Letters starting with “A”

Choose Alphabetical Listing:

ABORTIVE

1. coming to nothing; unsuccessful; fruitless
2. arrested in development; rudimentary
3. a) causing abortion; b) halting a disease process
4. born prematurely

ABSOLVENCE

1. to loosen from; to pronounce free from guilt or blame; aquit
2. a) to give religious absolution to b) to remite (a sin)
3. to free ( from a duty, promise, etc.)

ABSTRACT

1. to draw from, separate from; thought of apart from any particular instances or material objects; not concrete
2. expressing a quality thought of apart from any particular or material object/ beauty is an abstract word/
3. not easy to understand because of being extremely complex, remote from concrete reality, etc; abstruse
4. theoretical; not practical or applied
5. designating or of art abstracted from reality, in which designs or forms may be definite and geometric or fluid and amorphous: a generic term that encompasses various nonrealistic contemporary schools
6. a brief statement of the essential content of a book, article, speech, court record, etc; summary
7. an abstract thing, condition, idea, etc.
8. to take away; remove
9. to take dishonestly; steal
10. to think of (a quality) apart from any particular instance or material object that has it; also, to form (a general idea) from particular instances
11. to summarize; make an abstract of – in theory as apart from practice

ABSTRACTION

1. an abstracting or being abstracted; removal
2. formation of an idea, as of the qualities or properties of a thing, by mental separation from particular instances or material objects
3. an idea so formed, or a word or term for it/ “honesty” and” whiteness” are abstractions/
4. an unrealistic or impractical notion
5. mental withdrawal; absent-mindedness
6. an abstract quality
7. a picture, statue, etc. that is wholly or partly abstract

ACCORDANCE

1. agreement; harmony; conformity/in accordance with plans/
2. the act of granting

ACQUISITION

1. an acquiring or being acquired
2. something or someone acquired or added

ACTINIC

1. having to do with actinism

Note: actinism; that property of ultraviolet light, x-rays, or other radiations, by which chemical changes are produced

ADAGES

1. I say <speak, say]] an old saying that has been popularly accepted as a truth

ADEPT

1. also, and for, always/to arrive at <to, to pursue, attain; used in of alchemists claiming to have arrived at the philosopher’s stone]] highly skilled; expert – a person who is highly skilled in some field of knowledge or work; expert

ADMIRABLY

1. inspiring or deserving admiration or praise; excellent; splendid

AFFILIATED

1. for, usually, // to adopt as son< to take in as a member or branch
2. to connect or associate (oneself) with an organization, movement, etc.
3. to trace the origins or source of; specif., to determine legally the paternity of, to associate oneself; join – an affiliated individual or organization; member

AFFLUENT

1. flowing freely
2. plentiful; abundant
3. wealthy; prosperous; rich/ the affluent society/
4. a tributary stream
5. an affluent person

AFFRONT

1. to encounter face to face, to insult openly or purposely; offend; slight
2. to confront defiantly
3. [Archaic] to come before; meet; face an open or intentional insult; slight to one’s dignity

AGGREGATIONS

1. an aggregating or being aggregating
2. a group or mass of distinct things or individuals

ALIGNMENT

1. an aligning or being aligned; esp., a) arrangement in a straight line b) a condition of close cooperation /a new alignment of European nations/
2. a line or lines formed by aligning
3. Engineering a ground plan, as of a fieldwork, railroad, etc.

ALLEGORICAL

1. of or characteristic of allegory
2. that is or contains an allegory

Note: allegory al · le · gory

3. description of one thing under the image of another <other, to speak in assembly
4. a story in which people, things, and happenings have a hidden or symbolic meaning: allegories are used for teaching or explaining ideas, moral principles, etc.
5. the presenting of ideas by means of such stories
6. any symbol or emblem

ALLIED

1. united by kinship, treaty, agreement, etc.
2. closely related/Danish and Swedish are allied languages/

Dr. Ernest L. Norman

ALL-INCLUSIVE

1. including everything; comprehensive

AMALGAMATION

1. an amalgamating or being amalgamated
2. the result of amalgamating; mixture, blend, merger, etc.
3. Metallurgy the extraction of a precious metal from its ore by alloying it with mercury

