| Transcriber's note: |
A few typographical errors have been corrected. They
appear in the text like this, and the
explanation will appear when the mouse pointer is moved over the marked
passage. |
CHAMBERS'S
TWENTIETH CENTURY DICTIONARY
OF THE
ENGLISH LANGUAGE
PRONOUNCING, EXPLANATORY, ETYMOLOGICAL, WITH COMPOUND PHRASES,
TECHNICAL TERMS IN USE IN THE ARTS AND SCIENCES,
COLLOQUIALISMS, FULL APPENDICES, AND
COPIOUSLY ILLUSTRATED
EDITED BY
Rev. THOMAS DAVIDSON
ASSISTANT-EDITOR OF 'CHAMBERS'S ENCYCLOPÆDIA'
EDITOR OF 'CHAMBERS'S ENGLISH DICTIONARY'
London: 47 Paternoster Row
W. & R. CHAMBERS, Limited
EDINBURGH: 339 High Street
1908
CHAMBERS'S
NEW LARGE TYPE
ENGLISH DICTIONARY
EDITED BY
Rev. THOMAS DAVIDSON
Pronouncing, Explanatory, Etymological
1264 pp. Imp. 8vo, cloth, 12/6; hf.-mor., 18/-
———
"The best one volume dictionary in existence."
W. & R. Chambers, Limited, London and Edinburgh.
PREFACE.
This is the third English Dictionary which the present Editor has prepared, and he may therefore lay claim to an unusually prolonged apprenticeship to his trade. It is surely unnecessary for him to say that he believes this to be the best book of the three, and he can afford to rest content if the Courteous Reader receive it with the indulgence extended to his Library Dictionary, published in the spring of 1898. It is based upon that work, but will be found to possess many serviceable qualities of its own. It is not much less in content, and its greater relative portability is due to smaller type, to thinner paper, and still more to a rigorous compression and condensation in the definitions, by means of which room has been found for many additional words.
The aim has been to include all the common words in literary and conversational English, together with words obsolete save in the pages of Spenser, Shakespeare, Milton, and the Authorised Version of the Bible. An attempt has been made also to include the common terms of the sciences and the arts of life, the vocabulary of sport, those Scotch and provincial words which assert themselves in Burns, Scott, the Brontës, and George Eliot, and even the coinages of word-masters like Carlyle, Browning, and Meredith. Numberless compound idiomatic phrases have also been given a place, in each case under the head of the significant word.
Correctness in technical matters has been ensured by consulting such books as Smyth's Sailor's Word-Book, Voyle's Military Dictionary, Wilson's Stock-Exchange Glossary, Lee's Glossary of Liturgical and Ecclesiastical Terms, &c. Besides books of this class, the Editor has made constant use of special books such as Schmidt's Shakespeare-Lexicon, Calderwood's edition of Fleming's Vocabulary of Philosophy, Jamieson's Scottish Dictionary, the Stanford Dictionary of Anglicised Words and Phrases, Yule and Burnell's Anglo-Indian Glossary, Addis and Arnold's Catholic Dictionary, and the Dictionaries of the Bible of Sir William Smith and Dr Hastings.
In Latin, his authority is Lewis and Short; in Greek, Liddell and Scott; in Romance Philology, Diez and Scheler; in French, Littré; in Spanish, Velazquez; in German, Weigand and Flügel; in Gaelic, Macleod and Dewar, and M'Bain; in Hebrew, Gesenius.
In English etymology the Editor has consulted Professor Skeat's Dictionary and his Principles of English Etymology—First and Second Series; the magistral New English Dictionary of Dr James A. H. Murray and Mr Henry Bradley, so far as completed; and the only less valuable English Dialect Dictionary of Professor Wright (begun 1896).
Two complete American English Dictionaries still hold the first place as works of reference, Professor Whitney's Century Dictionary and Funk and Wagnall's Standard Dictionary.
The Editor has great pleasure in acknowledging his personal obligations to his brothers, the Rev. Robert P. Davidson, B.A., of Trinity College, Oxford, and David G. Davidson, M.D., Edinburgh; and to his equally capable and courteous colleagues, Mr J. R. Pairman and David Patrick, LL.D., Editor of Chambers's Encyclopædia.
