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isomorphic
ai-suh-MOR-fik
adjective
similar in form; identical in form
1968John NormanPriest Kings of Gor...it would be a physical model of that same history, an isomorphic analogue of her past as she had experienced it.1981Philip K. DickThe Divine Invasion'This apparently is a furtive life form. It's not isomorphic with us. It doesn't think the way we do.'1983Christopher StasheffThe Warlock WanderingBut there's a gadget in the back of the ship called an 'isomorpher,' and when the pilot turns it on, it makes us isomorphic with H-space.1988Umberto EcoFoucault's Pendulum...what is above is isomorphic to what is below.

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bêtise
bay-TEEZ
noun
folly; stupidity; a foolish remark; a foolish act
1932John BuchanThe Gap in the CurtainThere is a species of bêtise, which I believe at Cambridge is named after some don, and which consists in missing completely the point of a metaphor or a joke, in setting the heavy heel of literalness on some trivial flower of fancy.1990Peter MayleA Year in ProvenceHe trimmed the meat, cubed it, filled a small bag with chopped herbs, told us where to go to buy the best peppers...went through the recipe twice to make sure we weren't going to commit a bêtise, and suggested a suitable Côtes du Rhône.

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meritocracy
maer-uh-TAW-kruh-see
noun
a system which promotes and recognizes people based on their personal achievements or abilities
1990Michael LewisLiar's Poker: Rising Through the Wreckage on Wall StreetBut the front row was less confident than the back that the firm was a meritocracy of money-makers.1992Kim Stanley RobinsonRed MarsHer ability to function as leader depended on it; for in the end, she thought, they would surely become a kind of loose scientific meritocracy.2002James PattersonFour Blind MiceHe told me it's smart for a black man to find a meritocracy like the Army.

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cadge
kaj
verb
to beg; to panhandle; to mooch; to sponge of others
1884James Seton CockburnCanada for GentlemenFrom not being supplied with these necessaries, I was constantly having to 'cadge' a light for my pipe from somebody else, for as I believe I told you I was not always too bad to smoke.1967Hunter S. ThompsonHell's AngelsA few of the younger outlaws still live with their parents, but they don't like to talk about it and only go home when they have to—either to sleep off a drunk, clean out the refrigerator, or cadge a few bucks from the family cookie jar.2003Cory DoctorowDown and Out in the Magic KingdomThey lipsynch the soundtrack, cadge souvenirs and pester you with smarmy, show-off questions.

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lingua franca
LING-gwuh FRANG-ka
noun
a common language
1915Rafael SabatiniThe Sea Hawk'She will come! She will come!' he cried in the Frankish jargon—the lingua franca of the African littoral.1949George OrwellNineteen Eighty-FourExcept that English is its chief lingua franca and Newspeak its official language, it is not centralized in any way.

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homme d'esprit
awm des-pree
adjective
a witty man
1768Laurence SterneA Sentimental JourneyC'est bien vrai, said he.—But in this case I should only exchange one disquietude for another, and with loss: figure to yourself, my dear Sir, that in giving you a chaise which would fall to pieces before you had got half-way to Paris—figure to yourself how much I should suffer, in giving an ill impression of myself to a man of honour, and lying at the mercy, as I must do, d'un homme d'esprit.1903Carter GoodloeCalvert of Strathore'Ah! Monsieur,' she said to him, with a languishing glance out of her brilliant eyes and a smile that displayed a row of wonderfully white teeth, 'Monsieur de Lafayette tells me that you are un homme d'esprit.'

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jnana
juh-NAW-nuh
noun
self-knowledge; wisdom; spiritual knowledge
1946Paramhansa YoganandaAutobiography of a YogiIt was disconcerting at first to find that my guru, saturated with jnana but seemingly dry of bhakti, expressed himself only in terms of cold spiritual mathematics.1993Mark E. LaxerTake Me For A Ride: Coming of Age in a Destructive CultJnana yogis face the difficult task of learning to discriminate between what is real and what is maya, or illusion.1995Allen WattsPhilosophies of AsiaJnana is the state in which one is clearly awake and aware of the world as it is…

