May 2020

• Deep-six: destroy or dispose of (something) irretrievably (puts the kibosh on)
• Proboscis: the nose of a mammal, especially when long and mobile (like an elephant, tapir... or saiga antelope)
• Cote: a shelter for mammals or birds, esp. pigeons (an avian shelter)
• Colloquy: a conversation ("...a community of plants and animals pursuing their own interests, a colloquy of DNA.")
• Theodicy: the vindication of divine goodness and providence in view of the existence of evil
• Cavalcade: a procession of people walking by (or of events, organisms, stars, and rocks and history as a whole occurring over time)
• Evanescent: soon passing of sight, memory, or existence; quickly fading or disappearing (like structures or patterns, thermodynamically ; or waves in the ocean's surface)

June 2020

• Rara avis: a rare person or thing, rarity; literally, Latin for a rare bird
• Ne plus ultra: literally, Latin for "no more beyond;" the most perfect example; ultimate
• Peripatetic: travelling from place to place, in particular working or based in various places for relatively short periods of time; Aristotelian
• Beatific: feeling or expressing blissful happiness; rapturous; blessed
• Je ne sais quoi: French for "I do not know what," used to capture an indescribable, special distinguishing feature, or to name some unnamable quality
• Coruscating: flashing or sparkling; severely critical, scathing
• Inculcate: instill or teach an idea, attitude, or habit by persistent instruction
• Puissance: great power, influence, or prowess; or a competitive test of a horse's ability to jump large obstacles in showjumping
• Genuflecting: lower one's body briefly by bending one knee to the ground, typically in worship or as a sign of respect

September 2020

• Architrave: a main beam, resting across the top of columns, specifically the lower third entablature; the molded frame around a doorway or window

December 2020

• Feuilleton: the part of a newspaper or magazine devoted to fiction, criticism, or light literature
• Analysand: a person undergoing psychotherapy
• Virago: a domineering, violent, or bad-tempered woman
• Exigent: pressing, demanding
• Hallux: a person's big toe
• Caesura: a break between words within a metrical foot
• **Exigent:**pressing, demanding
• Chthonic: relating to the underworld
• Auscultating: listening to the sounds of the heart, lungs, etc. with a stethoscope
• Supererogatory: going above and beyond one's duties
• Consternation: the feeling of anxiety or dismay at something unexpected happening
• Perspicacious: discerning; having ready insight and understanding into things
• Solipsistic: the view or theory that the self is all that can be known to exist
• Balaclava: a town in Crimea, or a form of cloth headgear that exposes usually only the eyes and mouth
• Lambent: glowing, gleaming, or flickering with a soft radiance
• Esplanade: a long, level, open area, typically beside a sea, along which people may walk for pleasure
• Patois: vernacular
• Vitriolic: filled with bitter criticism or malice, acrimonious
• Pinotage: a variety of red wine grape grown in South Africa
• Swivvet: a condition of haste, flutter; extreme discomposure or distress; irritation, exasperation, annoyance
• Asunder: apart, into pieces (archaic)
• Prolix: using or containing too many words; tediously lengthy
• Éclat: style, brilliant display or effect
• Aldermanic: elected member of a municipal council

January 2021

• Miscegenation: interbreeding of people considered to be in different races
• Convalescent: recovering
• Polemical: critical; relating to strongly critical or controversial writing
• Opprobrium: vilification, disgrace, harsh criticism
• Banana republic: a politically unstable country with an economy dependent upon the exportation of a limited-resource product
• Sessile: fixed in one place; immobile
• Apoplectic: overcome with anger, extremely indignant
• Conceit: among other things, an artistic device or effect
• Quiddity: the inherent nature or essence of someone or something (as in, the quiddity of the coffee stayed the same as it cooled.)
• Diaphanous: light, delicate, and translucent (esp. of fabric)
• Milquetoast: a timid or feeble person; insipid or bland
• Hirsute: hairy
• Maieutics: of or denoting the Socratic mode of inquiry, which aims to bring a person's latent ideas into clear consciousness.
• Coruscating: flashing, sparkling; brilliant or striking in content or style
• Sojourner: one staying temporarily ("We are strangers and sojourners...")
• Brio: vigor or vivacity of style or performance.
• Mien: a person's look or manner, especially one of a particular kind indicating their character or mood (the deer's bored mien..."
• Omertà: code of silence about criminal activity and a refusal to give evidence to authorities (practices by the Mafia)

