Ahimsa

Ahimsa (Sanskrit: अहिंसा; IAST: ahiṃsā, Pāli: avihiṃsā) is a term meaning to do no harm (literally: the avoidance of violence – himsa). The word is derived from the Sanskrit root hims – to strike; himsa is injury or harm, a-himsa is the opposite of this, i.e. non harming or nonviolence.

It is an important tenet of some Indian religions (Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism). Ahimsa means kindness and non-violence towards all living things including animals; it respects living beings as a unity, the belief that all living things are connected. Indian leader Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi strongly believed in this principle. Avoidance of verbal and physical violence is also a part of this principle, although ahimsa recognizes self-defense when necessary, as a sign of a strong spirit. It is closely connected with the notion that all kinds of violence entail negative karmic consequences.

palliative

palliative (comparative more palliative, superlative most palliative)

1. (medicine) Minimising the progression of a disease and relieving undesirable symptoms for as long as possible, rather than attempting to cure the (usually incurable) disease.

perissology

perissology (countable and uncountable; plural perissologies)

superfluity of words; verbosity; long-windedness

cunctation

cunctation (uncountable)

(obsolete) Delay, hesitation, procrastination.

adelphophagy

adelphophagy (uncountable)

1. The consumption of one embryo by another in utero; particularly as it relates to certain amphibians, sharks and fishes.

Ovoviviparity

Ovoviviparity, ovovivipary, or ovivipary, is a mode of reproduction in animals in which embryos develop inside eggs that are retained within the mother's body until they are ready to hatch. Ovoviviparous animals are similar to viviparous species in that there is internal fertilization and the young are born live, but differ in that there is no placental connection and the unborn young are nourished by egg yolk; the mother's body does provide gas exchange (respiration), but that is largely necessary for oviparous animals as well.

Barratry

Barratry is a legal term with several meanings. In common law, barratry is the offense committed by people who are “overly officious in instigating or encouraging prosection of groundless litigation” or who bring “repeated or persistent acts of litigation” for the purposes of profit or harassment. It is a crime in some jurisdictions. Litigation for the purpose of profit is referred to as “Ambulance chasing”: If for the purpose of harassment, for example to silence critics, it is known as a Strategic lawsuit against public participation (SLAPP). Many jurisdiction that otherwise have no barratry laws do have SLAPP laws.

trial balloon

A trial balloon is information sent out to the media in order to observe the reaction of an audience. It can be used by companies sending out press releases to judge reaction by customers, or it can be used by politicians who deliberately leak information on a policy change under consideration. In politics trial balloons often take the form of an intentional news "leak" to assess public opinion.

For instance, a company might announce they are going to release a new computer program in a year, and then read the press coverage for hints on whether or not the product will have appeal in the marketplace. If the coverage is favourable the money will be spent on development, but if not the project can be cancelled before using up resources. A trial balloon under the company's own name is somewhat risky; if too many are "floated" the company risks becoming known as the company that cried wolf, and can find itself being ignored completely. In addition, the company can find that the product being planned is unworkable, leading to the phenomenon of vaporware.

cachet

cachet (plural cachets)

1. A special characteristic or quality.

   I remember when this diner was a quiet hangout, but lately it seems to be losing its cachet.

2. (archaic) A seal, as of a letter.

chieftaincy

chieftaincy (plural chieftaincies)

1. The position or period of rule of a chief.
2. The area or population ruled by a chief.

magister officiorum

The magister officiorum (Latin literally for "Master of Offices", in Greek: μάγιστρος τῶν ὀφφικίων, magistros tōn offikiōn) was one of the most senior administrative officials in the late Roman Empire and the early centuries of the Byzantine Empire. In Byzantium, the office was eventually transformed into a senior honorary rank, until it disappeared in the 12th century.

Skræling

Skræling (Old Norse and Icelandic: skrælingi, plural skrælingjar) is the name the Norse Greenlanders used for the indigenous peoples they encountered in North America and Greenland. In surviving sources it is first applied to the Thule people, the Eskimo group with whom the Norse coexisted in Greenland after about the 13th century. In the sagas it is also used for the peoples of the region known as Vinland (probably Newfoundland) whom the Norse encountered during their expeditions there in the early 11th century.

Magister

Magister (also magistar, female form: Magistra from lat.: magister “Teacher”) is an academic degree used in various systems of higher education.

Melanism

Melanism is an undue development of dark-colored pigment in the skin or its appendages and is the opposite of albinism. It is also the medical term for black jaundice. The word 'melanism' is deduced from the Greek: μελανός, meaning black pigment.

Pseudo-melanism, also called abundism, is another variant of pigmentation, characterized by dark spots or enlarged stripes, which cover a large part of the body of the animal making it appear melanistic. A deficiency in or total absence of melanin pigments is called amelanism.

The morbid deposition of black matter, often of a malignant character, causing pigmented tumors is called melanosis. For a description of melanin-related disorders see melanin, melanosis coli and ocular melanosis.

ineluctable

ineluctable (comparative more ineluctable, superlative most ineluctable)

Impossible to avoid or escape; inescapable, irresistible.

paper tiger

paper tiger (plural paper tigers)

(idiomatic) A seemingly fierce person or thing without the ability to back up their words.

