New words from Nabokov

Words I had to look up reading Ada or Ardor: A Family Chronicle – some I’d been vaguely guessing for years and thought I should finally confirm; most I’d never seen and had not the faintest idea about.

This is a personal list, shamelessly copy-pasted from the internet and not in any way appropriately cited (but taken mainly from Merriam-Webster, Google, and these two exceptionally loving and detailed glossary sites).

It also sketches out, I realised, the aesthetic bones of Vladimir Nabokov’s 1969 incest rom-com – his final (and, depending who you ask, finest) novel. These words, taken down in order of reading, trace a playful, grotty, brilliant obsession with plants, puns, insects, body parts, light, languages, old Europe, showing off …

Detached from its tender plot, its glittering imagery, they trace the silvery breath of this book: humid, amused, intimate, troubling and beautiful.

1.     granoblastically

of a rock: having a texture in which the fragments are irregular and angular and appear like a mosaic under the microscope

2.     sur-royally

surroyal: : one of the terminal tines above the royal antler of a stag or other large deer usually attained at the age of four years

3.     vernal 

: of, relating to, or occurring in the spring / : fresh or new like the spring

4.     cicerone

: a guide who conducts sightseers

5.     salver

: a tray especially for serving food or beverages

6.     parvis

: a court or enclosed space before a building (such as a church) / : a single portico or colonnade before a church

7.     athwart

: across/ : in opposition to

8.     putative

: commonly accepted or supposed

9.     larch

: any of a genus (Larix) of northern hemisphere trees of the pine family with short fascicled deciduous leaves

10.  ephemeron

sing. of ephemera

11.  claque

: a group hired to applaud at a performance

12.  fulgurations

: the act or process of flashing like lightning / : the drying up of tissue by a high-frequency electric current applied with a needle-shaped electrode

13.  vermiculated

: marked by repeated twists, bends, or turns : WINDING / : TORTUOUS, INVOLUTE / : full of worms : WORM-EATEN / VERMIFORM (: resembling a worm in shape): marked with irregular fine lines or with wavy impressed lines

14.  limpidity

: marked by transparency (see TRANSPARENT sense 1) : PELLUCID / : clear and simple in style / : absolutely serene and untroubled

15.  dackel [German]

daschund

16.  voluble

: easily rolling or turning : ROTATING / : characterised by ready or rapid speech : GLIB, FLUENT

17.  canard

: a false or unfounded report or story

18.  oneirologically

: of, relating to, or suggestive of dreams : DREAMY

19.  execrable

: deserving to be execrated (: to declare to be evil or detestable : DENOUNCE) : DETESTABLE / : very bad : WRETCHED

20.  nonce

: the one, particular, or present occasion, purpose, or use / : the time being

21.  penyuar [Russian]

negligée

22.  marquetry

: decorative work in which elaborate patterns are formed by the insertion of pieces of material (such as wood, shell, or ivory) into a wood veneer that is then applied to a surface (as of a piece of furniture)

23.  ormolu

: golden or gilded brass or bronze used for decorative purposes (as in mounts for furniture)

24.  varicoloured

marked by a variety of usually vivid colours

25.  amalgam

a distinct entity formed by the combining of two or more different things

26.  euphonic

having a pleasing mixture of notes

27.  specular

: of, relating to, or having the qualities of a mirror

28.  speculatory

obsolete : concerned with or constituting occult speculation

29.  mirabilic

adj. mirabile (masculine and feminine plural mirabili) admirable, wonderful

30.  peris

: a supernatural being in Persian folklore descended from fallen angels and excluded from paradise until penance is accomplished / : a beautiful and graceful girl

31.  emirate

: the state or jurisdiction of an emir

32.  germinate

: to cause to sprout or develop / : to come into being : EVOLVE

33.  epithelial

: of or relating to epithelium – : a membranous cellular tissue that covers a free surface or lines a tube or cavity of an animal body and serves especially to enclose and protect the other parts of the body, to produce secretions and excretions, and to function in assimilation / : a usually thin layer of parenchyma that lines a cavity or tube of a plant

34.  modicum

: a small portion : a limited quantity

35.  bivouacs

: a usually temporary encampment under little or no shelter / : encampment usually for a night

36.  libellula

: a genus of large often brightly coloured dragonflies usually with dark blotches on the wings that is the type of the family Libellulidae and in older classifications includes all the dragonflies / plural -s : any dragonfly of the genus Libellula : SKIMMER

