abeyance (en)

(noun) a lapse in succession during which there is no person in whom a title is vested / (noun) temporary inactivity; suspension

Abitur (en)

university-preparatory school leaving qualification in Germany, Lithuania, Finland, and Estonia (similar to A-levels)

abjection (en)

(noun) a low or downcast state; degradation / (noun) the act of making abject; humbling rejection

abjure (en)

(verb) to renounce upon oath / (verb) to reject solemnly / (verb) to abstain from; avoid

ablation (en)

the surgical removal of body tissue OR the erosion of rock, typically by wind action

ablutions (en)

(noun) the washing of one's body or part of it (as in a religious rite) / (noun) the act or action of bathing / (noun) a building housing bathing and toilet facilities on a military base

abluvion (en)

(noun, obsolete, rare) that which is washed off.

abnegation (en)

(noun) the act of renouncing or rejecting something; self-denial

ab ovo (la)

from the very beginning; from the egg

abreaction (en)

(noun) the expression and emotional discharge of unconscious material (as a repressed idea or emotion) by verbalization especially in the presence of a therapist

abrogation (en)

the repeal or abolition of a law, right, or agreement

abscissa (en)

(mathematics, in a system of coordinates) the distance from a point to the vertical or y -axis, measured parallel to the horizontal or x -axis; the x -coordinate

abstruse (en)

difficult to understand; obscure

abysm (en)

(noun) abyss

accession (en)

a coming to; the act of acceding and becoming joined; as, a king's accession to a confederacy

acclivated (en)

upward sloping

acedia (en)

(Greek) spiritual or mental sloth; apathy; a state of listlessness or torpor

actantial (en)

(in structural semantics) a model or narrative schema used to analyze the action that takes place in a story, whether real or fictional; developed in 1966 by semiotician Algirdas Julien Greimas

adduce (en)

(verb) to offer as example, reason, or proof in discussion or analysis

adiposity (en)

(adjective) of or relating to animal fat / (adjective) fat

adjudication (en)

(noun) a judicial decision or sentence / (noun) a decree in bankruptcy / (verb) to settle judicially / (verb) to act as judge

adjuring (en)

(verb) to command solemnly under or as if under oath or penalty of a curse / (verb) to urge or advise earnestly

ad libitum (la)

"at one's pleasure"; more formal term for ad-lib

adobe (en)

(noun) a brick or building material of sun-dried earth and straw / (noun) a structure made of adobe bricks / (noun) a heavy clay used in making adobe bricks / (noun) alluvial or playa clay in desert or arid regions

adumbrate (en)

report or represent in outline; foreshadow or symbolize