Words starting with A

144 words.

• abacomancy Divination using dust, dirt, silt, sand, ashes, or smoke. Patterns in the medium under various circu
• abderitism The theory that humanity's morality will never advance beyond its present state.
• abecedarian Someone who is learning the alphabet.
• aberuncate To eradicate; to pull up by the roots.
• abligurition Prodigal expenditure on food.
• abnegate To deny (oneself something); to renounce or give up (a right, a power, a claim, a privilege, a conve
• abreact To eliminate previously repressed emotions by reliving past experiences.
• abroach To set abroach; to let out, as liquor; to broach; to tap.
• absit Formal permission to be away from a college for the greater part of the day or more.
• abydocomist A liar or sycophant who boasts of his falsehood.
• acheiropoieton A religion icon (chiefly of Christ or the Virgin Mary) believed not to have been created by human ha
• acnestis The section of an animal's skin that it cannot reach in order to scratch itself, usually the space b
• acrasia Lack of self-control; excess, intemperance; also, irregular or unruly behaviour.
• acribic meticulous, painstaking, thorough
• addorse To place back-to-back, to place with the back to (something else's back).
• adelantado A title bestowed by the king on certain nobles in the 15th-17th centuries, who granted them governor
• adiate To receive an inheritance.
• adoxograph A work of adoxography.
• adoxography Fine writing on a minor or trivial subject.
• adret The sun-facing side of a mountain; in the northern hemisphere, this is typically the south-facing sl
• adronitis Frustration with the amount of time required to become truly familiar with someone.
• adscititious Derived or acquired from something extrinsic; not part of the real, inherent, or essential nature of
• adumbrate To foreshadow vaguely.
• adytum The innermost sanctuary or shrine in a temple, from where oracles were given.
• aegrotat A certificate indicating that a student is ill, excusing attendance at lectures and examinations and
• aeolipile A steam engine powered by rocket propulsion due to escaping steam, consisting of a pressure vessel m
• aeroir The taste or flavor of the air associated with a particular place or environment.
• aeromancy Divination by use of atmospheric conditions.
• afflatus A sudden rush of creative impulse or inspiration, often attributed to divine influence.
• afterling One who comes after or later; an aftercomer; one who is late.
• aftertale Evil talk; slander; defamation.
• agelast One who never laughs (especially at jokes); a mirthless person.
• agger A double tide, particularly a high tide in which the water rises to a given level, recedes, and then
• agnail Torn skin near a toenail or fingernail.
• agnotology The study of culturally-induced ignorance or doubt, particularly the publication of inaccurate or mi
• agoraphilia The love of public life, crowds, and activity.
• agrise To shudder with horror; to tremble, to be terrified.
• ahnentafel A genealogical numbering system for listing a person's direct ancestors.
• ailurophile A person with ailurophilia; a cat-lover.
• alderliefest Often used as an epithet when addressing someone: most beloved.
• aleatory Depending on the throw of a die; random, arising by chance.
• alectryomancer A practitioner of alectryomancy.
• alembroth The "salt of wisdom" of the alchemists, a double salt composed of the chlorides of ammonium and merc
• alethonym The true name of a person.
• alethophobia A fear or dislike of the truth; an unwillingness to come to terms with truth or facts.
• alexitery An antidote to poison.
• alexithymia A deficiency in understanding, processing, or describing emotions.
• algific Very cold; covered in ice or cold air.
• alief A primitive, subconscious belieflike attitude which may contradict one's conscious beliefs.
• alkahest A universal solvent sought by the alchemists.
• allect To allure; to entice; to sway.
• almucantar A small circle on the celestial sphere, parallel to the horizon, that is used in astronomy and navig
• alpenstock A stout adjustable walking stick with a metal point, used by mountain climbers and walkers in hilly
• altaltissimo The highest point of something; the pinnacle or apex.
• alutaceous leathery in color or texture.
• alveary A beehive, or anything resembling a beehive.
• amain With all of one's might; mightily; forcefully, violently.
• ambages Indirect or roundabout ways of talking; circumlocution.
• ambedo A kind of melancholic trance in which a person becomes completely absorbed in vivid sensory details.
• ambsace Two ones; the lowest throw at dice; a pair of aces.
• amercement A non-statutory monetary penalty or forfeiture, usually applied at the discretion of a court.
• amnicolist One who dwells by a river.
• amphisbaena A mythical serpent having a head at each end of its body, able to move in either direction.
• amphitryon A host or entertainer.
• anadem A headband, especially a garland of flowers.
• anagnorisis The moment in the plot of a drama in which the hero makes a discovery that explains previously unexp
• analemma A figure-eight curve that results when the Sun's position in the sky is plotted out over the year at
• anancasm Obsessive-compulsive behaviour.
• anatopism A thing that is out of its proper place; the geographic counterpart to anachronism.
• anatripsology The study or application of friction or rubbing as a remedy.
