Wonderful Words Weekly

(On the World Wide Web)

WW03

01/11/26 - 01/17/26
Adenoid1n. WW03-01
  1. (Medical) Refers to the collection of lymphoid tissue along the roof of the nasopharynx, known as the pharyngeal tonsil, when the tissue is enlarged.Gray's Anatomy for Students, fifth edition, 2024, pg. 1031

Adenoid2 adj. [OED1]WW03-02
  1. (Medical) Gland-like; glandular.

Dacoit n. [OED1]WW03-03
  1. A member of a class of robbers in India and Burma, who plunder in armed bands.
    Besides his revenue from litigants, U Po Kyin levied a ceaseless toll, a sort of private taxation scheme, from all the villages under his jurisdiction. If any village failed in its tribute U Po Kyin took punitive measures—gangs of dacoits attacked the village, leading villagers were arrested on false charges, and so forth—and it was never long before the amount was paid up. —George Orwell, Burmese Days

Dacoity n. [OED1]WW03-04
  1. The system of robbery practiced by dacoits; gang-robbery.

Dracunculiasis n.WW03-05
  1. A parasitic disease transmitted through contaminated drinking water, causing a painful blister from which a worm slowly emerges. At the time of writing, WHO reports that the disease is on the verge of eradication.WHO - Dracunculiasis Fact Sheet

Guinea Pig Director n. [OED1]WW03-06
  1. A director of a public company who serves solely to collect the fee (often, in England, a guinea) paid for attendance.Not to be confused with Hoyt Yeatman, director of the 2009 action-comedy spy thriller, G-Force.

Pantechnicon n. [OED1]WW03-07
  1. A modern coinage, invented as the name of a bazaar of all kinds of artistic works. The word was taken up as the name of a building on Motcomb Street, London; originally intended as a market, the building was later converted into a large furniture warehouse. The building is notable for the large doric columns of its facade.Edward Jones, A Guide to the Architecture of London, 1992, pg. 177
  2. Colloquially used as a shorthand for pantechnicon van, a furniture-moving van.

Preterition n. [OED1]WW03-08
  1. The passage of time.
  2. The action of passing over, or fact of being passed over, without notice; omission, disregard, neglect.
  3. (Rhetoric) A figure of speech by which summary mention is made of a thing, in professing to omit it.
  4. (Theology) The passing over of the non-elect; non-election to salvation.
  5. The omission by a testator to mention in his will one of his children or natural heirs.