A word that looks like tomorrow from a distance but is actually something else that you can’t really explain. Occasionally nuclear engineers try to work out how to warn future generations to stay away from radioactive waste sites, where it won’t be safe to dig for ten thousand years. There are many challenges: stainless steel signs will eventually rust away, etchings in granite will be buffed clean by sandstorms, huge menacing earthworks shrouded in vegetation. Any words or symbols we leave behind will surely have lost their meaning by then, the Gregorian calendar replaced five times over, erasing any sense of when AD 12000 was supposed to be. It makes you wonder: If it seems impossible to pass a message beyond our own little neighborhood in time, impossible even to warn our descendants not to dig into poisoned ground, what relationship do we have to them? Pronounced “tohr-noh-mawf.”

Italian rialto, a theater district + oscuro, dark, obscure. Compare chiaroscuro, which describes a quality of visual art that emphasizes the contrast between deep shade and bright light. Pronounced “ree-al-toh-skyoor-oh.”

From ever + nevertheless. Pronounced “ev-er-thuh-les.”

Greek απονέμω (aponémo), to bestow. Pronounced “ap-uh-nee-mee-uh.”

Indonesian eksis, to exist, to be. Pronounced “ek-sis.”

Italian a domani, until tomorrow + mania. Pronounced “ad-uh-mey-nee-uh.”

Greek μονόδρομος (monódromos), one-way street + -φοβία (-phobía), fear. Pronounced “noh-droh-foh-bee-uh.”

Tahitian iriti, to translate + iriti, to be convulsed. Pronounced “ih-ri-shun.”

Japanese 空の (kara-no), blank. Pronounced “kar-uh-noi-uh.”

Middle English cauci, path or road + caustic, able to burn or corrode living tissue. Pronounced “kaw-sik.”

German Effekt, effect + less. As he was dying at age forty, Franz Kafka instructed his friend Max Brod to burn all his literary works upon his death, but Brod famously defied the request and published them to worldwide acclaim. At the time, Max Brod had been a household name, a celebrated author whose first novel was hailed as a masterpiece. Meanwhile, Kafka had spent his life walking the streets of Prague as a complete unknown, and died without ever suspecting that his hometown would soon become synonymous with his name. The world had been unequivocal in its judgment of the two writers, but posterity soon overturned the verdict.

From to be + to loiter, to hang around someplace with no particular agenda. Pronounced “bih-loi-ter.”

From star, a luminous dot in the cloudless sky + -lorn, sorely missing. Pronounced “stahr-lawrn.”

After off, the state of being not quite normal or sane + offsides, a sports offense in which you find yourself on the wrong side at the wrong moment + tides, the normal ebb and flow of time.

Old English nigh, almost + nihil, nothing. Pronounced “nahy-lis.”

Maori ango, open + Latin angō, I cause pain or distress. Pronounced “ang-goh-sis.”

Armenian քնել (k’nel), sleep + knell, a ringing announcement of a death. Pronounced “nel-ish.”

From mog, to enjoy one’s self in a quiet, easy, comfortable manner + folly, a foolish act.

Spanish arroyo, a dried-up streambed waiting for a storm, literally a “dry run.” Pronounced “uh-roi-uh.”

Slovenian nemočen, powerless. Pronounced “nih-moh-shah.”

Latin morituri, “we who are about to die.” Pronounced “moh-rich-uh-riz-uhm.

Japanese ふ浪者 (furōsha), vagrant, vagabond. Onomatopoeic to the sound of a sudden gust of wind. Pronounced “fuh-roh-shuh.”

From achene, the fruit that contains the seed of a flowering plant, which is often confused for the seed itself. Whenever you think you’ve arrived at the heart of something, it only ends up hidden away inside some other more complicated structure. Pronounced “uh-kee-nee-uh.”

A variation on redshift and blueshift, the astronomical processes that make objects moving away look redder than they really are, and objects moving toward you look bluer.

From iron sick, a nautical term for when an old ship’s iron nails become rusted out, allowing seepage of seawater through the wooden hull.

A mispronunciation of the French voilà, “behold!” Pronounced “wawl-uh.”

Middle English winne, joy + wawe, woe. Compare williwaw, a sudden blast of wind descending from the mountains to the sea. Pronounced “win-uh-waw.”

Onomatopoeic to the wail of an electric guitar. Pronounced “ow-yow-yuh.”

