Lexicon

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V

Catachresis

n.

  1. the use of a word in a way that is not correct, for example, the use of mitigate for militate. Also the name given to many different types of figures of speech in which a word or phrase is being applied in a way that significantly departs from conventional (or traditional) usage.

Catamite

n.

  1. a boy kept for homosexual practices

[Adlai Arnold, in conversation]

Cathect

v.

  1. to invest with mental or emotional energy

[A Handbook of Disappointed Fate — Anne Boyer]

Also: cathexis (n.) from bell hooks

Celerity

noun

  1. swiftness of movement.

[Summer Lightning — P.G. Wodehouse]

Charabanc

n. (British)

  1. an early form of bus, used typically for pleasure trips.

[The Waves — Virginia Woolf]

Chinoiserie

n. 

  1. the imitation or evocation of Chinese motifs and techniques in Western art, furniture, and architecture, especially in the 18th century [as modifier] hand-painted chinoiserie wallpaper.
  2. chinoiserie objects or decorations: a piece of chinoiserie | one room has red velvet and chinoiseries.

[Bad News — Edward St. Aubyn]

Chirurgeon

noun (archaic)

  1. Surgeon

[The Tempest – William Shakespeare]

Choric

(originally encountered as chorically)

adjective

  • of, relating to, or being in the style of a chorus and especially a Greek chorus

[A Room with a View — E. M. Forster]

Circumbendibus

noun
cir·​cum·​bend·​i·​bus
plural -es
  1. an indirect or roundabout course especially in writing or speaking : CIRCUMLOCUTION

[How to Be Both – Ali Smith]

Conglobulate

verb 

  1. Join closely together

[The Waves — Virginia Woolf]