16-letter words starting with a
- ancient monument — a historical building or the remains of one, usually dating from no later than the medieval period, that has been designated as worthy of preservation and is often in the care of a government department
- anderson shelter — a small prefabricated air-raid shelter of World War II consisting of an arch of corrugated metal and designed to be partly buried in people's gardens and covered with earth for protection
- andorra la vella — the capital of Andorra, situated in the west of the principality. Pop: 22 035 (2003 est)
- andrea del sarto — Andrea [ahn-drey-uh;; Italian ahn-dre-ah] /ɑnˈdreɪ ə;; Italian ɑnˈdrɛ ɑ/ (Show IPA), Andrea del Sarto.
- andreas vesalius — Andreas [ahn-dre-ahs] /ɑnˈdrɛ ɑs/ (Show IPA), 1514–64, Flemish anatomist.
- andrei vishinsky — Andrei Yanuarievich [uhn-dryey yi-noo-ah-ryi-vyich] /ʌnˈdryeɪ yɪ nuˈɑ ryɪ vyɪtʃ/ (Show IPA), 1883–1954, Soviet statesman.
- andrew tanenbaum — (person) Professor Andrew S. Tanenbaum (1941-) of the Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam in The Netherlands. Tanenbaum is famous for his work and books on computer architecture, operating systems and networks. He wrote the textbook "Computer Networks", Second Edition, Prentice-Hall, 1981, which describes the International Standards Organisation, Open Systems Interconnection (ISO-OSI) network model. See Amoeba, Mac-1, Mic-1, Mic-2, Micro Assembly Language, MINIX, MicroProgramming Language, standard.
- andromeda galaxy — a spiral galaxy, appearing to the naked eye as a fuzzy oval patch in the constellation Andromeda; it is a close neighbor to our own galaxy.
- andromeda strain — a hypothetical microorganism, as might be developed from biological research, that if released would uncontrollably kill living things on earth
- anesthesiologist — An anesthesiologist is a doctor who specializes in giving anaesthetics to patients.
- angel-hair pasta — spaghetti made in very fine strands
- angelus silesius — (Johannes Scheffler) 1627–77, German poet.
- anger management — Anger management is a set of guidelines that are designed to help people control their anger.
- angiographically — By the use of angiography.
- angle of advance — the angle in excess of 90° that a steam-engine valve gear is in advance of the crank
- anglo-australian — belonging, relating to, or involving England and Australia, or the people of the two countries.
- angostura (bark) — the bitter aromatic bark of either of two South American trees (Galipea officinalis or Cusparia trifoliata) of the rue family, used as a medicinal tonic and as a flavoring in bitters
- angular diameter — the angle that the apparent diameter of a celestial object subtends at the eye of the observer.
- angular momentum — a property of a mass or system of masses turning about some fixed point; it is conserved in the absence of the action of external forces
- angular velocity — the velocity of a body rotating about a specified axis measured as the rate of change of the angle subtended at that axis by the path of the body
- anharmonic ratio — cross ratio.
- aniakchak crater — an active volcanic crater on the Alaskan Peninsula, with a diameter of 6 miles (10 km).
- animal companion — an animal that is kept as a companion; pet.
- animal husbandry — the science of breeding, rearing, and caring for farm animals
- animal magnetism — the quality of being attractive, esp to members of the opposite sex
- animal sanctuary — a place where animals are brought to live and be protected
- animated cartoon — a film produced by photographing a series of gradually changing drawings, etc, which give the illusion of movement when the series is projected rapidly
- anne of brittany — 1477–1514, wife of Maximilian I of Austria 1490–91; queen consort of Charles VIII of France 1491–98; queen consort of Louis XII of France 1499–1514.
- annular ligament — any of various ligaments that encircle a part, such as the wrist, ankle, or trachea
- annus horribilis — a terrible year
- anode dark space — the dark region between the anode glow and the anode in a vacuum tube, occurring when the pressure is low.
- anode resistance — (of a vacuum tube at a given level of output) the ratio of a small change in voltage of the anode to the corresponding small change in anode current.
- anomalistic year — the interval between two successive passages of the earth through perihelion; 365.25964 mean solar days
- anomalous monism — the philosophical doctrine that although all mental states consist merely in states of the brain, there exist no regular correspondences between classes of mental and physical states, and so no psychophysical laws
- anopisthographic — a manuscript, parchment, or book having writing on only one side of the leaves.
- anorexia nervosa — an eating disorder primarily affecting adolescent girls and young women, characterized by pathological fear of becoming fat, distorted body image, excessive dieting, and emaciation.
- answer-back code — a unique code that identifies the telex machine to which a message is sent
- antagonistically — acting in opposition; opposing, especially mutually.
- antarctic circle — the imaginary circle around the earth, parallel to the equator, at latitude 66° 32′ S; it marks the southernmost point at which the sun appears above the level of the horizon at the winter solstice
- antenatal clinic — a clinic that women attend when they are pregnant so that the medical staff can check that they and the baby are healthy
- antepenultimates — Plural form of antepenultimate.
- anterioposterior — Alternative form of anteroposterior.
- anthony of padua — Saint. 1195–1231, Franciscan friar, who preached in France and Italy. Feast day: June 13
- anthranilic acid — an aromatic acid, C6H4
- anthropocentrism — an anthropocentric theory or view.
- anthropometrical — Pertaining to anthropometry.
- anthropomorphise — Non-Oxford British standard spelling of anthropomorphize.
- anthropomorphism — Anthropomorphism is the idea that an animal, a god, or an object has feelings or characteristics like those of a human being.
- anthropomorphist — One who anthropomorphizes.
- anthropomorphize — to attribute or ascribe human form or behaviour to (a god, animal, object, etc)