ANALYSIS

1. a dissolving < ana-, up, throughout + lysis, a loosing < to loose
2. a) a separating or breaking up of any whole into its parts,esp. with an examination of these parts to find out their nature, proportion, function, interrelationship, etc. b) any detailed examination
3. a statement of the results of this process
4. PSYCHOANALYSIS: Linguis. the use of a word order and uninflected function words rather than inflection to express syntactic relationships
5. Math. a branch of mathematics, including calculus, that deals with functions and limits and their generalizations
6. SYSTEMS ANALYSIS: in the last (or final) analysis after all factors have been considered

ANALYZED

Note: analyze ana · lyze
1. to separate (a thing, idea, etc) into its parts so as to find out their nature, proportion, function, interrelationship, etc.
2. to examine in detail so as to determine the nature or tendencies of
3. to psychoanalyze
4. Chem. to examine (compounds or mixtures) by ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
5. Gram. To resolve (a sentence) into its grammatical elements

ANNIHILATED

1. to bring to nothing, to destroy completely; put out of existence; demolish (an atomic bomb can annihilate a city)
2. to consider or cause to be of no importance or without effect; nullify/ to annihilate another’s ambition/
3. to kill
4. to conquer decisively; crush

ANTICIPATED

Note: anticipate an · tici · pate
1. to take; to look forward to; expect/ to anticipate a pleasant vacation/
2. to make happen earlier; precipitate
3. to prevent by action in advance; forestall/ to anticipate an opponent’s blows/
4. to foresee (a command, wish, etc.) and perform in advance/ to anticipate a request/
5. to use or enjoy in advance/ to anticipate a legacy/
6. to be ahead of in doing or achieving/ did the Vikings anticipate Columbus in discovering America?/
7. to pay (a debt) before due – to speak of or consider a matter prematurely

APEXES

Note: apex a · pex
1. a point; prob. to fasten: the highest point; peak; vertex
2. the pointed end; tip
3. the highest point of interest, excitement, etc.; climax
4. Mining. the edge or outcrop of a vein nearest the surface

APPARITION

1. epiphany, appearance (in attendance, service) anything that appears unexpectedly or in an extraordinary way; esp., a strange figure appearing suddenly and thought to be a ghost
2. the act of appearing or becoming visible

APPURTENANCES

1. anything that appertains; thing added to a more important thing; adjunct
2. apparatus or equipment; accessories
3. an incidental right, privilege, etc., attached to some thing and passing with it, as by conveyance or sale
4. Mining. the edge or outcrop of a vein nearest the surface

AQUARIAN AGE

Note: Aquarius Aquar · ius
1. the water carrier: a large “S” constellation, near the celestial equator between Cetus and Capricornus; Water Bearer
2. the eleventh sign of the zodiac, entered by the sun about January 21: also called the Water Bearer
3. a person born under this sign

Note: Wikipedia July 2014: in 1929 the International Astronomical Union defined the edges of the 88 official Constellations. The edge established between Pisces and Aquarius technically locates the beginning of the Aquarian Age around 2600 AD. The Aquarian age is thought to bring with it an era of Universal brotherhood rooted in reason where it will be possible to solve social problems in a manner equitable to all and with greater opportunity for intellectual and spiritual improvement

AQUEOUS

1. of, like, or containing water; watery
2. formed by the action of water, as certain rocks made of sediment
3. of or having to do with the aqueous humor

ARABIAN MOSQUES

1. place of adoration, temple <. to prostrate oneself, pray]] a Muslim temple or place of worship

ARBORETUM

1. a place where many kinds of trees and shrubs are grown for exhibition or study

ARCHAIC

1. old, ancient, belonging to an earlier period; ancient
2. antiquated; old-fashioned
3. that has ceased to be used except for special purposes, as in poetry, church ritual, etc.

ARID

1. to be dry: lacking enough water for things to grow; dry and barren
2. not interesting; lifeless; dull

ARTISANS

1. a worker in a skilled trade; craftsman

ASCEND

1. to go up; move upward; rise
2. to proceed from a lower to a higher level or degree, as in rank, pitch, etc.
3. to slope or lead upward
4. to go back in time or line of ancestry
5. to move upward along; mount; climb/ to ascend stairs
6. to move toward the source of/ to ascend a river/
7. to succeed to (a throne)

ASCENSION

1. the act of ascending; ascent
2. Ascension Day – the Ascension Bible the bodily ascent of Jesus into heaven on the fortieth day after the Resurrection: Acts 1: 9

