of foreign terms not immediately defined in the text
Ab initio (L)—from the outset.
Ahankara (H)—consciousness of self.
Amor dei intellectualis (L)—intellectual love of God.
Anna (H)—an (Asiatic) Indian coin worth one-sixteenth of a rupee, or about two cents.
Aperçu (F)—a flash of insight.
Arbiter elegantiarum (L)—arbiter of elegance.
Arcana (L)—secret mysteries.
Arhat (H)—one who has earned Nirvana.
Asana (H)—the third stage of Yoga.
Ashram (a) (H)—a hermitage.
Ashvamedha (H)—the horse sacrifice.
A tergo (L)—from behind.
Bas-relief (F)—low relief; the partial carving of figures upon a background.
Bizarrerie (F)—something strange or queer.
Bodhi (H)—knowledge, illumination.
Bonze (F from J)—a Buddhist monk of the Far East.
Bourgeoisie (F)—literally, the townspeople; the middle classes.
Brahmachari (H)—a young student vowed to chastity.
Breccia (I)—a rock of angular fragments joined with cement.
Buddhi (H)—intellect.
Bushido (J)—the code of honor of the Samurai.
Ca. (circa) (L)—about.
Cela vous abêtira (F)—that will dull your mind.
Chandala (H)—a group of Outcastes.
Charka (H)—a spinning wheel.
Chef-d’œuvre (F)—masterpiece.
Chinoiseries (F)—pieces of Chinese art.
Civitas (L)—city-state.
Condottiere (I)—bandit.
Corvée (F)—forced labor for the state.
Coup d’état (F)—a violent but merely political revolution.
Coup d’œil (F)—a glance of the eye.
Credat qui vult (F)—let who will believe it.
Cuisine (F)—kitchen; cooking.
Daibutsu (J)—Great Buddha; usually applied to the colossi of Buddha.
Daimyo (J)—lord.
De fontibus non disputandum (L)—there is no use disputing about origins.
Dénouement (F)—issue; conclusion.
De rigueur (F)—rigorously required by convention.
Devadasi (H)—literally, a servant of the gods; usually, a temple courtesan in India.
Dharana (H)—the sixth stage of Yoga.
Dharma (H)—duty.
Dhyana (H)—the seventh stage of Yoga.
Djinn (A)—spirits.
Dolce far niente (I)—(it is) sweet to do nothing.
Dramatis personae (L)—persons of the drama.
Dreckapothek (G)—treatment by excrementitious drugs.
En masse (F)—in a mass.
Esprit (F)—spirit.
Ex tempore (L)—on the spur of the moment.
Faïence (F)—richly colored glazed earthenware, named from the Italian town of Faënza, formerly famed for such pottery.
Faux pas (F)—a false step.
Fellaheen (A)—peasants.
Fête des Fous (F)—Feast of Fools.
Fiacre (F)—an open cab.
Flagrante delicto (L)—literally, while the crime is blazing; in the very act.
Flambé (F)—blazed.
Geisha (J)—an educated courtesan.
Genre (F)—class, kind.
Ghat (H)—a mountain-pass; a landing-place; steps leading down to water.
Glaucopis Athene (Gr)—owl-eyed Athene.
Gopuram (H)—gateway.
Gotra (H)—group.
Gunas (H)—active qualities.
Guru (H)—teacher.
Hara-kiri (J)—self-disembowelment.
Here boöpis (Gr)—cow-eyed Here (Juno).
Hetairai (Gr)—the educated courtesans of Greece.
Ibid. (L)—in the same place.
Id. (L)—the same person or author.
Inro (J)—boxes worn at the girdle.
Jenseits von Gut und Böse (G)—beyond good and evil.
Jinricksha (J)—a man-drawn open cab.
Ju jitsu (J)—literally, the soft art; a Japanese method of self-defense without weapons, by a variety of skilful physical artifices.
Junshi (J)—following in death; the suicide of a subordinate to serve his dead lord in the other world.
Jus primæ noctis (L)—the right of (possessing the bride on) the first night.
Kadamba (H)—an Indian flower.
Kakemono (J)—a pictorial or calligraphic hanging.
Karma (H)—deed; the law that every deed receives its reward or punishment in this life or in a reincarnation.
Khaddar (H)—Indian homespun.
Kusha (H)—an Indian grass.
Kutaja (H)—an Indian flower.
Labia minora (L)—the smaller folds of the vulva.
Laissez-faire (F)—literally, let it be; the theory or practice of leaving the economic life of a society free from governmental control.
Lapis lazuli (L)—a stone of rich azure blue.
La politique n’a pas d’entrailles (F)—politics has no bowels (of mercy).
La seule morale (F)—the only morality.
Le chanson de Roland (F)—the Song of Roland.
L’École de l’Extrème Orient—School of the Far East.
Legato (I)—smoothly; without breaks.
Les savants ne sont pas curieux (F)—scholars have no curiosity (Anatole France),
Lex talionis (L)—the law of retaliation.
Lingua franca (L)—a common tongue.
