Glossary extracted starting with manual seeds, with PTM for the domain rel and language EN

annales	The French school of historiography which sought underlying causes for historical developments
materialism	The theory that everything can, in principle, be explained by material objects guided by natural law
catacombs	System of tunnels used by early Catholics as hiding places when they were being persecuted.
lay apostolate	Work done on behalf of the Church by Lay people.
dramatic monologue	A literary work in which a single speaker addresses an implied but silent audience and in which various details keep the dramatic situation alive in a reader’s awareness
passover	See Pasch/Paschal Lamb.
inri	the initial letters form the Latin inscription written on the cross: Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum, (Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews).
cirrus	Wispy, high-altitude clouds
constructivism	The postmodern belief that knowledge about the world is not discovered, but constructed in the minds of observers
roadsteads	Places where ships can anchor, less protected than a harbour
butt	The blunt end
epilepsy	A disease of the neurological system characterized by violent seizures.
irony	An incongruity or discrepancy
doom song	A form of prophetic writing and satire in which the author predicts the downfall of a nation in vivid and sometimes taunting form
buddhism	Religion & philosophy founded in India in the 6th cent
freshening	Increasing in strength
penitential psalm	A psalm in which the speaker confesses sin, expresses sorrow for sin, describes the effects of guilt, and petitions God for forgiveness and/or celebrates God’s forgiveness.
theme	A generalization about life that can be deduced from a work of literature
amen	A Hebrew word meaning truly; it is so; let it be done, signifying agreement with what has been said
apostrophe	A figure of speech in which the writer addresses someone absent as though present and capable of responding
paradigm	A model
polygamy	The practice of having more than one wife at the same time, which is contrary to the unity of marriage between one man and one woman, and which offends against the dignity of woman.
religious life	See Consecrated Life.
nauseated	Sick to one's stomach, characterized by the urge to vomit
ode	An exalted lyric poem that deals with a dignified subject in an elevated style
kal v'chomer	a halachic inference from a lenient case to a strict case -- i.e
conversion	A radical reorientation of the whole life away from sin and evil, and toward God
economy	The structure and organization of productive work or activity in a society, forming the basis for financial support and stability of individuals, families, and society
penitent/penitential	The sinner who repents of sin and seeks forgiveness
star of bethlehem	The Star of Bethlehem may have been a star, a nova, a comet, or a the conjunction of planets that created a bright light in the sky.
reparation	Making amends for a wrong done or for an offense, especially for sin, which is an offense against God
spiritual/shamanic healing	Practitioners who regard themselves as conductors of healing energy or sources from the spiritual realm
paternal	Fatherly.
prudence	The virtue which disposes a person to discern the good and choose the correct means to accomplish it
conscience	The interior voice of a human being, within whose heart the inner law of God is inscribed
shinto	System of beliefs and attitudes held by most Japanese about themselves, their families, clans, and ruling powers
narrative	A sequence of events composed of the three ingredients of plot, setting, and character
shoal	Shallow place in the water that causes difficulty in navigation; sandbar
free will	Human experience which governs our actions and gives us the freedom to make choices regarding our full expression of God's love.
soliloquy	A statement uttered by a speaker while alone; as readers or listeners, we overhear the speech
rigor mortis	Stiffening of the muscles after death; Latin for "stiffness of death"
mitzvah	(pl
essentialism	An error in thinking, according to postmodern analysis, whereby people fail to perceive that every aspect of human existence is socially produced
s.v.p.	Stands for Society of St Vincent de Paul: A society of men and women willing to undertake charitable works.
annulled	Reduced to nothing
symbolic reality	A technique in which the details that we encounter as we read a work consist so thoroughly of symbols that we enter an imagined world consisting primarily of symbols
boast	A work of literature in which the leading ingredient is a formalized boasting or extolling by a speaker or writer
image	A word or phrase that names a concrete action or thing
archetype	A plot motif (such as the ordeal), character type (such as the hero), or setting/image/symbol (such as the wicked city) that recurs throughout literature and life.
protagonist	Based on the Greek words for “first struggler,” the main character in a story, whether sympathetic or unsympathetic.
materialism	The belief that nothing exists other than matter.
