matrilocality

 In social anthropology, matrilocal residence or matrilocality (also uxorilocal residence or uxorilocality) is the societal system in which a married couple resides with or near the wife's parents. Thus, the female offspring of a mother remain living in (or near) the mother's house, thereby forming large clan-families, typically consisting of three or four generations living in the same place.

arc-boutant

 

arc-boutant (plural arc-boutants)

1. (architecture) Synonym of flying buttress
   
   
    
   
   
   
   

davit

 A davit (pronounced "dayvit" or see Wiktionary) is any of various crane-like devices used on a ship for supporting, raising, and lowering equipment such as boats and anchors.

 

achlorophyllous

 achlorophyllous (not comparable)

1. (botany) not having chlorophyll and, hence, unable to engage in photosynthesis

 Monotropa uniflora, also known as ghost plant, ghost pipe, or Indian pipe

stiffrump

 'stiffrump' (18th century): an obstinate and haughty individual who refuses to budge no matter what.

spirochaete

 A spirochaete (/ˈspaɪroʊˌkiːt/) or spirochete is a member of the phylum Spirochaetota (/-ˈkiːtiːz/), (synonym Spirochaetes)  which contains distinctive diderm (double-membrane) gram-negative bacteria, most of which have long, helically coiled (corkscrew-shaped or spiraled, hence the name) cells.

 

Many organisms within the Spirochaetota phylum cause prevalent diseases. Pathogenic members of this phylum include the following:

• Leptospira species, which causes leptospirosis
• Borrelia burgdorferi, B. mayonii, B. bissettiae, B. garinii, B. afzelii, B. spielmanii, B. lusitaniae, which cause Lyme disease.
• Borrelia recurrentis, which causes relapsing fever
• Treponema pallidum subspecies which cause treponematoses such as syphilis and yaws.
• Brachyspira pilosicoli and Brachyspira aalborgi, which cause intestinal spirochaetosis

 

cigarette sandwich

When you either have no food in the house or you’re on a low calorie diet and decide to have a cigarette instead of a meal.

CDMX

 Mexico City (Spanish: Ciudad de México, locally [sjuˈða(ð) ðe ˈmexiko] abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: Altepetl Mexico) is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America.

 

tepui

 

A tepui /ˈtɛpwi/, or tepuy (Spanish: [teˈpuj]), is a table-top mountain or mesa found in South America, especially in Venezuela and western Guyana. The word tepui means "house of the gods" in the native tongue of the Pemon, the indigenous people who inhabit the Gran Sabana.

Tepuis tend to be found as isolated entities rather than in connected ranges, which makes them the host of a unique array of endemic plant and animal species. Some of the most outstanding tepuis are Auyantepui, Autana, Neblina, and Mount Roraima. They are typically composed of sheer blocks of Precambrian quartz arenite sandstone that rise abruptly from the jungle, giving rise to spectacular natural scenery. Auyantepui is the source of Angel Falls, the world's tallest waterfall. 

 

blunk

 

blunk (third-person singular simple present blunks, present participle blunking, simple past and past participle blunked)

1. (intransitive) To blench, blink; turn aside.
2. (transitive, Scotland) To spoil, mismanage.

Ectoparasite

 

Ectoparasites are a taxonomically diverse group of organisms that infest the skin of human beings and other animals.

Microtonal music

 Microtonal music or microtonality is the use in music of microtones—intervals smaller than a semitone, also called "microintervals". It may also be extended to include any music using intervals not found in the customary Western tuning of twelve equal intervals per octave. In other words, a microtone may be thought of as a note that falls between the keys of a piano tuned in equal temperament.

 

halation

 

halation (countable and uncountable, plural halations)

1. The action of light surrounding some object as if making a halo.
2. The blurring of light around a bright area of a photographic image, or on a television screen.

 

Eco-socialism

 Eco-socialism (also known as green socialism or socialist ecology) is an ideology merging aspects of socialism with that of green politics, ecology and alter-globalization or anti-globalization. Eco-socialists generally believe that the expansion of the capitalist system is the cause of social exclusion, poverty, war and environmental degradation through globalization and imperialism, under the supervision of repressive states and transnational structures.

 

Sturm und Drang

  Sturm und Drang (/ˌʃtʊərm ʊnt ˈdræŋ, - ˈdrɑːŋ/, German: [ˈʃtʊʁm ʔʊnt ˈdʁaŋ]; usually translated as "storm and stress") was a proto-Romantic movement in German literature and music that occurred between the late 1760s and early 1780s. Within the movement, individual subjectivity and, in particular, extremes of emotion were given free expression in reaction to the perceived constraints of rationalism imposed by the Enlightenment and associated aesthetic movements.

 The Classical period music (1750–1800) associated with Sturm und Drang is predominantly written in a minor key to convey difficult or depressing sentiments. The principal themes tend to be angular, with large leaps and unpredictable melodic contours.

 

Chinampa

 Chinampa (Nahuatl languages: chināmitl [tʃiˈnaːmitɬ]) is a technique used in Mesoamerican agriculture which relies on small, rectangular areas of fertile arable land to grow crops on the shallow lake beds in the Valley of Mexico. They are built up on wetlands of a lake or freshwater swamp for agricultural purposes, and their proportions ensure optimal moisture retention.

 

woodland edge

 A woodland edge or forest edge is the transition zone (ecotone) from an area of woodland or forest to fields or other open spaces. Certain species of plants and animals are adapted to the forest edge, and these species are often more familiar to humans than species only found deeper within forests. A classic example of a forest edge species is the white-tailed deer in North America. 