37.  scrota

plural of scrotum: the external pouch that in most mammals contains the testes

38.  melodeon

: a small reed organ in which a suction bellows draws air inward through the reeds

39.  fangles

 a fashion especially when foppish or silly —used with new and usually derogatorily / obsolete : a silly or fantastic contrivance : GEWGAW, GAUD

40.  parvenu

: one that has recently or suddenly risen to an unaccustomed position of wealth or power and has not yet gained the prestige, dignity, or manner associated with it

41.  appenzeller

Swiss cheese

42.  direful

: dreadful : ominous

43.  racking 

: to cause to suffer torture, pain, anguish, or ruin / : to become forced out of shape or out of plumb

44.  predormitarily [Nabokov's?]

before bed

45.  utile

useful

46.  lammer [Scottish]

amber

47.  phrasal

of, relating to, or consisting of a phrase

48.  flou [French]

blurry

49.  palpebra [medical]

: EYELID

50.  rukuliruyushchiy [Russian]

cooing

51.  planful

: full of plans : RESOURCEFUL, SCHEMING / : according to a plan

52.  jejune

: devoid of significance or interest : DULL

53.  gulch

: a deep or precipitous cleft : RAVINE especially : one occupied by a torrent

54.  chaparral

: a thicket of dwarf evergreen oaks / broadly : a dense impenetrable thicket of shrubs or dwarf trees : an ecological community composed of shrubby plants adapted to dry summers and moist winters that occurs especially in southern California

55.  catamite

: a boy kept by a pederast

56.  izba

: a Russian log hut

57.  amplitude

: the extent or range of a quality, property, process / : the quality or state of being ample : FULLNESS, ABUNDANCE

58.  moiré

: an irregular wavy finish on a fabric / : a fabric having a wavy watered appearance / : an independent usually shimmering pattern seen when two geometrically regular patterns (such as two sets of parallel lines or two halftone screens) are superimposed especially at an acute angle

59.  poltroon

: a spiritless coward : CRAVEN

60.  commode

: a low chest of drawers / : a boxlike structure holding a chamber pot under an open seat

61.  seraglio

: a palace of a sultan / harem

62.  stamnos

: an ancient Greek wine jar with a wide mouth and with handles set horizontally on the shoulders

63.  brachiate

: to progress by swinging from hold to hold by the arms

64.  teil

Linden tree

65.  ichneumon

wasp / mongoose

66.  vermian

: of, relating to, or resembling worms

67.  woggle

waggle

68.  pudic

relating to pudendum

69.  belletristic

: a writer of belles lettres / : literature that is an end in itself and not merely informative / specifically : light, entertaining, and often sophisticated literature

70.  spondaic

: a metrical foot consisting of two long or stressed syllables

71.  fakir

a: a Muslim mendicant : DERVISH / : an itinerant Hindu ascetic or wonder-worker /  : IMPOSTOR  especially : SWINDLER

72.  troika

: a group of three especially : an administrative or ruling body of three

73.  traduce

: to expose to shame or blame by means of falsehood and misrepresentation

74.  asinine

: extremely or utterly foolish or silly / : of, relating to, or resembling an ass

75.  transversion

: the eruption of a tooth in an abnormal position on the jaw

76.  anthemia

pl. of anthemion: : a flat ornament of floral form (as in relief sculpture or in painting)

77.  hyaline

: transparent or nearly so and usually homogeneous

78.  photic

: of, relating to, or involving light especially in relation to organisms / : penetrated by light especially of the sun // the photic zone of the ocean

79.  reticulated

: resembling a net or network especially : having veins, fibers, or lines crossing // a reticulate leaf

80.  lampad

: LAMP, CANDLESTICK —used of the seven lamps of fire in Revelation 4:5

81.  buvard [French]

blotter

82.  lucifer

capitalised : the planet Venus when appearing as the morning star / not capitalised : a friction match having as active substances antimony sulfide and potassium chlorate

83.  dactylic 

from dactyl: : a metrical foot consisting of one long and two short syllables or of one stressed and two unstressed syllables (as in tenderly)

84.  collation [French]

snack

85.  trémousse [French]

wiggle

86.  deprecable

that may or should be deprecated.: : to express disapproval of / : PLAY DOWN : make little of

87.  hoopoe

: a crested Old World nonpasserine bird (Upupa epops of the family Upupidae) having a slender decurved bill and barred black-and-white wings and tail