Judenfrei

Judenfrei ("free of Jews") or Judenrein ("clean of Jews") was a Nazi term to designate an area cleansed of Jewish presence during The Holocaust.

While Judenfrei referred merely to "freeing" an area of all of its Jewish citizens, the term Judenrein (literally "clean of Jews") was also used. This had the stronger connotation that any trace of Jewish blood had been removed as an impurity.

Pagophagia

Pagophagia is a form of the disorder pica involving the compulsive consumption of ice or iced drinks. It has been associated with iron deficiency anemia, and shown to respond to iron supplementation, leading some investigators to postulate that some forms of pica may be the result of nutritional deficiency. Ice tastes better if the individual is iron deficient. Chewing ice may lessen pain in glossitis related to iron deficiency anemia. However, the American Dental Association recommends not chewing ice because it can crack teeth; instead ice should be allowed to melt in the mouth.

Báb

Siyyid `Alí Muḥammad Shírází (Persian: سيد علی ‌محمد شیرازی‎; October 20, 1819 – July 9, 1850) was the founder of Bábism, and one of three central figures of the Bahá'í Faith. He was a merchant from Shíráz, Persia, who at the age of twenty-four (on May 23, 1844) claimed to be the promised Qá'im (or Mahdi). After his declaration he took the title of Báb (Arabic: باب‎) meaning "Gate". He composed hundreds of letters and books (often termed tablets) in which he stated his messianic claims and defined his teachings, which constituted a new sharí'ah or religious law. His movement eventually acquired tens of thousands of supporters, was opposed by Iran's Shi'a clergy, and was suppressed by the Iranian government, leading to the persecution and killing of thousands of his followers, called Bábís. In 1850, at the age of thirty, the Báb was shot by a firing squad in Tabríz.

plasma window

The plasma window (not to be confused with a plasma shield) is a technology that fills a volume of space with plasma confined by a magnetic field. With current technology, this volume is quite small and the plasma is generated as a flat plane inside a cylindrical space.

Paregoric

Paregoric, or camphorated tincture of opium, also known as tinctura opii camphorata, is a medication known for its antidiarrheal, antitussive, and analgesic properties.

nephalist

nephalist (plural nephalists)

(obsolete, Temperance movement) One who practises nephalism; a teetotaller

cognoscente

cognoscente (plural cognoscenti)

Someone possessing superior or specialized knowledge in a particular field; a connoisseur.

Wathaurong

Wathaurong, also called the Wada wurrung, are an Indigenous Australian tribe living in the area near Melbourne, Geelong and the Bellarine Peninsula. They are part of the Kulin alliance. The Wathaurong language was spoken by 25 clans south of the Werribee River and the Bellarine Peninsula to Streatham. They were sometimes referred to by Europeans as the Barrabool people.

A headman or tribal leader was called an arweet. Arweet held the same tribal standing as a ngurungaeta of the Wurundjeri people.

omphalocele

An omphalocele (British English: omphalocoele) is a type of abdominal wall defect in which the intestines, liver, and occasionally other organs remain outside of the abdomen in a sac because of a defect in the development of the muscles of the abdominal wall (exomphalos). Omphalocele occurs in 2.5/10,000 births and is associated with a high rate of mortality (25%) and severe malformations, such as cardiac anomalies (50%) and neural tube defect (40%). Approximately 15% of live-born infants with omphalocele have chromosomal abnormalities.

Künstlerroman

A Künstlerroman (German pronunciation: [ˈkʏnstlɐ.ʁoˌmaːn]; plural -ane), meaning "artist's novel" in German, is a narrative about an artist's growth to maturity. It may be classified as a specific sub-genre of Bildungsroman; such a work, usually a novel, tends to depict the conflicts of a sensitive youth against the values of a bourgeois society of his or her time.

Certiorari

Certiorari (/ˌsɜrʃⁱəˈrɛəraɪ/, /-ˈrɛəri/, or /-ˈrɑri/) is a type of writ seeking judicial review, recognized in U.S., Roman, English, Philippine, and other law, meaning an order by a higher court directing a lower court, tribunal, or public authority to send the record in a given case for review.

Certiorari ("to be more fully informed") is the present passive infinitive of the Latin certiorare ("to show, prove, or ascertain").

Photopsia

Photopsia is the presence of perceived flashes of light. It is most commonly associated with posterior vitreous detachment, migraine with aura, migraine aura without headache, retinal break or detachment, occipital lobe infarction and sensory deprivation (ophthalmopathic hallucinations). Vitreous shrinkage or liquifaction, which are the most common causes of photopsia, cause a pull in vitreoretinal attachments, irritating the retina and causing it to discharge electrical impulses. These impulses are interpreted by brain as 'flashes'.

neurocranium

In mammals, the neurocranium or braincase is the back part of the skull and houses the brain. In front of it is the interorbital region.

In humans, the neurocranium is (also) the upper portion of the skull. The other, lower part of the skull is the viscerocranium.

Evolutionarily, the human neurocranium has turned from being (just) the back part to (also) being the upper part, because during the evolutionary expansion of the brain, the neurocranium has overgrown the viscerocranium. The upper-frontmost part of the cranium also houses the evolutionarily newest part of the human brain, the frontal lobes.

megacephalic

megacephalic (not comparable)

1. Having an extremely large head.