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Menagerie of words
I decided to try this page out. Since I bill this as a writing community, I thought I would create a page for words. Odd words, that could possibly help you express yourself better, or at least with more words. Also, words with altered meanings. It's done all the time in poetry. It also aides in creating wonderful analogies. If you find any odd (or intelligent)sounding words email them to me and I will add them here. As well as alternitive meanings, which you have yourself used and which others use as well.
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Menagerie me·nag·er·ie (m -n j -r , -nzh-)
n. -
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- A collection of live wild animals on exhibition.
- An enclosure in which wild animals are kept.
- A diverse or miscellaneous group.
[French ménagerie, from Old French menage, ménage; see ménage.] menagerie \Men*ag"er*ie\, n. [F. m['e]nagerie, fr. m['e]nager to keep house, m['e]nage household. See Menial, Mansion.] 1. A piace where animals are kept and trained. 2. A collection of wild or exotic animals, kept for exhibition ----------------------------- Other uses.
Menagerie, an odd assortment of things. As in, A menagerie of words.
2.
apocryphal \uh-POCK-ruh-ful\, adjective:
1. (Bible) Pertaining to the [1]Apocrypha.
2. Not canonical. Hence: Of doubtful authority or
authenticity; equivocal; fictitious; spurious; false.
In 1959 he told Walter Gutman that he first started writing
when he was three years old, but that his sister threw away
all his childhood writings one day when she cleaned out the
attic. This sounds apocryphal as it is unlikely that he
could read or write at that tender age, and if he could he
would certainly have told us.
--Barry Miles, [2]Jack Kerouac King of the Beats: A
Portrait
Apocryphal or not, the anecdote contains at least a grain
of truth.
--Caroline Fraser, God's Perfect Child
He always told romanticised apocryphal stories of his
ancestry, sometimes a bastard grandfather, brought up on
the parish, sometimes "a weaver, half poet and half
madman."
--Kathleen Jones, [3]A Passionate Sisterhood: The Sisters,
Wives and Daughters of the Lake Poets
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Apocryphal ultimately derives from Greek apokruphos, hidden
(hence, spurious), from apokruptein, to hide away, from apo-,
away, from + kruptein, to hide.
3. cormorant \KOR-mur-unt; -muh-rant\, noun:
1. Any species of Phalacrocorax, a genus of sea birds having a
sac under the beak; the shag. Cormorants devour fish
voraciously, and have become the emblem of gluttony. They are
generally black, and hence are called sea ravens, and
coalgeese.
2. A gluttonous, greedy, or rapacious person.
Coleridge was precocious and from the first displayed a
voracious appetite for books. He later characterised
himself as "a library cormorant."
--Kathleen Jones, [1]A Passionate Sisterhood: The Sisters,
Wives and Daughters of the Lake Poets
... the bead-eyed cormorants of lost estates, who love to
rummage into fusty rooms.
--Howard Griffin
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Cormorant comes from Old French cormareng, raven of the sea,
from corb, raven (from Latin corvus) + marenc, of the sea
(from Latin marinus).
4. mag·nan·i·mous (mg-nn-ms)
adj. -
- Courageously noble in mind and heart.
- Generous in forgiving; eschewing resentment or revenge; unselfish.
magnanimous \Mag*nan"i*mous\, a.[L. magnanimus; magnus great + animus mind. See Magnate, and Animus.] 1. Great of mind; elevated in soul or in sentiment; raised above what is low, mean, or ungenerous; of lofty and courageous spirit; as, a magnanimous character; a magnanimous conqueror. Be magnanimous in the enterprise. --Shak. To give a kingdom hath been thought Greater and nobler done, and to law down Far more magnanimousan to assume. --Milton. 2. Dictated by or exhibiting nobleness of soul; honorable; noble; not selfish. Both strived for death; magnanimous debate. --Stirling. There is an indissoluble union between a magnanimous policy and the solid rewards of public prosperity and felicity. --Washington.
magnanimous adj 1: noble and generous in spirit; "a greathearted general"; "a magnanimous conqueror" [syn: greathearted] 2: generous and understanding and tolerant; "a heart big enough to hold no grudges"; "that's very big of you to be so forgiving"; "a large and generous spirit"; "a large heart"; "magnanimous toward his enemies" [syn: big,
5. pa·lav·er (p-lvr, -lävr)
n. -
-
- Idle chatter.
- Talk intended to charm or beguile.
- Obsolete. A parley between European explorers and representatives of local populations, especially in Africa.
v. pa·lav·ered, pa·lav·er·ing, pa·lav·ers.
v. tr. - To flatter or cajole.
v. intr. - To chatter idly.
palaver \Pa*la"ver\, v. t. & i. [imp. & p. p. Palavered; p. pr. & vb. n. Palavering.] To make palaver with, or to; to used palaver;to talk idly or deceitfully; to employ flattery; to cajole; as, to palaver artfully.
