All memos tagged #dictionary

manipulation is the handling or operating of something with skill — and, in the sense that now dominates ordinary use, the management of a person or a situation by unfair, insidious, or deceptive...

recursive describes anything defined in terms of itself — a procedure that can repeat itself indefinitely, or a rule whose output becomes its own input. In mathematics and computer science a...

prosperity is the condition of thriving — most commonly economic well-being, and in the older and wider use, success and good fortune in anything desirable. In economics the word names a sustained...

homestead is the house and adjoining land occupied by a family as its home — and, in American law, a residence given specific statutory protection from creditors or from a portion of property tax....

Misinformation is incorrect or misleading information — false content put into circulation without an intent to deceive, generally by people who believe it is true. Intent is the entire distinction...

Macgyverism is an ingeniously improvised solution to a problem, assembled out of whatever happens to be within reach rather than out of the right tool for the job. The word is a coinage rather than...

blitz is a sudden, overwhelming attack — originally an intensive aerial bombardment, and by extension any fast, concentrated campaign carried out with more force than the target can absorb. The word...

A tetrad is a group or set of four — the number four treated as a unit, and by extension any four-part arrangement. The word entered English in the 1650s from Greek tetras (stem tetrad-), "group of...

connection is the state of being joined, or the thing that joins — a physical or logical link between objects, a relation between ideas, and the felt sense of being in genuine contact with another...

principle is a fundamental truth, law, or assumption that other reasoning or conduct rests on — a rule general enough that particular cases are derived from it rather than the reverse. The word...

Omakase is a Japanese dining format in which the diner surrenders all choice to the chef, who serves a sequence of courses selected that day from the best ingredients available. The word is borrowed...

qualitative describes anything of, relating to, or involving quality or kind — concerned with what a thing is and what it is like, rather than with how much of it there is. The word marks a category...

To pathologize is to view or characterize something as medically or psychologically abnormal — to treat a condition, behavior, or trait as a disorder rather than as variation. The word is pathology...

boundaries are the lines that mark where one thing ends and another begins — in space, the limits of a territory; in relationships, the stated limit of what a person will accept, do, or make...

wit is reasoning power — the mind as the seat of understanding and sense — and, in the sense that now dominates, the ability to relate seemingly disparate things so as to illuminate or amuse, a...

A meme is a unit of culture that propagates by imitation from one mind to another — and, in the sense that now dominates, an image, video, or phrase copied and varied rapidly across the internet. The...

quantitative describes anything of, relating to, or expressible in terms of quantity — concerned with how much or how many there is of something, as opposed to what kind of thing it is. The word does...

Discernment is the quality of being able to grasp and comprehend what is obscure — skill in perceiving distinctions that are not obvious — and, in a second recorded sense, a single act of perceiving...

Continuity is uninterrupted connection, succession, or union — the property of something holding together unbroken across space or time. The word makes a negative claim: it asserts the absence of a...

alignment is the arrangement of things into a straight line or into correct position relative to one another — and, by extension, the state of agreement or association between people, groups, or...