Lohan (C)—one who has earned Nirvana.
Mahatma (H)—great soul.
Manas (H)—mind.
Mandapam (H)—porch.
Mardi Gras (F)—literally, fat Tuesday, the last day of carnival before Mercredi Maigre, Lean (fasting) Wednesday and the beginning of Lent.
Mastaba (A)—an oblong sloping tomb.
Mater dolorosa (L)—the sorrowful Mother.
Mina (L from Gr. from He)—a coin of the ancient Near East, worth (in Babylonia) sixty shekels.
Mise-en scène (F)—the scenic situation.
Moksha (H)—deliverance.
Motif (F)—a characteristic feature or theme.
Mullah (A)—a Moslem scholar.
Muni (H)—saint.
Naga (H)—snake.
Nandi (H)—the benediction introducing a Hindu drama.
Nautch (H)—a Hindu temple dancer.
Netsuke (J)—carved knobs for holding a tassel.
Nishka (H)—a coin often used as an ornament.
Nom de plume (F)—a pen-name.
Nyama (H)—the second stage of Yoga.
Odium literarium (L)—a mutual dislike occasionally noticeable among authors.
Objets d’art (L)—art objects.
Pace (L)—with peace; with all respect to.
Pankha (H)—a fan.
Parvenu (F)—one recently arrived at wealth or place.
Passim (L)—here and there.
Pâte (F)—the potter’s vessel in its paste form.
Patesi (S)—the priest-magistrate of an early Mesopotamian state.
Penchant (F)—inclination.
Petite marmite (F)—a small pot.
Pièce de résistance (F)—the main item.
Pishachas (H)—ghosts; goblins.
Plein air (F)—full air; a theory and school of painting which emphasized the representation of scenes in the open air, as against studio painting.
Prakriti (H)—producer.
Pranayama (H)—the fourth stage of Yoga.
Pratyabara (H)—the fifth stage of Yoga.
Protégé (F)—a person protected and aided by another.
Pro tempore (L)—for the time.
Purdah (A)—a screen or curtain; the seclusion of women.
Purusha (H)—person, spirit.
Qui vive (F)—who lives; who goes there?; alert.
Raconteurs (F)—story-tellers.
Raga (H)—a musical motif or melody.
Raja (H)—king; Maharaja—great king.
Raksha (H)—a nocturnal demon.
Ramadan (A)—the ninth month of the Moslem year, during which no food must be taken between sunrise and sunset.
Rapport (F)—intimate relation.
Religieux (F)—members of religious orders.
Rig (H)—a hymn.
Rishi (H)—a wise man.
Ronin (J)—an unattached Samurai.
Rupee (H)—an Indian coin worth about 32 cents.
Sake (J)—rice wine.
Salonnière (F)—a frequenter of a salon; usually referring to the French salons or drawing-room receptions of the seventeenth or eighteenth centuries.
Samadhi (H)—the eighth stage of Yoga.
Samaj (H)—assembly; society.
Samhita (H)—collection.
Samohini (H)—a drug.
Sang-de-bœuf (F)—(color of) bull’s blood.
Sannyasi (H)—a hermit saint.
Sari (H)—a silk robe.
Sati (H)—suttee; devoted wife; the burial of a widow with her husband.
Savant (F)—scholar.
Sei (J)—caste.
Sen (J)—a Japanese coin, worth one-hundredth of a yen.
Se non è vero è ben trovato (I)—if it is not true it is well invented.
Seppuku (J)—ritual self-disembowelment.
Sesquipedalia verba (L)—words a foot and a half long.
Shaduf (A)—a bucket swung on a pole to lift water.
Shakhti (H)—the female energy of a god.
Shaman (H)—a magician, or miracle-working priest.
Shastra (H)—a text-book.
Shastra (H)—treatise.
Shekel (He)—a coin of the Near East, of varying value.
Shinto (J)—the Way of the Gods; the worship of the national deities and the emperor in Japan.
Shloka (H)—couplet.
Shogun (J)—general; military governor.
Siesta (Sp)—a short sleep or rest.
Silindhra (H)—an Indian flower.
Sine qua non (L)—an indispensable condition.
Soufflé (F)—blown.
Swadeshi (H)—economic nationalism; the exclusive use of native products.
Swaraj (H)—self-rule.
Tantra (H)—rule or ritual.
Tattwa (H)—reality.
Tempera (I)—distemper; painting in which the pigments are mixed or “tempered” with an emulsion of egg, usually with the addition of “size” (diluted glue) to secure adhesion.
Terracotta (I)—baked clay, coated with glaze.
Torii (J)—gateways.
Tour de force (F)—an act of sudden ability.
Urœus (L)—a serpent image symbolizing wisdom and life; usually worn by the Egyptian kings.
Virtus dormitiva (L)—soporific power.
Yaki (J)—wares.
Yen (J)—a Japanese coin, normally worth about fifty cents.
Ziggurat (Assyrian-Babylonian)—a tower of superimposed and diminishing stories, usually surrounded by external stairs.