1. perpetual |pərˈpeCH(o͞o)əl|
adjective
1> never ending or changing: deep caves in perpetual darkness.
• [attributive] denoting a position, job, or trophy held for life rather than a limited period, or the person holding it: a perpetual secretary of the society.
• (of an investment) having no fixed maturity date; irredeemable: a perpetual bond.
2> occurring repeatedly; so frequent as to seem endless and uninterrupted: their perpetual money worries.
• (of a plant) blooming or fruiting several times in one season: he grows perpetual carnations.
ORIGIN
Middle English: from Old French perpetuel, from Latin perpetualis, from perpetuus ‘continuing throughout,’ from perpes, perpet- ‘continuous.’
2. deflection |dəˈflekSH(ə)n| (also deflexion)
noun
the action or process of deflecting or being deflected: the deflection of the light beam.
• the amount by which something is deflected: an 11-mile deflection of the river.
The smallest deflection of the missile could bring disaster.
ORIGIN
early 17th century: from late Latin deflexio(n-), from deflectere ‘bend away’ (see deflect) .
deflect |dəˈflekt|
verb [with object]
cause (something) to change direction by interposing something; turn aside from a straight course: the bullet was deflected harmlessly into the ceiling | figurative : he attempted to deflect attention away from his private life.
• [no object] (of an object) change direction after hitting something: the ball deflected off his body.
• cause (someone) to deviate from an intended purpose: she refused to be deflected from anything she had set her mind on.
• cause (something) to change orientation: the compass needle is deflected from magnetic north by metal in the aircraft.
ORIGIN
mid 16th century: from Latin deflectere, from de- ‘away from’ + flectere ‘to bend.’
3. artillery |ˌärˈtil(ə)rē|
noun (plural artilleries)
large-caliber guns used in warfare on land: tanks and heavy artillery.
• a military detachment or branch of the armed forces that uses large-caliber guns.
Artillery growled and belched on the horizon.
DERIVATIVES
artillerist |-rist| noun
ORIGIN
late Middle English: from Old French artillerie, from artiller, alteration of atillier ‘equip, arm,’ probably a variant of atirier, from a- (from Latin ad ‘to, at’) + tire ‘rank, order.’
4. humor |ˈ(h)yo͞omər| (British humour) /Pay attention to the third meaning./
noun
1> the quality of being amusing or comic, especially as expressed in literature or speech: his tales are full of humor.
• the ability to express humor or make other people laugh: their inimitable brand of humor.
2> a mood or state of mind: her good humor vanished | the clash hadn't improved his humor.
• archaic an inclination or whim.
3> (also cardinal humor) historical each of the four chief fluids of the body (blood, phlegm, yellow bile [choler], and black bile [melancholy]) that were thought to determine a person's physical and mental qualities by the relative proportions in which they were present.
verb [with object]
comply with the wishes of (someone) in order to keep them content, however unreasonable such wishes might be: she was always humoring him to prevent trouble.
• archaic adapt or accommodate oneself to (something).
PHRASES
out of humor
in a bad mood.
sense of humor
the ability to perceive humor or appreciate a joke.
ORIGIN
Middle English (as humour): via Old French from Latin humor ‘moisture,’ from humere (see humid). The original sense was ‘bodily fluid’ (surviving in aqueous humor and vitreous humor, fluids in the eyeball); it was used specifically for any of the cardinal humors ( sense 3 of the noun), whence ‘mental disposition’ (thought to be caused by the relative proportions of the humors). This led, in the 16th century, to the senses ‘state of mind, mood’ ( sense 2 of the noun) and ‘whim, fancy,’ hence to humor someone ‘to indulge a person's whim.’ Sense 1 of the noun dates from the late 16th century.
5. apparatus |ˌapəˈradəsˌapəˈrādəs|
noun (plural apparatuses)
1 the technical equipment or machinery needed for a particular activity or purpose: laboratory apparatus.
2 a complex structure within an organization or system: the apparatus of government.
3 (also critical apparatus or apparatus criticus) a collection of notes, variant readings, and other matter accompanying a printed text.
A nuclear reactor is the apparatus in which atoms are split.