ASPECT

1. to look at, to look, the way a person appears; looks; mien
2. the appearance of a thing as seen from a specific point; view
3. a) any of the possible ways in which an idea, problem, etc. may be regarded/consider all aspects of the war/ b) a component part or quality; element/ aspects of her personality/
4. a facing in a given direction
5. a side facing in a given direction; exposure/the eastern aspect of the house/
6. [Archaic] a glance; gaze
7. Astrol. The position of stars, planets, etc. in relation to each other or to the observer, as an influence on human affairs
8. Gram. a) a characteristic of verbs, expressed in some languages by inflection, indicating the nature of an action as being completed or single (called perfective or no progressive aspect), or as being uncompleted, repeated, or habitual (called imperfective or progressive aspect); also an analytic category based on this characteristic b) any of the forms a verb takes to indicate this characteristic
9. Physics the position of a plane (flat surface) in relation to a liquid or gaseous substance through which it is moving or which is moving past it

ASSIMILATED

1. make similar, to change (food) into a form that can be taken up by, and made part of, the body tissues; absorb into the body
2. to absorb and incorporate into one’s thinking to absorb (groups of different cultures) into the main cultural body to make like or alike; cause to resemble: with to
3. [Now Rare] to compare or liken
4. Linguis. to cause to undergo assimilation
5. to become like or alike
6. to be absorbed and incorporated
7. Linguis. to undergo assimilation

ASSIMILATION

1. an assimilating or being assimilated; specif., a) the cultural absorption of a minority group into the main cultural body b) Linguis. a process in which a sound, tends to become like it in articulation/ the (n) in “in-” meaning “not” becomes (1) by assimilation in forming “illiterate”/ c) Physiol. the change of digested food into the protoplasm of an animal; also, the absorption and incorporation of nutritive elements by plants, as in photosynthesis

ASSUMED

1. pretended; put on; ficticious
2. taken for granted

ASTRAL

1. star, of, from, or like the stars
2. Zool, of an aster in mitosis
3. Theosophy designating or of a universal substance supposedly existing at a level just beyond a normal human perception

ASTRAL BODY

Note: Wikipedia. The astral body is a subtle body posited by many philosophers , intermediate between the intelligent soul and the physical body, composed of a subtle material. (1) The concept ultimately derives from the philosophy of Plato: it is related to an astral plane, which consists of the planetary heavens of astrology. The term was adopted by nineteenth-century Theosophists and neo-Rosicrucians.

ASTRAL FLIGHTS

Note: Wikipedia. The idea is rooted in common worldwide religious accounts of the afterlife (2) in which the soul’s journey or “ascent” is described in such terms as “an ecstatic; mystical or out of the body experience, wherein the spiritual (traveller or traveler) leaves the physical body and travels in his/her subtle body (or dream body or astral body) into ’ higher ’ realms”. (3) Hence “ the” many kinds of ‘ heavens ’, ‘ hells’ and purgatorial existences believed in by followers of innumerable religions “ may also be understood as astral phenomena, as may the various “ phenomena of the séance room”. (4) The phenomenon of apparitional experience is therefore related, as is made explicit in Cicero’s Dream of Scipio.

ASTRAL PROJECTION

Note: Wikipedia. The astral body is sometimes said to be visible as an aura of swirling (colours or colors). (5) It is widely linked today with out-of-body experiences or astral projection. Where this refers to a supposed movement around the real world, as in Muldoon and Carrington’s book The Projection of the Astral Body, it conforms to Madame Blavatsky’s usage of the term. Elsewhere this latter is termed “ etheric “, while “ astral “ denotes an experience of dream-symbols, archetypes, memories, spiritual beings and visionary landscapes.

ASTRAY

1. off the right path or way; wandering
2. in error

ASTRONOMER

1. an expert in astronomy

ASTROPHYSICAL

Note: Astrophysics astro · phys · ics. The main branch of astronomy which deals primarily with the physical properties of the universe, including luminosity, density, temperature, and chemical composition

ATLANTIS

1. legendary island or continent supposed to have existed in the Atlantic west of Gibraltar and to have sunk into the ocean

ATMOSPHERIC

1. of or in the atmosphere/ atmospheric lightning/
2. caused or produced by the atmosphere/ atmospheric pressure/
3. having or giving an atmosphere/ atmospheric music/

ATMOSPHERIC FRICTION

Note: ASK. Q&A: What is air friction. Air resistance is the force of air particles trying to stop motion of an object. Air resistance increases with increased speed and surface area

