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Full Glossary for Hiroshima
abrasions and lacerations scrapes and jagged tears or wounds.
admonition an admonishing or warning to correct some fault.
analogous similar or comparable in certain respects.
anomaly departure from the regular arrangement, general rule, or usual method; abnormality.
atavistic displaying characteristics of remote ancestors.
atrophy a wasting away, especially of body tissue or organs.
attitudinizing striking an attitude; posing.
bluets a small plant of the madder family, having small, pale-blue, four-lobed flowers.
brackish having an unpleasant taste; nauseating.
breviary a book containing the Psalms, readings, prayers, and so on of the Divine Office.
capricious changing abruptly and without apparent reason; erratic, flighty.
cataract an eye disease in which the crystalline lens or its capsule becomes opaque, causing partial or total blindness.
cenotaph a monument or empty tomb honoring a person or persons whose remains are elsewhere.
charnel-house a building or place where corpses or bones are deposited.
clavicle the bone that connects the scapula with the sternum; collarbone.
Comintern the international organization (Third International) of Communist parties (1919-43) formed by Lenin to promote revolution in countries other than the U.S.S.R.
contusions bruises; injuries in which the skin is not broken.
corrugated iron iron sheet formed into a wavy pattern of parallel grooves and ridges.
credence belief, especially in the reports or testimony of another.
crux the essential or deciding point.
cyclotron a device for accelerating charged nuclear particles through a magnetic field in a widening spiral path; particle accelerator.
debilitating weakening or enfeebling.
dendrology the scientific study of trees and woody plants, especially their taxonomy.
deterrence the policy or practice of stockpiling nuclear weapons to deter another nation from making a nuclear attack.
Diet the parliament of Japan.
diplomatic pouch sack or pouch with an opening at the top that can be closed and used by governments to transport highly sensitive information.
distilled spirits strong alcoholic liquor produced by distillation.
diversion anything that diverts or distracts the attention; specifically, a pastime or amusement.
efficacious producing or capable of producing the desired effect; having the intended result, effective.
emanations heavy, gaseous isotopes that result from the decay of a radioactive element.
Enola Gay the B-29 bomber that dropped the bomb on Hiroshima, dubbed with this name to honor the pilot's mother.
Esperanto an invented language, devised (1887) by Polish physician L. L. Zamenhof (1859-1917) and proposed for use as an international (chiefly European) auxiliary language.
estuarial of an estuary, an inlet or arm of the sea; especially the lower portion or wide mouth of a river, where the salty tide meets the freshwater current.
extricated set free; release or disentangle (from a net, difficulty, and so on).
feverfew a bush with finely divided foliage and flowers with white florets around a yellow disk.
fission fragments fragments resulting from the splitting of an atom's nucleus.
gas gangrene a gangrene caused by a microorganism that produces gas within the tissue of wounds, causing severe pain and swelling.
goosefoot a weedy plant with small green flowers and fleshy foliage.
grotesque characterized by distortions or striking incongruities in appearance, shape, or manner; fantastic, bizarre.
Grummans military aircrafts made by the American firm Grumman Aircraft Corporation.
hedonistic having to do with pleasure.
incapacitated unable to engage in normal activity; disable.
incarcerated imprisoned; jailed.
incendiary causing or designed to cause fires, as certain substances, bombs, and so on.
ionization the process by which something becomes electrically charged, as a gas under the influence of radiation or electric discharge; here, the smell from such a process.
Jesuit a member of the Society of Jesus, a Roman Catholic religious order for men, founded by Ignatius Loyola in 1534.
lassitude a state or feeling of being tired and listless; weariness; languor.
latency a state of being dormant or inactive.
Lauritsen electroscope an instrument for detecting very small charges of electricity, electric fields, or radiation.
Maupassant (Henri René Albert) Guy de 1850-93; French writer of novels and short stories.
Meiji Restoration revolution in Japanese life and government that occurred after the accession of Emperor Mutsuhito (1867), characterized by the downfall of the shogun and feudalism and the creation of the modern state.
Mercurochrome trademark for a red liquid solution used as a mild antiseptic and germicide.
Molotov flower basket (also bread basket) Japanese name for a self-scattering cluster of bombs.
moribund dying.
moxibustion the burning of moxa (a soft, downy material) on the skin as a cauterizing agent or counterirritant, especially in traditional Chinese and Japanese medicine.
Neher electrometer a device for detecting or measuring differences of electrical potential.
neuralgia severe pain along the course of a nerve or in its area of distribution.
Occidental a person born in the West or a member of Western culture. Here, Father Kleinsorge is German rather than Japanese.
ostensibly apparently; seemingly.
panic grass any of several grasses of the genus Panicum, such as millet, used as fodder.
panorama a picture unrolled before the spectator in such a way as to give the impression of a continuous view.
papier-mache suitcase a carrying case made of a hardened mixture of paper pulp, glue, and so on.
parsonage the dwelling provided by a church for its minister.
Pearl Buck (born Pearl Sydenstricker) 1892-1973; U.S. novelist raised in China who won the 1932 Pulitzer Prize for her novel, The Good Earth.
piecework work paid for at a fixed rate (piece rate) per piece of work done; in this case for sewing and mending.
piling a long, thick piece of wood, metal, or stone used in building; here the base of the house that extends out over the river.
porte-cochere a kind of porch roof projecting over a driveway at an entrance, as of a house.
prefectural government rule by various administrative officials.
prostrate lying flat, prone, or supine; in a state of physical exhaustion or weakness.
purslane a weed with pink, fleshy stems and small, yellow, short-lived flowers.
radiation sickness nausea, diarrhea, bleeding, loss of hair, and so on caused by overexposure to radiation.
rayon any of various textile fibers synthetically produced and woven or knitted into fabrics.
razed to tear down completely; level to the ground, demolish.
redolent sweet-smelling; fragrant.
regeneration Biol. the renewal or replacement of any hurt or lost part.
sampan a small boat used in China and Japan usually propelled with a scull from the stern and often having a sail and a small cabin formed of mats.
self-abnegating lacking consideration for oneself or one's own interest.
Shinto shrine a religious building of the principal religion of Japan, with emphasis upon the worship of nature, ancestors, ancient heroes, and the divinity of the emperor. Prior to 1945, Shinto was the state religion.
sickle senna any of the caesalpinia family of plants, with finely divided leaves and yellow flowers.
Society of Jesus See Jesuit.
solicitous showing care, attention, or concern.
Spanish bayonets yuccas having stiff, sword-shaped leaves.
staves plural of staff; sticks, rods, or poles; here, used as a support in walking.
subjugation to be in a useful, helpful, or serving capacity, especially in an inferior or subordinate capacity.
succor to give assistance to in time of need or distress; help, aid, relief.
succumbed died.
talismanic thought of as having magical power.
terminus either end of a transportation line, or a station or town located there; terminal.
triangulating a method of determining the distance between two points on the earth's surface by plotting on a chart a series of connected triangles, measuring a base line between two points, and locating a third point by computing both the size of the angles made by lines from this point to the ends of the base line and the lengths of these lines.
unprecedented having no precedent or parallel; unheard-of; novel.
vortex a whirling mass of water forming a vacuum at its center into which anything caught in the motion is drawn; whirlpool.
Wassermann Test a test to diagnose syphilis by determining the presence of syphilitic antibodies in the blood serum; devised by August von Wasserman (1866-1925), German bacteriologist.
white count the number of white blood cells, which are important in the body's defenses against infection.
xenophobic fear of strangers or foreigners.
yen the basic monetary unit of Japan.