| A | B |
|---|
| alchemy | medieval chemistry concerned with finding a way to change base metals into gold and a single cure for all diseases; hence, magic, or magic power |
| baksheesh | gift of money; tip; gratuity |
| bellicose | inclined to fight or quarrel; pugnacious; warlike |
| carp | find fault unreasonably; complain in a petty, nagging way |
| collation | light meal |
| cull | select; pick out; choose |
| demur | object; take exception |
| desuetude | condition of no longer being used; disuse |
| divert | amuse; entertain; give pleasure to |
| dun | make repeated, insistent demands for payment |
| empirical | relying solely on observation or experience |
| equivocate | be diliberately ambiguous; use misleading terms so as not to commit oneself |
| hypothetical | based on or involving a hypothesis (supposition); conjectural |
| imprimatur | (literally, let it be printed) authorization; sanction; approval |
| ingenuous | innocent and simple; artless; naive |
| mendacious | lying; untrue; deceitful |
| panegyric | formal speech or piece of writing in high praise of a person or thing; eulogy; tribute |
| preen | dress oneself carefully or smartly; fuss in dressing; primp |
| pusillanimous | lacking in courage; cowardly; timid |
| quagmire | wet, boggy ground that gives way under the foot; difficult situation |
| rue | feel remorse for; wish undone; regret |
| taciturn | habitually disinclined to talk; silent; uncommunicative |