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jus gentium
yoos GEN-tee-uhm
noun
international law
1840Joseph-Pierre ProudhonWhat is PropertyReligion, laws, marriage, were the privileges of freemen, and, in the beginning, of nobles only. Dii majorum gentium—gods of the patrician families; jus gentium—right of nations; that is, of families or nobles. The slave and the plebeian had no families; their children were treated as the offspring of animals. Beasts they were born, beasts they must live.1866O. A. BrownsonThe American RepublicThe knowledge of the natural law has been transmitted from Adam to us through two channels—reason, which is in every man, and in immediate relation with the Creator, and the traditions of the primitive instruction embodied in language and what the Romans call jus gentium, or law common to all civilized nations.1984Tom ClancyThe Hunt for Red OctoberAdmiralty is jus gentium—the same legal codes theoretically apply to all countries.

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dysphoria
dis-FOR-ee-uh
noun
a state of uneasiness; a fidgety state; a state of mild depression
1988Diane CareyGhost Ship (Star Trek The Next Generation)Clinically I would call it a kind of dysphoria.2003Sam VakninMoral Deliberations in Modern CinemaThus, we are subtly introduced to the two over-riding themes of the antisocial personality disorder (still labelled by many professional authorities 'psychopathy' and 'sociopathy'): an overwhelming dysphoria and an even more overweening drive to assuage this angst by belonging.

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hamshackle
HAM-shak-uhl
verb
to bind; to fasten; to hinder
1824Sir Walter ScottRedgauntlet: A Tale of the Eighteenth CenturyAnd then to oppose him downright—he could not but think on the way his poor mother was removed. Would to Heaven he was yoked to some tight piece of business, no matter whether well or ill paid, but some job that would hamshackle him at least until the courts rose, if it were but for decency's sake.'

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ab initio
ab in-ISH-ee-oh
adverb
from the beginning; at the beginning
1899Honore De BalzacThe CelibatesIt is to be observed that though quite without morals of any kind, she is not ab initio or intrinsically a she-fiend like Valerie or Lisbeth.1913G. Roger HudlestonThe Catholic EncyclopediaHe [Richard Fetherston] took part in the session of Convocation which began in April, 1529, and was one of the few members who refused to sign the Act declaring Henry's marriage with Catharine to be illegal ab initio, through the pope's inability to grant a dispensation in such a case.1914Clarence E. MulfordBar-20 DaysWell, gentlemen, you look tired and thirsty. This is considered good for all human ailments of whatsoever nature, degree, or wheresoever located, in part or entirety, ab initio,' Mr. Jones remarked, filling glasses.

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mendacious
men-DAY-shuhs
adjective
false statement; lying
1841Thomas CarlyleOn Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in HistoryLet us try if, leaving out both the quack theory and the allegory one, and listening with affectionate attention to that far-off confused rumor of the Pagan ages, we cannot ascertain so much as this at least, That there was a kind of fact at the heart of them; that they too were not mendacious and distracted, but in their own poor way true and sane!1897Richard Henry SavageA Fascinating TraitorIt was the crowning lie of Hawke's splendidly mendacious career when he carelessly said, 'Nothing. I supposed, of course, that you had grave need of me here.'1915W. Somerset MaughamOf Human BondageMildred had become great friends with her and had given her an elaborate but mendacious account of the circumstances which had brought her to the pass she was in.

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lanai
luh-NAI
noun
a screened balcony
1875Charles NordhoffNorthern California, Oregon, and the Sandwich IslandsAnd so, with a light heart and an easy conscience, you get on your horse (price $15), and about the time the lady passengers on the steamer begin to turn green in face, you are sitting down on a spacious lanai or veranda, in one of the most delightful sea-side resorts in the world, with a few friends who have determined to celebrate by a dinner this monthly recurrence of their non-intercourse with the world.1889Robert Louis StevensonLetter to Miss Adelaide Boodle (6 April 1889)The first is a small house, with a very large summer parlour, or lanai, as they call it here, roofed, but practically open. There you will find the lamps burning and the family sitting about the table, dinner just done: my mother, my wife, Lloyd, Belle, my wife's daughter, Austin her child, and to-night (by way of rarity) a guest. All about the walls our South Sea curiosities, war clubs, idols, pearl shells, stone axes, etc.; and the walls are only a small part of a lanai, the rest being glazed or latticed windows, or mere open space.1929Earl Derr BiggersCharlie Chan: The Black CamelThe French windows that faced the street were closed, but those on the ocean side, leading on to a great screened lanai, stood wide, and through them at regular intervals came the roar of the surf, which was running high.

