X-Word Vocabulary Definitions


xanthan gum. Produced by culture fermentation of glucose. Used as stabilizer.
xanthine. Yellowish-red purine base.
xanthrocroid. Having a light complexion and light hair. (Scandinavian)
xanthoma. Nodular yellowish-orange patches, esp. on eyelids.
xanthophyll. Yellow caretenoid pigment found with chlorophyll in green plants and in egg yolks.
xanthous. Having light brown or yellowish skin.
xebec. Small, three-masted Mediterranean vessel with both square and triangular sails.
xenia. Effect on a hybrid strain produced by transferring pollen from one strain to the seed of another strain.
xenoblast. A mineral deposit that has developed during metamorphosis without developing crystal faces.
xenogamy. Cross-pollination.
xenocyst. Crystal foreign to the igneous rock in which it occurs.
xenogenesis. The supposed production of offspring markedly different from and showing no relationship to either of its parents.
xenolith. A rock fragment foreign to the igneous mass in which it occurs.
xeroderma. Abnormal dryness of the skin.
xerophilous. Flourishing in a hot, dry environment.
xerophthalmia. Extreme dryness of the conjunctive, thought to stem from a vitamin A deficiency.
xerosere. A sequence of ecological communities beginning in a dry area.
xerosis. 1. Abnormal dryness of the skin, conjunctiva, or mucous membranes; 2. The normal evolutionary sclerosis of aging tissue.
Xhosa. South African Bantus
xiphisternum. The posterior and smallest of the three divisions of the sternum.
xiphoid. 1. Sword-shaped. 2.. Shaped like the xiphisternum.
xiphosuran. Horseshoe crab and extinct forms.
Xuthus. The ancestor of the Ionian Greeks.
xylan. Yellow, gummy pentosan found plant cell walls.
xylem. Woody tissue, supporting and water-conducting tissue in vascular plants.
xyloid. Solvent. Any of three flammable hydrocarbons obtained from wood and coal tar.
xylophagous. Feeding on wood.
xylose. Sugar used in dyeing, tanning, and diabetic diets.
xyster. Bone-scraping surgical instrument.


 
 
 
 
 

Y-Word Vocabulary Definitions


yahoo. Crude or brutish person (from Gulliver's Travels).
Yahwist. The author of the earliest sources of the Hexatuech in which God is called Yahweh.
yakitori. Bite-sized marinated chicken on small skewers.
yamen. Office or home of Chinese official (Empire days).
yang. Active masculine principle
.yapok. Aquatic S. A. marsupial aquatic mammal. hind feet, dense fur, long tail.
Yaqui. Now living in Sonora.
yard arm. Either end of a yard of square sail.
yard of ale. Slender horn-shaped glass that is three feet tall and holds three pints.
yare. 1. Responding easily, maneuverable. 2. Bright, lively. 3. Prepared.
yarrow. Flower.
yashmak. Veil worn by Moslem women.
yataghan. Double-curved blade, eared pommel, no handle guard. Turkish.
yaupon. Holly, Medicinal.
yawl. 1. Two-masted fore-and-aft rigged. Like ketch but smaller jigger mast stepped abaft the rudder. 2. A ship's small boat manned by oarsmen.
yaws. An infectious tropical skin disease caused by a spirochete.
yeanling. A lamb or kid.
yegg. A thief.
yellow-bark. Calisaya.
yellow-dog contract. Contract requiring worker to eschew union membership (illegal).
yellow flu. organized student absence to protest busing.
yellowhammer. Woodpecker.
yellow jack. 1. Yellow fever. 2. Yellow flag hoisted to request pratique (ship clearance after quarantine) or to warn of contagion. 3. food fish.
yellow-legs. N. A. wading birds.
yellow-shafted flicker. Yellow-hammer.
yellow-tail. Marine game fish.
yellow-throat. Birds.
yenta. A gossipy woman, esp. one who pries.
yerba maté. The maté.
Yerkish. Geometric language for communicating with primates.
yeshivah. Study of the Talmud. 2. Grammar, high school where Jewish religion and culture is added to the three R's.
yé-yé. French rock.
YHWH. Hebrew Tetragammon representing the name of God.
Yiddish High German with many words borrowed from Hebrew and Slavic. Written in Hebrew characters. Spoken as vernacular in Eastern European Jewish communities and spoken by emigrees around the world.
ylang-ylang. Asian perfume tree.
yogh. The Middle English letter representing velar or partial fricative sound of w between vowels.
yohimbine. Aphrodisiac, local anesthetic, and mydriatic (Kickapoo Joy Juice?).
yoicks. Hunting cry to urge the hounds after the fox.
yokozuna. A champion sumo wrestler.
yonim Vulva in Indian and Tibetan religion.
Yorkshire pudding. Milk, flour, eggs, cooked in drippings of roast beef.
younker. 1. A young man. 2. A child.
Yquem. A sauterne wine.
yuan. Chinese money.
Yuga. Hindu: One of the four ages constituting the cycle of history.
yulan. A white-flowering tree.