88.  charabanc

: a sightseeing motor coach

89.  calèche [French]

carriage

90.  nacrine

from nacre: mother-of-pearl

91.  coeval

: of the same or equal age, antiquity, or duration

92.  caryatics

: of, relating to, or using caryatid / : a draped female figure supporting an entablature

93.  Tarentine

: of, relating to, or characteristic of Tarentum, a Greek city of ancient Italy

94.  bilboquet

: a device having a cup or spike at the top of a stick to which is attached a ball on a string / also : the game of maneuvering the device so as to catch the ball in the cup or on the spike

95.  brachiambulant

brachi- : arm

96.  osteal

: of, relating to, or resembling bone

97.  strapontin [French]

folding seat

98.  décharné [French]

gaunt

99. anadem

: a wreath for the head : GARLAND

100. marguerite

daisy / : any of various single-flowered chrysanthemums

101. bonze

: a Buddhist monk

102. pourpre [French]

purple, crimson

103. sullow

chiefly dialectal : plow

104. coppice

copse / : forest originating mainly from shoots or root suckers rather than seed

105. drupe

: a one-seeded indehiscent fruit having a hard bony endocarp, a fleshy mesocarp, and a thin exocarp that is flexible (as in the cherry) or dry and almost leathery (as in the almond)

106. shagreen

: an untanned leather covered with small round granulations and usually dyed green / : the rough skin of various sharks and rays when covered with small close-set tubercles

107. ardilla

squirrel family

108. ensellure [French]

saddle

109. venery

: the art, act, or practice of hunting / : animals that are hunted : GAME / : the pursuit of or indulgence in sexual pleasure / : SEXUAL INTERCOURSE

110. Estotian

of island between Greenland and Newfoundland

111. charnue [French]

fleshy

112. plaie [French]

wound

113. lèche [French]

lick

114. pudibund

prudish

115. palpate

: to examine by touch especially medically

116. corpuscle

: a minute particle / : a living cell / : any of various small circumscribed multicellular bodies

117. carpus

wrist / : the bones of the wrist

118. damozel

: a young woman: / archaic : a young unmarried woman of noble birth / girl

119. eglantine

sweetbriar

120. trouvaille [French]

find

121. palpi

pl. palpus / : a segmented usually tactile or gustatory process on an arthropod mouthpart

122. dipterist

: a specialist in the study of Diptera (flies)

123. flue pipe

: an organ pipe whose tone is produced by an air current striking the lip and causing the air within to vibrate

124. pediment

: a triangular space that forms the gable of a low-pitched roof and that is usually filled with relief sculpture in classical architecture / : a broad gently sloping bedrock surface with low relief that is situated at the base of a steeper slope and is usually thinly covered with alluvial gravel and sand

125. marmoreal

: of, relating to, or suggestive of marble or a marble statue especially in coldness or aloofness

126. hument [French]

sniff

127. hoary

: grey or white with or as if with age / extremely old / ancient

128. miniver

: a white fur worn originally by medieval nobles and used chiefly for robes of state

129. en croupe [French]

on the back

130. telega

: a 4-wheeled springless wagon used by the Russians

131. ignicolist

a worshipper of fire

132. batiste

: a fine soft sheer fabric of plain weave made of various fibres

133. à reculons [French]

backwards

134. nates

buttocks

135. lumbus [anatomical]

the part of the lower back and sides between the pelvis and the ribs

136. splenius

: either of two flat oblique muscles on each side of the back of the neck and upper thoracic region.

137. ramping

: to move or act furiously / : to creep up —used especially of plants / : to speed up, expand, or increase especially quickly or at a constant rate —used with up / transitive verb: : to increase, expand, or decrease especially quickly or at a constant rate —usually used with up or down

138. crepitated

: to make a crackling sound : CRACKLE

139. trempée [French]

soaked

140. slew

: to turn (something, such as a telescope or a ship's spar) about a fixed point that is usually the axis / : to turn, twist, or swing about : PIVOT / skid

141. suscitate

: EXCITE, ROUSE, ANIMATE

142. opprobrious

: expressive of opprobrium : SCURRILOUS / : deserving of opprobrium : INFAMOUS

143. polyphemic

: GIANT, CYCLOPS

144. oriflamme

: a banner, symbol, or ideal inspiring devotion or courage

145. bladder-senna

: a southern African shrub (Sutherlandia frutescens) with a much-inflated pod

146. curtal

obsolete : having a docked tail / obsolete : BRIEF, CURTAILED / archaic : wearing a short frock