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jactitation
jak-tuh-TAY-shuhn
noun
restlessness; twitching; an untrue claim at the expense of someone else
1759Laurence Sterne The Life and Opinions of Tristam Shandy, Gentleman—It has not only been a question, Captain Shandy, amongst the best lawyers and civilians in this land, continued Kysarcius, 'Whether the mother be of kin to her child,'—but, after much dispassionate enquiry and jactitation of the arguments on all sides—it has been adjudged for the negative—namely, 'That the mother is not of kin to her child.'1995Patrick O'BrianThe Commodore'Well, sir, this is the second day of the first stadium, and we may expect a diminution of the animal heat—increasing restlessness and jactitation.

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gimcrack
JIM-krak
noun, adjective
a flashy object of little or no value; a flashy object with no practical use
1868Edward S. EllisThe Huge HunterNo, I see how it works; them 'ere thingumbobs and gimcracks do it all.'1922James JoyceUlysses...she broke off the hand off that little gimcrack statue with her roughness…1954Aldous HuxleyThe Doors of PerceptionThis suffocating interior of a dime-store ship was my own personal self; these gimcrack mobiles of tin and plastic were my personal contributions to the universe.1962Ian FlemingThe Spy Who Loved Me...I was very happy to be back in it after my brief taste of the rackety round of Chelsea pubs and gimcrack journalism…

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volte-face
volt-FAWS
noun
an about face; a turnabout; a reversal of point-of-view
1917William John LockeThe Red PlanetHe was alive, he professed robust health, and in reply to Mrs. Holmes's frantically expressed hope that he was adopting no course that might discredit his father's name, he twitted her with intellectual volte-face to the views of Philistia, but at the same time assured her that he was doing nothing which the most self-righteous bourgeois would consider discreditable.1920John GalsworthyThe FoundationsPOULDER. [Making a volte face towards the table] Miss?1951Henry KuttnerThe Ego Machine'Mad or sane, I am Nicholas Martin,' Martin announced, with an abrupt volte face.

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felucca
fuh-LOO-kuh
noun
a fast, narrow Mediterranean sailing vessel often propelled by oars or by a triangular lateen sail
1836Michael ScottTom Cringle's LogWhen he got on board he stood up and shook his clenched fist at Obed, shouting, 'Picaro, traidor, Ingleses hay abordo, quieres enganarnos!' He then held up the blade of his paddle, a signal which all the canoes answered in a moment in the same manner, and then pulled towards the land, from whence a felucca, invisible until that moment, now swept out, as if she had floated up to the surface by magic, for I could see neither creek nor indentation on the shore, nor the smallest symptom of any entrance to a port or cove.1913Sydney WaterlowShelleyIt is doubtful whether the unseaworthy craft was merely swamped, or whether, as there is some reason to suppose, an Italian felucca ran her down with intent to rob the Englishmen.2003Wilbur SmithBlue HorizonNow Verity stood at the ships side and watched the fast felucca conveying the general back to the shore.

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xystus
ZAI-stuhs
noun
a long porch or portico used for exercise, usually during bad weather; a garden; a portico
1876George EliotDaniel DerondaThen, this, where she is standing on the Xystus with Agrippa, entreating the people not to injure themselves by resistance.1897XenophonThe Economist...the xystus, 'a covered corrider in the gymnasium where the athletes exercised in winter.'1901Lew WallaceBen HurBut go up to Jerusalem next Passover, and stand on the Xystus or in the Street of Barter, and see him as he is.1919Vicente Blasco IbanezMare Nostrum (Our Sea) a NovelThe xystus, or garden, adjoining the house had been laid out like a Grecian landscape with cypresses and laurels between squares of roses and violets.

