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conspectus \kuhn-SPEK-tuhs\ a sketch, survey, or outline of a subject.

Eagerly the Austen family went at their productions, choosing plays that represented, as Gay says, a conspectus of late 18th-century fashionable comic theatre.-- John Mullan, "Behind the scenes", The Guardian, August 31, 2002

missive\MIS-iv\a written message; a letter.

Well, somebody sent the invitation, I said, getting back to the mysterious missive.-- Jane Heller, Name Dropping

vivify\VIV-uh-fy\ to endue with life; to enliven.

Stories not only provide context for statistical statements but canillustrate and vivify them as well.-- John Allen Paulos, Once Upoin a Number

apogee\AP-uh-jee\ the highest point.

How can we suppose that science has reached its apogee in the twentieth century?-- John Maddox, What Remains To Be Discovered