Now updated for CSW19. New words, if any, and new inflections of existing words, are shown in red.
| aceldama | a field of bloodshed. [From Aceldama, in the New Testament, a potter's field near Jerusalem purchased by the priests as a burial ground for strangers with the reward that Judas had received for betraying Jesus and had later returned to them.] |
| adamant | a legendary impenetrable stone; diamond. |
| alchera alcheringa | in Native Australian myth, the dreamtime. |
| ambrosia | the food of the gods. [Gk. ambrotos, immortal]. |
| ancile | the sacred shield of the Romans, said to have fallen from heaven in the reign of Numa > ANCILIA. |
| arcadia | an ideal region of rural contentment. [L f. Gk. Arkadia a mountainous district in the Peloponnese]. |
| arcadian | one who lives in an ARCADIA. |
| arkite | an inhabitant of Noah's Ark. |
| ate | reckless ambition > ATES. [From the Greek goddess ATE]. |
| bluebeard | a man who has murdered several wives and concealed their bodies, or has other mysterious or horrible things to conceal. [From the hero of a mediaeval French tale]. |
| caduceus | a Greek or Roman herald's wand; spec. the wand carried by the messenger-god Hermes or Mercury, usu. represented with two serpents twined round it > CADUCEI. [Mod. of Gk. karykeion from karyx, herald]. |
| caestus cestos cestus | a girdle; particularly that of Aphrodite (or Venus) which gave the wearer the power of exciting love > CAESTUSES, CESTOI, CESTI. |
| chthonian chthonic | pertaining to the earth or the underworld. [Gk. khthon, earth]. |
| cloudland | utopia, fairyland. Cf. CLOUDTOWN. |
| cloudtown | an imaginary situation or land, esp. as the result of wishful thinking. Cf. CLOUDLAND. |
| contactee | a person claiming to have been contacted by aliens. |
| cornucopia | a curved goat's horn overflowing with fruit and ears of grain that is used as a decorative motif emblematic of abundance. |
| cosmogeny cosmogony | a theory or myth of the origin of the universe. |
| daedalian dedalian | ingenious and cunningly designed. [Gk. Daedalus, the legendary artificer]. |
| doucepere douzeper | one of the Twelve Peers of Charlemagne. |
| draconites | a jewel supposedly found inside a dragon's head. N.B. no DRACONITE*. |
| dreamland | an unreal, delightful country such as in sometimes pictured in dreams; fairyland. |
| dreamtime | in the mythology of Australian Aboriginals, the time when the earth and patterns of life on earth took shape. |
| duende | the power to attract through personal charm. |
| edenic | of or pertaining to Eden; paradisaic. |
| eldorado | a place of fabulous riches. |
| fabular | legendary. |
| faustian | in the manner of Faust who made a pact with the devil. |
| gadarene | headlong, precipitate, referring to the Gadarene swine. |
| ichor | a watery fluid discharged from wound; a fluid supposed to fill veins of Greek and Latin gods. |
| joss | a Chinese figure of a god, an idol. |
| kryptonite | a substance that takes away one's superpowers. |
| lernaean | in Greek myth relating to Lerna, the swamp or lake near Argos in which dwelt the Hydra which Hercules slew. |
| lethe | oblivion, forgetfulness. |
| lethean | of or pertaining to Lethe; resembling in effect the water of Lethe. |
| limbo | the supposed abode of children dying without baptism, and the just who died before Christ > LIMBOS. |
| lotusland | the country of the Lotos-eaters, see Homer's 'Odyssey'. |
| luz | a supposedly indestructible bone, possibly the sacrum > LUZZES. |
| manaia | (Maori) a carved figure with human body and bird-like head. |
| myrmidon | a loyal follower, esp: a subordinate who follows orders unquestioningly or pitilessly. [The Myrmidons, legendary inhabitants of Thessaly in Greece, were known for their devotion to their king, Achilles. Myrmex means ant]. |
| nebris | a fawn-skin worn by Bacchus and his votaries > NEBRISES. [L f. Gk. nebros, a fawn]. |
| needfire | fire produced by friction, to which a certain virtue is superstitiously ascribed. |
| nemesis | retributive justice > NEMESES. |
| netherworld | the world of the dead; Hades; the lower depths of society. |
| odyssey | a long wandering usu. marked by many changes of fortune. [Gk. Odysseia]. |
| omphalos | a central point, a navel > OMPHALI or OMPHALOI [Gk. omphalos, navel]. |
| ouroboros uroboros | a representation of a serpent with its tail in its mouth, symbolizing completion, totality, endlessness, etc. |
| paradisal paradisic | relating to paradise. |
| preadamic | relating to the belief that there were men on earth before Adam. |
| purana | any one of a class of sacred books of Hindu mythology, cosmology, etc, written in Sanskrit. |
| sangrail sangreal | the legendary cup used by Christ at the Last Supper. |
| sodom | a place notorious for vice and corruption. |
| solarism | excessive use of solar myths in explaining mythology. |
| solarist | one who practises SOLARISM, excessive use of solar myths in explaining mythology. |
| sooterkin | a kind of false birth, fabled to be produced by Dutch women from sitting over their stoves; also, an abortion, in a figurative sense; an abortive scheme. |
| stellify | to turn into a star, to place among the stars. |
| talaria | small wings or winged shoes represented as fastened to the ankles, chiefly used as an attribute of Mercury or Hermes. N.B. this is a plural - No —S hook. |
| tantalism | the punishment of Tantalus; a tormenting. |
| tartareous | of or pertaining to Tartarus; hellish. |
| teratoid | resembling a monster; formed by abnormal development. |
| theogonic | accounting for the origin or presence of gods. |
| theogony | the birth and genealogy of the gods; an account of this, e.g. in poetry. |
| theomachy | homeric strife or battle among the gods. |
| thyrse thyrsus | the wand of Bacchus, a staff wreathed with ivy > THYRSES, THYRSI. [Gk. thyrsos]. |
| thyrsoid | having the form of a THYRSUS. |
| tiki | in Polynesia, an image representing an ancestor, often worn as an amulet > TIKIS. |
| totem | an animal or plant adopted as ancestor by savage tribe, and held in great veneration. [Algonquin]. |
| triffid | a monstrous (fictional) plant. |
| triffidy | like a TRIFFID, a monstrous (fictional) plant. |
| trisul trisula | the trident of Siva. |
| tulpa | (Tibetan) a being or object created by visualization techniques. |
| ufologist | one interested in UFOs. |
| ufology | the study of unidentified flying objects. | vahana | (Sanskrit) a mythical vehicle. |
| xoanon | a primitive statue, said to have fallen from heaven > XOANA. |
| zomboid | like a zombie. |