Word Of The Day

[BlackMagicRose]

06/22/07

countervail \kown-tur-VAYL\, transitive verb:
1. To act against with equal force, power, or effect; to counteract.
2. To compensate for; to offset; to furnish or serve as an equivalent to.

[wildnthewind]

mac?u?la
Function: noun
Pronunciation: 'ma-ky&-l&
Inflected Form(s): plural mac?u?lae/-"le, -"lī/ also -las
Etymology: Middle English, from Latin
1 : SPOT , BLOTCH ; especially : MACULE
2 : an anatomical structure (as the macula lutea) having the form of a spot differentiated from surrounding tissues
- mac?u?lar/-l&r/ adjective

[wildnthewind]

Degeneration

Main Entry: de?gen?er?a?tion
Function: noun
Pronunciation: di-"je-n&-'rA-sh&n, "de-
1 : degenerate condition
2 : a lowering of effective power, vitality, or essential quality to an enfeebled and worsened kind or state
3 : intellectual, moral, or artistic decline
4 a : progressive deterioration of physical characters from a level representing the norm of earlier generations or forms b : deterioration of a tissue or an organ in which its function is diminished or its structure is impaired
synonym see DETERIORATION