mikhail epstein's definitions

chronomaniac

chronomaniac n (Gr. khronos, time + Gr. mania, obsession, madness; cf. nymphomaniac) - a person obsessed with time and speed; one who attempts to live faster and to control time expenditure up to the smallest units.

He is a chronomaniac. He looks at his watch every minute.

by Mikhail Epstein November 9, 2003

infinition

infinition (definition + infinitity) Ð an infinite process of defining something that cannot be fully or precisely defined; an endless list of possible definitions.

Certain fluid concepts in their emergent state are subject to in-finition--infinite dispersal of their meaning--rather than to definition. To infine is to suggest the infinity of possible definitions of a certain term or concept and therefore to problematize its meaning and the possibility or the benefit of defining it. If definition circumscribes a specific conceptual area, then infinition releases the concept from restricting demarcations and places it in an indeterminate zone.

by Mikhail Epstein November 6, 2003

transvert

transvert n Lat. trans, across, over + vertere, to turn; cf. intravert, extravert - a psychological type that alternates between introversion and extraversion and combines features of both types.

I don't know who I am, an extravert or an introvert? Or am I a transvert? If so, then the entire classification crumbles.

His life moves from one extreme to another, from complete self-absorption to wild partying at random places with random people. He is a typical transvert.

by Mikhail Epstein November 2, 2003

virtonautics

virtonautics n (virtual + nautics, from Greek nautikos, of ships, sailing, like in astronautics) Ð experimental exploration and development of virtual worlds.

Now virtonautics is still in embryo, but in the future it will become as common an occupation as aeronautics and astronautics today.

by Mikhail Epstein November 2, 2003

amort (amor + mort)

amort n. (Lat. amor, love + Lat. mort, death)

the double instinct of love and death; the ambivalent combination of Eros and Thanatos or the transformation of one into another; a cruel and (self)destructive passion that leads to the ruin of the loved or the lover.

Amort is the most common theme of European literature, from Tristan and Isolde to The Ballad of Reading Gaol:

And all men kill the thing they love,
By all let this be heard,
Some do it with a bitter look,
Some with a flattering word,
The coward does it with a kiss,
The brave man with a sword!

by Mikhail Epstein November 15, 2003

enjoice

enjoice smbd into v prefix en + joy; cf. rejoice - using false joy to talk someone into sharing an undesirable task; to entrap somebody by the appearance of joy, to deceive or trick into difficulty.

The prefix en-, like in engage, entrap, embrace, engulf, encircle, envelop, enclose, adds to the base the meaning "surrounding something or somebody or placing it within something."

He looked extremely happy with his winning ticket, and he enjoyced me into entering these sweepstakes, which I would never have done otherwise.

The government tries to enjoice us into global expansion by claiming dubious victories, clearly in violation of international law.

by Mikhail Epstein November 2, 2003

thanatagog

thanatagog or thanatagogue (Greek thanatos, death + Greek agein, to lead; cf. pedagog, demagog, mystagog) - one who prepares old or terminally ill people for dying.

He is a thanatagog by vocation and occupation. He works at a hospice.

by Mikhail Epstein November 7, 2003