ORIGIN
early 17th century: from Latin, from apparare ‘make ready for,’ from ad- ‘toward’ + parare ‘make ready.’
Large Hadron Collider(abbreviation LHC)
a large particle accelerator located at the CERN laboratory on the French–Swiss border near Geneva. Operation of the collider began in 2008, and an initial aim was to provide evidence for the existence of the Higgs boson.
6. eclipse |əˈklips|
noun
1 an obscuring of the light from one celestial body by the passage of another between it and the observer or between it and its source of illumination: an eclipse of the sun.
• a loss of significance, power, or prominence in relation to another person or thing: the election result marked the eclipse of the traditional right and center.
2 Ornithology a phase during which the distinctive markings of a bird (especially a male duck) are obscured by molting of the breeding plumage: [as modifier] : eclipse plumage.
verb [with object]
(of a celestial body) obscure the light from or to (another celestial body): as the last piece of the sun was eclipsed by the moon.
• literary obscure or block out (light): a sea of blue sky violently eclipsed by showers.
• deprive (someone or something) of significance, power, or prominence: the state of the economy has eclipsed the environment as the main issue.
PHRASES
in eclipse
1 losing or having lost significance, power, or prominence: his political power was in eclipse.
2 Ornithology (especially of a male duck) in its eclipse plumage.
ORIGIN
Middle English: from Old French e(s)clipse (noun), eclipser (verb), via Latin from Greek ekleipsis, from ekleipein ‘fail to appear, be eclipsed,’ from ek ‘out’ + leipein ‘to leave.’
7. crater |ˈkrādər|
noun
1 a large, bowl-shaped cavity in the ground or on the surface of a planet or the moon, typically one caused by an explosion or the impact of a meteorite or other celestial body.
• a large pit or hollow forming the mouth of a volcano.
• a cavity or hole in any surface.
2 a large bowl used in ancient Greece for mixing wine.
verb [with object]
form a crater in (the ground or a planet): he has the offensive power to crater the enemy's runways | (as adjective cratered) : the heavily cratered areas of the moon.
ORIGIN
early 17th century (denoting the hollow forming the mouth of a volcano): via Latin from Greek kratēr ‘mixing bowl,’ from krasis ‘mixture.’
Crater |ˈkrādər| Astronomy
a small and faint southern constellation (the Cup), between Hydra and Leo, said to represent the goblet of Apollo.
• (as genitive Crateris |krāˈteris| ) used with a preceding letter or numeral to designate a star in this constellation: the star Delta Crateris.
ORIGIN
Latin, from Greek,‘mixing bowl.’
8. immortal |i(m)ˈmôrdl|
adjective
living forever; never dying or decaying: our mortal bodies are inhabited by immortal souls.
• deserving to be remembered forever: the immortal children's classic, “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.”
noun
an immortal being, especially a god of ancient Greece or Rome.
• a person of enduring fame: he will always be one of the immortals of hockey.
• (Immortals) historical the royal bodyguard of ancient Persia.
• (Immortal) a member of the French Academy.
DERIVATIVES
immortally |i(m)ˈmôrd(ə)lē| adverb
ORIGIN
late Middle English: from Latin immortalis, from in- ‘not’ + mortalis (see mortal) .
9. stargazer |ˈstärˌɡāzər|
noun
1 informal an astronomer or astrologer.
• a daydreamer.
2 a fish of warm seas that normally lies buried in the sand with only its eyes, which are on top of the head, protruding.
[● a widely distributed fish that has electric organs (family Uranoscopidae: several genera).● (sand stargazer) a western Atlantic fish (family Dactyloscopidae: several genera).]
Call them stargazers, sun seekers, see the moonlights in their eyes.
DERIVATIVES
stargaze |ˈstärˌɡāz| verb
10. heavenly body |ˈhevənlē ˈbädē|
noun
a planet, star, or other celestial body.
11. astrolabe |ˈastrəˌlāb|
nounchiefly historical
an instrument formerly used to make astronomical measurements, typically of the altitudes of celestial bodies, and in navigation for calculating latitude, before the development of the sextant. In its basic form (known from classical times), it consists of a disk with the edge marked in degrees and a pivoted pointer.
