Tarantism
1. A hysterical malady, characterized by an extreme impulse to dance, which prevailed in parts of Italy from the 15th to the 17th century, popularly attributed to the bite of the tarantula. The dancing was sometimes held to be a symptom or consequence of the malady, sometimes practised to cure it.
2. Overcoming melancholy by dancing; the uncontrollable urge to dance.
First used in English around 1640, according to the OED the word is derived from the modern Latin tarantismus, Italian tarantismo and French tarentisme which in turn derive from the Italian town of Taranto. However it was popularly associated with Tarantola, the tarantula spider.
Bascule
A device operating like a balance or see-saw, especially an arrangement of a movable bridge, by which the rising floor or section is counterbalanced by a weight.
A bridge with a movable section hinged about a horizontal axis and counterbalanced by a weight.
London’s Tower Bridge has two bascules …
From the French bascule, formerly bacule, a see-saw; from battre to beat, to bump, or bas low, down + cul the posterior.
The word appears to have been first used in English in 1678.
Gynandromorph
An organism that contains both male and female characteristics.
The term is mainly used in the field of entomology where butterflies occasionally occur displaying both male and female characteristics because of sexual dimorphism.
A gynandromorph can have bilateral asymmetry, one side female and one side male, or they can be mosaic, a case in which the two sexes aren’t defined as clearly (as in the calico lobster below).
As well as insects, cases of gynandromorphism have also been reported in crustaceans, especially lobsters, in birds and very occasionally in mammals.
Gynandromorph is derived from the Greek gyne female + andro male + morph form.
Note that gynandromorphism is different from hermaphroditism where only male and female reproductive organs are present as in, for example, some slugs and snails.
Wassail 1. A salutation used when presenting a cup of wine to a guest, or drinking the health of a person (to which the correct reply is “drink-hail”) and thus by extension any general salutation.
2. The liquor in which healths were drunk and particularly the spiced ale used in Twelfth Night and Christmas Eve celebrations.
3. A custom observed on Twelfth Night and New Year’s Eve of drinking healths from the wassail-bowl and hence a carousal or riotous festivity.
4. A carol or drinking song sung by wassailers.
5. To drink to the health of fruit-trees, cattle etc. in wassail, in order to ensure their thriving — hence the tradition of wassailing apple trees.
According to the OED the word is first recorded in Geoffrey of Monmouth circa 1140. It derives from the Old Norse ves heill via the Old English wes hál, literally ‘be in good health’ or ‘be fortunate’ and the Middle English wæs hæil.
Entheogen
A psychoactive substance which is used in a religious or shamanic ritual or to bring about a spiritual experience, typically a plant or fungal extract.
Entheogens can supplement many diverse practices for transcendence and revelation, including meditation, psychedelic art and magic.
Entheogens have been used in a ritualized context for thousands of years; their religious significance is well established in anthropological and ethnographic studies. Examples of traditional entheogens include: peyote, psilocybin mushrooms, cannabis, ayahuasca and Amanita muscaria.
The OED says the word was first used in 1979 and is derived from the ancient Greek ἔνθεος, divinely inspired, or perhaps more literally “creating god within”.
Demiurge
1. A powerful creative force or personality.
2. A public magistrate in some ancient Greek states.
3. A deity in Gnosticism, Manichaeism, and other religions who creates the material world and is often viewed as the originator of evil.
4. A Platonic deity who orders or fashions the material world out of chaos.
The word is derived from the Greek δηµιουργ-ός (Latinized dēmiūrgus), literally a public or skilled worker. According to the OED the word is first recorded in English around 1678.
Irrefragable
1. Impossible to refute or controvert; indisputable; undeniable.
2. Of a person: Obstinate, inflexible, stubborn.
Derived from the Latin ir- + refrāgārī to resist, thwart.
The OED records the first usage as in 1533.
Midden
1. A dunghill or refuse heap.
2. In archaeology, a mound or deposit containing shells, animal bones, and other refuse that indicates the site of a human settlement.
According to the OED the word is of Scandinavian origin, ultimately from møg (muck) + dynge (heap). The first recorded use in English was in 1375.
Eccentric looks at life through the thoughts of a retired working thinker
1. A salutation used when presenting a cup of wine to a guest, or drinking the health of a person (to which the correct reply is “drink-hail”) and thus by extension any general salutation.
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