Latin dys-, bad + historia, history. Pronounced “dis-toh-ree-uh.”

Latin crāstinō diē, tomorrow + praxis, the process of turning theory into reality. Pronounced “krak-sis.”

From future (the grammatical tense) + tense.

French aimer, to love + nom, name. A palindrome. Pronounced “eym-uh-nohm-ee-uh.”

Finnish kadotus, perdition, which once meant “loss” but now means “eternal damnation.” Pronounced “kuh-doh.”

From the chess move of castling, which is when a rook rushes to protect the king, nearly swapping places with him.

Spanish suerte, luck + fuerza, force. Pronounced “soo-wair-zuh.”

From hem, an attempt to clear the throat + jaw, coarse babble.

Malagasy lelosy, snail, which is a creature that carries many twists and turns wherever it goes, trying in vain to outrun them. Pronounced “ehl-uh-see.”

From ellipsis, a marker of a continuation that you don’t get to see. Pronounced “ih-lip-siz-uhm.”

From galaxy, a gravitationally bound system of millions of stars + agog, awestruck. Pronounced “gal-uh-gawg.”

Italian liso, worn down, threadbare + oliato, oiled. Pronounced “lih-soh-lee-uh.”

From boor, an ill-mannered person + hence, in the future from now. Pronounced “boor-uhns.”

Greek αμήν (amḗn), amen + μενταλιό (mentalió), locket. Pronounced “ah-men-tal-yoh.”

French énouer, to pluck defective bits from a stretch of cloth + dénouement, the final part of a story, in which all the threads of the plot are drawn together and everything is explained. Pronounced “ey-noo-mahn.”

From hark back, a command spoken to hunting dogs to retrace their course so they can pick up a lost scent. Pronounced “hahrk.”

Latin solla, whole, unbroken + Sesotho fasolla, to disconnect + Estonian las olla, let it be. Pronounced “suh-lah, suh-lah, suh-lah.”

Latin in-, not + errata, mistakes in a printed work. Pronounced “in-eh-rah-tuh.”

Italian affogato, drowned. Pronounced “ah-fuh-gat-yuh.”

Swedish eftersom, because.

From present, the moment at hand + tense, in a state of nervous strain.

Ancient Greek ἐπὶ- (epi-), on top of + ὕστριξ (hystrix), a porcupine. To sit on a porcupine is to feel the pain of too many endings all at once. Pronounced “ih-pis-triks.”

After the part of a VCR that reads the signal on a videotape.

In poker and blackjack, the ace card can be valued either low or high; it’s up to the player to decide. Every day is an ace, which might end up being valuable or worthless, forgettable or unforgettable, depending on who’s playing and what else they’re holding in their hand.

From over, finished and done with + pine, to yearn or grieve for something. Compare the flowering perennial orpine, also called autumn joy or live-forevers, which is often found in open sunny areas of cemeteries. Pronounced “awr-pahyn.”

A word tantalizingly close to being the last word of the dictionary, but not quite there. Pronounced “zee-zhah.”

From archi-, earlier, primitive + acrimony, bitterness, animosity. Pronounced “ahr-kuh-moh-nee.”

Basque ekurrikatz, a piece of charcoal used for drawing. Pronounced “ek-yuh-ree.”

Norwegian Bokmål halvveis, halfway.

From rue, to regret + bourrasque, a tempest. Pronounced “rask.”

From cull, to control the size of a herd by selectively killing some animals + away. Pronounced “kuhl-uh-weys.”

From alpha, the unstable initial release of software still being tested + exposure, the amount of time that light is allowed onto photographic film.

From clock + wise, pointedly aware of.

From antecedent, predecessor or ancestor + anxious. Pronounced “an-tish-uhs.”

Borrowed from the traditional feast of the summer solstice, after which all the days become shorter.

From now, the present moment + -lings, inhabitants of.

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After documentary filmmaker Errol Morris, whose work often addresses the fallibility of memory and how little of reality can be captured in a photograph. Pronounced “em-uh-reez,” like memories, but with a piece missing.

Norwegian etter, after + råtne, decay. Pronounced “et-er-rath.”

Greek εχθές (echthés), yesterday + αἴσθησις (aísthēsis), sensation. Pronounced “ek-thee-zhuh.”

From wallow, to indulge or soak in something + away. Pronounced “wol-uh-wey.”