Finally,the tall, imposing figure sighed deeply and placed the astrolabe on a table that was no longer there, andvanished.
ORIGIN
late Middle English: from Old French astrelabe, from medieval Latin astrolabium, from Greek astrolabon, neuter of astrolabos ‘star-taking.’
12. alchemy |ˈalkəmē|
noun
the medieval forerunner of chemistry, based on the supposed transformation of matter. It was concerned particularly with attempts to convert base metals into gold or to find a universal elixir.
• a seemingly magical process of transformation, creation, or combination: finding the person who's right for you requires a very subtle alchemy.
What spurred them on was alchemy,the “science” of changing ordinary metals into gold.
DERIVATIVES
alchemic |alˈkemik| adjective.
alchemical |alˈkemikəl| adjective.
alchemize |ˈalkəˌmīz| verb
ORIGIN
late Middle English: via Old French and medieval Latin from Arabic alkīmiyā ', from al ‘the’ + kīmiyā ' (from Greek khēmia, khēmeia ‘art of transmuting metals’).
13. exquisite |ekˈskwizətˈekˌskwizət|
adjective
extremely beautiful and, typically, delicate: exquisite, jewellike portraits.
• intensely felt: the most exquisite kind of agony.
• highly sensitive or discriminating: her exquisite taste in painting.
Such a finding as this exquisite antique is rare indeed.
noun
a man who is affectedly concerned with his clothes and appearance; a dandy.
DERIVATIVES
exquisiteness |ekˈskwizətnəsˈekˌskwizətnəsˈekskwəzətnəs| noun
ORIGIN
late Middle English (in the sense ‘carefully ascertained, precise’): from Latin exquisit- ‘sought out,’ from the verb exquirere, from ex- ‘out’ + quaerere ‘seek.’
14. quash |kwäSH|
verb [with object]
reject or void, especially by legal procedure: his conviction was quashed on appeal.
• put an end to; suppress: a hospital executive quashed rumors that nursing staff will lose jobs.
ORIGIN
Middle English: from Old French quasser ‘annul,’ from late Latin cassare (medieval Latin also quassare), from cassus ‘null, void.’ Compare with squash1.
15. combustion |kəmˈbəsCH(ə)n|
noun
the process of burning something: the combustion of fossil fuels.
• Chemistry rapid chemical combination of a substance with oxygen, involving the production of heat and light.
Soot is usually the product of the imperfect combustion of fuel.
DERIVATIVES
combustive |-ˈbəstiv| adjective
ORIGIN
late Middle English: from late Latin combustio(n-), from Latin comburere ‘burn up.’
16. strata |ˈstrādəˈstradə|
plural form of stratum.
The older strata gradually disintegrate.
stratum |ˈstrādəmˈstradəm|
noun (plural strata |ˈstrātə, ˈstra-| )
1 a layer or a series of layers of rock in the ground: a stratum of flint.
• a thin layer within any structure: thin strata of air.
2 a level or class to which people are assigned according to their social status, education, or income: members of other social strata.
• Statistics a group into which members of a population are divided in stratified sampling.
ORIGIN
late 16th century (in the sense ‘layer or coat of a substance’): modern Latin, from Latin, literally ‘something spread or laid down,’ neuter past participle of sternere ‘strew.’
usage: In Latin, the word stratum is singular and its plural form is strata. In English, this distinction is maintained. It is therefore incorrect to use strata as a singular: a new stratum was uncovered (not a new strata was uncovered). It is also wrong to create the form stratums or stratas as the plural: a series of overlying strata (not overlying stratums or overlying stratas).
17. leapfrog |ˈlēpˌfrôɡ|
noun
a game in which players in turn vault with parted legs over the backs of others who are bending down.
verb (leapfrogs, leapfrogging, leapfrogged) [no object]
with legs parted, vault oneself over the backs of others who are bending down: they leapfrogged around the courtyard.
• (of a person or group) surpass or overtake another to move into a leading or dominant position: she leapfrogged into a sales position.
• [with object] pass over (a stage or obstacle): attempts to leapfrog the barriers of class.
