Definitions
Oh woe is me! The Oxford English Dictionary Online is one of the databases we will be losing September 1st due to budget cuts at the University. This means that after that date I am either going to have to use an inferior dictionary for these word posts, or else lug the 20 ponderous volumes of the print edition back and forth to the computer and type out the definitions by hand. This is a truly calamitous occasion indeed.
Ah well, I shall make the most of the time I have remaining thus:
cephalic: (adj) 1. Of or pertaining to the head, situated in the head; of the nature of a head.
2. Curing or relieving disorders of the head.
phalarope: (n) Any one of three small, migratory, northern shorebirds constituting the genus Phalaropus and the subfamily Phalaropodinae (family Scolopacidae), which have lobed feet (enabling habitual swimming) and are noted for their reversal of usual sexual roles, the males being less colourful than the females and taking care of the eggs and young.
bitt: (n) Nautical: One of the strong posts firmly fastened in pairs in the deck or decks of a ship, for fastening cables, belaying ropes, etc.; generally used in the plural. The chief pair, the riding bitts, are used for fastening the cable while the ship rides at anchor; others are the topsail-sheet bitts, carrick-bitts, wind-lass bitts, etc.
atelectasis: (n) Imperfect dilatation, especially of the lungs of newly-born children.
haulser/hawser: (n) (Nautical) A large rope or small cable, in size midway between a cable and a tow-line, between 5 and 10 inches in circumference; used in warping and mooring; in large ships now made of steel.
mole: (n) 1. Mass, greatness; a great mass; a large piece.
2. A massive structure, especially of stone, serving as a pier, breakwater, or causeway. Also: the area of water bounded by or contained within such a structure, especially forming a harbour or port.
3. In Archaeology: A Roman mausoleum of circular form.
fane: (n) 1. A flag, banner, pennant.
2. A weathercock.
3. A temple.
4. A white-flowered Iris.
5. In Scots: An elf, a fairy.
corton: (n) A red Burgundy wine made in the neighbourhood of Beaune, Côte-d'Or.
bodega: (n) A wine-shop in Spain; recently adopted as a specific name for a cellar or shop for the sale of wines only.
cornel: (n) 1. nglish name of the botanical genus Cornus, of which the ancient writers and early herbalists distinguished two ‘sorts’, Cornus mas ‘male cornel’, and C. femina ‘female cornel’. The former was the cornel-tree or cornelian cherry-tree, the tame cornel of Lyte (C. mascula), a large shrub or low tree bearing edible fruit, a native of Southern Europe, sometimes cultivated in Britain; the latter was the cornel-bush, wild or common cornel, or dogwood (C. sanguinea), a common hedge-row shrub in the south of England, of which the berries are not edible. dwarf cornel is a modern book-name of C. suecica, and in N. America of C. canadensis. With other qualifying words the name is sometimes given to other species of Cornus, of which more than twenty are known.
2. The fruit of the Cornel Tree, the Cornelian Cherry or Long Cherry, a fruit of the size and shape of an olive.
3. A javelin or shaft of cornel-wood.
tripos/tripus: (n) 1. A three-legged vessel, seat, or frame; a tripod.
2. Specifically, a vessel of this kind at the shrine of Apollo at Delphi, on which the priestess seated herself to deliver oracles. Hence allusively, the Delphic oracle; any oracle or oracular seat.
3. At Cambridge University: (a) A bachelor of arts appointed to dispute, in a humorous or satirical style, with the candidates for degrees at ‘Commencement’ (corresponding to the TERRÆ FILIUS at Oxford): so called from the three-legged stool on which he sat. (b) A set of humorous verses, originally composed by the ‘Tripos’, and (till 1894) published at Commencement after his office was abolished. (c) The list of candidates qualified for the honour degree in mathematics, originally printed on the back of the paper containing these verses.
4. The final honours examination for the B.A. degree in mathematics, consisting of two parts (formerly first and second tripos, now the Mathematical Tripos, Parts I. and II.); later, extended to the subsequently founded final honours examinations in other subjects (Classical Tripos, Theological Tripos, etc.).
ordure: (n) 1. Excrement, dung.
2. More generally: filth, dirt.
3. That which corrupts, defiles, or fouls morally; obscene language, writing, action, etc.; an instance of this.
chassis: (n) 1. . A wooden frame-work that can be fitted with paper, linen, glass, etc.; a window-frame; sash.
2. A frame upon which an artist's canvas is spread and drawn tight by means of corner-pieces or wedges.
3. The base-frame, forming the lower part of the carriage of a barbette or casemate gun, on which it can be slid backward and forward.
4. The base frame of a motor car, with its mechanism, as distinguished from the body or upper part; also, in an aeroplane.
5. The body of a person or animal.
6. The frame on which the parts of a radio receiver are mounted; also, the assemblage of parts on the frame, excluding the cabinet or housing.
barbette: (n) A platform or mound of earth within a fortification, on which guns are raised so that they can be fired over the parapet. guns en barbette, barbette gun or battery: those so mounted as to fire over the parapet; similarly in ironclad ships.
casemate: (n) 1. A vaulted chamber built in the thickness of the ramparts of a fortress, with embrasures for the defence of the place; a bomb-proof vault, generally under the ramparts of a fortress, used as a barrack, or a battery, or for both purposes; an embrasure.
2. (Nautical) An armoured enclosure for guns in a warship.
3. In Architecture: A hollow moulding, such as the cavetto.
embrasure: (n) 1. A slanting or bevelling in the sides of an opening to a wall for a window or door, so that the inside profile of the window is larger than that of the outside.
2. Military: An opening widening from within made in an epaulement or parapet for the purpose of allowing a gun to be fired through it.