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mordant
MOR-dent
adjective
caustic and sarcastic; biting; incisive
1897E. W. HornungDead Men Tell No Tales'And now better lid 'im to the nirrest polissstation; or weel you go and tell the poliss yourself?' asked the Portuguese, in the same tone of mordant irony.1908E. M. ForsterA Room With A View'I quite agree,' said Miss Lavish, who had several times tried to interrupt his mordant wit. 'The narrowness and superficiality of the Anglo-Saxon tourist is nothing less than a menace.'1966Jack VanceThe Last CastleWhen aroused his wit was utterly mordant.

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yojana
YO-ja-nuh
noun
a general unit of distance, approximately eight kilometers (5 miles) but varying between 6.5 to 16 kilometers
1879Sir Edwin ArnoldThe Light of AsiaI shall recite how many sun-motes lie From end to end within a yojana.1900Epiphanius WilsonHindu LiteratureBut Nala answered: 'Far it lies behind; A yojana already we have passed; We cannot turn again to pick it up.'1903Johann George BuehlerOn the Indian Sect of the JainasA Palya is a period in which a well, of one or, according to some, a hundred yojana, i.e. of one or a hundred geographical square miles, stuffed full of fine hairs, can be emptied, if one hair is pulled out every hundred years

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anhedonic
an-HEE-daw-nik
adjective
a psychosis characterized by the inability to experience pleasure in pleasurable things
1998Diane CareySacrifice of Angels (Star Trek Deep Space Nine: The Dominion War, Book 4)'Tell me, Weyoun, have you ever been diagnosed as anhedonic?' | Weyoun's black eyes hardened. 'You think I'm incapable of joy just because I'm being cautious?2004Sam VakninCyclopedia of PhilosophyThe Borderline Personality Disordered...sulk, feel anhedonic or pathologically bored, drink or do drugs—all forms of self-directed aggression.

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ne cede malis
nay kay-de MAW-lees
phrase
yield not to adversity; do not yield to misfortune
1855Thomas BulfinchThe Age of FableNo. 14. Tu ne cede malis, sed contra audentior ito.—Virgil. Yield thou not to adversity, but press on the more bravely.—Virgil. 1921Romain RollandClerambaultThe letter was as follows: ' Tu ne cede malis, sed contra audentior ito .... 'You fight for us, and our hearts are with you. Pour out your troubles to us, and I will give you my hope, my strength, and my love. I am one who can act only through you.'

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discomfit
dis-kuhm-FIT
verb
to make someone perplexed; to defeat someone; to disconcert; to frustrate
1818Jane AustenPersuasionBut, though discomfited and disappointed, he could still do something for his own interest and his own enjoyment.1901Miles FranklinMy Brilliant Career'I am so glad you have come, my dear. I must have a good look at you when we get into the light. I hope you are like your mother.' This prospect discomfited me. I knew she would find a very ugly girl with not the least resemblance to her pretty mother, and I cursed my appearance under my breath.1967Alistair MacLeanWhere Eagles DareSmith, his already reddening face discomfited and tight in anger, rose, made to leave…

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shibboleth
SHI-buh-leth
noun
a common-place belief; use of a language unique to a particular group; a code word (usually a common place word with a secret meaning) used by members of a group;
1908E. M. ForsterA Room With a ViewLife is easy to chronicle, but bewildering to practice, and we welcome 'nerves' or any other shibboleth that will cloak our personal desire.1918Ian HayThe First Hundred ThousandThe word 'fatigue' is a shibboleth with, the British private. Persuade him that a task is part of his duty as a soldier, and he will perform it with tolerable cheerfulness; but once allow him to regard that task as a 'fatigue,' and he will shirk it whenever possible, and regard himself as a deeply injured individual when called upon to undertake it.1990Bill BrysonThe Mother TongueDialects are sometimes said to be used as a shibboleth.

