in this.

noun:
1. Phonetics. A sibilant consonant.

matrilineal \ma-truh-LIN-ee-uhl\, adjective:

Inheriting or determining descent through the female line.

intromit \in-truh-MIT\, verb:

To introduce; to send, put, or let in.

altiloquent \awl-TIL-uh-kwuhnt\, noun:

High-flown or pretentious language.

spruik \sprook\, verb:

To make or give a speech, especially extensively; spiel.

pip \pip\, verb:

1. To peep or chirp.
2. (Of a young bird) to break out from the shell.
3. To crack or chip a hole through (the shell), as a young bird.

omphalos \OM-fuh-luhs\, noun:

1. The central point.
2. The navel; umbilicus.
3. Greek Antiquity. A stone in the temple of Apollo at Delphi, thought to mark the center of the earth.

gambit \GAM-bit\, noun:

1. A remark made to open or redirect a conversation.
2. Chess. An opening in which a player seeks to obtain some advantage by sacrificing a pawn or piece.
3. Any maneuver by which one seeks to gain an advantage.

phatic \FAT-ik\, adjective:

Denoting speech used to create an atmosphere of goodwill.

belabor \bih-LEY-ber\, verb:

1. To explain, worry about, or work more than is necessary.
2. To assail persistently, as with scorn or ridicule.
3. To beat vigorously; ply with heavy blows.
4. Obsolete. To labor at.

cumulus \KYOO-myuh-luhs\, noun:

1. A heap; pile.
2. A cloud of a class characterized by dense individual elements in the form of puffs, mounds, or towers, with flat bases and tops that often resemble cauliflower.

chrestomathy \kres-TOM-uh-thee\, noun:

A collection of selected literary passages.

demiurge \DEM-ee-urj\, noun:

1. Philosophy. A. Platonism. The artificer of the world. B. (In the Gnostic and certain other systems) a supernatural being imagined as creating or fashioning the world in subordination to the Supreme Being, and sometimes regarded as the originator of evil.
2. (In many states of ancient Greece) a public official or magistrate.

ingeminate \in-JEM-uh-neyt\, verb:

To repeat; reiterate.

betide \bih-TAHYD\, verb:

1. To happen to; come to; befall.
2. To happen; come to pass.

skirr \skur\, verb:

1. To go rapidly; fly; scurry.
2. To go rapidly over.

noun:
1. A grating or whirring sound.

varlet \VAHR-lit\, noun:

1. A knavish person; rascal.
2. A. An attendant or servant. B. A page who serves a knight.

haimish \HEY-mish\, adjective:

Homey; cozy and unpretentious.

bosh \bosh\, noun:

Absurd or foolish talk; nonsense.

armamentarium \ahr-muh-muhn-TAIR-ee-uhm\, noun:

1. A fruitful source of devices or materials available or used for an undertaking.
2. The aggregate of equipment, methods, and techniques available to one for carrying out one's duties.

histrionics \his-tree-ON-iks\, noun:

1. Behavior or speech for effect, as insincere or exaggerated expression of an emotion.
2. Dramatic representation; theatricals; acting.

levigate \LEV-i-geyt\, verb:

1. To rub, grind, or reduce to a fine powder.
2. Chemistry. To make a homogeneous mixture of, as gels.

adjective:
1. Botany. Having a smooth, glossy surface; glabrous.

apoplectic \ap-uh-plek-tik\, adjective:

1. Intense enough to threaten or cause a stroke.
2. Of or pertaining to apoplexy.
3. Having or inclined to apoplexy.

noun:
1. A person having or predisposed to apoplexy.

larrup \LAR-uhp\, verb:

To beat or thrash.

natch \nach\, adverb:

Of course; naturally.

divulse \dahy-VUHLS\, verb:

To tear away or apart.

pochismo \poh-CHEEZ-moh\, noun:

1. An English word or expression borrowed into Spanish.
2. A form of speech employing many such words.
3. An adopted U.S. custom, attitude, etc.

mignon \min-YON\, adjective:

Small and pretty; delicately pretty.

ravelment \RAV-uhl-muhnt\, noun:

Entanglement; confusion.

fantast \FAN-tast\, noun:

A visionary or dreamer.

mewl \myool\, verb:

To cry, as a baby, young child, or the like; whimper.

For Example:

- mewl

Eg: He is 40 years old, but when his dog goes away, he mewls like a baby.