Rhinoceros

Rhinoceros Glossary

Asiatic

An outdated word for "Asian."

Besot

To make stupid or foolish, such as through liquor.

Blue-stockings

A French organization that promoted individualism.

Caprice

A sudden, seemingly irrational change of mind.

Dogmatism

An inflexible view or system of ideas; an attitude of inflexibility on principle.

E pur si muove

An Italian phrase that means, "and yet it moves." Galileo perhaps spoke the phrase in 1633 in being forced to recant his belief that the Earth moves around the Sun.

Erudite

Quite learned or scholarly.

Fatalism

A philosophical doctrine whereby everything is predetermined or fated, unable to be significantly changed by free action.

Foil

A contrasting double for another character, usually to highlight important personal qualities.

Logician

A person who is skilled in logic or reasoning.

Luxembourg Gardens

Gardens in the French Senate in Paris.

Microbes

Germs; microscopic life forms.

Neurasthenia

Nervous exhaustion.

Porter

A person who mans an entrance, helps visitors, or does cleaning and maintenance work for a building.

Prelate

A high-ranking member of the clergy.

Proprietor

Owner; a person with the legal right to something.

Quadruped

An animal, most often a mammal, with four feet.

Seine

The great river that runs through southern Paris, with a wide bend in central Paris.

Sublimation

In psychology, a coping technique whereby a person changes disruptive energy into a new form, generally some kind of action.

Syllogism

A specific form of argument in logic whereby a primary premise and a secondary premise lead to a conclusion.

Buy Study Guide Cite this page