Emily Dickinson Lexicon

arduous, adj. [L. ardu-us, high, steep, difficult.]

Difficult; trying; hard; taxing; laborious; exhausting; draining; strenuous; tiring; exacting; demanding.

are, v. [L. es-, be, exist.] Suppletion form of the verb “be”; the plural present tense form.

1. [Auxiliary verb for the progressive] continue.
2. [Used for the copula with an adjective] appear; look.
3. [Used for the lexical verb, indicating location or existence] live; dwell; exist.
4. [Auxiliary verb for the passive voice.]
5. [Linking verb with a verbal adjective in participle form.]

area, n. [L. ārea, vacant piece of level ground in a town.]

1. Size; geometric measurement of the total space within lines; [fig.] emotional capacity; ability to withstand stress.
2. Region; expanse; spread; range; scope.

argent, adj. [Fr. < L. argentum, white money, silver.]

Silvery; sparkling; glowing with light; [fig.] starlit; astral.

argue (-d, -s), v. [Fr. < L. argu-ěre, make clear, prove, assert, accuse, blame.] (webplay: belief, conclusions, controvertist, heads, known, man, proof, reasons, truth).

1. Discuss; assert; contend; debate; insist; refute; contradict; rebut; disagree verbally.
2. Prove to; show to; make clear to ; give evidence to.

argument (-s), n. [see argue, v.] (webplay: arch, first, unknown).

1. Copious phrase; profuse expression; [fig.] eloquence; silver-tongued melody.
2. Evidence; deposition; proof; statement; testimony; witness; [fig.] shining; silvery light; [NW] “In astronomy, an arch by which we seek another unknown arch.”

arid, adj. [L. ārid-us, dry, parched with thirst.]

Dry; thirsty; scorched; barren; exhausted of moisture; parched with heat; [fig.] wry; ironic; warped; sardonic; [fig.] tedious; drab; dull; monotonous.

arise (arose), v. [Germanic a, up, out, away + rise, ascend.] (webplay: assault, awake, death, getting up, God, head, hearts, leave, men, new, place, power, put, rise, scattered, sense, small, sun, up).

1. Activate; become animated; come to life.
2. Swell up; surge; begin to grow; start to intensify.
3. Occur; ensue; develop; unfold; transpire.
4. Appear to go up, as the sun at dawn; move forward and upward from dawn to noon; [fig.] build up to a climax, as in a drama.
5. Depart from rest; begin to act; [word play] go up; fly upward.
6. Begin to sound; become audible; start up; issue forth.
7. Ascend; emanate; emerge; materialize; move to a higher place, like vapors.
8. [Personification] get worn as a scarf; be placed upon the head.

aristocracy, n. [L. < Gk 'best rule'.]

Nobility; gentility; upper class; superiority; high level of living; [possible word play on “arise”] social climbing to a higher status.

aristocrat, n. [see aristocracy, n.]

Gentlewoman; patrician; privileged person; someone expecting to be treated as superior; [fig.] creature that arises rapidly, possibly a butterfly.