Educational

buttress

[buh-tris]

any external prop or support built to steady a structure by opposing its outward thrusts, especially a projecting support built into or against the outside of a masonry wall

logophile

[law-guh-fahyl]

a lover of words

prodigious

[pruh-dij-uhs]

extraordinary in size, amount, extent, degree, force, etc.

turbulent

[tur-byuh-luhnt]

being in a state of agitation or tumult; disturbed

gloaming

[gloh-ming]

twilight; dusk

halcyon

[hal-see-uhn]

calm; peaceful; tranquil

rutilant

[root-l-uhnt]

glowing or glittering with red or golden light

peristyle

[per-uh-stahyl]

a colonnade surrounding a building or an open space

diphthong

[dif-thawng]

a sound formed by the combination of two vowels in a single syllable, in which the sound begins as one vowel and moves toward another (as in coin, loud, and side)

insolent

[in-suh-luhnt]

boldly rude or disrespectful; contemptuously impertinent; insulting

vernal

[vur-nl]

of, in, or appropriate to spring

clerestory

[kleer-stawr-ee]

a portion of an interior rising above adjacent rooftops and having windows admitting daylight to the interior

hamartia

[hah-mahr-tee-uh]

a fatal flaw leading to the downfall of a tragic hero or heroine

equivocal

[ih-kwiv-uh-kuhl]

allowing the possibility of several different meanings, as a word or phrase, especially with intent to deceive or misguide; susceptible of double interpretation; deliberately ambiguous