acclimate \uh-KLY-mit; AK-luh-mayt\, transitive and intransitive verb:
To accustom or become accustomed to a new climate, environment, or situation.

Getting acclimated to being in the suburbs, Sally? Mrs. Westin asked.
-- Julia Slavin, The Woman Who Cut Off Her Leg at the Maidstone Club and Other Stories

The Korbels did not have much time to pull their lives together and acclimate themselves to English culture.
-- Ann Blackman, Seasons of Her Life

Acclimate is from French acclimater, from a-, "to" (from Latin ad-) + climat, "climate," from Late Latin clima, climat-, from Greek klima, "inclination; the supposed slope of the earth toward the pole; region; clime," from klinein, "to lean."

rejoinder \rih-JOIN-dur\, noun:
An answer to a reply; or, in general, an answer or reply.

I kept looking for exceptions to his pronouncements, flaws in his reasoning, my constant rejoinders to his critical remarks being "Yes, but . . ."
-- Richard Elman, Namedropping: Mostly Literary Memoirs

The comment immediately drew a sharp rejoinder from a friend.
-- Howard W. French, "Tokyo Displays Mixed Feelings at Premiere of 'Pearl Harbor'", New York Times, June 21, 2001

Chance on an unbelieving clod, and the ultimate rejoinder is ready at hand: "Listen, dummy, it actually happened!"
-- Benjamin Cheever, "Like Watching Tennis", New York Times, August 17, 1997

Rejoinder derives from Old French rejoindre, "to answer, rejoin," from re- + joindre, "to join," from Latin iungere, "to join."

eructation \ih-ruhk-TAY-shuhn\, noun:
The act of belching; a belch.

Ignatius belched, the gassy eructations echoing between the walls of the alley.
-- John Kennedy Toole, A Confederacy of Dunces

The explosion, at this distance, sounds like a faint, feeble eructation.
-- Peter Conrad, "Bangs to whimpers", The Observer, March 7, 2004

Eructation comes from Latin eructatio, from eructare, from e-, "out" + ructare, "to belch."

contravene \kon-truh-VEEN\, transitive verb:
1. To act or be counter to; to violate.
2. To oppose in argument; to contradict.

In 1620 most people considered the likelihood of reversing the seasons inside a building impossible, and many deemed it sacrilege, an attempt to contravene the natural order, to twist the configuration of the world established by God.
-- Tom Shachtman, Absolute Zero and the Conquest of Cold

Anorexics, for example, clearly contravene our evolutionary dictate to eat.
-- Jerry A. Coyne, "Of Vice and Men", The New Republic, April 3, 2000

Contravene comes from Late Latin contravenire, "to oppose," from Latin contra-, "against" + venire, "to come."

quiescent \kwy-ES-uhnt; kwee-\, adjective:
Being in a state of repose; at rest; still; inactive.

The solution, Dr. Wilmut discovered, was to, in effect, put the DNA from the adult cell to sleep, making it quiescent by depriving the adult cell of nutrients.
-- Gina Kolata, "Scientist Reports First Cloning Ever of Adult Mammal", New York Times, February 23, 1997

A vicious but localized Sino-Japanese war raged around the Shanghai region through much of 1932. The conflict then settled into a quiescent phase for several years.
-- David M. Kennedy, "The Horror", The Atlantic, April 1998

Have we had our day and are we . . . just carrying on after the manner of the aged, quiescent, devitalized, uncreative, desiring peace and sleep above all else?
-- Jawaharlal Nehru, The Discovery of India

Quiescent derives from the present participle of Latin quiescere, to rest, from quies, rest.

quiescent \kwy-ES-uhnt; kwee-\, adjective:
Being in a state of repose; at rest; still; inactive.

The solution, Dr. Wilmut discovered, was to, in effect, put the DNA from the adult cell to sleep, making it quiescent by depriving the adult cell of nutrients.
-- Gina Kolata, "Scientist Reports First Cloning Ever of Adult Mammal", New York Times, February 23, 1997

A vicious but localized Sino-Japanese war raged around the Shanghai region through much of 1932. The conflict then settled into a quiescent phase for several years.
-- David M. Kennedy, "The Horror", The Atlantic, April 1998

Have we had our day and are we . . . just carrying on after the manner of the aged, quiescent, devitalized, uncreative, desiring peace and sleep above all else?
-- Jawaharlal Nehru, The Discovery of India

Quiescent derives from the present participle of Latin quiescere, to rest, from quies, rest.

quiescent \kwy-ES-uhnt; kwee-\, adjective:
Being in a state of repose; at rest; still; inactive.

The solution, Dr. Wilmut discovered, was to, in effect, put the DNA from the adult cell to sleep, making it quiescent by depriving the adult cell of nutrients.
-- Gina Kolata, "Scientist Reports First Cloning Ever of Adult Mammal", New York Times, February 23, 1997

A vicious but localized Sino-Japanese war raged around the Shanghai region through much of 1932. The conflict then settled into a quiescent phase for several years.
-- David M. Kennedy, "The Horror", The Atlantic, April 1998

Have we had our day and are we . . . just carrying on after the manner of the aged, quiescent, devitalized, uncreative, desiring peace and sleep above all else?
-- Jawaharlal Nehru, The Discovery of India

Quiescent derives from the present participle of Latin quiescere, to rest, from quies, rest.

idee fixe \ee-day-FEEKS\, noun:
An idea that dominates the mind; a fixed idea; an obsession.

The reality of obsession -- its incessant return to the same few themes, scenarios and questions; its meticulous examination and re-examination of banal minutiae for hidden meanings that simply aren't there; the cancerous way an idee fixe usurps other, more interesting thoughts -- is that it is confining, not rebellious, and not fascinating but maddeningly dull.
-- Laura Miller, "The Streetwalkers of San Francisco", New York Times, August 20, 2000

It became an idee fixe that he stubbornly adhered to in spite of the plain evidence . . . that obviously contradicts it.
-- Edwin G. Pulleyblank, "Prosody or pharyngealization in old Chinese?", The Journal of the American Oriental Society, January 12, 1996

Getting back to the idee fixe, let me say that it's what produces strong men and madmen.
-- Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis, The Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas (translated by Gregory Rabassa)

Idee fixe is from the French idée, "idea" + fixe, "fixed."