CONTENTS.
| PAGE | |
| PREFACE | iii |
| EXPLANATIONS TO THE STUDENT | v |
| LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THIS DICTIONARY | vii |
| THE DICTIONARY | 1-1150 |
| PREFIXES AND SUFFIXES | 1151 |
| ETYMOLOGY OF NAMES OF PLACES, ETC. | 1158 |
| LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS, TOGETHER WITH SIGNS AND SYMBOLS USED IN MEDICINE AND MUSIC | 1161 |
| CORRECT CEREMONIOUS FORMS OF ADDRESS | 1174 |
| PRONOUNCING VOCABULARY OF SCRIPTURE PROPER NAMES | 1176 |
| THE MORE COMMON ENGLISH CHRISTIAN NAMES, WITH THEIR ORIGIN AND MEANING | 1178 |
| WORDS AND PHRASES IN MORE OR LESS CURRENT USE FROM LATIN, GREEK, AND MODERN FOREIGN LANGUAGES | 1184 |
| ADDENDA | 1208 |
EXPLANATIONS TO THE STUDENT.
The Arrangement of the Words.—Every word is given in its alphabetical order, except in cases where, to save space, derivatives are given after and under the words from which they are derived. Each uncompounded verb has its participles, when irregular, placed after it. Exceptional plurals are also given. When a word stands after another, with no meaning given, its meanings can be at once formed from those of the latter, by adding the signification of the affix: thus the meanings of Darkness are obtained by prefixing the meaning of ness, state of being, to those of Dark.
Many words from French and other tongues, current in English usage, but not yet fairly Anglicised, are inserted in the list of Foreign Phrases, &c., at the end, rather than in the body of the Dictionary.
The Pronunciation.—The Pronunciation is given immediately after each word, by the word being spelled anew. In this new spelling, every consonant used has its ordinary unvarying sound, no consonant being employed that has more than one sound. The same sounds are always represented by the same letters, no matter how varied their actual spelling in the language. No consonant used has any mark attached to it, with the one exception of th, which is printed in common letters when sounded as in thick, but in italics when sounded as in then. Unmarked vowels have always their short sounds, as in lad, led, lid, lot, but, book. The marked vowels are shown in the following line, which is printed at the top of each page:—
fāte, fär; mē, hėr; mīne; mōte; mūte; mōōn; then.
The vowel u when marked thus, ü, has the sound heard in Scotch bluid, gude, the French du, almost that of the German ü in Müller. Where more than one pronunciation of a word is given, that which is placed first is more accepted.
The Spelling.—When more than one form of a word is given, that which is placed first is the spelling in current English use. Unfortunately our modern spelling does not represent the English we actually speak, but rather the language of the 16th century, up to which period, generally speaking, English spelling was mainly phonetic, like the present German. The fundamental principle of all rational spelling is no doubt the representation of every sound by an invariable symbol, but in modern English the usage of pronunciation has drifted far from the conventional forms established by a traditional orthography, with the result that the present spelling of our written speech is to a large extent a mere exercise of memory, full of confusing anomalies and imperfections, and involving an enormous and unnecessary strain on the faculties of learners. Spelling reform is indeed an imperative necessity, but it must proceed with a wise moderation, for, in the words of Mr Sweet, 'nothing can be done without unanimity, and until the majority of the community are convinced of the superiority of some one system unanimity is impossible.' The true path of progress should follow such wisely moderate counsels as those of Dr J. A. H. Murray:—the dropping of the final or inflexional silent e; the restoration of the historical -t after breath consonants; uniformity in the employment of double consonants, as in traveler, &c.; the discarding of ue in words like demagogue and catalogue; the uniform levelling of the agent -our into -or; the making of ea = ĕ short into e and the long ie into ee; the restoration of some, come, tongue, to their old English forms, sum, cum, tung; a more extended use of z in the body of words, as chozen, praize, raize; and the correction of the worst individual monstrosities, as foreign, scent, scythe, ache, debt, people, parliament, court, would, sceptic, phthisis, queue, schedule, twopence-halfpenny, yeoman, sieve, gauge, barque, buoy, yacht, &c.
Already in America a moderate degree of spelling reform may be said to be established in good usage, by the adoption of -or for -our, as color, labor, &c.; of -er for -re, as center, meter, &c.; -ize for -ise, as civilize, &c.; the use of a uniform single consonant after an unaccented vowel, as traveler for traveller; the adoption of e for œ or æ in hemorrhage, diarrhea, &c.
The Meanings.—The current and most important meaning of a word is usually given first. But in cases like Clerk, Livery, Marshal, where the force of the word can be made much clearer by tracing its history, the original meaning is also given, and the successive variations of its usage defined.
The Etymology.—The Etymology of each word is given after the meanings, within brackets. Where further information regarding a word is given elsewhere, it is so indicated by a reference. It must be noted under the etymology that whenever a word is printed thus, Ban, Base, the student is referred to it; also that here the sign—is always to be read as meaning 'derived from.' Examples are generally given of words that are cognate or correspond to the English words; but it must be remembered that they are inserted merely for illustration. Such words are usually separated from the rest by a semicolon. For instance, when an English word is traced to its Anglo-Saxon form, and then a German word is given, no one should suppose that our English word is derived from the German. German and Anglo-Saxon are alike branches from a common Teutonic stem, and have seldom borrowed from each other. Under each word the force of the prefix is usually given, though not the affix. For fuller explanation in such cases the student is referred to the list of Prefixes and Suffixes in the Appendix.
