titivil · /TIT-i-vil/ · /ˈtɪtɪvɪl/. noun. A demon said to record peoples’ sins to be used against them on Judgment Day, specifically collecting a sack of syllables dropped, skipped or mumbled during divine services and the idle gossip and chatter of churchgoers during services. Later, more generally, a gossip, a scoundrel, or a tattletale. AKA Tutivillus, Titivillus. Origin unknown. See also: knave, rogue, swindler, scallywag, busybody.
[Read more…]teratology
teratology · /tayr-ə-TOL-ə-jee/ · /tɛrəˈtɒlədʒi/. noun. The study of physical abnormalities, gross defects, and the conditions that give rise to them. From Greek prefix *terato-* (of or pertaining to monsters), from Greek teras (monster or monstrosity). See also: teratoid, teratophobia, teratophilia, teratogenetic, teratoma, teratical.
[Read more…]tenebrous
tenebrous /TEN-ə-brəs/ /’tɛnɪbrəs/. adjective. Gloomy, shadowy, full or darkness. From Latin tenebrae (darkness).
[Read more…]tawdry
twin
twin /TWIN/. noun or adjective. One of two born at the same birth. One very like another. As an adjective: two-fold or double.
tribology
tribology /triy-BAWL-ə-jee/. noun. The study of fiction, lubrication and wear between interacting surfaces. From Greek tribos (rubbing) + -logy (suffix indicating science, study, theory).
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tropism
tropism /TROH-pizm/. noun. The movement of an organism in reaction to some stimulus. Instinctual tendencies.