Asiatic
An outdated word for "Asian."
Besot
To make stupid or foolish, such as through liquor.
Blue-stockings
A French organization that promoted individualism.
Caprice
A sudden, seemingly irrational change of mind.
Dogmatism
An inflexible view or system of ideas; an attitude of inflexibility on principle.
E pur si muove
An Italian phrase that means, "and yet it moves." Galileo perhaps spoke the phrase in 1633 in being forced to recant his belief that the Earth moves around the Sun.
Erudite
Quite learned or scholarly.
Fatalism
A philosophical doctrine whereby everything is predetermined or fated, unable to be significantly changed by free action.
Foil
A contrasting double for another character, usually to highlight important personal qualities.
Logician
A person who is skilled in logic or reasoning.
Luxembourg Gardens
Gardens in the French Senate in Paris.
Microbes
Germs; microscopic life forms.
Neurasthenia
Nervous exhaustion.
Porter
A person who mans an entrance, helps visitors, or does cleaning and maintenance work for a building.
Prelate
A high-ranking member of the clergy.
Proprietor
Owner; a person with the legal right to something.
Quadruped
An animal, most often a mammal, with four feet.
Seine
The great river that runs through southern Paris, with a wide bend in central Paris.
Sublimation
In psychology, a coping technique whereby a person changes disruptive energy into a new form, generally some kind of action.
Syllogism
A specific form of argument in logic whereby a primary premise and a secondary premise lead to a conclusion.
