kore (en)

(noun) an ancient Greek statue of a clothed young woman standing with feet together

Kreisau Circle (en)

a group of about twenty-five German dissidents led by Helmuth James Graf von Moltke, who met at his estate in the rural town of Kreisau, Silesia; the group began to falter after Helmuth von Moltke was arrested by the Gestapo in January 1944 and eventually came to an end when most of its members were arrested following Claus von Stauffenberg’s attempt on Hitler’s life on July 19, 1944

Kuznets curve (en)

the hypothesis that as an economy develops, market forces first increase and then decrease economic inequality. The hypothesis was first advanced by economist Simon Kuznets in the 1950s and '60s. Highly contested

kyphotic (en)

(noun) exaggerated outward curvature of the thoracic region of the spine resulting in a rounded upper back

labefaction (en)

deterioration or downfall

labile (en)

(adjective) readily or continually undergoing chemical, physical, or biological change or breakdown; unstable / (adjective) readily open to change

lachrymose (en)

(adjective) given to tears or weeping; tearful / (adjective) tending to cause tears; mournful

laconic (en)

(adjective) using or involving the use of a minimum of words; concise to the point of seeming rude or mysterious

lacuna (en)

an unfilled space; a gap (plural: lacunae)

Laffer curve (en)

a theory developed by supply-side economist Arthur Laffer to show the relationship between tax rates and the amount of tax revenue collected by governments (a typically conservative theory that believes that too much taxation will depress business investment)

lagniappe (en)

(noun) a small gift given a customer by a merchant at the time of a purchase / (noun) something given or obtained gratuitously or by way of good measure

laicize (en)

(verb) to reduce to lay status / (verb) to put under the direction of or open to the laity

lallate (en)

to speak like a baby (technically: pronouncing the letter "r" so that it sounds like "l")

lambent (en)

(adjective) playing lightly on or over a surface; flickering / (adjective) softly bright or radiant / (adjective) marked by lightness or brilliance especially of expression

land banking (en)

the practice of aggregating parcels of land for future sale or development

land grab (en)

the buying or leasing of large pieces of land by domestic and transnational companies, governments, and individuals, esp following the 2007-2008 world food crisis

lapidary (en)

relating to stone and gems and the work involved in engraving, cutting, or polishing

lapsarianism (en)

the idea that humanity has fallen from a better state

lapsology (en)

the study of linguistic slips

lapsus calami (la)

a slip of the pen

lariat (en)

(noun) a rope used as a lasso or for tethering

lassitude (en)

(noun) a condition of weariness or debility; fatigue / (noun) a condition of listlessness; languor

late capitalism (en)

a term used by neo-Marxists to refer to capitalism from about 1945 onwards, with the implication that it is a historically limited stage rather than a permanent

lathe (en)

(noun) a machine in which work is rotated about a horizontal axis and shaped by a fixed tool / (verb) to cut or shape with a lathe

latifundian (en)

relating to a large landed estate or ranch in ancient Rome or more recently in Spain or Latin America, typically worked by slaves