Saturday, January 31, 2009

Xenoglossy

Xenoglossy pronounced /ˈzinəglɒsi/ (from Greek ξενογλωσσία - xenoglossia, from ξένος - xenos, "foreign" + γλώσσα - glossa, "tongue, language") is the putative paranormal phenomenon in which a person is able to speak a language that he or she could not have acquired by natural means. For example, a person who speaks German fluently and like a native, but has never studied German, been to a German-speaking country, or associated with German-speakers, would be said to exhibit xenoglossy.

Friday, January 30, 2009

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Ressentiment

Ressentiment (pronounced /rɛsɑ̃timɑ̃/) is a term used in psychology and philosophy derived from the French word 'ressentiment' (meaning 'resentment': fr. Latin intensive prefix 're', and 'sentire' "to feel").

Ressentiment is a sense of resentment and hostility directed at that which one identifies as the cause of one's frustration, an assignation of blame for one's frustration. The sense of weakness or inferiority and perhaps jealousy in the face of the "cause" generates a rejecting/justifying value system, or morality, which attacks or denies the perceived source of one's frustration. The ego creates an enemy, to insulate itself from culpability.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Phlebitis

Phlebitis is an inflammation of a vein, usually in the legs.

When phlebitis is associated with the formation of blood clots (thrombosis), usually in the deep veins of the legs, the condition is called thrombophlebitis. These clots can travel to the lungs, causing a fatal pulmonary embolism.

Cloture

In parliamentary procedure, cloture (IPA: /ˈkloʊtʃɝ/, KLO-cher) (also called closure, and sometimes a guillotine) is a motion or process aimed at bringing debate to a quick end.

The procedure originated in the French National Assembly, from which the name (originally clôture, meaning "ending" or "conclusion") in French is taken. It was introduced into the United Kingdom Parliament by William Gladstone to overcome the obstruction of the Irish nationalist party and was made permanent in 1887. It was subsequently adopted by the United States Senate and other legislatures.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Monday, January 26, 2009

Encomium

Encomium is a Latin word deriving from the Classical Greek ἐγκώμιον (encomion) meaning the praise of a person or thing.

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Impressment

Impressment (colloquially, "the Press" or "press-ganging") is the act of kidnapping people to serve in the military

Saturday, January 24, 2009

Sadducees

The Sadducees were members of a Jewish sect and were rivals of the Pharisees (today's Rabbinical Jews), founded in the second century BC. They ceased to exist sometime after the destruction of the second Temple in Jerusalem (Herod's Temple) in 70AD.

Friday, January 23, 2009

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Weatherize

To protect (a structure) against cold weather, as with insulation.

source

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Clemency

A pardon is the forgiveness of a crime and the penalty associated with it. It is granted by a head of state, such as a monarch or president, or by a competent church authority. Clemency is an associated term, meaning the lessening of the penalty of the crime without forgiving the crime itself. The act of clemency is a reprieve.

Monday, January 19, 2009

Necrosis

Necrosis (in Greek Νεκρός = "dead") is the name given to premature or unnatural death of cells and living tissue. Necrosis is caused by external factors, such as infection, toxins, or trauma. This is in contrast to apoptosis, which is a naturally occurring cause of cellular death. While apoptosis often provides beneficial effects to the cell's host organism, necrosis is almost always detrimental, and can be fatal.

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Myiasis / Fly-strike

Myiasis (pronounced /ˈmaɪəsɨs/ or /maɪˈaɪəsɨs/) is an animal or human disease caused by parasitic dipterous fly larvae feeding on the host's necrotic or living tissue. Colloquialisms for Myiasis include fly-strike and fly-blown.

German entomologist Fritz Zumpt describes myiasis as "the infestation of live human and vertebrate animals with dipterous larvae, which at least for a period, feed on the host's dead or living tissue, liquid body substances, or ingested food."

Berberophone

Berberophone: Of or pertaining to the Berber language, or Berber people (Algeria).

