Vocab 1-4
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40 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 annotation | a critical or explanatory note |
| appellation | a name, title, or designation |
| eponym | A person whose name is, or is thought to be, the source of the name of something |
| linguistics | the study of the nature, structure, and variation of language |
| malapropism | ridiculous misuse of a word, especially by confusing it with one of a similar sound |
| neologism | a new word, expression, or usage |
| parlance | a particular manner of speaking |
| patois | a regional dialect, especially a nonstandard one that has no written tradition |
| polyglot | a. using several languages b. a person who speaks several languages |
| vulgar | a. of or related to the common people b. crude; indecent c. offensively excessive in the display of one's self or one's wealth |
| contingent | a. conditional; depending on other things b. a representative group forming part of a larger group |
| eventuality | something that may occur; a possibility |
| implausible | difficult to believe; not likely or credible |
| inconceivable | a. impossible to comprehend or fully grasp b. so unlikely as to be thought impossible; unimaginable |
| in vain | without success; completely ineffective |
| perchance | perhaps; possibly |
| preposterous | absurd; contrary to nature, reason, or common sense |
| proclivity | a natural inclination; a tendency |
| prone | having a tendency; inclined; likely to do or have something |
| theoretical | restricted to ideas; abstract or unproven |
| evolve | to develop or achieve gradually |
| immutable | unchangeable; not subject or susceptible to change |
| inveterate | a. firmly established and having existed for a long time; deep rooted b. habitual; repeatedly acting according to an ingrained habit |
| malleable | a. capable of being shaped or formed, as by hammering or pressure b. easily controlled or influenced |
| metamorphosis | a marked change in form, character, or function; a transformation |
| modulate | to adjust or adapt to a certain level or proportion; to regulate |
| protean | readily taking on different forms, characteristics, or meanings |
| sporadic | a. scattered; occurring at irregular intervals; having no regular pattern b. isolated; infrequent |
| transmute | to change from one form to another; to transform |
| volatile | a. tending to vary often or widely, as in price; subject to wide variation; inconstant b. tending toward violence; explosive c. evaporating readily at normal temperatures and pressures |
| abstruse | difficult to understand |
| acumen | quickness and keenness of insight or judgment |
| ascertain | to discover or determine with certainty, especially through examination or experimentation |
| cerebral | a. of or relating to the brain b. appealing to or requiring the use of intellect; intellectual |
| faculty | a. a natural power or ability b. division of a university or group of teachers |
| obfuscate | a. to make difficult to understand b. to darken; to make dim or difficult to see |
| ruminate | a. to think deeply about; to turn a matter over and over in one's mind b. to chew cud, or partially digested food |
| stymie | to prevent from making progress; to frustrate or thwart efforts |
| surmise | a. to guess; to draw a conclusion without sufficient evidence b. a guess; a conclusion drawn without sufficient evidence |
| tenet | a principle or belief held by a person or an organization |
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