6. orthography \Or*thog"ra*phy\, n. [OE. ortographie, OF. orthographie, L. orthographia, Gr. ?, fr. ? writing correctly; 'orqo`s right + gra`fein to write. See Ortho-, and Graphic.] 1. The art or practice of writing words with the proper letters, according to standard usage; conventionally correct spelling; also, mode of spelling; as, his orthography is vicious. When spelling no longer follows the pronunciation, but is hardened into orthography. --Earle. 2. The part of grammar which treats of the letters, and of the art of spelling words correctly. 3. A drawing in correct projection, especially an elevation or a vertical section. <!-- resultItemEnd -->exp: I can't conform to your orthograhpy!
7. pan·a·ce·a (pn -s)
n. - A remedy for all diseases, evils, or difficulties; a cure-all.
pana·cean adj.
Panacea(a Poem_) Love and euphoria within one's ouwn being- scattering themselves onto strangers- who scatter themselves into the world Water that nurishes and runs through spirit of complete bodies and- unifies to defeat all-- who- assume to to destroy. *end* P.L.,(11-21-98)
8. hypnagogic \hip-nuh-GOJ-ik; -GOH-jik\, adjective:
Of or relating to the state of drowsiness preceding sleep; --
applied to the illusions of one who is half asleep.
It is of course precisely in such episodes of mental
traveling that writers are known to do good work, sometimes
even their best, solving formal problems, getting advice
from Beyond, having hypnagogic adventures that with luck
can be recovered later on.
--Thomas Pynchon, "Nearer, My Couch, to Thee," [1]New York
Times, June 6, 1993
... the phenomenon of hypnagogic hallucinations, or what
Mr. Alvarez describes as "the flickering images and voices
that well up just before sleep takes over."
--Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, "The Faces of Night, Many of
Them Scary," review of Night: Night Life, Night Language,
Sleep and Dreams, by A. Alvarez, [2]New York Times, January
9, 1995
His uncensored and uncensoring subconscious allows him to
absorb the world around him and in him, and to spit it out
almost undigested, as if he were walking around in a
constant hypnagogic state.
--Susan Bolotin, "Don't Turn Your Back on This Book,"
[3]New York Times, June 9, 1985
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Hypnagogic, sometimes spelled hypnogogic, ultimately derives
from Greek hupnos, sleep + agogos, leading, from agein, to
lead.
9. ap·prise (-pr z)
v. tr. ap·prised, ap·pris·ing, ap·pris·es. - To give notice to; inform: apprised us of our rights.
10. ver·i·ta·ble (v r -t-bl)
adj. - Being truly so called; real or genuine: “Her tea . . . was set forth with as much grace as if she had been a veritable guest to her own self” (Mary Wilkins Freeman).
11. bel·li·cose (bl-k s)
adj. - Warlike in manner or temperament; pugnacious. See Synonyms at belligerent.
12. mi·met·ic (m-mtk, m-)
adj. -
- Relating to, characteristic of, or exhibiting mimicry.
-
- Of or relating to an imitation; imitative.
- Using imitative means of representation: a mimetic dance
13. per·ni·cious (pr-nshs)
adj. -
-
- Tending to cause death or serious injury; deadly: a pernicious virus.
- Causing great harm; destructive: pernicious rumors.
- Archaic. Evil; wicked.
14. vap·id (vpd, v pd)
adj. -
- Lacking liveliness, animation, or interest; dull: vapid conversation.
- Lacking taste, zest, or flavor; flat: vapid beer.
15. limn (lm)
v. tr. limned, limn·ing (lmnng), limns. -
- To describe.
- To depict by painting or drawing.
16. mé·lange also me·lange (m-lä zh).
n. - A mixture: “ [a] building crowned with a mélange of antennae and satellite dishes”
17. dys·pep·tic (ds-pptk)
adj. -
- Relating to or having dyspepsia.
- Of or displaying a morose disposition.
n. - A person who is affected by dyspepsia.
18. ne·o·phyte (n-ft)
n. -
- A recent convert to a belief; a proselyte.
- A beginner or novice: a neophyte at politics.
-
- Roman Catholic Church. A newly ordained priest.
- A novice of a religious order or congregation.
19. plau·dit (plô d t)
n. - Enthusiastic expression of praise or approval: a new play that opened to the plaudits of the critics.
[Short for Latin plaudite, pl. imperative of plaudere, to applaud (used at the end of Roman plays).]
20. ab·struse ( b-str s,  b-)
adj. - Difficult to understand; recondite.
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21. Quiz: Words 1-6 Quiz: Words 7-16 | More to come Email me suggestions.
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