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Casuistry

Casuistry (pronounced /ˈkæʒuːɨstri/) is an applied ethics term referring to case-based reasoning. Casuistry is used in juridical and ethical discussions of law and ethics, and often is a critique of principle-based reasoning.[1]

Critics use the term pejoratively for the use of clever but unsound reasoning, especially in relation to moral questions (see sophistry). Casuistry is reasoning used to resolve moral problems by applying theoretical rules to particular instances.

Friday, January 16, 2009

Kantianism

Kantianism is the philosophy of Immanuel Kant, a German philosopher born in Königsberg, Germany (now Kaliningrad, Russia). The term Kantianism or Kantian is still often used to describe contemporary positions in philosophy of mind, epistemology, and ethics.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Legalism

Legalism, in the Western sense, is an approach to the analysis of legal questions characterized by abstract logical reasoning focusing on the applicable legal text, such as a constitution, legislation, or case law, rather than on the social, economic, or political context. Legalism has occurred both in civil and common law traditions.

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Legalism

legalism: a sometimes pejorative term relating to a number of concepts in the Christian theological tradition

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Confucianism

Confucianism (Chinese: ; pinyin: Rújiā) is a Chinese ethical and philosophical system developed from the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius (Kǒng Fūzǐ, or K'ung-fu-tzu, lit. "Master Kung", 551–479 BCE). It focuses on human morality and right action. Confucianism is a complex system of moral, social, political, philosophical, and quasi-religious thought that has had tremendous influence on the culture and history of East Asia. It might be considered a state religion of some East Asian countries, because of governmental promotion of Confucian values.

Monday, January 12, 2009

Atoll


An atoll is an island of coral that encircles a lagoon partially or completely.

The term was popularised by Charles Darwin (1842, p. 2), who described atolls as a subset in a special class of islands, the unique property of which is the presence of an organic reef.

Viscus

In anatomy, a viscus (IPA: /ˈvɪskəs/) (plural: viscera /ˈvɪsərə/) is an internal organ of an animal (including humans), in particular an internal organ of the thorax or abdomen. The viscera, when removed from a butchered animal, are known collectively as offal.

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Oneiric


In a film theory context, the term oneiric (which means "pertaining to dream") refers to the depiction of dream-like states in films, or to the use of the metaphor of a dream or the dream-state to analyze a film. The connection between dreams and films has been long established; "The dream factory" “...has become a household expression for the film industry”. The dream metaphor for film viewing is “one of the most persistent metaphors in both classical and modern film theory”, and it is used by film theorists using Freudian, non-Freudian, and semiotic analytical frameworks.

Friday, January 9, 2009

Synecdoche

Synecdoche (pronounced "si-NEK-duh-kee", IPA: /sɪˈnɛkdəˌki/; from Greek sinekdohi (συνεκδοχή), meaning "simultaneous understanding") is a figure of speech in which:

  • a term denoting a part of something is used to refer to the whole thing (Pars pro toto), or
  • a term denoting a thing (a "whole") is used to refer to part of it (Totum pro parte), or
  • a term denoting a specific class of thing is used to refer to a larger, more general class, or
  • a term denoting a general class of thing is used to refer to a smaller, more specific class, or
  • a term denoting a material is used to refer to an object composed of that material.

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Holotype

Holotype: "A holotype is one of several possible biological types. A type is what fixes a name to a taxon. A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to be used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several such, but explicitly designated as the holotype."

Mountebank

"Mountebank" comes from the Italian montambanco or montimbanco based on the phrase monta in banco - literally referring to the action of a seller of dubious medicines getting up on a bench to address his audience of potential customers.

source

Monday, January 5, 2009

Freeboard



Freeboard: "Freeboard in water channel design is the distance from the water level to the top of the channel's sides."

Saturday, January 3, 2009

Physiognomy


Physiognomy is the assessment of a person's character or personality from their outer appearance, especially the face. The term physiognomy can also refer to the general appearance of a person, object or terrain, without reference to its implied characteristics.

Friday, January 2, 2009

Balustrade


A baluster is a moulded shaft, square or circular, in stone or wood and sometimes in metal, standing on a unifying footing and supporting the coping of a parapet or the handrail of a staircase. Multiplied in this way, they form a balustrade.

lordosis

  Lordosis is historically defined as an abnormal inward curvature of the lumbar spine.