synod

A synod historically is a council of a church, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. In modern usage, the word often refers to the governing body of a particular church, whether its members are meeting or not. It is also sometimes used to refer to a church that is governed by a synod.

Vulgate

The Vulgate is a late 4th-century Latin translation of the Bible. It was largely the work of St. Jerome, who was commissioned by Pope Damasus I in 382 to make a revision of the old Latin translations. By the 13th century this revision had come to be called the versio vulgata, that is, the "commonly used translation", and ultimately it became the definitive and officially promulgated Latin version of the Bible in the Roman Catholic Church. Its widespread adoption led to the eclipse of earlier Latin translations, which are collectively referred to as the Vetus Latina.

Masoretic Text

The Masoretic Text (MT, 𝕸, or ) is the authoritative Hebrew text of the Jewish Bible. While the Masoretic Text defines the books of the Jewish canon, it also defines the precise letter-text of these biblical books, with their vocalization and accentuation known as the Masorah. The MT is also widely used as the basis for translations of the Old Testament in Protestant Bibles, and in recent years (since 1943) also for some Catholic Bibles, although the Eastern Orthodox continue to use the Septuagint, as they hold it to be divinely inspired. In modern times the Dead Sea Scrolls have shown the MT to be nearly identical to some texts of the Tanakh dating from 200 BCE but different from others.

Tebet

Tebet (Hebrew: טֵבֵת, Standard Tevet; Sephardim/Yemenite/Mizrachim "Tebeth"; Ashkenazi Teves; Tiberian Ṭēḇēṯ; from Akkadian ṭebētu) is the fourth month of the civil year and the tenth month of the ecclesiastical year on the Hebrew calendar. It follows Kislev and precedes Shevat. It is a winter month of 29 days. Tebet usually occurs in December–January on the Gregorian calendar.

Septuagint

The Septuagint, or simply "LXX", or the "Greek Old Testament", is a translation into Koine Greek of the Hebrew Bible and some related texts that are not included in the Hebrew Bible canon. It incorporates the oldest of several ancient translations of what are now the Christian Old Testament, Biblical apocrypha and Deuterocanonical books. The LXX is referred to in critical works by the abbreviation or G.

Anno Mundi

Anno Mundi (Latin: "in the year of the world"), abbreviated as AM or A.M., refers to a Calendar era based on the Biblical creation of the world. Numerous efforts have been made to determine the Biblical date of Creation, yielding varying results. Besides differences in interpretation, which version of the Bible is being referenced also impacts on the result. (see Dating creation)

The Hebrew calendar era is used within the Jewish communities for religious and other purposes; and the Byzantine calendar has been in general use at one time in the Orthodox Churches and several Eastern European countries.

crannog

A crannog is typically a partially or entirely artificial island, usually built in lakes, rivers and estuarine waters of Scotland and Ireland. Crannogs were used as dwellings over five millennia from the European Neolithic Period, to as late as the 17th/early 18th century although in Scotland, convincing evidence for Early and Middle Bronze Age or Norse Period use is not currently present in the archaeological record.

The earliest radiocarbon determinations obtained from key sites such as Oakbank in Loch Tay or Redcastle, Beauly Firth approach the Late Bronze Age - Early Iron Age transition at their widest interpretation at 2 sigma or 95.4% probability, falling after c.800BC and therefore could only be considered Late Bronze Age by the narrowest of margins. Crannogs have been variously interpreted as free-standing wooden structures, as at Loch Tay, although more commonly they exist as brush, stone or timber mounds which can be revetted with timber piles. However, in areas such as the Western Isles of Scotland, timber was unavailable from the Neolithic onwards. As a result, completely stone crannogs supporting drystone architecture are common here. Today, crannogs typically appear as small, circular islets, often 10 to 30 metres (30 to 100 ft) in diameter, covered in dense vegetation due to their inaccessibility to grazing livestock.

useful idiot

In political jargon, useful idiot is a pejorative term used to describe people perceived as propagandists for a cause whose goals they do not understand, who are used cynically by the leaders of the cause.

The term was originally used to describe Soviet sympathizers in Western countries. The implication was that although the people in question naïvely thought of themselves as an ally of the Soviet Union, they were actually held in contempt and were being cynically used. The use of the term in political discourse has since been extended to other propagandists, especially those who are seen to unwittingly support a malignant cause which they naively believe to be a force for good.

Despite often being attributed to Lenin, in 1987, Grant Harris, senior reference librarian at the Library of Congress, declared that "We have not been able to identify this phrase among [Lenin's] published works."

An early usage identified is in a 1948 article in the social-democratic Italian paper L'Umanita - as cited in a New York Times article on Italian politics of the same year.

A 2010 BBC radio documentary titled Useful Idiots listed among "useful idiots" of Joseph Stalin several prominent British writers including H. G. Wells and Doris Lessing, the Irish writer George Bernard Shaw, the American journalist Walter Duranty and the singer Paul Robeson.

Pertussis

Pertussis, also known as whooping cough, is a highly contagious bacterial disease caused by Bordetella pertussis. In some countries, this disease is called the 100 days' cough or cough of 100 days.

Symptoms are initially mild, and then develop into severe coughing fits, which produce the namesake high-pitched "whoop" sound in infected babies and children when they inhale air after coughing. The coughing stage lasts approximately six weeks before subsiding.

Prevention via vaccination is of primary importance because treatment is of little benefit to the person infected. However, antibiotics shorten the duration of infectiousness and are thus recommended. It is estimated that the disease currently affects 48.5 million people yearly, resulting in nearly 295,000 deaths.