18. root 1 |ro͞ot|
noun
1> the part of a plant that attaches it to the ground or to a support, typically underground, conveying water and nourishment to the rest of the plant via numerous branches and fibers: cacti have deep and spreading roots | a tree root.
• the persistent underground part of a plant, especially when fleshy and enlarged and used as a vegetable, e.g., a turnip or carrot.
• any plant grown for its edible root.
• the embedded part of a bodily organ or structure such as a hair, tooth, or nail: her hair was fairer at the roots.
• the part of a thing attaching it to a greater or more fundamental whole; the end or base: a little lever near the root of the barrel.
2> the basic cause, source, or origin of something: love of money is the root of all evil | jealousy was at the root of it | [as modifier] : the root cause of the problem.
• the essential substance or nature of something: matters at the heart and root of existence.
• (roots) family, ethnic, or cultural origins, especially as the reasons for one's long-standing emotional attachment to a place or community: it's always nice to return to my roots.
• (as adjective roots) denoting or relating to something, especially music, from a particular ethnic or cultural origin, especially a non-Western one: roots music.
• (in biblical use) a scion; a descendant: the root of David.
• Linguistics a morpheme, not necessarily surviving as a word in itself, from which words have been made by the addition of prefixes or suffixes or by other modification: many European words stem from this linguistic root | [as modifier] : the root form of the word.
• Music the fundamental note of a chord.
3> Mathematics a number or quantity that when multiplied by itself, typically a specified number of times, gives a specified number or quantity: find the cube root of the result.
• short for square root.
• a value of an unknown quantity satisfying a given equation: the roots of the equation differ by an integer.
• [often as modifier] Computing a user account with full and unrestricted access to a system: make sure that these files can only be accessed by the root user | I need to log in as root on my system to resolve an issue.
verb [with object]
1> cause (a plant or cutting) to grow roots: root your own cuttings from stock plants.
• [no object] (of a plant or cutting) establish roots: large trees had rooted in the canal bank.
2> (usually be rooted) establish deeply and firmly: vegetarianism is rooted in Indian culture.
• (be rooted in) have as an origin or cause: the Latin dubitare is rooted in an Indo-European word.
• (often as adjective rooted) cause (someone) to stand immobile through fear or amazement: she found herself rooted to the spot in disbelief.
• Computing gain access to the root account of (a smartphone or computer): we explained how to manually root almost any Android device.
PHRASES
at root
basically; fundamentally: it is a moral question at root.
put down roots
(of a plant) begin to draw nourishment from the soil through its roots.
• (of a person) begin to have a settled life in a particular place.
root and branch
used to express the thorough or radical nature of a process or operation: root and branch reform of personal taxation.
strike at the root (or roots) of
affect in a vital area with potentially destructive results: the proposals struck at the roots of community life.
take root
(of a plant) begin to grow and draw nourishment from the soil through its roots.
• become fixed or established: the idea had taken root in my mind.
PHRASAL VERBS
root something out
(also root something up) dig or pull up a plant by the roots.
• find and get rid of someone or something regarded as pernicious or dangerous: a campaign to root out corruption.
DERIVATIVES
rootedness |ˈro͞odədnəs| noun.
rootlet |ˈro͞otlət| noun.
rootlike |-ˌlīk| adjective.
rooty adjective
ORIGIN
late Old English rōt, from Old Norse rót; related to Latin radix, also to wort.
19. daunt |dôntdänt|
verb [with object] (usually be daunted)
make (someone) feel intimidated or apprehensive: some people are daunted by technology.
Danger didn't daunt the hero
PHRASES
nothing daunted
without having been made fearful or apprehensive: nothing daunted, the committee set to work.
ORIGIN
Middle English: from Old French danter, from Latin domitare, frequentative of domare ‘to tame.’
daunting |ˈdôn(t)iNGˈdän(t)iNG|
adjective
seeming difficult to deal with in anticipation; intimidating: a daunting task.
DERIVATIVES
dauntingly adverb
20. albeit |ôlˈbēitalˈbēit|
conjunction
although: he was making progress, albeit rather slowly.
Albeit difficult, the job is getting done.
ORIGIN
late Middle English: from the phrase all be it ‘although it be (that).’
