chary (en)

(adjective) dear treasured / (adjective) ; discreetly cautious; as / (adjective) hesitant and vigilant about dangers and risks / (adjective) slow to grant, accept, or expend

chelonian (en)

(noun) turtle

chiaroscuro (it)

(noun, Italian for light and dark) an oil painting technique developed during the Renaissance that uses strong tonal contrasts between light and dark to model three-dimensional forms

chiasmus (en)

(noun) a rhetorical or literary figure in which words, grammatical constructions, or concepts are repeated in reverse order, in the same or a modified form; e.g. ‘Poetry is the record of the best and happiest moments of the happiest and best minds.’.

Chicago Plan (en)

a set of banking reforms suggested by University of Chicago economists in the wake of the Great Depression; supported by Friedman, Minsky, Fisher, etc; suggested 100% reserves on demand deposits; never fully implemented (some watered-down versions eventually made it into policy)

chiliastic (en)

(adj) another term for millenarian (the religious doctrine of a thousand-year period of peace and prosperity)

Chinese wall (en)

a term borrowed from the financial industry to describe a barrier within an organisation to prevent communication that could lead to conflicts of interest

chintzy (en)

cheap and of poor quality

chirography (en)

(noun) handwriting penmanship / (noun) calligraphy

Chitlin' Circuit (en)

performance venues throughout the eastern, southern, and upper midwest areas of the US that were safe for black performers during the era of racial segregation in the US

chthonic (en)

(adjective) of or relating to the underworld; infernal

churlish (en)

(adjective) of, resembling, or characteristic of a churl; vulgar / (adjective) marked by a lack of civility or graciousness; surly / (adjective) difficult to work with or deal with; intractable

chyme (en)

(noun) the semifluid mass of partly digested food expelled by the stomach into the duodenum

cicatrix (en)

(noun) a scar resulting from formation and contraction of fibrous tissue in a wound / (noun) a mark resembling a scar especially when caused by the previous attachment of an organ or part (as a leaf)

cincture (en)

(noun) the act of encircling / (noun) an encircling area / (noun) girdle belt / (noun) a cord or sash of cloth worn around an ecclesiastical vestment or the habit of a religious

cinereous (en)

(adjective) gray tinged with black / (adjective) resembling or consisting of ashes

cingulum (en)

(noun) an anatomical band or encircling ridge (plural: cingula)

circumscription (en)

the act of circumscribing or something that circumscribes (constrict range of activity, draw a line or boundary around)

circumspect (en)

(adjective) careful to consider all circumstances and possible consequences; prudent

clarion (en)

(noun) a medieval trumpet with clear shrill tones / (noun) the sound of or as if of a clarion / (adjective) brilliantly clear / (adjective) loud and clear

clerestory (en)

the upper part of the nave, choir, and transepts of a large church, containing a series of windows

clientelist (en)

relating to clientism (a social order which depends on relations of patronage)

clinamen (en)

poetic misreading or misprision

clonic (en)

(noun) a rapid succession of alternating contractions and partial relaxations of a muscle occurring in some nervous diseases

cloy (en)

disgust or sicken (someone) with an excess of sweetness, richness, or sentiment