Latin tiros, beginners, new recruits + jealousy. Pronounced “teer-uh-see.”

From lap, one full circuit around a course + gap year, a regenerative break between adjacent stages of life. In the Tour de France, the cyclist with the lowest time receives a ceremonial yellow jersey and the right to start the next stage.

Middle English mithen, to be hidden away. Pronounced “mith-uhn-nis.”

A contraction of Kergeulen Islands. Roughly equidistant between Australia, Antarctica, and Madagascar, they are the only visible remnant of the Kergeulen microcontinent, which was submerged some twenty million years ago. Three times the size of Japan, it was once covered in dense conifer forests, with peaks reaching 2,000 meters above sea level, populated with strange and nameless fauna that must have called it home, before all traces were lost beneath the waves. Pronounced “kair-ahyl.”

From daguerreotype, a form of early portrait photography + dialogue. Pronounced “duh-gair-uh- lawg.”

From anchorage, a port at which ships may anchor. Pronounced “ang-ker-ij.”

From yewthor, a pungent scent + yewre, water-bearer. Pronounced “yoh-ree.”

Appalachian English (dialect) blinked, soured milk + back, in the past.

From pither, to dig lightly. Pronounced “pith-erd.”

From fell, to cause to fall by delivering a blow + molechaser, a low swooping throw of a boomerang.

In video compression, a key frame defines major changes in a scene. Most frames in compressed video are in-betweens, marking subtle incremental changes, but key frames depict a whole new scene. This technique allows you to move forward without stopping to buffer, even if it makes it harder to rewind.

Latin appretiare, to appraise + ad pressum, after. Pronounced “ap-ree-es.”

Acronym of The Hell Was I Thinking?

After a species of salmon, Oncorhynchus keta, which “run” upstream to spawn every year, leaping back to the place they were born; they’re not worth much commercially, but the ketas don’t know that. When we look back on our lives, it’s not just the moments that we remember, not the grand gestures and catered ceremonies, or the world we capture poised and smiling in photos. It’s the little things—the minutes—the cheap raw material of ordinary time. Pronounced “kay-tuh.”

Dutch kier, fissure or narrow opening, as in the midpoint of an hourglass. Pronounced “keer.”

From enter + entire + hood.

In audio recording, backmasking is a technique wherein a sound is deliberately recorded backward, so it’s only intelligible when played in reverse.

From autumn + auspice, an omen, or a divination derived from observing the actions of birds. Pronounced “aw-stis.”

From vellum, parchment + ichor, the fluid that flows in the veins of the gods in Ancient Greek mythology. Pronounced “vel-uh-kawr.”

A contraction of auld lang syne, which is Scots for “times long past”—fragments of which are still present in aulasy, but the meaning has been lost. Pronounced “awl-uh-see.”

From Nyctocereus, a genus of cactus that blooms only at night. Pronounced “nik-tuhs.”

Latin gaudia, joys + civis, citizen. Pronounced “gou-dee-uh siv-is.”

Macedonian поглед (pogled), a glimpse. Pronounced “pog-uhld.”

From star, a standard rating unit of reviews + stuck.

In digital photo processing, unsharp mask is a filter that combines the original negative with a blurred positive image. The resulting image may look sharper but is actually a less accurate interpretation of the subject.

From wen, an enormously congested city that swells like a cyst + bane, an affliction or poison.

From heart + moor, to tie a boat to an anchor. Pronounced “hahrt-moor.”

From inn, a small hotel or tavern for travelers + inanity, a total lack of meaning or ideas. Pronounced “ihn-i-tee.”

French mal, ache + de coucou, of the cuckoo bird. Coucou is also a French colloquialism for “Hey there!” Mal de coucou is a riff on the term mal de caribou, also known as rabbit starvation, in which you can starve to death even with unlimited access to lean meats like rabbit and caribou, after eating an excess of protein and not enough fat. Pronounced “mal duh koo-koo.”

From labyrinth, a maze of tortuous complexity + vertigo, the whirling sensation of looking down from great heights. Compare Spanish látigo, whip. Pronounced “lat-i-goh.”

From scrow, to work hard + scroff, useless bits of leftover material + cog, a tiny forgettable element in a complicated machine. Pronounced “skrawg.”

Ancient Greek μῖμος (mîmos), imitator, actor + μῖσος (mîsos), hatred. Pronounced “mim-ee-oh-mee-uh.”