147. supine

: lying on the back or with the face upward / 2: exhibiting indolent or apathetic inertia or passivity / especially : mentally or morally slack / 3 archaic : leaning or sloping backward

148. incunabulum

1: a book printed before 1501 / 2: a work of art or of industry of an early period

149. breloque

: a seal or charm for a watch chain

150. lepidosis

: a scaly skin disease (as ichthyosis) / : the arrangement and character of the scales or shields of an animal

151. démission éplorée [French]

weeping resignation

152. ventral

1a: of or relating to the belly : ABDOMINAL / : being or located near or on the anterior or lower surface of an animal opposite the back / : being or located on the lower surface of a dorsiventral plant structure / : a ventral part (such as a scale or fin)

153. palpitate

: to beat rapidly and strongly : THROB

154. sphingid

hawk moth

155. fatidic

: of or relating to prophecy / fatidically  1. of or relating to a prophet or prophecy. 2. containing or of the nature of a prophecy; predictive

156. immonde [French]

foul

157. landaulet

: a small landau / : a four-wheel carriage with a top divided into two sections that can be folded away or removed and with a raised seat outside for the driver

158. carrosses [French]

floats

159. duse [French]

small calibrated orifice, limiting the flow of a pressurised pipe

160. ambivert

: a person having characteristics of both extrovert and introvert

161. retentive

: having the power, property, or capacity of retaining / especially : retaining knowledge easily

162. volitation

: the act or power of flying

163. tetrameter

: a line of verse consisting either of four dipodies (as in classical iambic, trochaic, and anapestic verse) or four metrical feet (as in modern English verse)

164. trite

: hackneyed or boring from much use : not fresh or original

165. bewgest

Not spelled thus in W2, W3, OED; beau geste, “A display of magnanimity” (OED), “1: a graceful pleasing fine or magnanimous gesture 2: a gracious conciliatory insubstantial or ineffectual gesture” (W3). Perhaps, in the spelling, a hint of gewgaw, “A showy trifle; a toy; a pretty but worthless bauble” (W2).

166. ocellated

: having ocelli (: a minute simple eye or eyespot of an invertebrate / : an eyelike coloured spot (as on a peacock feather or the wings of some butterflies) / : resembling an ocellus : EYELIKE

167. eremitic

hermit / especially : a religious recluse

168. dolent

sorrowful

169. Dorean  [biblical?]

freely, undeservedly

170. Subbetuline [Nabokov's?]

growing under the canopy of birch trees, as Boletus betulicola, now believed to be a supsecies of Boletus edulis rather than a different species

171. incarnadine

adj. : having the pinkish color of flesh / : RED especially : BLOODRED | verb. : to make incarnadine : REDDEN

172. stridulating

: to make a shrill creaking noise by rubbing together special bodily structures —used especially of male insects (such as crickets or grasshoppers) (Merriam-Webster: Stridor means "a harsh, shrill, or creaking noise" and also "a harsh vibrating sound heard during respiration in cases of obstruction of the air passages.")

173. pinacoteca [Italian] 

a picture gallery or place where paintings are kept.

174. pique-aced

As de pique is French for “ace of spades.” Here, in arrangement like that of the ace of spades: with a truffle in each corner, and another (a very large one, like the main ace symbol?) in the centre. Piqué in cookery means “larded.”

175. samlet

(ˈsæmlɪt ) a young salmon. Word origin. < salmon + -let.

176. parturition

: the action or process of giving birth to offspring : CHILDBIRTH

177. conformant

obsolete : CONFORMING, CONFORMABLE

178. megrims

1a: MIGRAINE sense 1a | b: VERTIGO, DIZZINESS | 2a: FANCY, WHIM | b megrims plural : low spirits

179. sander

“A pike perch (Sander, syn. Lucioperca, lucioperca), of central Europe, allied to the walleyed pike.”

180. gemel

1 obsolete : HINGE | 2: a ring of two separable hoops | — compare GIMBAL | 3 or gemel bar or less commonly gemelle or gemell \ jəˈmel , ˈjeməl \ : BAR GEMEL | 4: a pair of glass bottles blown separately and then fused usually with the two necks pointing in different directions

181. combler [French]

fill

182. certicle    

?       

