#OTA
- Self-sacrificing / Devoted — Quality of a person or an action characterized by self-sacrifice; full of devotion, always ready for self-denial, profoundly altruistic, entirely dedicated to an idea, mission, or the public good.
- Abobra genus — A monotypic taxonomic genus of perennial climbing plants in the family Cucurbitaceae, whose sole recognized species is Abobra tenuifolia (commonly known as the cranberry gourd). Native to South America (Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay), it is partially cultivated in European greenhouses or botanical gardens as an ornamental plant due to its fine foliage and intense red spherical fruits at maturity.
- Abortive — A substance, medication, or biological factor that has the property of inducing the premature termination of pregnancy (abortion); (in an extended medical sense) that halts the progression of a disease or pathological process in its initial stage, preventing full clinical manifestation; (in botany) a rudimentary or partially developed organ that has stopped growing and can no longer fulfill its physiological function.
- Abota (proper name) — An extremely rare Romanian proper family name or historical first name, recorded in historical onomastics and old lexicons as a variant derived partially from the Hebrew root 'abba' (father) or through Cuman/Slavic lines; a hypocoristic form or regional modification historically linked to old anthroponyms in Moldavia and Transylvania.
- Sweet sultan (botany) — (Botany, regional) A species of herbaceous plant from the genus Centaurea (Centaurea suaveolens), native to the Orient, cultivated in gardens for its highly fragrant golden-yellow flowers with a sweet, amber-like scent; (archaic, adj.) dark red or somber colored (with reference to fine silk fabrics).
- Abronia — (Botany) A genus of herbaceous plants in the family Nyctaginaceae, native to western North America, commonly known as 'sand verbenas'; (zoology) a genus of arboreal alligator lizards in the family Anguidae, native to Central America and Mexico, many of which are endangered species.
- Pink sand verbena — (Botany) A species of trailing herbaceous plant in the genus Abronia, native to the west coast of North America (from British Columbia to Baja California); commonly known as the 'pink sand verbena', it is characterized by fragrant pink-purple flowers arranged in globose umbels and its adaptation to maritime sand dunes.
- Abrus — (Botany) A genus of climbing plants in the family Fabaceae (Leguminosae), native to tropical and subtropical regions worldwide, characterized by pinnate leaves and pods containing spherical seeds that are often intensely colored and highly toxic due to their abrin content.
- Rosary pea — (Botany) A species of climbing plant in the genus Abrus, native to the tropics, commonly known as the 'rosary pea', 'jequirity bean', or 'crab's eye'; its small, bright red seeds with a black spot at the base are traditionally used in jewelry and rosaries, but are highly lethal if ingested or chewed, containing abrin.
- abscission — (Botany) The natural physiological process of separation and shedding of leaves, flowers, or ripe fruits, due to the formation of a special layer of loosely cemented cells at the base of the petiole.
- abscission — (Botany, rare) A less frequent lexical variant of 'abscizie', denoting the physiological process of natural separation and shedding of leaves, flowers, or fruits from a plant; (historical, surgery) excision, cutting off, or ablation of a tissue.
- Absinthium — The scientific Latin name for wormwood (Artemisia absinthium), used in old scholarly, medical, and philosophical texts to denote the essence of absolute bitterness. In moral philosophy and the exegesis of sacred texts, the term serves as a conceptual archetype for cleansing suffering, the severity of ascetic life, or the bitter consequences of ethical and spiritual wandering.
- Absolute — 1. Adjective and adverb expressing something complete, perfect, total, independent of anything else, and suffering no limitation or condition. 2. Neuter noun (capitalized: the Absolute): a fundamental metaphysical concept denoting the ultimate, perfect, unconditioned, and infinite reality, the divinity, or the ultimate foundation of existence. In ethics, the term defines immutable moral values (such as Good or Truth) that remain valid regardless of historical or cultural contexts.
- Abuladze — The surname of Georgian film director Tengiz Abuladze, a legendary figure of Soviet and world cinema, renowned for his poetic, deeply allegorical style that criticized totalitarianism. His masterpiece, the movie 'Repentance' (Monanieba, 1984), became a symbolic work of the Glasnost era, being one of the first cinematic productions to courageously and surrealiatically expose the horrors of Stalinist repressions and the absurdity of the cult of personality.
- Perched — The state of an object, person, or structure that has been climbed, hoisted, or scrambled up with effort to a certain height; perched, placed high up. As an adjective derived from a participle, the term carries a strong regional color and is frequently used figuratively to describe isolated settlements, sheepfolds, or huts strategically or picturesquely situated on hard-to-access mountain ridges.
- Abutilon — A genus of herbaceous or shrubby plants in the family Malvaceae, native to tropical and subtropical regions, widely cultivated in horticulture as an ornamental indoor or garden plant. Popularly known as the 'parlor maple' due to the lobed shape of its leaves, the plant is highly esteemed for its spectacular, pendulous, bell-shaped or Chinese lantern-like flowers, colored in bright shades of yellow, red, pink, or orange.
- Abutilon avicennae — The synonymous scientific designation for *Abutilon theophrasti*, popularly known in Romanian as 'teiușor' or 'crucea-pământului'. This annual herbaceous plant in the Malvaceae family, native to Asia, is recognized in modern agronomy as a severe invasive weed in row crops (corn, sunflower, soy), characterized by large, velvety, heart-shaped leaves and rigid, decorative, star-like seed capsules.
- Abutilon darwinii — A species of ornamental shrub in the Malvaceae family, native to the tropical forests of Brazil, characterized by densely pubescent, palmate-lobed leaves and large, bell-shaped, pinkish-orange flowers highlighted by spectacular reddish veins. This species plays a historical and fundamental role in global horticulture, being one of the primary genetic parents used in creating most decorative *Abutilon* hybrids grown today in greenhouses and apartments.
- Abutilon megapotamicum — A species of semi-scandent or trailing shrub in the Malvaceae family, native to Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay, remarkable for its long, flexible, arching branches. It is widely cultivated for ornamental purposes due to its unique and spectacular flowers, hanging from thin pedruncles, which feature a swollen, bright red calyx from which contrasting yellow petals and prominent purple stamens emerge, a look reminiscent of Chinese lanterns.
- Abutilon vitifolium — The synonymous scientific designation for *Corynabutilon vitifolium*, a species of large shrub or small tree in the Malvaceae family, native to the temperate rainforests of Chile. This unique plant is widely cultivated globally in botanical and landscape gardens due to its large, soft-haired, palmate-lobed leaves that resemble vine leaves, and for its spectacular, wide-open, cup-shaped flowers colored in delicate shades of pale blue, lavender, or golden-white.