February 2021

• Redoubtable: formidable, esp. of an opponent (often humorous)
• Frowzy: scruffy and neglected in appearance (like a camel!)
• Schadenfreude: pleasure derived from someone else's misfortune
• Vertiginous: extremely high or steep
• Disquisition: a long or elaborate essay or discussion on a particular subject (as in Neal Stephenson books)
• Panopticon: a circular prison with cells arranged around a central well, from which prisoners could at all times be observed (as in the digital one we all are a all in)
• Insouciantly: with a casual lack of concern
• Hope against hope: cling to a mere possibility
• Rector: a members of the clergy in charge of a parish in Episcopalian churches, or the head of some schools/universities
• Carmine: vivid crimson color

March 2021

• Thixotropy: a time-dependent shear thinning property, the reversible behavior of certain gels that liquefy when shaken (or of manmade land facing earthquakes...)
• Glib: having a ready flow of words, but lacking thought or understanding; smooth-tongued
• Pusillanimous: showing a lack of courage or determination; timid
• Sedulously: with dedication and diligence (as in, the way the NZ Treaty of Waitangi was protected)
• Au fait: having a good or detailed knowledge of (French, pronounced "oh fey", literally: to the fact)
• Soupçon: a very small amount of something
• Causerie: an informal article or talk, typically one on a literary subject
• Provenance: the place of origin or earliest known history of something

April 2021

• Oneiric: relating to dreams or dreaming
• Cupidity: greed
• Nash equilibrium: a stable state of a system involving the interaction of different participants, in which no participant can gain by a unilateral change of strategy if the strategies of the others remain unchanged.
• Propitiousness: giving or indicating a good chance of success, favorable
• Ethology: the science of animal behavior

May 2021

• Inculcate: instill by persistent instruction
• Ineffability: inability to be described in words
• Jeremiad: a long, mournful complaint or lamentation; a list of woes
• Caipirinha: ****Brazil's national cocktail, made with cachaça, sugar, and lime
• Quomodocumque: Latin for somehow
• Florilegium: collection of fine extracts from the body of a larger work, an anthology; literally, Latin for gathering of flowers

June 2021

• Ubuntu: the profound sense that we are human only through the humanity of others; that if we are to accomplish anything in this world, it will in equal measure be due to the work and achievements of others (Nelson Mandela)
• Apoplexy: incapacity or speechlessness caused by extreme anger (as in, government spending that would have caused ideological apoplexy)
• Cordillera: a system or group of parallel mountain ranges together with the intervening plateaus and other features, especially in the Andes or the Rockies.
• Intaglio: a design incised or engraved into a material.

July 2021

• Hamartia: a fatal flaw leading to the downfall of a tragic hero or heroine
  • According to Wonderworks, actually has the more ethically-neutral meaning of a mistake of perception, like a misheard word or a moment of blurred vision"
• Colophon: a publisher's emblem or imprint, especially one on the title page or spine of a book (or, for example, a modern interpretation by Starbucks)

August 2021

• Force majeure: unforeseeable circumstances that prevent someone from fulfilling a contract; irresistible compulsion or greater force

September 2021

• Cognate: corresponding (originally from linguistics, also used in biochem, as in a receptor and it's cognate ligand)
• Astriferous: bearing or containing stars; starry (via Futility Closet)
• Stelliferous: filled with stars; starry
• Puncta: small, distinct points (sing. = punctum); in anatomy, the opening of a tear duct
• Fusty: smelling stale, damp, or stuffy; old-fashioned in attitude or style
• Cynophilic: dog-loving

October 2021

• Rigamarole: a lengthy and complicated procedure
• Eschatological: relating to death, judgment, and the final destiny of the soul and of humankind

November 2021

• Anent: (archaic) about, concerning

January 2022

• Preterite: of the present moment
• Bric-a-brac: ornamenents
• Oneiric: of or relating to dreams
• Palimpsest: a piece of writing on which other writing has been superimposed on effaced earlier writing
• Saeculum: a word originating from the Etruscans referring to the length of time of the living memory of a person (or, perhaps, of a tree)
• Coeval: having the same age or date of origin, contemporary
• Peccaries: piglike mammals found in the Americas

February 2022

• Troglodytic: relating to a troglodyte, or a human being who inhabits a cave or the area beneath the overhanging rocks of a cliff
• Friable: easily crumbled
• Spruik: speak in public, especially to advertise a show (or an ancient grain!)