amortify

amortify verb trans. (Lat. amor, love + Lat. mort, death + suffix ify)

to act both with affection and ruthlessness, to inflict suffering or ruin by love.
Dostoevsky's novel "The Idiot" is the story of four principal characters who consistently attempt to amortify each other and eventually succeed.
by Mikhail Epstein November 16, 2003
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conaster

conaster n from Latin cum, with + Greek astron, star - literally with star, the exact antonym to disaster; the fortunate outcome of an almost imminent disaster; the sensation of a catastrophe narrowly averted and later remembered from the vantage point of safety.


There were several conasters in my life that I cannot recall without thanking God for his undeserved mercy.

You were born under a lucky star. This conaster is an amazing mixture of chance and miracle.
by Mikhail Epstein November 03, 2003
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equiphilia

equiphilia n (Greek aequi, equal + philia, love) - equal love to many persons or things.




It is difficult for Mary to make up her mind. Not that she is indifferent to her admirers but she is now at the point of equiphilia.

Sometimes equiphilia is dangerously close to indifference. Equal love to many means no love at all.
by Mikhail Epstein November 07, 2003
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ifnik (if + suffix nik)

someone whose life, habits and thinking are constructed conditionally.


Don't ask him what he's going to do. A typical ifnik, he will give you a dozen of "ifs."
by Mikhail Epstein October 02, 2003
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gnawledge

gnawledge n. (word-portmanteau: gnaw + suffix ledge; cf. knowledge) mechanical knowledge that is obtained by "gnawing" facts rather than conceptually interpreting them.
When Bacon pronounced "knowledge is power," he meant real knowledge, not gnawledge.
by Mikhail Epstein November 16, 2003
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to advertise by dread, to engage in military propaganda.


There are skilled dreadvertisers in our government.
by Mikhail Epstein October 02, 2003
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multividual

multividual n Latin multus, many + Latin individuus, indivisible Ð a multiple individual that embraces many selves and in a technological perspective can possess multiple bodies.
As early as 1970s, psychologists indicated the emergence of a proteic type of personality who combines the properties of different individuals. This is not a schizophrenically split personality, but the one rich in roles and selves, a multividual who cannot be confined to a single self.

The multiplicity of selves often reveals itself in the acts of inspiration and artistic creativity. Eventually these multiple selves will acquire not only symbolical and imaginative embodiments, like in theater, but also independent bodies. Like a bio-species is exemplified by a multiplicity of individuals, a multividual will become a psycho-species exemplified by various organisms. Such multividuals will reach across continents assuming various material guises and performing various social and professional roles, and simultaneously they will be aware of their unique destiny and moral responsibility.
by Mikhail Epstein November 06, 2003
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