Vocab 5/30/14

percolate (v) -- to cause (liquid, for example) to pass through a porous substance or small holes; filter

stasis (n) -- a condition of balance among various forces; motionlessness

vociferous (adj.) -- taking, given to, or marked by noisy and vehement outcry

vehement (adj.) -- characterized by forcefulness of expression or intensity of emotion or conviction; fervid

fervid (adj.) -- marked by great passion or zeal

zeal (n) -- enthusiastic devotion to a cause, ideal, or goal and tireless diligence in its furtherance

interlude (n) -- an intervening episode, feature, or period of time

intervene (v) -- to come, appear, or lie between two things

despotism (n) -- rule by or as if by a despot; absolute power or authority

despot (n) -- a ruler with absolute power

amanuensis (n) -- one who is employed to take dictation or to copy manuscript

dictation (n) -- the act or process of dictating material to another for transcription

dictate (v) -- to say or read aloud to be recorded or written by another

transcription (n) -- the act or process of transcribing

transcribe (v) -- to make a full written or typewritten copy of (dictated material, for example)

wharf (n) -- a landing place or pier where ships may tie up and load or unload

hosiery (n) -- socks and stockings; hose: a grotesque series of both pin- and wide-striped hosiery hanging in the clearance section of Barney's Northside Black Friday Shopping locales

grotesque (adj.) -- characterized by ludicrous or incongruous distortion, as of appearance or manner

ludicrous (adj.) -- laughable or hilarious because of obvious absurdity or incongruity

absurd (adj.) -- ridiculously incongruous or unreasonable

ridiculous (adj.) -- deserving or inspiring ridicule; absurd, preposterous, or silly

ridicule (n) -- words or actions intended to evoke contemptuous laughter at or feelings toward a person or thing

preposterous (adj.) -- contrary to nature, reason, or common sense; absurd

incongruity (n) -- lack of congruence

congruence (n) -- agreement, harmony, conformity, or correspondence

congruity (n) -- the quality or fact of being congruous

incongruous (n) -- lacking in harmony; incompatible

locale (n) -- a place, especially with reference to a particular event

fealty (n) -- the fidelity owed by a vassal to his feudal lord

entourage (n) -- a group of attendants or associates; a retinue

prosthesis (n) -- an artificial device used to replace a missing body part, such as a limb, tooth, eye, or heart valve

rouge (n) -- a red or pink cosmetic for coloring the cheeks or lips

cosmetic (n/adj.) -- a preparation, such as powder or a skin cream, designed to beautify the body by direct application; serving to do this, especially by the face and hair

constabulary (n/adj.) -- the body of constables of a district or city; of or relating to constables

constable (n) -- a peace officer with less authority and smaller jurisdiction than a sheriff, empowered to serve writs and warrants and make arrests

jurisdiction (n) -- law the right and power to interpret and apply the law

writs (n) -- law a written order issued by a court, commanding the party to whom it is addressed to perform or cease performing a specified act

viscous (adj.) -- having relatively high resistance to flow

divulge (v) -- to make known (something private or secret)

compatriot (n) -- a person from one's own country

felicitate (v) -- to offer congratulations to

rapt (adj.) -- deeply moved or delighted; enraptured

enraptured (adj.) -- to fill with rapture or delight

rapture (n) -- the state of being transported by a lofty emotion; ecstasy

shale (n) -- a fissile rock composed of layers of claylike, fine-grained sediments

fissile (adj.) -- possible to split

sediment (n) -- material that settles to the bottom of a liquid; lees

lees (n) -- sediment settling during fermentation, especially in wine; dregs

fermentation (n) -- the anaerobic conversion of sugar to carbon dioxide and alcohol by yeast

anaerobe (adj.) -- an organism, such as a bacterium, that can live in the absence of atmospheric oxygen

dregs (n) -- brewing solid particles that tend to settle at the bottom of some liquids, such as wine or coffee

polygamy (n) -- the condition or practice of having more than one spouse at one time

suffuse (v) -- to spread through or over, as with liquid, color, or light

fraught (adj.) -- filled with a specified element or elements; charged

anonymity (n) -- the quality or state of being unknown or unacknowledged

immiscible (adj.) -- that cannot undergo mixing or blending