communion under both kinds	Receiving Holy Communion under both of the forms of bread and wine
antagonist	Any person or force in a narrative that stands in the way of the protagonist of the story, or with which the protagonist is in conflict
helena - st. helena	St
shingle	A pebbled beach
critical legal studies movement	A postmodern approach to law which denies that laws can be fair or impartial
mediator/mediatrix	One who links or reconciles separate or opposing parties
sunnah	A collection of Muhammad's words and deeds during his lifetime.
lent	The liturgical season of forty days which begins with Ash Wednesday and ends with the celebration of the Paschal Mystery (Easter Triduum)
perjury	Giving one's word under oath falsely, or making a promise under oath without intending to keep it
nirvana	The final state according to Buddhism
supernatural	Surpassing the power of created beings; a result of God's gracious initiative
exodus	God's saving intervention in history by which he liberated the Hebrew people from slavery in Egypt, made a covenant with them, and brought them into the Promised Land
poetic license	The tendency of poetry to rely on figures of speech rather than literal statement.
parochial schools	Private schools run by the parish Church.
sea of galilee	A lake fed by the River Jordan.
secular institute	See Institute, Secular.
leader	Short length of string or wire that connects the hook to the fishing line
empiricism	Basing all knowledge on sense experience alone.
existentialism	The attempt to create meaning out of a meaningless universe by the exercise of free will.
gelatinous	Jellylike
font	A basin or bowl in a Church used for the Baptismal water.
cloister	A place of religious seclusion.
bible	Derived through Latin from the Greek word "biblia" or "books" the diminutive form of "byblos" the word for "papyrus" or "paper", which was exported from the ancient Phoenician port city of Biblos
synoptic	Seeing with one lens
profligate	Immoral or debauched.
judgment	The eternal retribution received by each soul at the moment of death, in accordance with that person's faith and works "the particular judgment"
good life motif	The portrayal of an ideal place and way of life
nusach ashkenaz	Followed by most European Jews.
eschatological discourse	A vision of what will happen at the very end of human history and just prior to that end; synonymous with end times discourse.
leprous	From "leprosy," a disease characterized by ulcers of the skin
carapaced	Covered by a shell
lyric	A short poem that expresses the thoughts and/or feelings of a speaker
olkonomia	See Economy.
exposition	The opening phase of a story, in which the writer presents the background information that readers need to know in order to understand the plot that follows.
rhetorical question	A question that is asked for the sake of effect rather than to elicit an answer
restitution	The return of what has been unjustly taken from another.
docudrama	A genre of film or video that presents information about a person, place, or movement
poetry	Writing that employs a preponderance of imagery and figures of speech and that is written in a verse form (in the Bible, nearly always some form of parallelism).
emblematic blazon	A blazon is a love poem that praises the beauty and virtue of the beloved
spirit	See Holy Spirit.
marginalizing	Verb
marriage	A covenant or partnership of life between a man and woman, which is ordered to the well-being of the spouses and to the procreation and upbringing of children
hero	A protagonist whose experience is representative of people generally and who is either wholly or largely ideal in behavior and character.
son of man	The title used by our Lord of himself in the Gospel
realism	Writing marked by two different literary characteristics: at the level of subject matter, the portrayal of unideal or sordid human experiences; at the level of technique, reliance on an abundance of concrete details taken from everyday life
confession	An essential element of the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation, which consists in telling one's sins to the priestly minister
superstition	The attribution of a kind of magical power to certain practices or objects, like charms or omens
theophany	A revelation or visible appearance of God, as in the case of Moses at Mount Sinai.
mutilated	Irreparably damaged
revenge story	A story in which the mainspring of the plot is a character’s exacting justice against a hostile person or group.
justinian	A profile of the Illyrian-born Roman law-gving emperor Justinian.
liturgical rituals	Refers to all Church services and ceremonies.
monotheism	Belief in one God
temple	The house of worship built in Jerusalem by Solomon as God's dwelling-place, for the exercise of the priestly rites of sacrifice in the Jewish religion
omnipresence	That God is everywhere.
host	The wafer of consecrated bread which Catholics receive at Holy Communion
elegy	A funeral poem
bonito	Mackerel-like fish that can grow up to 30 inches (75 cm) in length
cultural relativism	Limiting the sphere of truth to a particular society or culture.