 

Z-Word Vocabulary Definitions


zabaglione. Egg yolks, sugar, and wine beaten until think and served hot or cold.
zaffer. Impure cobalt oxide used to produce blue enamel and to make smalt (deep blue paint and pigment made by pulverizing glass, cobalt oxide, and. ).
zaffig. 1. Full-bosomed. 2. Ample figure (Yiddish).
Zagreus. Son of Zeus and Persephone who was slain by the Titans and returned as Dionysius.
zaibatsu. A powerful, family-controlled Japanese combine.
zaikal. The commercial and financial community of Japan.
zaire. Zaire currency.
zamia. Cycads having thick, mostly underground trunk and palmy leaves.
zamindar. 1. An official in pre-colonial India assigned to collect land taxes for his district. 2. A native landholder in British colonial India responsible for collecting and paying to the government taxes on the land under his jurisdiction.
Zapata mustache. Curves down at the ends.
zapatedeo. 1. Heel-stamping in Spanish flamenco. 2. Heel-stamping flamenco.
Zapotec. Languages in southern Mexico.
zareba. 1. An enclosure of bushes or stakes protecting a campsite in N. W. Africa.2. A campsite or village so protected.
zarf. A chalice-like holder for hot coffee, typically made of ornamented metal (middle East).
zax. Hatchet-like tool for cutting and dressing roofing slates.
zazen. Zen meditation.
zebu. domesticated humped Asiatic bovine with large dewlap.
zecchino. A sequin.
zedoary. Dried rhizome of curcuma.
zein. Corn protein used in plastics, coatings and lacquers.
zec. Soviet labor camp inmate.
zemstvo. Elected local administrative council in Czarist Russia.
zenana. Part of the house in India and Pakistan reserved for the women.
Zend-Avesta. Entire body of Zoroastrian sacred writings.
Zethus. Amphion's twin brother.
zeugma. Construction in which a word is used to govern two or more words, often so that its use is grammatically correct with only one of them.
zibeline. Thick, lustrous fabric of wool and other animal hair. Has a silky nap.
zibet. A civet cat.
zill. One of a pair of metal cymbals attached to the fingers. Belly-dancing.
zingy. 1. Pleasantly stimulating. 2. A zingy gown.
zizith. The tassels of thread on the four corners of Jewish prayer gowns.
zoisite. Gray, brown, or pink, used in ornamental stonework.
zoochore. Plant dispersed by animals.
zooglea. Bacteria that form gelatinous colonies.
zooid. 1. A cell having independent movement within a living organism, such as a spermatozoan. 2.. A microscopic colony animal.
zoomorphisn. 1. Attribution of animal qualities to a god. 2. Use of animal forms in symbolism, literature, or graphic representation.
zoon. Sea anemone or sponge that remains attached to a surface and superficially resembles a plant.
zoonosis. A disease such as malaria or rabies that can be transmitted to man.
zooplasty. Surgical transfer of tissue from an animal to man.
zoosperm. A spermatozoan.
zoospore. A mobile, flagellated, asexual spore.
zootechnics. Breeding technology.
zori. Flat straw or leather sandal.
zorille. African mammal resembling the skunk.
zoster. 1. Belt or girdle. 2. Herpes zoster
Zouave. 1. French Algerian infantry unit. Colorful uniforms, precision drilling. 2. Civil War copy.
zucchetto. Catholic skullcap, like a biretta.
zwiterion. An ion carrying both a positive and a negative charge.
zydeco. Cajun music combining elements of French dance music, Caribbean music, and the blues. Played on a washboard, a guitar, and an accordion.
zygaphosis. One of two usually paired processes of a vertebrate that articulate with corresponding parts of adjacent vertebrae.
zygodactyl. Having two toes projecting forward and two toes projecting backward. A zygodactyl bird.
zygoma. 1. A zygomatic bone. 2. The zygomatic arch. 3. The zygomatic process.
zygomatic bon e.A small quadrangular bone forming part of the orbit and part of the zygomatic arch.
zygomatic arch. The bony arch that extends along the side of front of the skull beneath the orbit.
zygomatic process. Any of the three processes that articulate to make up the zygomatic arch.
zygomorphic. Bilaterally symmetric.
zymogen. The inactive protein precursor of an enzyme.
zyzzyva. Tropical weevil.