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Occupy

oc·cu·py  [ok-yuh-pahy] verb, oc·cu·pied, oc·cu·py·ing.

verb (used with object)
1. to take or fill up (space, time, etc.): I occupied my evenings reading novels.
2. to engage or employ the mind, energy, or attention of: Occupy the children with a game while I prepare dinner.
3. to be a resident or tenant of; dwell in: We occupied the same house for 20 years.
4. to take possession and control of (a place), as by military invasion.
5. to hold (a position, office, etc.).
verb (used without object)
6. to take or hold possession.


Origin:
1300–50; Middle English occupien < Middle French occuper < Latin occupāre to seize, take hold, take up, make one's own, equivalent to oc- oc- + -cup-, combining form of capere to take, seize + -āre infinitive suffix

Related forms
oc·cu·pi·a·ble, adjective
oc·cu·pi·er, noun
mis·oc·cu·py, verb, mis·oc·cu·pied, mis·oc·cu·py·ing.
o·ver·oc·cu·pied, adjective
re·oc·cu·py, verb (used with object), re·oc·cu·pied, re·oc·cu·py·ing.

Synonyms
1, 2, 4, 5. See have. 2. use, busy. 4. capture, seize.

proclivity

pro·cliv·i·ty   [proh-kliv-i-tee]
noun, plural pro·cliv·i·ties.
natural or habitual inclination or tendency; propensity; predisposition: a proclivity to meticulousness.
Origin:
1585–95; < Latin prōclīvitās tendency, literally, a steep descent, steepness, equivalent to prōclīv ( is ) sloping forward, steep ( prō- pro-1 + clīv ( us ) slope + -is adj. suffix) + -itās -ity

Synonyms
bent, leaning, disposition.

Antonyms
aversion.

asperse \uh-SPURS\, verb:
1. To sprinkle; bespatter.
2. To attack with false, malicious, and damaging charges or insinuations; slander.

Let no man write my epitaph; for as no man who knows my motives dares now vindicate them, let not prejudice or ignorance asperse them.
-- James Joyce, Ulysses

And their leader chanted: "Propitiate, propitiate, and, when ye have done so, asperse!"
-- Alice Warner, Myths and Legends of the Bantu

Asperse comes from the Latin root sparge meaning "to scatter or sprinkle." The prefix a- is a variation of ad- (meaning "toward") that is used before words that start with sc, sp or st.

cogent
co·gent   [koh-juhnt]
adjective
1.
convincing or believable by virtue of forcible, clear, or incisive presentation; telling.
2.
to the point; relevant; pertinent.

Origin:
1650–60; < Latin cōgent- (stem of cōgēns, present participle of cōgere to drive together, collect, compel), equivalent to cōg- ( co- co- + ag-, stem of agere to drive) + -ent- -ent

varlet \VAHR-lit\, noun:
1. A knavish person; rascal.
2. A. An attendant or servant. B. A page who serves a knight.

Is he not a lying, stinking, contemptible varlet?
-- Jude Morgan, Indiscretion

A varlet scrambled forward at once and attempted to wrestle our luggage away from me.
-- Eric Kraft, On the Wing

Varlet is a variation on the French word valet.

Equanimity

e·qua·nim·i·ty   [ee-kwuh-nim-i-tee, ek-wuh-]
noun
mental or emotional stability or composure, especially under tension or strain; calmness; equilibrium.

Origin:
1600–10; < Latin aequanimitās, equivalent to aequ ( us ) even, plain, equal + anim ( us ) mind, spirit, feelings + -itās -ity

skirr \skur\, verb:
1. To go rapidly; fly; scurry.
2. To go rapidly over.

noun:
1. A grating or whirring sound.

Looking up, he perceived, to his horror, the figure of a man which seemed to skirr along the surface of the water...
-- Ambrose Marten, The Stanley Tales
If they'll do neither, we will come to them, and make them skirr away as swift as stones enforced from the old Assyrian slings.
-- William Shakespeare, Henry V
Skirr is related to the word scour, which comes from the Old Norse word skur meaning "shower."

Demure

1 : reserved, modest
2: affectedly modest, reserved, or serious : coy
— de·mure·ly adverb
— de·mure·ness noun
See demure defined for English-language learners »
See demure defined for kids »
Examples of DEMURE

She was wearing a demure gray suit.
the demure charm of the cottage
So even if you think you've moved past your reputation as The Rebel, two minutes after getting together with your more demure sister, you're likely to fall back into that hell-raiser role. —Jessica Mehalic, Cosmopolitan, August 2001

Origin of DEMURE

Middle English
First Known Use: 14th century
Related to DEMURE

Synonyms: coquettish, coy, kittenish
Antonyms: uncoy

Specular [ˈspɛkjʊlə]
adj
1. (Physics / General Physics) of, relating to, or having the properties of a mirror specular reflection
2. (Physics / General Physics) of or relating to a speculum
[from Latin speculāris, from speculum a mirror, from specere to look at]
specularly adv

Comment: inspect

armamentarium \ahr-muh-muhn-TAIR-ee-uhm\, noun:
1. A fruitful source of devices or materials available or used for an undertaking.
2. The aggregate of equipment, methods, and techniques available to one for carrying out one's duties.