abortion	Deliberate termination of pregnancy by killing the unborn child
theosophy	The word comes from the Greek theos, meaning god, and sophia, meaning wisdom
taoism	The popular Chinese philosophy of life based on the Tao, or "Way." The Way is the divine principle-- a balance between seeming opposites, Yin and Yang.
epistemology	The study of how we know things
koshair	knot-tying; one of the 39 primary categories of forbidden Shabbat activity
bight	A loop in a rope
acrostic	A poem in which the successive units begin with the consecutive letters of the Hebrew alphabet
contrition	Sorrow of the soul and hatred for the sin committed, together with a resolution not to sin again
stealing/theft	Unjustly taking and keeping the property of another, against the reasonable will of the owner
pastoral literature	Literature in which the setting, characters, and actions are those that belong to the world of shepherding
determinism	Philosophical assumption that all behavior and observable events have causes.
genealogy	A list of ancestors
council	An assembly of representatives from the whole Church called together by the Pope to make decisions.
life	Both God's gift of created human life and His divine life given to us as sanctifying grace
requiem	A service or hymn for someone who has died.
prism	A transparent body that refracts a beam of light, making rainbow colors
evangelist	One of the four authors to whom is ascribed the writing of the Gospels, i.e., Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John
invitation to love	A genre of love poetry in which the speaker invites the beloved to a life of mutual love, or to some specific action such as going for a walk in nature (which is usually metaphoric of a life of mutual love)
stream of consciousness	A literary structure in which the content of the work unfolds in a random way that corresponds to how the human mind organizes thoughts, feelings, and consciousness
narrator	The voice or presenter in a work of literature; the speaker in the work, whom we get to know as an explicit or implied character.
ciborium	A bowl or chalice-shaped vessel to hold the consecrated Hosts for the distribution of Holy Communion.
arian controversy	Information on the Arian controversy, the Council of Nicea, and the cleric whose name was given to the controversy.
private revelations	Revelations made in the course of history which do not add to or form part of the deposit of faith, but rather may help people live out their faith more fully
meditation	Discipline in which the mind is focused on a single point of reference
expository writing	Writing (ordinarily in prose) in which the main purpose is to convey information.
worship psalm	A psalm built around the experience of worshiping God, almost always specifically in the temple in Jerusalem
setting	The place(s) in a story or narrative within which the action occurs
conflict story/controversy story	A story that is built primarily around the element of conflict between characters or groups
calumny	A false statement which harms the reputation of others and gives occasion for false judgments concerning them.
salutation	The opening elements of a letter, including as many as three ingredients: sender/author, recipient, greeting.
immanance	Belief that God exists throughout all of creation and that humans can experience God's presence on earth.
lectionary cycle	The Scripture readings used in Mass are set in a 3-year Sunday cycle and 2-year weekday cycle.
proprietor	Owner of a business
gluttony	Overindulgence in food or drink
novie	A person who has been accepted into a religious order and who is undergoing a period of training and formation before taking vows.
thwart	Seat in a small boat
rescue story	A story that portrays deliverance from a dire situation or a situation of immediate and impending disaster
triduum	A liturgical celebration of three days duration, as in the Easter Triduum.
biography	The story of a person’s life, either in whole or in part.
salao	Spanish for "jinxed"
fall	Biblical revelation about the reality of sin in human history
story	A sequence of events made up of plot, setting, and characters
nature	The created order
objective truth	Truth which is the object of thought
septuagint	A pre-Christian Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures made by Jewish scholars, and later adopted by Greek speaking Christians.
kiday seudah	lit.: the amount of a meal; amount of bread normally eaten in a meal
duality	The existence of distinct physical and spiritual realms.
drama	A narrative form in which the action is embodied in the form of dialogue among characters
hueso	Spanish for "bone"
juego	Spanish for "game"
gaff	Spear
halal	A term describing something that is lawful and permitted in Islam, according to Islamic law
homosexuality	Sexual attraction or orientation toward persons of the same sex and/or sexual acts between persons of the same sex
lectern	The stand from which the Scriptures are read in Church.
