12-letter words that end in a
- primigravida — a woman pregnant for the first time.
- problem area — a place that is prone to a particular problem or danger, such as flooding or road-traffic accidents
- process data — data processing
- prolog-linda — 1. Prolog extended with Linda-style parallelism. Proc 4th Australian Conf on Artif Intell. 2. Neil MacDonald, U Edinburgh 1989. Another Prolog extended with Linda, implemented on a Computing Surface.
- prosopopoeia — personification, as of inanimate things.
- prostanthera — any bush of the Australian genus Prostanthera, with red or white flowers and strongly scented leaves
- provitamin a — carotene.
- pseudamphora — a Mycenaean vase having a spherical body, a spout on the shoulder, and a handle, curving across the top, supported by a solid conical neck.
- pseudoanemia — Pathology. a quantitative deficiency of the hemoglobin, often accompanied by a reduced number of red blood cells and causing pallor, weakness, and breathlessness.
- psychomachia — conflict of the soul
- pteridomania — an excessive enthusiasm for ferns
- pyophthalmia — suppurative inflammation of the eye.
- quadragesima — the first Sunday in Lent.
- quadriplegia — paralysis of all four limbs or of the entire body below the neck.
- radiesthesia — the ability to sense energy forces or radiation, esp from the human body
- rejectamenta — things that have been thrown away as worthless
- res judicata — a thing adjudicated; a case that has been decided.
- respondentia — a loan upon a ship's cargo, which is repaid with interest if the ship reaches its destination, and if the ship does not, the loan is not repaid
- rhamphotheca — the horny covering of a bird's bill.
- rhinorrhagia — an extreme nosebleed
- rhythmopoeia — the art or process of composing, for example, music or poetry rhythmically
- rose pogonia — a North American terrestrial orchid, Pogonia ophioglossoides, having a fragrant, usually solitary rose-pink or white flower.
- rosh hashana — the Jewish New Year, celebrated on the 1st and 2d days of Tishri
- rous sarcoma — a malignant tumor occurring in the connective tissue of poultry, caused by a transmissible RNA-containing virus.
- saccidananda — Sat-cit-ananda.
- saint helena — Saint, c247–c330, mother of Constantine I.
- saint martha — a sister of Mary and Lazarus, who lived at Bethany and ministered to Jesus (Luke 10:38–42). Feast day: July 29 or June 4
- salve regina — a prayer in the form of a hymn to the Virgin Mary.
- sancho panza — Sancho, Sancho Panza.
- sand verbena — any of several low, mostly trailing plants of the genus Abronia, of the western U.S., having showy, verbenalike flowers.
- santa monica — a city in SW California, near Los Angeles, on Santa Monica Bay: resort.
- sarcoadenoma — adenosarcoma.
- sargasso sea — a relatively calm area of water in the N Atlantic, NE of the West Indies.
- sarsaparilla — any of various climbing or trailing tropical American plants belonging to the genus Smilax, of the lily family, having alternate leaves, umbels of flowers, and a root that has been used in the treatment of psoriasis.
- satanophobia — a morbid fear of the devil or Satan
- saudi arabia — a kingdom in N and central Arabia, including Hejaz, Nejd, and dependencies. About 600,000 sq. mi. (1,554,000 sq. km). Capital: Riyadh.
- scheme-linda — A Scheme interface to Linda written by Ulf Dahlen of University of Edinburgh in 1990. It runs on the Computing Surface and the Symmetry.
- schizothymia — the condition of being schizoid or introverted. It encompasses elements of schizophrenia but does not involve the same depth of psychological disturbance
- sclerenchyma — supporting or protective tissue composed of thickened, dry, and hardened cells.
- scoptophilia — the obtaining of sexual pleasure by looking at nude bodies, erotic photographs, etc.
- scrophularia — a member of a genus of flowering plants which have a square stem and are known as figworts
- secret santa — anonymous Christmas gift exchange
- septuagesima — the third Sunday before Lent.
- serial comma — a comma used after the next-to-last item in a series of three or more items when the next-to-last and last items are separated by a conjunction. In the series A, B, C, or D, the comma after C is the series comma.
- service area — motorway facilities
- sesquialtera — a mixture stop on an organ
- sesquitertia — the ratio of 4:3
- shamrock-pea — a trailing plant, Parochetus communis, of the legume family, native to Asia and east Africa, having shamrocklike leaves with a brown crescent at the base and pea-shaped, pink and blue flowers.
- sierra vista — a town in S Arizona.
- sleep apnoea — the temporary cessation of breathing during sleep, which in some cases is due to obstruction of the upper airway by enlarged tonsils, uvula, etc, causing the sufferer to snore loudly and fight for breath