3. A port-hole for the same purpose in a ship.
cavetto: (n) In Architecture: A hollowed moulding, whose profile is the quadrant of a circle. It is principally used in cornices.
Ah well, I shall make the most of the time I have remaining thus:
cephalic: (adj) 1. Of or pertaining to the head, situated in the head; of the nature of a head.
2. Curing or relieving disorders of the head.
phalarope: (n) Any one of three small, migratory, northern shorebirds constituting the genus Phalaropus and the subfamily Phalaropodinae (family Scolopacidae), which have lobed feet (enabling habitual swimming) and are noted for their reversal of usual sexual roles, the males being less colourful than the females and taking care of the eggs and young.
bitt: (n) Nautical: One of the strong posts firmly fastened in pairs in the deck or decks of a ship, for fastening cables, belaying ropes, etc.; generally used in the plural. The chief pair, the riding bitts, are used for fastening the cable while the ship rides at anchor; others are the topsail-sheet bitts, carrick-bitts, wind-lass bitts, etc.
atelectasis: (n) Imperfect dilatation, especially of the lungs of newly-born children.
haulser/hawser: (n) (Nautical) A large rope or small cable, in size midway between a cable and a tow-line, between 5 and 10 inches in circumference; used in warping and mooring; in large ships now made of steel.
mole: (n) 1. Mass, greatness; a great mass; a large piece.
2. A massive structure, especially of stone, serving as a pier, breakwater, or causeway. Also: the area of water bounded by or contained within such a structure, especially forming a harbour or port.
3. In Archaeology: A Roman mausoleum of circular form.
fane: (n) 1. A flag, banner, pennant.
2. A weathercock.
3. A temple.
4. A white-flowered Iris.
5. In Scots: An elf, a fairy.
corton: (n) A red Burgundy wine made in the neighbourhood of Beaune, Côte-d'Or.
bodega: (n) A wine-shop in Spain; recently adopted as a specific name for a cellar or shop for the sale of wines only.
cornel: (n) 1. nglish name of the botanical genus Cornus, of which the ancient writers and early herbalists distinguished two ‘sorts’, Cornus mas ‘male cornel’, and C. femina ‘female cornel’. The former was the cornel-tree or cornelian cherry-tree, the tame cornel of Lyte (C. mascula), a large shrub or low tree bearing edible fruit, a native of Southern Europe, sometimes cultivated in Britain; the latter was the cornel-bush, wild or common cornel, or dogwood (C. sanguinea), a common hedge-row shrub in the south of England, of which the berries are not edible. dwarf cornel is a modern book-name of C. suecica, and in N. America of C. canadensis. With other qualifying words the name is sometimes given to other species of Cornus, of which more than twenty are known.
2. The fruit of the Cornel Tree, the Cornelian Cherry or Long Cherry, a fruit of the size and shape of an olive.
3. A javelin or shaft of cornel-wood.
tripos/tripus: (n) 1. A three-legged vessel, seat, or frame; a tripod.
2. Specifically, a vessel of this kind at the shrine of Apollo at Delphi, on which the priestess seated herself to deliver oracles. Hence allusively, the Delphic oracle; any oracle or oracular seat.
3. At Cambridge University: (a) A bachelor of arts appointed to dispute, in a humorous or satirical style, with the candidates for degrees at ‘Commencement’ (corresponding to the TERRÆ FILIUS at Oxford): so called from the three-legged stool on which he sat. (b) A set of humorous verses, originally composed by the ‘Tripos’, and (till 1894) published at Commencement after his office was abolished. (c) The list of candidates qualified for the honour degree in mathematics, originally printed on the back of the paper containing these verses.
4. The final honours examination for the B.A. degree in mathematics, consisting of two parts (formerly first and second tripos, now the Mathematical Tripos, Parts I. and II.); later, extended to the subsequently founded final honours examinations in other subjects (Classical Tripos, Theological Tripos, etc.).
ordure: (n) 1. Excrement, dung.
2. More generally: filth, dirt.
3. That which corrupts, defiles, or fouls morally; obscene language, writing, action, etc.; an instance of this.
chassis: (n) 1. . A wooden frame-work that can be fitted with paper, linen, glass, etc.; a window-frame; sash.
2. A frame upon which an artist's canvas is spread and drawn tight by means of corner-pieces or wedges.
3. The base-frame, forming the lower part of the carriage of a barbette or casemate gun, on which it can be slid backward and forward.
4. The base frame of a motor car, with its mechanism, as distinguished from the body or upper part; also, in an aeroplane.
5. The body of a person or animal.
6. The frame on which the parts of a radio receiver are mounted; also, the assemblage of parts on the frame, excluding the cabinet or housing.
barbette: (n) A platform or mound of earth within a fortification, on which guns are raised so that they can be fired over the parapet. guns en barbette, barbette gun or battery: those so mounted as to fire over the parapet; similarly in ironclad ships.
casemate: (n) 1. A vaulted chamber built in the thickness of the ramparts of a fortress, with embrasures for the defence of the place; a bomb-proof vault, generally under the ramparts of a fortress, used as a barrack, or a battery, or for both purposes; an embrasure.
2. (Nautical) An armoured enclosure for guns in a warship.
3. In Architecture: A hollow moulding, such as the cavetto.
embrasure: (n) 1. A slanting or bevelling in the sides of an opening to a wall for a window or door, so that the inside profile of the window is larger than that of the outside.
2. Military: An opening widening from within made in an epaulement or parapet for the purpose of allowing a gun to be fired through it.
3. A port-hole for the same purpose in a ship.
cavetto: (n) In Architecture: A hollowed moulding, whose profile is the quadrant of a circle. It is principally used in cornices.