You can almost hear the crash as my medical armamentarium smashes to the ground.
-- Emily R. Transue, M.D., On Call
In addition to the past lying available in his memory, he had always had a technical armamentarium second to none; even the hostile critics had granted him that.
-- Orson Scott Card, Masterpieces
Litvikov led the way over to his long conference table, which was covered in green felt and stocked with an armamentarium of mineral-water bottles that the commissar never seemed to offer.
-- Robert Ludlum, The Tristan Betrayal

Armamentarium comes from the Latin root armament, which refers to equipment used by a military unit. The suffix -arium denotes a location or receptacle.

usufruct /ˈyo͞ozəˌfrəkt/
Noun:
The right to enjoy the use and advantages of another's property short of
the destruction or waste of its substance.

oc·u·lar (ky-lr)
adj.
1.
a. Of or relating to the eye: ocular exercises; ocular muscles.
b. Resembling the eye in form or function: ocular spots; an ocular organ.
2. Of or relating to the sense of sight: an ocular aberration.
3. Seen by the eye; visual: ocular proof.

Prism   [priz-uhm] Show IPA
noun
1.
Optics . a transparent solid body, often having triangular bases, used for dispersing light into a spectrum or for reflecting rays of light.
2.
Geometry . a solid having bases or ends that are parallel, congruent polygons and sides that are parallelograms.
3.
Crystallography . a form having faces parallel to the vertical axis and intersecting the horizontal axes.

Origin:
1560–70; < Late Latin prīsma < Greek prîsma literally, something sawed, akin to prī́zein to saw, prīstēs sawyer

Coalesce
co·a·lesce [koh-uh-les] verb, co·a·lesced, co·a·lesc·ing.
verb (used without object)
1. to grow together or into one body: The two lakes coalesced into one.
2. to unite so as to form one mass, community, etc.: The various groups coalesced into a crowd.
3. to blend or come together: Their ideas coalesced into one theory.

1540s, from L. coalescere, from com- "together" + alescere "to grow up" (see adolescent).

levigate \LEV-i-geyt\, verb:
1. To rub, grind, or reduce to a fine powder.
2. Chemistry. To make a homogeneous mixture of, as gels.

adjective:
1. Botany. Having a smooth, glossy surface; glabrous.

It is sufficient to levigate them with water to obtain them very white.
-- M. Richter, Philosophical Magazine, Volume 23

This clay, carefully levigated, and covered with an excellent glaze, yielded a red ware…
-- Samuel Smiles, Josiah Wedgwood
Levigate is derived from the Latin word lēvigātus meaning "to smooth."

PERTINACIOUS

1) Holding firmly to some purpose, belief, or action,
often stubbornly or obstinately;
(2) Hard to get rid of; unyielding; persistent.

Usage 1: She offered them to people with her politely pertinacious
manner and upper-middle-class accent and invariably had good sales.

Usage 2: "... highly developed mental products, then the casual explanation is
that the older the archaic qualities are, the more conservative and pertinacious is their behavior." - Jung

Etymology: From Latin pertinax (gen. pertinacis), firm from per-, intens. + tenax,
holding fast from tenere, to hold: see thin.

Astonish
as·ton·ish   [uh-ston-ish]
verb (used with object)
to fill with sudden and overpowering surprise or wonder; amaze: Her easy humor and keen intellect astonished me.
Origin:
1525–35; Middle English astonyen, astonen, probably < dialectal Old French *astoner, Old French estoner < Vulgar Latin *extonāre, for Latin attonāre to strike with lightning, equivalent to ex- ex-1 , at- at- + tonāre to thunder; extended by -ish2 , perhaps reflecting Anglo-French *astonir < dialectal Old French

Related forms
as·ton·ished·ly, adverb
as·ton·ish·er, noun
su·per·as·ton·ish, verb
un·as·ton·ished, adjective

apoplectic \ap-uh-plek-tik\, adjective:
1. Intense enough to threaten or cause a stroke.
2. Of or pertaining to apoplexy.
3. Having or inclined to apoplexy.

noun:
1. A person having or predisposed to apoplexy.

When Abie used to shout, Rebecca always used to make a joke that he was having one of his apoplectic fits.
-- Alan Grayson, Mile End
...four years, one recession and a host of battles — over financial regulation and the nomination of Elizabeth Warren, over Dodd-Frank and the Buffett Rule — have taken their toll. Some on Wall Street are apoplectic. One former supporter, Dan Loeb, compared Obama to Nero; the president’s enemies insinuated worse.
-- Nicholas Confessore, "Obama’s Not-So-Hot Date With Wall Street", The New York Times Magazine, May 2, 2012

Apoplectic stems from the Greek word apoplēktikós which meant "pertaining to stroke". It literally meant "struck down".

"APOCALYPSIS " is a Greek word meaning an unclothing, a tearing away of the
veils obstructing our perception of Absolute Truth. Hence our biblical word
"Revelation" or " Apocalypse." The lnitiate-Apostle Paul speaks of
attaining the lofty condition of beholding the Divine Glory with unveiled
face, reflecting it as a mirror, and becoming transformed into it in ever
increasing measure (2 Cor. iii, 18).