consecrated virgins	Women who have decided with the Church's approval to cling only to the Lord and to live in a state of virginity "for the sake of the kingdom of heaven" and are consecrated in that state by a solemn rite.
personification	A figure of speech in which human attributes are given to something nonhuman, such as animals, objects, or abstract qualities
b.c.	Explanation of the abbreviation B.C.
maftir	The last section of the Torah reading in the synagogue each Sabbath.
transubstantiation	The scholastic term used to designate the unique change of the Eucharistic bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ
fathom	6 feet or 1.83 meters
corpus christi	A Latin phrase meaning; "The Body of Christ"
passion story	A story that recounts the circumstances surrounding the trial and crucifixion of Jesus.
adultery	Marital infidelity, or sexual relations between two partners, at least one of whom is married to another party
confucianism .	For more than 2,000 years the Chinese people have been guided by the ideals of Confucianism
pericope	From the Greek word meaning "cutting" or "section," a pericope describes the Scripture readings at Mass which are sections of books of the Bible.
faro	A card game where the players bet on what cards will turn up.
friedrich schiller	A German philosopher and poet in the late 18th century.
etiology	The nonliterary dictionary definition is “assignment of a cause or origin” to something
satisfaction	An act whereby the sinner makes amends for sin, especially in reparation to God for offenses against him
charity	The theological virtue by which we love God above all things for his own sake, and our neighbor as ourselves for the love of God.
scandal	An attitude or behavior which leads another to do evil.
prophetic	People in the community who warned others about consequences of their actions.
base communities	Groups of 10 to 20 people gathered for scripture reading and discussion
song of victory	A lyric genre belonging to war literature
dramatic irony	A situation in a story where readers know something of which some or all of the characters in the story are ignorant.
time	See Eternal Life.
seal of confession	The confessor's obligation to keep absolutely secret what a penitent has told to him in the Sacrament of Penance; also known as the "sacramental seal".
rhetoric	Rhetoric has always meant two things to literary people: (1) a writer’s strategies of persuasion and (2) discourse that is ornamented or embellished with certain conventional techniques (such as figurative language or patterns of repetition).
hyperbole	A figure of speech in which a writer consciously exaggerates for the sake of effect; usually that effect is emotional, so that we can loosely say that hyperbole usually expresses emotional truth rather than literal truth
image pattern	Multiple occurrences of an image in a passage or work of literature
saying	In a biblical context, a proverb or aphorism.
conquest story	A story that narrates the victory of a person or group over enemies.
incipit	From the Latin word meaning "to begin," this word refers to the words added at the beginning of a Scripture reading in the Lectionary
foil	Something within a work of literature that heightens or “sets off” (the literal meaning of the word foil) a main element in the work; usually a foil is a contrast, but sometimes it is a parallel
circumcision	The rite prescribed in Judaism and other cultures which involves cutting off the foreskin of a male
euthanasia	An action or an omission which, of itself or by intention, causes the death of handicapped, sick, or dying persons sometimes with an attempt to justify the act as a means of eliminating suffering
the sacrament of confirmation	The Sacrament of Confirmation is the second of the three sacraments of initiation
crime and punishment story	A story built around the threefold pattern of the antecedents of a crime (what led up to the crime), the occurrence of the crime, and the consequences of the crime.
discourse	A written or spoken address to an audience
spiritual director	Person trained to work with people spiritually.
denouement	The last phase of a story, following the climax; literally “tying up of loose ends.”
parody	A work or passage of literature that imitates or echoes a specific work of literature or a literary genre, but with altered (and sometimes opposite) effect compared to the original
our lady	See Mary.
kosher	lit.: legally proper; refers to food permitted under Jewish dietary laws; colloquially refers to anything that is within the boundaries of (moral) law
virtue	An habitual and firm disposition to do the good
humanism	A philosophy that regards the rational individual as the highest value; it considers the individual to be the ultimate source of value and is dedicated to fostering the individual's creative and moral development in a meaningful and rational way without reference to the concepts of the supernatural.
devil/demon	A fallen angel, who sinned against God by refusing to accept His reign
ecclesiastical	Pertaining to a church.
dualism	A glossary entry on dualism.