Metrology

Metrology is the science of measurement. Metrology includes all theoretical and practical aspects of measurement. The word comes from Greek μέτρον (metron), "measure" + "λόγος" (logos), amongst others meaning "speech, oration, discourse, quote, study, calculation, reason". In Ancient Greek the term μετρολογία (metrologia) meant "theory of ratios".

duds

duds (plural of obsolete form dud)

(UK, dated) Clothing, especially those for work or of rough appearance.

dud

A dud is an ammunition round or explosive that fails to fire or detonate, respectively, on time or on command. Poorly designed devices (for example, improvised explosive devices (IEDs)), and small devices, have higher chances of being duds.

Duds are still dangerous, and can explode if handled. They have to be deactivated and disposed of carefully. In wartorn areas, many curious children have been injured or killed from tampering with such devices. Dud fireworks should never be destroyed by soaking in water as most fireworks becomes most unstable after water ingress. When the fireworks dryes it can "sweat" chemicals that are wery unstable.

Walloons

Walloons (/wɑːˈluːnz/; French: Wallons, IPA: [walɔ̃]; Walloon: Walons) are a French-speaking people who live in Belgium, principally in Wallonia. Walloons are a distinctive community within Belgium. Important historical and anthropological criteria (religion, language, traditions, folklore) bind Walloons to the French people. More generally, the term also refers to the inhabitants of the Walloon Region. They speak regional languages such as Walloon (with Picard in the West and Lorrain in the South).

nebby

nebby

nosey, used in Pittsburg, America.

Sagittal plane

Sagittal plane is a vertical plane which passes from ventral (front) to dorsal (rear) dividing the body into right and left halves.

pow-wow

A pow-wow (also powwow or pow wow ) is a gathering of North America's Native people. The word derives from the Narragansett word powwaw, meaning "spiritual leader". A modern pow-wow is a specific type of event where both Native American and non-Native American people meet to dance, sing, socialize, and honor American Indian culture. There is generally a dancing competition, often with significant prize money awarded. Pow-wows vary in length from one day session of 5 to 6 hours to three days. Major pow-wows or pow-wows called for a special occasion can be up to one week long.

The term also has been used to describe any gathering of Native Americans of any tribe, and as such is occasionally heard in older Western movies. The word has also been used to refer to a meeting, especially a meeting of powerful people such as officers in the military. However, such use can also be viewed as disrespectful to Native culture.

hydrofoil

A hydrofoil is a foil which operates in water. They are similar in appearance and purpose to airfoils.

Hydrofoils can be artificial, such as the rudder or keel on a boat, the diving planes on a submarine, a surfboard fin, or occur naturally, as with fish fins, the flippers of aquatic mammals, the wings of swimming seabirds, or other creatures like the sand dollar.

The term "hydrofoil" is commonly used for the wing-like structure mounted on struts below the hull of a variety of boats (see illustration), which lifts the boat out of the water during forward motion, in order to reduce hull drag. As a synecdoche, the term "hydrofoil" is often used to refer to boats using hydrofoil technology. Most of this article is about this type of hydrofoil.

kakistocracy

kakistocracy (plural kakistocracies)

Government under the control of a nation's worst or least-qualified citizens.

kakorrhaphiophobia

kakorrhaphiophobia

1. (rare) the fear of failure or defeat

Keratomalacia

Keratomalacia is an eye disorder that leads to a dry cornea. One of its major causes is Vitamin A deficiency. When xerophthalmia (a major cause of blindness) persists for a long time, it results in keratomalacia. There is degradation of corneal epithelium billaterally which may also get vascularised. Later corneal opacities develop. Bacterial infection leads to corneal ulceration, perforation of cornea, and total blindness.

kirkbuzzer

kirkbuzzer (plural kirkbuzzers)

1. (UK, archaic) A robber who preys on churches.

Cyphorhinus

Cyphorhinus is a genus of bird in the Troglodytidae family. It contains the following species:

• Song Wren (Cyphorhinus phaeocephalus)
• Chestnut-breasted Wren (Cyphorhinus thoracicus)
• Musician Wren (Cyphorhinus arada)

nescience

nescience (uncountable)

1. The absence of knowledge; ignorance, especially of orthodox beliefs.
2. (philosophy) The doctrine that nothing is actually knowable.

dudine

dudine (plural dudines)

1. (obsolete) A female dude (a woman who is very concerned about her dress and appearance).

Strabismus

Strabismus (/strəˈbɪzməs/; Modern Latin, from Greek στραβισμός strabismos; cf. στραβίζειν strabizein "to squint", στραβός strabos "squinting, squint-eyed"), is a condition in which the eyes are not properly aligned with each other. It typically involves a lack of coordination between the extraocular muscles, which prevents bringing the gaze of each eye to the same point in space and preventing proper binocular vision, which may adversely affect depth perception. Strabismus can present as manifest(Hetrotropia), apparent, latent(Hetrophoria) varities. Strabismus can be either a disorder of the brain in coordinating the eyes, or of one or more of the relevant muscles' power or direction of motion. Difficult strabismus problems are usually co-managed between orthoptists and ophthalmologists.

disconfirm

disconfirm (third-person singular simple present disconfirms, present participle disconfirming, simple past and past participle disconfirmed) [VERB]

(transitive) To establish the falsity of a claim or belief; to show or to tend to show that a theory or hypothesis is not valid.

polygyny

polygyny (plural polygynies)

The state or practice of having several wives at the same time; plurality of wives; marriage to several wives.

athwart

athwart (comparative more athwart, superlative most athwart) [ADVERB]

1. (archaic) From side to side; across.

   Above, the stars appeared to move slowly athwart.

   We placed one log on the ground, and another athwart, forming a crude cross.

2. (archaic) Across the path (of something).