Word of the whatever...

[Lazy Bastard]

Since I know I'm too lazy to add a word everyday...or expect anyone else to...this will be sporadic.

I figured it'd be nice to have some seldomly-used words thrown into our forums, so here we go...word 1:


Esoteric

1 a : Designed for or understood by the specially initiated alone
<a body of esoteric legal doctrine -- B. N. Cardozo>

b : Requiring or exhibiting knowledge that is restricted to a small group
<esoteric terminology> <esoteric strategies>; broadly : difficult to understand <esoteric subjects>

2 a : Limited to a small circle <engaging in esoteric pursuits>

b : Private; confidential <an esoteric purpose>

3 : Of special, rare, or unusual interest <esoteric building materials>

[Lazy Bastard]

Corollary

1 : A deduction from a proposition already proved true
2 : Something that naturally follows : result
3 : Something that incidentally or naturally accompanies or parallels

[acarzt]

Nonchalant

: having an air of easy unconcern or indifference

[Lazy Bastard]

Soliloquy

1 : The act of talking to oneself
2 : A dramatic monologue that represents a series of unspoken reflections

[Modman]

Extrapolate

A method for estimating new data points based on existing measurements, and thereby predicting trends. For example, if the data for 1994 and 1995 are 8 and 9 respectively, one could extrapolate from that data to estimate that in 1996 the figure might be 10. In this case since the extrapolation is over time it is also called Forecasting.

Infer from what is known

to find and estimate of a value beyond a set of given values (in a sequence), based on the prevailing pattern or tendency (often a proportion) of the original values


Interpolate

A method for estimating data points that fall between points of actual measurement. For example, if the data for 1992 and 1994 are 5 and 10 respectively, one could interpolate from that data that the value was 7.5 (at the midpoint) in 1993.

1. to insert between or among others 2. to change by putting in new material 3. to estimate a missing value by taking an average of known values at neighboring points. Interpolation is an estimation of a value within two known values in a sequence of values. A method used in software to augment the resolution of an image map. The software adds pixels to an image based on the value of surrounding pixels, thereby increasing its resolution. This method can cause artifacting. ...

to estimate an unknown quantity within the limits of what is already known (in contrast see extrapolate).

[LiquidManZero]

Defenestrate

1. to eject or throw (someone or something) from a window
2. (computing) (slang) To stop using the Windows operating system

[Sage]

demure

1. modest or shy.

Macroeconomics

1. The study of the big picture of the economy ie of how wealth is created and distributed. It can be about a particular country or about the world as a whole and of how individual countries fit into the global picture.

psychodynamics

1. Science of mental forces and motivations that influence human behavior and mental activity; the role of unconscious motivation in the causation of human behavior is emphasized.

[Modman]

Teleology

The supposition that there is design, purpose, directive principle, or finality in the works and processes of nature, and the philosophical study of that purpose.

Refers to purposive goal-directed behaviour or explanation. The "hard" ST prediction that religion will continue to decline in the future has been called teleological, although it arguably is not really so as there is emphatically no purpose involved in such social changes - it is just that the word connotes a longterm prediction.

Referring to attributing conscious purpose to something within a simple physical phenomenon.

Ontology

Specification of a conceptualisation of a knowledge domain. An ontology is a controlled vocabulary that describes objects and the relations between them in a formal way, and has a grammar for using the vocabulary terms to express something meaningful within a specified domain of interest. The vocabulary is used to make queries and assertions. Ontological commitments are agreements to use the vocabulary in a consistent way for knowledge sharing.

The study of the broadest range of categories of existence, which also asks questions about the existence of particular kinds of objects, such as numbers or moral facts.

[Lazy Bastard]

Gadarene • \GAD-uh-reen\ Audio icon • adjective
: headlong, precipitate

Example sentence:
Ross has criticized his company for joining the gadarene rush into the global market.

[Lazy Bastard]

Turgescent - Becoming turgid, distended, or inflated : swelling.

(thanks go out to General Geoff, in his mocking of Rune, for this word)

[Lazy Bastard]

Antecedent - One who or that which precedes or goes before, as in time, place, rank, order, or causality.

[Lazy Bastard]

Sycophant - A servile, self-seeking flatterer.

[Sage]

Yer gonna laugh at this one....

onanism - withdrawal of the penis in sexual intercourse so that ejaculation takes place outside the vagina; coitus interruptus.

Example: It's ok baby, I don't need a condom because I practice onanism

[Lazy Bastard]

Ah, coitus interruptus...heh.

[Lazy Bastard]

Palindrome: A word, phrase, number, or other sequence that reads the same forward or backward (eg: "racecar").