ecclesiastic/ecclesiastical	Pertaining to or of the Church (Greek/Latin: ecclesia)
reversal	An element of plot in which the action takes a turn opposite to what had prevailed up to that point; often reversal entails the added element that an action produces the opposite effect of that intended by the character who performed it.
incredulity	The willful refusal to assent to revealed truth, or even the neglect of this truth.
annunciation story	A story in which an angel or human agent announces to a barren wife that she will become pregnant and bear a child.
deity	A definition of deity.
patrology	A definition of patrology.
choir	A group of persons trained to lead in the singing at liturgical celebrations.
ash wednesday	The first day of Lent
anthropomorphism	The portrayal of deity as possessing human body parts or emotions
baptismal font	Large container of water often made of marble and placed at the entrance of the Church
social justice	The respect for the human person and the rights which flow from human dignity and guarantee it
angel	A spiritual, perSonal, and immortal creature, with intelligence and free will, who glorifies God without ceasing and who serves God as a messenger of his saving plan
simile	A figure of speech in which a writer compares two things using the formula like or as
idyll	A short work of literature that describes a simple, pleasant aspect of rural and/or domestic life
return story	A story in which individuals or groups return to a place from which they have been absent
moses	The leader chosen by God to lead the Israelites out of their exile in Egypt
redeemer/redemption	Jesus Christ, redeemer of mankind
birth story	A story that recounts the birth of a baby, usually a future hero
aphorism	A concise, memorable statement of truth; synonymous with proverb.
karma	The structure of one's life as resulting from one's prior actions in an earlier existence
story of origins	A story that recounts how something began
all souls day	The day on which Catholics remember the dead and pray for them recognizing that they may still need to be brought to perfection
monasticism	Tradition of taking yourself away from the mainstream of society for the purpose of developing your spirtual practice.
imagery	The whole span of images in a piece of writing, and/or patterns of images in a piece of writing
self-evident	Some idea that appears to be true in such a way that no explanation or proof is necessary.
preconsciousness	Latent memories that can be accessed by the conscious mind.
vocation	The calling or destiny we have in this life and hereafter
kadosh	holy
social constructions	The belief that reality can not be objectively known
dispensation	Exemption from a Church law in a particular case for a special reason.
stealing/theft	Unjustly taking and keeping the property of another, against the reasonable will of the owner (2408)
miracle	A sign or wonder, such as a healing or the control of nature, which can only be attributed to divine power
holy orders	See Orders, Holy.
guardian angels	Angels assigned to protect and intercede for each person.
ordination	Ordination is the service in which individuals are formally âset asideâ for service in the church as deacons, priests or bishops
consecrated virgins	Women who have decided with the Church's approval to cling only to the Lord and to live in a state of virginity "for the sake of the kingdom of heaven" and are consecrated in that state by a solemn rite (922-924).
social sin	The effect of sin over time, which can affect society and its institutions to create "structures of sin," by analogy called "social sin".
drag	Device that slows forward motion
novitiate	The period a novice spends in training.
lay	Church members who are not ordained.
subjective truth	Truth which is only true in people's thought or experience
holy water	Blessed water, a sacramental whose sprinkling or use is a reminder of Baptism and a means of sanctification.
icon	Religious painting traditional among many Eastern Christians
suicide	The willful taking of one's own life; a grievous sin against the fifth commandment
hermeneutics	The science of interpretation
miracle story	An account of a supernatural action on behalf of one or more people
dissociation	In the context of psychology and religion, dissociation means a separation of attention
inspiration	See Biblical Inspiration.
habit	The distinctive form of dress worn by members of religious communities.
transformation story	A story in which a character undergoes a drastic change or reversal
jerome	Jerome is known as the scholar who translated the Bible into the language the people could read, Latin
nun	A member of an enclosed religious order of women
motif	A discernible pattern composed of similar individual units, either in a single work or in literature generally
readers	Those who read the scripture passages during Mass
condensed milk	Sweetened, slightly evaporated (thickened) cow's milk
bodega	Spanish for "small store"
bishop	From the Greek word "episcopos" meaning "overseer"
ptomaine	Poisonous compound found in decaying animal tissue; pronounced "toe´main"