• anemoia Nostalgia for a time or a place one has never known.
• anfractuous sinuous, twisty, winding.
• animadvert To criticise, to censure.
• ankus The hooked goad that is used in India to control elephants.
• anocracy A political system which is neither fully democratic nor fully autocratic, often being vulnerable to
• anomie Alienation or social instability caused by erosion of standards and values.
• antichthon A hypothetical Earth on the opposite side of the Sun.
• antigraph A manuscript from which a copy (apograph) is made.
• antlophobia The fear of floods or inundation.
• antonomasia The substitution of an epithet or title in place of a proper noun.
• apatheia A state of mind in Stoic philosophy in which one is free from emotional disturbance; the freedom fro
• apatheism Apathy towards the existence of a god; belief that the question of the existence of a god is unimpor
• aphesis The loss of the initial unstressed vowel of a word.
• aphthong A letter or combination of letters employed in spelling a word but not pronounced; a silent letter o
• apistevist Someone who rejects using faith as a legitimate method to reach conclusions.
• aplomb Self-confidence; poise; composure.
• apocryphiar One who rewrites history to their own advantage or tells self-aggrandizing falsehoods.
• apograph A copy or transcript of a manuscript (called the antigraph).
• apophasis An allusion to something by denying that it will be mentioned.
• apophenia The perception of or belief in connectedness among unrelated phenomena.
• aporia An expression of deliberation with oneself regarding uncertainty or doubt as to how to proceed.
• aposiopesis An abrupt breaking-off in speech, often indicated in print using an ellipsis (…) or an em dash (—).
• apotropaic Intended to ward off evil.
• apozem A decoction or infusion.
• appetence The state or action of desiring or craving.
• apricity The light or warmth of the Sun.
• aprosdoketon A figure of speech where an expected word in an idiom is replaced unexpectedly by an unusual one, as
• aptonym A proper name that aptly describes the occupation or character of the person, especially by coincide
• aquamanile A ewer or jug-like vessel, shaped like an animal or human figure, used for washing the hands.
• arcana Specialized knowledge that is mysterious to the uninitiated.
• archaeolatry Worship of an antiquity; excessive veneration of antiquity.
• archaeologism the use of ponderous, old-fashioned language.
• archegete The founder, progenitor, originator of a group, tradition, or institution.
• archiater The chief, or highest-ranked physician of a prince, city or country, such as the Holy Roman Empire
• archon A chief magistrate of ancient Athens.
• archwife A big, masculine wife; a dominating woman; virago.
• arcology Urban development theory proposed by Paolo Soleri involving three-dimensional building methods and e
• aread To soothsay, prophesy.
• arefy To dry, or make dry; wither.
• argot A secret language or conventional slang peculiar to thieves, tramps and vagabonds.
• aristarchy Government by the best people.
• arithmancy Divination using numbers that are the equivalent of letters of a name
• arrhenogeny The production of only male offspring.
• arsis The stronger part of a musical measure: the part containing the beat.
• aseity The attribute of being entirely self-derived, in contrast to being derived from or dependent on anot
• assart Forest land cleared for agriculture.
• assassinatrix A female assassin.
• assegai A slim hardwood spear or javelin with an iron tip, especially those used by Bantu peoples of Souther
• asseverate To assert earnestly, seriously, and confidently
• assiduity Great and persistent toil or effort.
• assoil To absolve or release (someone) from blame or sin; to forgive, to pardon.
• assonance The repetition of similar or identical vowel sounds (though with different consonants), usually in l
• assythment Compensation or reparation for a criminal offence.
• astonied In shock or confusion; bewildered, astonished.
• astripotent The ruler of the stars.
• atgeir A kind of spear-like polearm used by the Norse, conventionally translated as halberd, but of uncerta
• athanor A furnace or stove designed and used to maintain uniform heat, primarily used by alchemists.
• atheling A prince; especially, an Anglo-Saxon prince or royal heir.
• athetize To reject a passage of text as spurious.
• atomy A skeleton.
• attar An essential oil extracted from flowers.
• attemper To temper by adjusting relative quantities, or blending qualities.
• attentat Anything whatsoever, as a ruling, by the judge of a lower court in a matter pending an appeal.
• aureate Golden in color or shine.
• autoantonym A word that has two opposing meanings.
• autochthon The earliest inhabitant of an area; an indigenous person.
• autological Possessing the property it describes.
• autotelic An autotelic person, a person with an autotelic personality.
• auxesis A rhetorical device whereby the subject matter is made greater, particularly — Overstatement, hyperb
• avania A tax or fee imposed on foreigners under the Ottoman Empire, especially one considered to be irregul
• averruncate To avert; to ward off.
• avuncular In the manner of an uncle, pertaining to an uncle.
• axinomancy Divination by saws or axes.
• axolotl A critically endangered salamander found in the elevated lakes of Mexico, Ambystoma mexicanum.