Essential Vocabulary: Definitions and Terms

Posted on Jan 7, 2025 in Physics

A

  • Abacus: A wooden box with ten parallel wires and ten beads on each wire, used to learn to count.
  • Abbot (Abbess f.): The superior of a monastery or abbey.
  • Abdicate: To renounce power (e.g., the king abdicated).
  • Abolish: To remove a law (e.g., the law was abolished).
  • Aboriginal: A primitive inhabitant of a country. / Native: A plant or animal from its original place of residence.
  • Absolve: To leave a defendant guilt-free (e.g., the prisoner was acquitted).
  • Greedy: Wanting something with great force; thirsty for knowledge, hungry for power.

B

  • Baggage: Military luggage or luggage for travel / Cultural background: Everything a person knows; all their knowledge.
  • Beacon: A fixed or mobile signal used for orientation.
  • Beads: Beads of little value, with holes to make necklaces or similar items.
  • Barbiturate: A substance used to sedate, to reassure, and which is toxic in excess.

C

  • Cacique: An abuser of power.
  • Calculation: A mathematical account / A pebble.
  • Canana: A belt for carrying bullets or cartridges.
  • Candle: A source of light. / Candlestick: A tool to keep a candle upright.
  • Canonized: When the Pope declares someone a saint.
  • Chandelier: An oil lamp used for illumination.
  • Clapper: A metal piece that strikes the inside of a bell.
  • Copious: Abundant (e.g., copious snowfall, copious dinner, copious booty, plentiful harvest).
  • Crackle: The clicking sound of burning wood.
  • Crosier: A staff or cane for support, used by bishops.

D

  • Devoted: A person who sacrifices themself for others or for an ideal.

G

  • Gallows: A scaffold or platform used to execute the death penalty.

L

  • Lisp: To read or speak with difficulty, without changing, misunderstanding, or omitting letters.

M

  • Manger: A pond, river, or container where livestock drink.

S

  • Shaven: A man with no beard or with a short beard.
  • Steep: Difficult to access / Violent, sudden.

T

  • Trivial: Of little importance (e.g., it’s a minor point).

W

  • Watered: The act of giving water to livestock.