I looked in on that website Laura (Troutbend) posted about and taking only the "A" category tried to see how many I knew.

There were, I think, at least a thousand words beginning with A. Going through the list was endless so I won't be going on with the entire alphabet. And I won't blame you if you don't read this whole post. Anyway I made a selection of all the words I already knew and, some of them, I thought, were so common that I don't know why they are on this list. See if you don't agree.

Some words I know aren't so common but I come by them honestly through association with scientists (I was married to one) and other technical professionals. And some words I just know from doing thousands of Crossword puzzles

I included a few I didn't know but thought were hilarious. I have commented on these. I have put an asterisk* on those words I have never heard of before. Here is the list:

abaft-- toward or at the stern of a ship; further aft

abasement-- action of humbling or degrading

abattoir-- public slaughterhouse

abeam-- in a line at right angles to the length of a vessel, on the beam

abele-- white poplar tree

abject-- humble; miserable; craven

abnegate-- to renounce or repudiate

aborning-- during birth; while being born

absolutism-- doctrine of government by a single absolute ruler; autocracy--

abutment-- masonry on a wall that supports an arch

acatamathesia*-- inability to understand data presented to the senses (I think this should be a medical term and it definitely applies to the Tea Party and most other Right Wing fanatics out there.)

adit-- opening or passage into a mine

adjudge-- to decide; to award

aegis-- protection; support

aeolian-- giving forth a tone as if produced by the wind (I have known this one since I was a beginning piano student)

aeriform-- the form or shape of gas; gaseous

aestheticism-- doctrine that beauty is central to other moral principles

affiance-- to trust; to betroth

afore-- before

afterclap*-- unexpected damaging or unsettling after-effect (OR the period after acquiring an std)

afterdeck-- the deck behind a ship's bridge

aftershaft*-- second shaft coming out of the quill of a feather (I prefer to think of this as the feeling one gets after being shafted, or has made a certain kind of “love”)

agape-- selfless Christian love, a celebration of such love (this is still the modern Greek word for love)

aggrandize-- increase power or rank of; make greater

agnosticism-- doctrine that we can know nothing beyond material phenomena

agoraphobia-- fear of open spaces

agronomics-- study of productivity of land

ai-- three-toed sloth (thanks to Crossword puzzles)

aileron-- flap on airplane for lateral balance (I was a member of the Civil Air Patrol when I was 14)

ancillary-- auxiliary; secondary

andiron-- iron bar used to support the end of a log in a fire

anglophilia-- love or fondness for England or the English

angora-- silk-like fabric made from wool of angora goats

anneal-- to heat and cool metal gradually to temper

anomie-- condition of lacking accepted social values or standards

anon-- at once; immediately

antidisestablishmentarianism-- Church of England’s official religion status (one of the odd words Jay and I used to collect back in the 50s/60s)

antigalactic*-- Preventing the secretion of milk (and here I thought this meant disapproval of the Milky Way).

antithesis-- contrast of ideas by means of parallel arrangement of words or clauses

antitypy*-- resistance to being penetrated (I didn’t know this one, but I love it)

anuptaphobia*-- fear of staying single (ditto)

apiarian-- of, like or pertaining to bees or beekeeping

apostasy-- renunciation of former beliefs

apostrophe-- addressing of a personified thing rhetorically

apposite-- appropriate

approbation-- approval; consent

appurtenance-- a subordinate or adjunct part of

apse-- rounded extension of church or other building

aquaphobia-- fear of water

aquifer-- a rock formation containing water

aquiform-- watery; liquid

aquiline-- of, like or pertaining to eagles; hooked like an eagle's beak

arachibutyrophobia*-- fear of peanut butter sticking to roof of mouth (I didn’t know this one but it is wonderful)

arachnophobia-- fear of spiders

arete-- sharp mountain ridge

argosy-- a large merchant ship; a rich supply

aright-- right; correctly

arrant-- downright; unmitigated

arthroscope-- instrument for examining interior of a joint (had arthroscopy on both knees – I certainly know this one)

asceticism-- doctrine that self-denial of the body permits spiritual enlightenment

asinine-- of, like or pertaining to asses; stupid (oh, who doesn’t know this one?)

asperse-- slander; disparage

astern-- at the stern of a ship

atelier-- artist's studio or workshop

athenaeum-- literary or scientific association

athwart--to thwart

attenuate-- make thin; reduce in value

attrite-- repentant through fear of punishment

aubergine-- eggplant

audiology-- study of hearing

audiophile-- one who loves accurately reproduced recorded sound

aught-- at all

aureole-- radiant light around head or body of holy personage (another word for halo)

autocracy-- government by one individual

autodidact-- self-taught person

atogenesis-- spontaneous generation of knowledge of or about oneself


avionics-- the science of electronic devices for aircraft

avuncular-- like an uncle; of, like or pertaining to uncles

axilla-- armpit

azure-- light or sky blue; the heraldic colour blue


This was fun?

xx, Teal