Crossword Puzzle Words: Do You Know What They Mean?

An etui is a small decorative case designed to hold sewing needles, scissors, thimbles, and similar items; the word comes directly from the French word 'étui,' meaning a case or container.

An erne (also spelled ern) is a large eagle, particularly the white-tailed eagle — Haliaeetus albicilla — found across Europe and Asia; crossword constructors love it for its short, vowel-heavy spelling.

An esne was a serf or domestic laborer in Anglo-Saxon England, ranking below a free peasant; the word appears in Old English manuscripts describing the social hierarchy of early medieval Britain.

Oleo is a shorthand name for oleomargarine — now simply called margarine — a butter substitute made from vegetable oils that became a common American household staple from the late 19th century onward.

Alee describes the leeward — or sheltered — side of a ship, meaning the side away from the wind; it is the opposite of 'aweather,' and the crossword clue often reads 'sheltered at sea' or 'away from the wind.'

A ewer is a large decorative pitcher or jug, historically placed in bedrooms alongside a washbasin so people could pour water for washing — a common household item before the age of indoor plumbing.

The naos (also called the cella in Latin) was the main inner room of a Greek temple, typically housing the statue of the deity being honored; it was not generally open to ordinary worshippers.

A tarn is a small mountain lake, typically formed in a hollow carved out by a glacier; the word is especially used in northern England's Lake District, where walkers encounter tarns on many hilltop routes.

A mere is a lake or pool of standing water; the word survives today chiefly in English place names such as Windermere, Grasmere, and Buttermere — all lakes in the famous Lake District of northwest England.

A snee is a large knife; the word derives from the Dutch 'snijden,' meaning to cut, and appears in older English writing where characters carry a snee as a personal weapon.

Ebon is a poetic and archaic adjective meaning deep black, derived from 'ebony' — the very dense, dark tropical hardwood — and is used by writers to lend an old-fashioned or literary quality to a description.

Otic is the medical adjective meaning 'of or relating to the ear,' derived from the Greek word 'ōtikos'; you may have seen it on prescription ear-drop medications labeled 'otic solution.'

Aloe is a large genus of succulent plants native to Africa; their thick leaves store a clear gel long used to soothe burns and skin irritations, with aloe vera — meaning 'true aloe' — being the most familiar species.

An aeon (spelled eon in American English) means an indefinitely long period of time; in geology it is also the largest unit of the formal time scale, such as the Phanerozoic Eon, which encompasses the last 541 million years.

An epee is one of the three weapons in modern fencing — alongside the foil and the sabre — recognized by its heavier, stiffer blade and the rule that the entire body is a valid target for scoring a touch.