The Book of Daniel Glossary

Glossary of Terms

adenoidal

exhibiting the characteristics (as snoring, mouth breathing, and voice nasality) of one affected with abnormally enlarged adenoids

admonished

warned or reprimanded

aegis

auspices; sponsorship; controlling or conditioning influence

annealed

heated and then cooled (as steel or glass) usually for softening and making less brittle

apocryphal

of doubtful authenticity; spurious

arduous

hard to accomplish or achieve; difficult

atavars

a handle or appearance used to represent oneself; wordplay on avatar, 'atavistic' meaning reappearance of a remote ancestral characteristic, throwback; reversion to an earlier type

auto de fe

Spanish for "act of faith"; during the Spanish Inquisition, a ritual of public penance preceded the punishment - typically execution by burning - of heresy.

chassis

the supporting frame of a structure (as an automobile or television)

consanguinity

a close relation or connection

demagogue

a politician or leader who appeals to popular desires and opinions rather than through rational argument

dialectic

logic; discussion and reasoning by dialogue as a method of intellectual investigation

dysynchronous

out of phase

effulgence

brightness, radiance

flagellate

whip, scourge

florid

very flowery in style; ornate

homburg

a felt hat

imprecation

curse

mackinaw

a short woolen coat

macrocephalic

having an abnormally large head (medical condition)

mawkish

sentimental; overly sweet

pantograph

an electrical trolley carried by a collapsible and adjustable frame

perfidy

Treachery, treason.

plenitude

completeness

ponderous

of very great weight

proles

From George Orwell's classic 1984, the term for the working class; derived from proletariat.

pugnacity

having a quarrelsome or combative nature; truculent

pusillanimous

lacking courage and resolution; marked by contemptible timidity

raga

one of the ancient traditional melodic patterns or modes in Indian music

Seabees

Nickname for members of the US Navy Construction Battalion (CB)

siddur

a Jewish prayer book

sinecure

an office or position that requires little or no work and that usually provides an income

Sinologist

a person who studies China

strontium

a soft malleable ductile metallic element of the alkaline-earth group occurring only in combination and used especially in color TV tubes, in crimson fireworks, and in the production of some ferrites

strop

strap

symbiosis

a cooperative relationship (as between two persons or groups)

tallis

a Jewish prayer shawl

tendentious

marked by a tendency in favor of a particular point of view; biased

tenuous

not thick; slender; having little substance or strength

trachomatous

marked by a chronic contagious conjunctivitis marked by inflammatory granulations on the conjunctival surfaces

unctuous

smooth and greasy in texture or appearance; oily

undulate

to form or move in waves; fluctuate; to rise and fall in volume, pitch, or cadence

vehement

with great passion or force

visceral

relating to deep emotion rather than intellect