Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Egress

A synonym for exit. The term was famously used by P. T. Barnum to move visitors along in his museum.

wiki

Sunday, November 4, 2007

Crenellations

Sequence of solid parts and the intervals between them along the top of a parapet, to facilitate firing and provide protection.

source
wiki

Diaphanous

semitransparent; clear.

source

Friday, November 2, 2007

Gemütlichkeit

a German abstract noun whose closest English equivalent is Cosiness. However, rather than basically just describing a place as not too large, well-heated and nicely furnished (a cosy room, a cosy flat), Gemütlichkeit connotes, much more than cosiness, the notion of belonging, social acceptance, cheerfulness, the absence of anything hectic and the spending of quality time in a place as described above.

wiki

Thursday, November 1, 2007

Revanchism

Revanchism (from French revanche, "revenge") is a term used since the 1870s to describe a political manifestation of the will to reverse territorial losses incurred by a country, often following a war. Revanchism draws its strength from patriotic and retributionist thought and is often motivated by economic or geo-political factors. Extreme revanchist ideologues often represent a hawkish stance, suggesting that desired objectives can be reclaimed in the positive outcome of another war.

wiki

Fen

A type of wetland that accumulates peat deposits. Fens are less acidic than bogs, deriving most of their water from groundwater rich in calcium and magnesium.

source

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Anoxic

Free of oxygen.

From Wikipedia:
Oceanic anoxic events occur when the Earth's oceans become completely depleted of oxygen (O2) below the surface levels. Although anoxic events have not happened for millions of years, the geological record shows that they happened many times in the past, and may have caused mass extinctions.

synanthrope

 A synanthrope (from ancient Greek σύν sýn "together, with" and ἄνθρωπος ánthrōpos "man") is an organism that evolve...