 

violinic

 

violinic (comparative more violinic, superlative most violinic)

1. Of or relating to a violin or its sound.

 

Jungle juice

 

Jungle juice is the name given to an improvised mix of liquor that is usually served for group consumption. There are countless recipes and even websites devoted solely to jungle juice. The term has also been used for similar less-than-reputable alcoholic concoctions.

fatberg

 A fatberg is a rock-like mass of waste matter in a sewer system formed by the combination of flushed non-biodegradable solids, such as wet wipes, and fat, oil and grease (FOG) deposits. The handling of FOG waste and the buildup of its deposits are a long-standing problem in waste management, with "fatberg" a more recent neologism. Fatbergs have formed in sewers worldwide, with the rise in usage of disposable (so-called "flushable") cloths.

 

Smizmar

 On the television show Futurama, a Smizmar is the love partner in the Amphibiosan culture. It is their soul mate and one true love. 

 

Kooikerhondje

 The Kooikerhondje (Dutch for "Duck catcher's small dog") is a small spaniel-type breed of dog of Dutch ancestry that was originally used as a working dog, particularly in an eendenkooi (duck decoy) to lure ducks. Kooikers were popular in the 17th and 18th century and appear in the paintings of Rembrandt and Jan Steen. The breed is gaining popularity in the United States, Canada and Scandinavia, where it is still relatively unknown. 

 

seiche

A seiche is a standing wave oscillating in a body of water.

Seiches are typically caused when strong winds and rapid changes in atmospheric pressure push water from one end of a body of water to the other. When the wind stops, the water rebounds to the other side of the enclosed area.

obumbrant

 

obumbrant (not comparable)

1. overhanging

Silcock

 Silcock (and sillcock), same as "spigot", referring to a "cock" (as in stopcock and petcock) that penetrates a foundation sill. A valve controlling the release of water.

Canned Heat

 Sterno, a.k.a. Canned Heat, is a brand of jellied, denatured alcohol sold in a can and meant to be burned directly in its can. Its primary uses are in food service for buffet heating, in the home for fondue, and as a chafing fuel for heating chafing dishes. Other uses are for portable stoves and as an emergency heat source. It is also a popular fuel for use with toy and model steam and other external combustion engines. 

 

There are many instances of people drinking Sterno to become intoxicated as a form of surrogate alcohol. Since the alcohol it contains is denatured, Sterno is poisonous. Moreover, the methanol it contains can cause permanent blindness by destruction of the optic nerves. Bluesman Tommy Johnson alludes to the practice in his song "Canned Heat Blues" recorded in 1928. The blues band Canned Heat derived their name from the song. 

 

 

triptych

 A triptych (/ˈtrɪptɪk/ TRIP-tik; from the Greek adjective τρίπτυχον "triptukhon" ("three-fold"), from tri, i.e., "three" and ptysso, i.e., "to fold" or ptyx, i.e., "fold") is a work of art (usually a panel painting) that is divided into three sections.

 

link-boy

 A link-boy (or link boy or linkboy) was a boy who carried a flaming torch to light the way for pedestrians at night. Linkboys were common in London in the days before the introduction of gas lighting in the early to mid 19th century. The linkboy's fee was commonly one farthing, and the torch was often made from burning pitch and tow. 

The term derives from "link", a term for the cotton tow that formed the wick of the torch. Links are mentioned in William Shakespeare's Henry IV, part 1.
 

harmonium

 

The pump organ is a type of free-reed organ that generates sound as air flows past a vibrating piece of thin metal in a frame. The piece of metal is called a reed. Specific types of pump organ include the reed organ, harmonium, and melodeon. The idea for the free reed was imported from China through Russia after 1750, and the first Western free-reed instrument was made in 1780 in Denmark.

More portable than pipe organs, free-reed organs were widely used in smaller churches and in private homes in the 19th century, but their volume and tonal range were limited. They generally had one or sometimes two manuals, with pedal-boards being rare. The finer pump organs had a wider range of tones, and the cabinets of those intended for churches and affluent homes were often excellent pieces of furniture. Several million free-reed organs and melodeons were made in the US and Canada between the 1850s and the 1920s, some of which were exported. 

Alongside the furniture-sized instruments of the west, smaller designs exist. The portable, hand-pumped harmonium or samvadini is a major instrument on the Indian subcontinent developed by Indians to meet local needs. The craftsmen created a harmonium that a single person could carry, with added microtones. 

 

 

poultice

 

A poultice, also called a cataplasm, is a soft moist mass, often heated and medicated, that is spread on cloth and placed over the skin to treat an aching, inflamed or painful part of the body. It can be used on wounds such as cuts.

'Poultice' may also refer to a porous solid filled with solvent used to remove stains from porous stone such as marble or granite.

The word "poultice" comes from the Greek word "poltos" transformed in the Latin puls, pultes, meaning "porridge". 

 

underglow

 

underglow (third-person singular simple present underglows, present participle underglowing, simple past and past participle underglowed)

1. To beam or radiate too little light; to glow insufficiently.

umwelt

 In the semiotic theories of Jakob von Uexküll and Thomas A. Sebeok, umwelt (plural: umwelten; from the German Umwelt meaning "environment" or "surroundings") is the "biological foundations that lie at the very epicenter of the study of both communication and signification in the human [and non-human] animal". The term is usually translated as "self-centered world". Uexküll theorised that organisms can have different umwelten, even though they share the same environment.