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lagniappe
LAN-yap
adjective
a gift; a gratuity
1920Christopher MorleyKathleen'Look here,' said the Goblin, mildly, speaking from a blue cloud of Murray's Mixture, 'we must all sign a protocol, or a mandamus or a lagniappe or whatever you law men call it, not to steal a march. I think we'd all like to meet the real Kathleen. But we must give a bond to start fair and square, and nobody do anything that isn't authorized by the whole club.'1962William FaulknerThe ReiversSo all his clumsy machinations to seduce and corrupt me were only corroboration. They were not even cumshaw, lagniappe.1995Anne RiceMemnoch the Devil...he gave me these words as some sort of little extra gift, what do we call it in New Orleans, lagniappe?

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holus-bolus
ho-luhs-BO-luhs
adverb
all at once
1883Robert Louis StevensonTreasure Island'I know, I know,' he cried. 'We can't help that, Jim, now. I'll take it on my shoulders, holus bolus, blame and shame, my boy; but stay here, I cannot let you. Jump! One jump, and you're out, and we'll run for it like antelopes.'1897G. A. HentyAmong Malay PiratesI have heard, sir, that in Africa the natives bait a big hook with a lump of pork, or something of that sort; then, when an alligator has swallowed it, they haul him up, holus bolus.1900Joshua SlocumSailing Alone Around The WorldBut, as ill luck would have it, a young gentleman of another party on board, in the full uniform of a very great yacht club, with brass buttons enough to sink him, stepping quickly to get out of the wet, tumbled holus-bolus, head and heels, into a barrel of water I had been coopering, and being a short man, was soon out of sight, and nearly drowned before he was rescued.1906Andrew Barton PatersonAn Outback MarriageShe fished in deep pools for the great, sleepy, hundred-pound cod-fish that sucked down bait and hook, holus-bolus, and then were hauled in with hardly any resistance, and lived for days contentedly, tethered to the bank by a line through their gills.

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kakistocracy
kak-i-stawk-ruh-see
noun
an aristocracy without morals; rule by society's worst elements
1901Calvin ThomasThe Life and Works of Friedrich SchillerHe was not concerned with aristocracy in general, but with the particular kakistocracy that had disgraced his native land.1975Robert AdamsThe Coming of the HorseclansI could not watch this land despoiled and its people extirpated; but even a barbarian king could rule it better than the present kakistocracy.1984Robert AdamsThe Seven Magical Jewels of Ireland...Don Diego feels that honor is now dead in Spain . . . and, considering certain of the shameful acts and base practices of the kakistocracy that presently controls the King of Spain, Don Diego may well be of a correctness, entirely.

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Malleus Maleficarum
MAL-ee-uhs mayl-FIK-uh-ruhm
noun
a how-to book on persecuting witches, originally published in 1486; literally: the witch hammer
1852Charles MacKayMemoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions, Volume Two It was now that the Witch Mania, properly so called, may be said to have fairly commenced. Immediately a class of men sprang up in Europe, who made it the sole business of their lives to discover and burn the witches. Sprenger, in Germany, was the most celebrated of these national scourges. In his notorious work, the 'Malleus Maleficarum,' he laid down a regular form of trial, and appointed a course of examination by which the inquisitors in other countries might best discover the guilty. The questions, which were always enforced by torture, were of the most absurd and disgusting nature. The inquisitors were required to ask the suspected whether they had midnight meetings with the devil? whether they attended the witch's sabbath on the Brocken? whether they had their familiar spirits? whether they could raise whirlwinds and call down the lightning? 1880Charles KingsleyScientific Essays and LecturesFor when he has reduced his superstition to a science, then he will reduce his cruelty to a science likewise, and write books like the 'Malleus Maleficarum,' and the rest of the witch literature of the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries; of which Mr. Lecky has of late told the world so much, and told it most faithfully and most fairly.1989Nancy CollinsSunglasses After DarkI searched countless volumes for information, no matter how distorted, that might shed some light on my condition. I had access to Ariosto's Orlando Furioso, Rabelais' Gargantua, Walpole's Castle of Otranto, Beckford's Vathek, Radcliffe's Mysteries of Udolpho, Huysmans' La Bas, and even the infamous Malleus Maleficarum.2003Dan BrownThe Da Vinci CodeMalleus Maleficarum—or The Witches' Hammer—indoctrinated the world to 'the dangers of freethinking women' and instructed the clergy how to locate, torture, and destroy them.

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