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merriamwebster.com

abet, vb. You've probably heard the phrase 'to aid and abet', but note that those two words are not exactly synonomous. The usual context that we hear the phrase, describing some unlawful or harmful action, illumines the meaning of abetting. The Old French word from which it comes, abeter, means to bait or to decieve, and so when you're abetting, you've probably got something deceptive in mind.

bevy, n. Though the most general definition of the word is simply 'a large collection,' it has somehow taken on the two specific cases of referring to either a large group of girls or a gathering of quails, the similarity between which I am yet to discover. James Heilbrun wrote a delightful sentence for a Los Angeles Times July 13th, 2003 article on Ann Coulter's book, Treason: "In the 1990s [Coulter] paved the way for a bevy of blond, leggy Torquemadas in miniskirts to earn notoreity on television."

buskin, n. Now used as a metaphor for a 'tragedy' or 'tragic', the buskin was originally a boot worn by tragedian actors, whose elevation was supposed to give them added gravitas. Compare this to the 'sock' that was worn by comedians, definition below.

caducity, n. Senility. Also more generally, the quality of being transitory or perishable; it comes fromt the French root caduc, which means transitory. I'd like to offer a new euphemism, then, for losing one's marbles due to age: "Oh, he's just transitory, that's all!"

corbel / corbeled n, adj. In architecture, a form of bracket used in the Gothic style, for support

cormorant, n. A cormorant, says Merriam-Webster, is any of the "dark-colored web-footed water birds that have a long neck, hooked bill, and distensible throat pouch." These pelicans also have a reputation for being voracious eaters. I first ran across the cormorant in Milton's classic use of it in Paradise Lost (IV.196), where he compares Lucifer to a cormorant, imbueing a sense of greed and rapacity into the fallen angel. So if you find a writer comparing someone to a cormorant, the author is probably implying greediness.

costive, adj. The concrete definition of costive, "suffering from acute constipation," has made a humorous transition into a figurative meaning of "slow of thought or action." Pope uses the word in "The Rape of the Lock."

cynicism, n. I included this common word, whose dictionary definition runs, an "attitude or belief that all people are motivated by selfishness," for the sake of it's little-known origin: the Cynics were a Greek sect of philosophers who were critical of materialistic society.

dais, n Now a platform or raised floor for specially honored guests, dais comes from the late Latin discus, which was a platter or, unsurprisingly enough, a discus.

debouch, vb. Generally "debouch" means to cause to emerge, discharge (from the French bouche,mouth), but is specifically used in the context of military troops going forth and secondarily can referring to tides of water.

ductile, adj. Another common word, I included this to differentiate it from the nearly synonomous malleable. "Ductile" has its roots in the Latin word meaning the ability to lead somewhere (like sheep?), whereas "malleable" comes from the Latin for hammer, thus implying the ability to be hammered into a shape.

enfilade, v, n. This is gunfire directed from either flank along a column. If you are 'enfiladed', then, you are in a very vulnerable position.

eremite, n. A hermit, especially a religious recluse. The word comes from the Latin erimita, which means both "hermit" and "desert"

eschatology, n. This is the branch of theology which deals with final judgment, immortality.

filigree, n. Delicate, lacelike, ornamental work. Simon Winchester, in The Professor and the Madman, nicely uses it in referring to the making of the Oxford Dictionary: "...the magnificent complexity of the undertaking, the detail, the filigree work, the sheer intricacies of exactitude."

flout, vb. This familiar word, which means to demonstrate contempt for, as in a rule or convention, has a most unusual origin. It comes from the Old Dutch word fluyten which means "to play the flute" or "to jeer." An amusing word that has two seemingly unrelated meanings.