ATOM

1. uncut, indivisible, atom< to cut; [Obs.] any of the indivisible particles postulated by philosophers as the basic component of all matter
2. a tiny particle of anything; jot
3. Chem., Physics any of the smallest particles of an element that combine with similar particles of other elements to produce compounds; atoms combine to form molcules, and consist of a complex arrangement of electrons revolving about a positively charged nucleus containing (except for hydrogen) protons and neutrons and other particles-the atom nuclear energy

ATRIUM

1. the central court or main room of an ancient Roman house
2. a hall or court at the center or entrance of a building, usually rising through more than one story or all the stories and having a skylight or glass on one side and the roof
3. Anat. a chamber or cavity, esp. either of the thin-walled upper chambers of the heart that receive blood; auricle

ATROPHIED

1. a wasting away< a-, not to feed: a wasting away, esp. of body tissue, an organ, etc., or the failure of an organ or part to grow or develop, as because of insufficient nutrition-to waste away or fail to develop-to cause atrophy in

ATTRIBUTES

1. to assign< to set down or think of as belonging to, produced by, resulting from, or originating in; assign or ascribe (to) / the play is attributed to Shakespeare/
2. to ascribe as a quality or characteristic
3. a characteristic or quality of a person or thing
4. an object used in literature or art as a symbol for a person, office, etc. / winged feet are the attribute of Mercury/
5. Gram. a word or phrase used adjectivally

AURA

1. an invisible emanation or vapor, as the aroma of flowers
2. a particular atmosphere or quality that seems to arise from and surround a person or thing enveloped in an aura of grandeur/
3. a field of energy thought by some to emanate from all things in nature and to be visible to certain persons with psychic powers
4. Med. a warning sensation that precedes a seizure or other neurological disorder

AURIC

1. of or containing gold
2. of or containing trivalent gold

Dr. Ernest L. Norman

AUTHENTICITY

1. the quality or state of being authentic; reliability; genuineness

AUTOBIOGRAPHIES

1. [[AUTO . + BIOGRAPHY: coined (1809) by Robert Southey]]
2. the art or practice of writing one’s own biography
3. the story of one’s own life written or dictated by oneself

AUTOSUGGESTION

1. suggestion to oneself arising within one’s own mind and having effects on one’s thinking and bodily functions

AVATAR

1. Hinduism a god appearing on earth in bodily form; incarnation of a god
2. any incarnation or embodiment, as of a quality or concept in a person

AXIS INCLINATION

Note: axis. a real or imaginary straight line on which an object rotates or is regarded as rotating/the axis of a planet/
1. a real or imaginary straight line around which the parts of a thing, system, etc, are symmetrically or evenly arranged or composed/the axis of a picture/
2. a main line of motion, development, etc.
3. an alignment between countries, groups, etc. for promoting their purposes
4. Aeron. Any of the three straight lines, perpendicular to each other, passing through the center of gravity of an aircraft, namely the longitudinal axis from nose to tail, the lateral axis from side to side, and the vertical axis from above to below
5. Anat. a) the second cervicle vertebra b) any of various axial or central parts
6. Bot. a) the main stem of a plant b) the central system of a cluster
7. Geom. a) a straight line through the center of a plane figure or solid, esp. one around which the parts are symmetrically arranged b) a straight line for measurement or reference, as in graph
8. Optics a) a straight line through the centers of both surfaces of a lens b) a straight line from the object of vision to the fovea of the eye – the Axis the countries aligned against the Allies in WWII: originally applied to Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy (Rome-Berlin Axis), later extended to include Japan, etc. (Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis)

Note: inclination the act of bending, leaning, or sloping; esp., a bowing or nodding

9. an inclined surface or plane; slope; incline; slant
10. the extent or degree of incline from a horizontal or verticle position, course, etc.
11. the difference in direction of two lines; planes, or surfaces as measured by the angle between them; specif., a property of a line in a plane, being the angle measured from the positive portion of the x-axis to the line in question
12. a) a particular disposition or bent of mind; bias; tendency/an inclination to talk/ b) a liking or preference
13. any action, practice, or thing, toward which one is inclined

AZURE

1. of or like the color of a clear sky; sky-blue; sky blue or any similar blue color
2. [Old Poet.] the blue sky

Choose Alphabetical Listing: