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WORDCRAFT DICTIONARY, T-Z
Note: clickable items link to Wordcraft Archives, which may have further notes

tabby – toponym: 1. silk taffeta (originally striped), esp. with a moiré finish 2. a striped or brindled cat; or a she-cat (further, obscure meanings are omitted)

tabula rasa – an absence of preconceived ideas or predetermined goals

tachygrapher – one who writes shorthand; a stenographer

tachygraphy – shorthand; the art of rapid writing

tacky [etymology] – 1. in neglected disrepair 2. in bad taste or offensive

tadger; todger – Brit. slang from the 1950s: penis (affectionately)

tadoma – [eponym] a way forl a deaf-blind person to "hear" a conversation by touch

taffeta – a fine crisp lustrous fabric

tafumtu – see snafu

take to the woodshed (or 'to woodshed') – U.S politics: 1. orig.: to 'grill' someone brutally, in private; to subject to no-holds-barred questioning 2. more commonly: to criticize scathingly

talisman – an object as a charm to avert evil or good fortune; figuratively, something producing apparently magical or miraculous effects

tall boy – slang: a 16-ounce beer can

tall poppy syndrome – cutting down to size anyone who sets himself up as superior

talus¹ (plural taluses) – a sloping mass of loose rock at the foot of a cliff (also, a like slope of an earthwork or tapering wall)

talus² (plural tali) – the anklebone [also called the astragalus]

tamp – to pack down such matter as powder, sand, coffee grounds, tobacco
Note: sources simply say "ram down" or "pack down". Wordcrafter suggests 'tamp' pertains only to "loose" small matter: you can ram a spike into the ground, or pack down items in a suitcase, but you would not tamp them.

tampion – a cover or a wooden plug for the muzzle of a gun, to keep it clean and dry

tanner – British slang: the old sixpence (see coins and currency)

TANSTAAFL – the principle, "There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch"

tantony – the runt of a litter; also, the smallest bell in a church; also, one who constantly, obsequiously follows after another

Tapleyism – optimism in the most hopeless circumstances [a very rare word]

tarantella – toponym: rapid whirling South Italian dance, once thought to be the sovereign remedy for tarantism [Note: in this context, sovereign means "of the utmost potency".]

tarantism – toponym: a disorder characterized by an uncontrollable urge to dance

tarantula – toponym: a large black wolf spider of southern Europe (or similar hairy spiders of the Americas)

tarantulate – to excite or govern the emotions by music

tarassis – male hysteria. How interesting that our language persists in almost-exclusively use of the term hysteria, which is feminine (from Greek for "womb")

tarfu – see snafu

Tartarean – hellish, infernal [from Tartarus, a section of Hades reserved for punishment of the wicked]

tartuffe – eponym: a hypocrite, esp. who affects piety

tattersall – noun & adj. a cloth with a pattern of dark lines forming squares on a light background; the pattern itself

taurine – like a bull

tautology – 1. an empty statement which is, by definition true. (Either we'll go or we'll stay.) 2. redundancy

taw – a large choice or fancy marble, often streaked or variegated, being that with which the player shoots

tawdry – gaudy and cheap; also, by extension: sordid; sleazy: her tawdry past

taxis – see tropism (not 'taxicabs'!)

taxonomy – classification of plants and animals; classification and categorization generally

Taylorism – the principles or practice of the Taylor system of management

teave – dial. work; struggle

telamon – (pl. telamones) a figure of a man used as a supporting column (synonym atlas [pl. atlantes]; the femele version, caryatid, is much more common)

telematics – the branch of information technology dealing with long-distance transmission of computerized information

teleology – the philosophical study of purpose

tempean – (of a place) of great and delightful natural beauty (a very rare word)

temper (metals) – to harden by alternately heating and cooling

tendentious – highly partisan; marked by a strong tendency in favor of a particular point of view

tentiginous – 1. stiff; stretched; strained. 2. lustful, or pertaining to lust

teosinte – a tall grass of Mexican/Central American, related to corn/maize and cultivated for fodder

tephra – solid matter ejected into the air by an erupting volcano

tergiversate – 1. to change sides; abandon a cause; apostasize 2. to equivocate; to evade by deliberate ambiguity

termagant – eponym: an or overbearing, quarrelsome or nagging woman; a shrew

terminus ante quem – the latest possible date of a past occurrence; the date by which it must have occurred ['limit before which']. Also known as terminus ad quem.

terminus post quem – the earliest possible date of a past occurrence; the date after which it must have occurred ['limit after which']. Also known as terminus a quo.

terpsichorean – eponym: noun a dancer. adj. relating to dancing

terrane – an accretion that has collided with a continental nucleus, or 'craton' but can be recognized by the foreign origin of its rock strata" (Wikipedia)

terrapin – one of certain small freshwater turtles [Algonquin. The earlier form, torope, had by coincidence curious simlarity to torpor.]

testaceous – reddish-brown (brick-colored) or brownish-yellow (also – pertaining to shells; hard-shelled)

tester bed* – a four-poster bed topped by a wooden canopy

testiculose – "that hath great Cods"

tetchy – mildly testy; irritable; grumpy

tête-à-tête – 1. a private conversation between two persons 2. a sofa for two. adj. & adv.: without the intrusion of a third person; in intimate privacy

thalassocracy – maritime supremacy; command of the seas (naval power or commercial power) (thalassocrat)

thalian – eponym: pertaining to comedy; comic

thank-you-ma'am – a ridge or hollow across a road to turn aside rain-water [from the sudden bowing of a person, caused by the pitching of a vehicle in crossing such a place]

Thatcherism – the political policy of Margaret Thatcher

thaumaturgy – making magic or miracles (derivatives: thaumaturge, thaumaturgist, thaumaturgus, thaumaturgise, and thaumatrope)

theave – a ewe lamb of the first year; also, a sheep three years old

thenar – the fleshy mass on the palm of the hand at the base of the thumb

theodolite – a surveying instrument with a rotating telescope, for measuring horizontal and vertical angles

theologaster – a petty or contemptable theologian

therblig – eponym: a basic elements in a task or manual operation. Gilbreth coined the word, basically his own name spelled backwards

theremin – considered the first electronic musical instrument, invented in 1919 by Russian born Lev Sergeivitch Termen, which he anglicized to Leon Theremin

thersitical – eponym: loud and abusive; foul-mouthed, scurrilous

thespian – eponym: an actor or actress; also, related to drama and the theater

thill – either of the two long shafts between which an animal is fastened when pulling a wagon

thin red line – a small but valiant line of defense standing between victory and defeat. ["thin blue line" is also used, when referring to police.]

think piece – a thought-provoking, speculative writing

third estate – the commons (especially in Britain or France) viewed as forming a political order having representation in a parliament

thole – a wodden peg, set in pairs in a boat's gunwales, to serve as an oarlock

thrasonical – eponym: boastful, bragging, vainglorious

three-tailed bavalorus – a comical and mythical beast of the northwestern United States

through-line – unifying element of a scene, play, book, etc.

thrum – to make a continuous rhythmic humming sound [with the suggestion of suppressed power about to break fourth] (noun: the sound itself)

thrunched – very angry, displeased [obsolete; from The Word Museum by J. Kacirk]

thrutch – to push or to squeeze out

tilde – the ~ sign

tilth – the physical condition of particular soil (less commonly: tilled ground)

Timbuktu – a extremely remote place. going to Timbuktu – going to extremes

timorous – timid; or expressing timidity (also here)

ting – a light and clear metallic sound, as of a small bell (verb: to give off that sound)

tintinnabulation – a tinkling sound, as of a bell or bells

tip-off – (from basketball) figurative: the commencement of an other extended activity

titan – eponym: one of prodigious size, strength, or achievement

titch; tich; titchy – eponym: very small

titian – eponym: a brownish orange

titivate – to spruce up

titubate – to stumble or stagger; also, to rock or reel, like a curved-bottom bowl on a table

titular – 1. relating to a title 2. holding or constituting a formal position or title without any real authority. [Anyone who thought otherwise has a dirty mind!]

toad-eater – a fawning flatterer, parasite, sycophant (also called a toady)

toad-in-the-hole – Brit: sausages cooked in batter. Delicious. Recipe

Tobacco Road – a squalid poverty-stricken rural area or community

tocsin – the ringing of an alarm bell (or the bell itself); extended, an alarm

Tom and Jerry – eponym: a hot sweetened drink of rum, water and spices and a separately-beaten egg

Tom Collins – eponym: a collins drink with a base of gin

Tom Swiftie – a wellerism based on a punning adverb

tomcat – eponym: a male cat (to tomcat: [of a man] to pursue women promiscuously)

tommy gun – eponym: Thomson (or other) submachine gun

tonal language – a language that uses pitch as an intrinsic part of the meaning (Many East Asian languages are tonal, as are many from Africa and Central America.)

tonal language – a language that uses pitch as an intrinsic part of the meaning (Many East Asian languages are tonal, as are many from Africa and Central America.)

tontine – eponym: a pooled fund where the entire fund goes to the last-surviving participant

toothsome – 1. temptingly tasty to the mouth 2. attractive, alluring (esp., sexually appealing to the eye)

toponym – the name of a place, or a word derived from a place name

topophysis – the growth response of a plant part depending on its orientation or position on the plant

Topsy ("growed like topsy") – eponym: "growed like Topsy": figure of speech for growing by itself, without apparent design or intention

torpid – sluggish, in mind or in body [noun: torpor]

torschlusspanik (literally "shut door panic") – a sense of panic in middle age brought on by the feeling that life is passing you by.  But the term has broad application; one finds it defined or applied as
(a) middle-aged men pursuing young women for a final fling "before the gates close";
(b) young women fearing they will not be married until they are to old to have children;
(c) the woman who longs to rediscover the excitement of youth and fears being left "on the shelf" (OED);
(d) a rush to get in on a financial opportunity before the door shuts

tosherooon – British slang: the half-crown coin (see coins and currency)

tosspot – a drunkard

touchstone – a standard or criterion used to judge something's quality or genuineness

tourbillion – 1. lit. or fig.: a whirling mass or system; a vortex; a whirl; an eddy, a whirlpool. 2. a firework which spins as it rises, forming a spiral or scroll of fire

tournure – 1. graceful manner or bearing 2. a woman's bustle or other padding "to give shapeliness" to her waist or hips

Toyko Rose – eponym: occasionally used to mean one broadcasting negative propagand to military troops

tragus – the fleshy bump, on the ear, lying between the face and the ear cavity

tramontane – adj: from another country; foreign (noun a foreigner). [also, "on the far side of the mountains"; also, a certain wind blowing across the Alps]

tranquillityite – toponym: a certain mineral not of earth, found in the Sea of Tranquillity, on the moon

transmogrify – to change into a different shape or form, esp. one that is fantastic or bizarre

transpire* – to become known; to come to light (Note – often used to mean “occur” or “happen”. But though some language experts find this usage acceptable, even they call it pretentious and pompous.)

treacly – cloyingly sweet

treasury bond (or T-bond) – long-term debt of a government, issued as a tradable security

trebucket – see cucking stool

tregetry – 1. juggling 2. deception; trickery

tremulous – shaking slightly, quivering, as with nervousness, timidity, or excitement

trencher – a wooden board or platter, for carving or serving food

trencherman – a hearty eater

trendelenburg position – supine (lying on one's back) and tilted with the head down

trepan¹,² – 1. to ensnare or entrap (noun: a snare; or, a trickster) 2. an old surgical instrument to cut into the skull to relieve pressure (or a like boring instrument for mining). (verb: to use a trepan; to bore.)

trepid – timid; timorous

trepidacious – fearful; agitated; trembling

trepidate – [Ciardi's coinage, not in dictionaries] to put forth tentatively; to propose (an idea)

trichobezoar – a bezoar in a person, from thrichophagia

trichophagia – chronic pulling and eating of hair

tricolor — 1. a flag having three stripes 2. the French flag

trifecta – a bet where the bettor must name the top three finishers, in order

trilby – eponym: a felt hat with a narrow brim creased crown

trilithon – a monument of three stones, two uprights with a crosspiece on top, as in Stonehenge

trime – US silver 3-cent piece (see coins and currency)

triolet – a poem of 8 lines, with the 1st repeated as the 4th and 7th, and the 2nd repeated as the last

triumvirate – a commission or ruling body of three persons (triumvir – a member of a triumvirate)

trivial – (interesting etymology; see Archives)

trochaic – see iambic

troche – (two syllables; vowel sounds as in SHOW-me) a medicated lozenge used to soothe the throat. The same lozenge could also be called a pastille.

troglodyte – 1. a cave-dweller 2. one who is reclusive, reactionary, out of date, or brutish

troilism – a ménage à trois; sexual relationship involving three people

Trojan – a virus which infects another program: when you launch the program, the virus gets launched [see malware]

Trojan horse – toponym: someone or something intended to defeat or subvert from within usually by deceptive means [also used in computerese]

tropism – involuntary response of an organism turning toward or away from external stimulus; e.g., a plant turning toward the sun. (Usually applied to plants; in a microorganism it is usually called taxis.)

trouvaille – a lucky find; a windfall; something interesting, amusing, or beneficial discovered by chance

troy – toponym; Troyes, France: a system of weights, used mainly for precious metals and gems, with a pound of 12 ounce

truckle – to act servilely or submissively to another

truncheon – Brit: a short thick stick carried as a weapon, as by a British police officer

truthiness – the quality of stating concepts one wishes or believes to be true, rather than the facts [American Dialect Society's word of the year for 2005 ]

tsatske – Yiddish: 1. a cheap trinket 2. a young woman kept as a rich man’s toy

tsunami – a wave caused by underwater earthquake or volcano. Huge at harbor, but it crosses ocean imperceptably small and at jet speed. NOTE: dictionaries do not note that term is often used metaphorically. Also, often misused literally as "a huge wave". From Japanese tsu harbor + nami wave.

tu quoque [Latin for "you too," or more loosely, "So's your old man."] – a retort charging an adversary with doing what he criticizes in others

tuber – see geophyte

tub-thumping – adj. or noun: a forceful, violent or ranting impassioned speech, based more on emotion than reason

tumbrel; tumbril – a two-wheeled cart, especially a farmer's cart that can be tilted to dump a load (used to carry prisoners to execution during the French Revolution)

tumescent – swollen; somewhat tumid

tumid – 1. swollen, distended 2. overblown,; bombastic: tumid political prose

tump¹ (noun) – a hillock; or a clump of trees, shrubs, or grass, esp. in a dry spot in a bog

tump² (verb) – Southern US: to overturn, or to tip over

tunic – a papery protective cover on certain bulbs, such as the onion. A bulb with a tunic is turnicate; one without is imbricate.

tunnel vision – 1. inability to clearly perceive things unless they are close to the center of the field of view. 2. informal the tendency to focus exclusively on a limited view

tuppenny-ha'penny – British slang: inferior and trivial

tupperware – eponym: (trademark)

turdine – pertaining to thrushes

turkey (etymology) – how did this native American bird become named for a country 4,000 miles away? Turkeys first arrived in England from Spain, where they had been brought by Cortés in 1519. The English mistakenly believed they had come from Turkey.

turnicate– see tunic

turnpike – originally, a spike barrier obstructing a road, as a defense. Later, turnpike came to mean 'a tollbooth obstructing a road', the road coming to be called a 'turnpike road', and then simply a 'turnpike'.

turpitude – depravity, baseness or base act; shameful wickedness

Turveydrop – eponym: a perfect model of deportment (Turveydropdom; Turveydropian)

tushery – high-flown, pretentious writing, usually larded with archaic words (the sort of writing in which the characters say "Tush, tush.")

tuxedo – a toponym. No definition needed

twee – Brit: affectedly quaint, pretty or sentimental

Tweedledum & Tweedledee – eponym: two individuals or groups that are practically indistinguishable

twill – a fabric woven to have a surface of parallel diagonal ridges

twiss (etymology) – a chamber pot

twitten – Sussex dial.: a narrow path or passage between two walls or hedges

twitterpated – love-struck, smitten [nonce word, in the movie Bambi]

two bits – a spanish coin splitable into 8 parts (pieces of eight), each a bit; hence two bits = a quarter (see coins and currency)

twonie – slang Canadian two-dollar coin

twy – a meteor squall on the coasts

tycoon (etymology) – from Japanese (and ultimately Chinese) meaning '"great lord"

typhlobasia – kissing with the eyes closed

Typhoid Mary – eponym: one who, by circumstances, spreads something undesirable (contrast Johnny Appleseed, though not listed in dictionaries as a word: one who seeds and spreads something desirable.)

tzigane (accent on 2nd syllable) – a Hungarian gypsy [also seems to be used to mean 'gypsy music', though I don't find that definition in the dictionaries]

ubiety; ubication – the state of being in a particulary place (contrast nullibiety; see achives)

ubiquitous – present or appearing everywhere; omnipresent (of persons freq. with humorous exaggeration = ‘turning up everywhere’)

ubuntu – (Nguni or Xhosa, in South Africa) a difficult word to translate. In rough terms, humanity, not as an individual as defined by one's interrelationships. The principle of caring for each other's well-being and a spirit of mutual support". Zulu maxim – umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu – "I am what I am because of you."

ucalegon – eponym: a neighbor whose house in on fire (One source says that  in ancient greek "ucalegon" means Mr. What-Me-Worry?)

ukulele – a small four-stringed guitar popularized in Hawaii ['uku, flea + lele, jumping. So called from the rapid motion of the fingers in playing it.]

ullage – the amount that a container (a bottle, cask, tank, etc.) falls short of being full; also, the amount lost by leakage, evaporation, etc. in shipping or storage

Ultima Thule – a distant territory or destination; a remote goal or ideal ('Thule' pronounced as two syllables)

ultra-crepidarian – giving opinions on topics beyond one's knowledge. From Latin "beyond the sole".
After the tale of shoemaker who criticized the way an artist had drawn part of a sandal.  When the artist then corrected the error, the emboldened shoemaker went on to disparage how the legs were painted. To which the artist snapped "Ne supra crepidam judicaret," or "Let him not criticize above the sole." (crepida = sole or sandal) In other words, the cobbler was qualified to judge footwear but only footwear. In effect, the word means, "Shoemaker, stick to thy last."

ululate (UL-u-late)- to howl or wail, like a dog or a wolf. adj. ululant

umbilicus – belly button

umbrage¹ – offence or resentment at a slight or insult (see also other definition here)

umbrage² (adj. umbrageous) – shadow or shade; or something that provides it (also, a vague indication, a hint) see also other defininition here)

umbrella (etymology) – at root, a device to protect from sun, not from rain. (Latin "umbra" = shade)

umiak – a large eskimo boat (woman's boat?)

umlaut – 1. a pronunciation, common in German, where a, o, or u (which are normally "back vowels" pronounced at the back of the mouth) are brought more to the front (like the "front vowels" e and i). 2. The two-dot symbol that German uses to show this pronunciation, as ä, ö, or ü.  (English uses this symbol for other purposes; see diaresis. German sometimes indicates the umlaut sound-change by putting an 'e' after the a, o, or u (Goethe).)

umpire (etymology) – from nonpere 'not-peer'

unasinous – being equally stupid

Uncle Sam – eponym: personification of the United States

Uncle Tom – eponym: (offensive) a black person humiliatingly subservient or deferential to white people

unction – excessive, ingratiating compliments, a kind of "oiliness"

unctuous – of affected, exaggerated, or insincere earnestness; oily

undercast – a solid cloud layer, as viewed from above [mostly used in pilot reporting of in-flight weather conditions. not in OED]

understrapper – obsolete: a petty fellow; an underling or subordinate

underwhelm – to fail to excite, stimulate, or impress (adj. underwhelming)

underwrite – to assume risk, as when offering an insurance policy or bringing a corporation's new securities issue to the public. (underwriter – one who buys a stock or bond issue from a company, to resell it to investors.)

ungoogle* – one source claims: to try to combat revenge googling

unlawful combatant – same as illegal combatant; see above

up-do – a style of dressing women's hair by sweeping it up and securing it away from the face and neck

upland trout – mythical fish which is such so delicious a pan fish that tenderfeet are often sent into the woods to catch them. However, the upland trout is extremely difficult to catch, because it builds its nest in trees.

uranic – eponym: of the heavens; celestial; astronomical (also, pertaining to uranium)

Uriah Heep – eponym: a man who is hypocritically humble

urning – a homosexual man (say some); a homosexual (say others) [coined by Magnus Hirschfeld, German sexologist]

ursine – bear-like

Ursprache – a language that is the ancestor of another or of a group of languages

ushabti – see shabti

uti possidetis – the principle that unless otherwise stated: 1. upon a peace treaty, each belligerent keeps the captured territories then holds 2. when a political subdivision becomes achieves independence, its keeps the same boundaries it previously had

utopia – an imagined perfect place

uvula – the thing that hangs down from the back of the mouth (which children invariably think is a tonsil)

uxoravalent* – capable of sex only those other than one's wife (contrast uxorovalent)

uxoricide – murder of one's wife; a man who commits such murder

uxorious – overly doting upon one's wife

uxorovalent* – capable of sex only with one's wife (contrast uxoravalent)

vade mecum – [Latin, go-with-me] a ready-reference book; a manual hence also something regularly carried about by a person

vadose – of or relating to water just above the phreatic water, in the zone of aeration

vagary – a wild or fanciful notion or act; a whim

vainglorious – boastful self-importance; "too big for his britches"; "having a swelled head"

valetudinarian – a sickly or weak person, esp. one constantly and morbidly concerned with his health

Valhalla – (often ironic; often lower case) the place of honor for heroic combatants

validictorian – (North America) a student who delivers the valedictory at a graduation ceremony

vamoose – informal: to depart suddenly and hurriedly

vamp – 1. the upper front part of a shoe or boot 2. [eponym: abbreviation of vampire] a woman who uses sexual attraction to exploit men (verb: to so use)

van – the vanguard; the forefront

van dyke – eponym: a trim, pointed style of beard

vanity googler* – one who googles his/own name to see what others will find when they google him or her, assuming that he or she rates being googled

vaquero – a cowboy; a cattle-driver [esp. used in Texas] [from Spanish vaca cow]

varlet – a deceitful and unreliable scoundrel

vatic – of or about a prophet

velar – articulated with the back of the tongue touching or near the soft palate [velum – the soft palate]

vellicate – 1. to move with spasmodic convulsions; to twitch 2. to pull off; to pluck, as: Women villicate their eyelashes.]

vellum – fine parchment made from the skin of a young animal: lamb, calf, etc. (or paper resembling same)

velocipede – an early bicycle push by pedals on the front wheel, or by pushing feet along the ground

velodrome – an arena for bicycle racing or motorcycle racing