183. paraphrast

PARAPHRASER

184. corolla

: the part of a flower that consists of the separate or fused petals and constitutes the inner whorl of the perianth

185. borborygmic [medical]

: describing a rumbling sound made by the movement of gas in the intestine

186. crupper

1: a leather loop passing under a horse's tail and buckled to the saddle / 2: CROUP entry 1 / broadly : BUTTOCKS

187. Silésian

region of east central Europe in the valley of the upper Oder River bordering on the Sudety Mountains

188. anathematised

: to pronounce an anathema upon

189. axillary

1: of, relating to, or located near the axilla (armpit) | 2: situated in or growing from an axil | axillary buds: one of the feathers arising from the axilla and closing the space between the flight feathers and body of a flying bird

190. penetralium

(from penetralia?) : the innermost or most private parts

191. grovy

: relating to or resembling a grove : situated in or frequenting groves

192. fascicles

1: a small or slender bundle (as of pine needles or nerve fibres) | 2: one of the divisions of a book published in parts

193. nuque

: the back of the neck

194. cochlea

: a hollow tube in the inner ear of higher vertebrates that is usually coiled like a snail shell and contains the sensory organ of hearing

195. hurdies

dialectal British : RUMP

196. Troussant la raimée [French]

‘tumbling the foliage,' Corrected from 1969, “foliage ‘troussant . . . ’”. Sore is French. Raimée combines ramée (“green boughs, foliage”), and raimée (as feminine past participle: “[woman] loved again”). While troussant la ramée can mean, literally, “tumbling the foliage,” troussant can also mean “tumbling” a woman in the slang sexual sense. (from here: http://www.ada.auckland.ac.nz/ada134ann.htm)

197. propitious       1: favourably disposed : BENEVOLENT / 2: being a good omen : AUSPICIOUS propitious sign / 3: tending to favour : ADVANTAGEOUS

198. palpebral

: of, relating to, or located on or near the eyelids

199. uterine

1: born of the same mother but by a different father 2 : of, relating to, or affecting the uterus

200. ivorine

: a substance resembling ivory in colour and texture

201. acarpous

: not producing fruit : STERILE

202. dolorous

: causing, marked by, or expressing misery or grief

203. logogriph

: a word puzzle (such as an anagram)

204. saffian

: a leather made of goatskins or sheepskins tanned with sumac and dyed with bright colours

205. Lalla Rookh

an 'Eastern' romance by Irish poet Thomas Moore, published in 1817.

206. lassitude

1: a condition of weariness or debility : FATIGUE The patient complained of headache, nausea, and lassitude. | 2: a condition characterised by lack of interest, energy, or spirit : LANGUOR | surrendered to an overpowering lassitude, an extreme desire to sit and dream — Alan Moorehead

207. cogitation

1a: the act of cogitating : MEDITATION b: the capacity to think or reflect 2: a single thought

208. collops

1: a small piece or slice especially of meat | 2: a fold of fat flesh

From Merriam Webster: "The word collop is fat with meaning. It originated as a Middle-English word for an egg fried on bacon and later for the slice of bacon itself. In 18th-century Great Britain, it began designating the Monday before Shrove Tuesday. Traditionally, on "Collop Monday" fried bacon and eggs were eaten. The word was also extended to refer to any slice of meat, as in "collops of lobster," and to a fold of flesh on the body. In addition, the word can be used figuratively to refer to any piece of something - for example, in Sir Walter Scott's novel Waverley we find "a 'collop of the foray,' or, in plainer words, a portion of the robber's booty."

209. planchette

: a small triangular or heart-shaped board supported on casters at two points and a vertical pencil at a third and believed to produce automatic writing when lightly touched by the fingers | also : a similar board without a pencil

210. flavid

: YELLOW / a flavid gold coin

211. leporine

: of, relating to, or resembling a hare

212. hassock

1 : TUSSOCK | 2a: a cushion for kneeling, a church hassock | b: a padded cushion or low stool that serves as a seat or leg rest

213. admixed

transitive verb : to mix in

214. oeillet [French] 

carnation

215. Cichlid

: any of a family (Cichlidae) of mostly tropical spiny-finned usually freshwater fishes including several kept in tropical aquariums

216. antiphonally

: of, relating to, or suggesting an antiphon or antiphony (: a book containing the choral parts of the Divine Office)

217. Amerlocks

“usually spelt ‘amerloques’ [and] is a French derogatory term for Americans.” NABOKV-L Archives March 1996 (#55). (http://vnjapan.org/main/ada/Ada38withBB.pdf)

218. recondite        1: difficult or impossible for one of ordinary understanding or knowledge to comprehend : DEEP | a recondite subject | 2: of, relating to, or dealing with something little known or obscure | recondite fact about the origin of the holiday — Floyd Dell |3: hidden from sight : CONCEALED

219. tittery

that laughs a lot in a tittering way; characterised by tittering.

220. Venutian

: venusian / : of or relating to the planet Venus

221. soubrette 

1a: a coquettish maid or frivolous young woman in comedies / b: an actress who plays such a part / 2: a soprano who sings supporting roles in comic opera

222. boletes

: any of a family (Boletaceae) of fleshy stalked pore fungi that usually grow on the ground in wooded areas

223. rill

: a very small brook / : to flow like a rill

224. lyrate

: having or suggesting the shape of a lyre

225. Lunel

White wine/muscat region

226. superposed

: situated vertically over another layer or part

227. omoplates

: SCAPULA

228. embrocation

: LINIMENT | : a liquid or semiliquid preparation that is applied to the skin as an anodyne or a counterirritant

229. florula

: a small flora | especially : a fossil flora comparable to a faunule

230. Lyaskan

Antiterra's Alaska (from the transliteration of the Russian, "Alyaska"), which Russia sold to the United States in 1867. Cf. 3.15n and SO 61, where Nabokov, asked what scenes he would like to have filmed, replied: "The Russians leaving Alaska, delighted with the deal. Shot of a seal applauding." MOTIF: Lyaska.

231. sepals

: one of the modified leaves comprising a calyx

232. bosquet          : THICKET

233. Bergamask      : of, relating to, or characteristic of Bergamo, Italy

234. demission

: RESIGNATION, ABDICATION

235. fioriture

: ORNAMENT sense 5 (5: an embellishing note not belonging to the essential harmony or melody — called also embellishment, fioritura)

236. culbuter [French]

to tumble, topple, knock over, break down, overcome, somersault (e.g. into a gorge)

237. vitreous 

1a: resembling glass (as in colour, composition, brittleness, or lustre) : GLASSY | vitreous rocks | b: characterised by low porosity and usually translucence due to the presence of a glassy phase | vitreous china | 2: of, relating to, derived from, or consisting of glass | 3: of, relating to, or constituting the vitreous humour (: the clear colourless transparent jelly that fills the eyeball posterior to the lens) | vitreous surgery

238. Transom-wise

Transom: 1: a transverse piece in a structure : CROSSPIECE: such as a: LINTEL b: a horizontal crossbar in a window, over a door, or between a door and a window or fanlight above it c: the horizontal bar or member of a cross or gallows d: any of several transverse timbers or beams secured to the sternpost of a boat | also : the planking forming the stern of a square-ended boat | 2 or transom window : a window above a door or other window built on and commonly hinged to a transom | over the transom : without solicitation or prior arrangement

239. adumbration

1: to foreshadow vaguely : INTIMATE | the social unrest that adumbrated the French Revolution | 2: to suggest, disclose, or outline partially | adumbrate a plan | 3: OVERSHADOW, OBSCURE | bubbling optimism, not at all adumbrated by difficulties

240. abut

1: to border on : to touch along an edge - Their property abuts our land. | 2: to cause to touch or lean for support - abut a timber against a post | 1: to touch along a border or with a projecting part - a parcel of land that abuts on the road 2a: to terminate at a point of contact b: to lean for support

241. Pleonasm

1: the use of more words than those necessary to denote mere sense (as in the man he said) : REDUNDANCY | 2: an instance or example of pleonasm

242. cornel

: any of various shrubs or trees (genus Cornus) of the dogwood family

243. medlar

: a small deciduous Eurasian tree (Mespilus germanica) of the rose family whose fruit resembles a crab apple and is used in preserves | also : its fruit

244. viatically

of or having to do with travel

245. randonnies

French: randonnées (trips, excursions), with a pun on English randy, in its current sense, “Lustful; eager for sexual gratification; sexually aroused” (OED) (from: http://www.ada.auckland.ac.nz/ada21ann.htm#3291718)

246. imbroglio

1a: an acutely painful or embarrassing misunderstanding | b: SCANDAL sense 1a - survived the political imbroglio | c: a violently confused or bitterly complicated altercation : EMBROILMENT | d: an intricate or complicated situation (as in a drama or novel) | 2: a confused mass

247. mimotypes

: a plant or animal resembling in many respects another from which it is systematically distinct and geographically isolated

248. aril

: an exterior covering or appendage of some seeds (as of the yew) that develops after fertilisation as an outgrowth from the ovule stalk

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