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THIS DICTIONARY.
| aor. | aorist. | geol. | geology. | perh. | perhaps. |
| abbrev. | abbreviation. | geom. | geometry. | pers. | person. |
| abl. | ablative. | ger. | gerundive. | pfx. | prefix. |
| acc. | according. | gram. | grammar. | phil., philos. | philosophy. |
| accus. | accusative. | gun. | gunnery. | philol. | philology. |
| adj. | adjective. | her. | heraldry. | phon. | phonetics. |
| adv. | adverb. | hist. | history. | phot. | photography. |
| agri. | agriculture. | hort. | horticulture. | phrenol. | phrenology. |
| alg. | algebra. | hum. | humorous. | phys. | physics. |
| anat. | anatomy. | i.e. | that is. | physiol. | physiology. |
| app. | apparently. | imit. | imitative. | pl. | plural. |
| arch. | archaic. | imper. | imperative. | poet. | poetical. |
| archit. | architecture. | impers. | impersonal. | pol. econ. | political economy. |
| arith. | arithmetic. | indic. | indicative. | poss. | possessive. |
| astrol. | astrology. | infin. | infinitive. | Pr.Bk. | Book of Common |
| astron. | astronomy. | inten. | intensive. | Prayer. | |
| attrib. | attributive. | interj. | interjection. | pr.p. | present participle. |
| augm. | augmentative. | interrog. | interrogative. | prep. | preposition. |
| B. | Bible. | jew. | jewellery. | pres. | present. |
| biol. | biology. | lit. | literally. | print. | printing. |
| book-k. | book-keeping. | mach. | machinery. | priv. | privative. |
| bot. | botany. | masc. | masculine. | prob. | probably. |
| c. (circa) | about. | math. | mathematics. | Prof. | Professor. |
| c., cent. | century. | mech. | mechanics. | pron. | pronoun; |
| carp. | carpentry. | med. | medicine. | pronounced; | |
| cf. | compare. | metaph. | metaphysics. | pronunciation. | |
| chem. | chemistry. | mil. | military. | prop. | properly. |
| cog. | cognate. | Milt. | Milton. | pros. | prosody. |
| coll., colloq. | colloquially. | min. | mineralogy. | prov. | provincial. |
| comp. | comparative. | mod. | modern. | q.v. | which see. |
| conch. | conchology. | Mt. | Mount. | R.C. | Roman Catholic. |
| conj. | conjunction. | mus. | music. | recip. | reciprocal. |
| conn. | connected. | myth. | mythology. | redup. | reduplication. |
| contr. | contracted. | n., ns. | noun, nouns. | refl. | reflexive. |
| cook. | cookery. | nat. hist. | natural history. | rel. | related; relative. |
| corr. | corruption. | naut. | nautical. | rhet. | rhetoric. |
| crystal. | crystallography. | neg. | negative. | sculp. | sculpture. |
| dat. | dative. | neut. | neuter. | Shak. | Shakespeare. |
| demons. | demonstrative. | n.pl. | noun plural. | sig. | signifying. |
| der. | derivation. | n.sing. | noun singular. | sing. | singular. |
| dial. | dialect, dialectal. | N.T. | New Testament. | spec. | specifically. |
| Dict. | Dictionary. | obs. | obsolete. | Spens. | Spenser. |
| dim. | diminutive. | opp. | opposed. | subj. | subjunctive. |
| dub. | doubtful. | opt. | optics. | suff. | suffix. |
| eccles. | ecclesiastical history. | orig. | originally. | superl. | superlative. |
| e.g. | for example. | ornith. | ornithology. | surg. | surgery. |
| elect. | electricity. | O.S. | old style. | term. | termination. |
| entom. | entomology. | O.T. | Old Testament. | teleg. | telegraphy. |
| esp. | especially. | p., part. | participle. | Tenn. | Tennyson. |
| ety. | etymology. | p.adj. | participial adjective. | Test. | Testament. |
| fem. | feminine. | paint. | painting. | theat. | theatre; theatricals. |
| fig. | figuratively. | paleog. | paleography. | theol. | theology. |
| fol. | followed; following. | paleon. | paleontology. | trig. | trigonometry. |
| fort. | fortification. | palm. | palmistry. | ult. | ultimately. |
| freq. | frequentative. | pa.p. | past participle. | v.i. | verb intransitive. |
| fut. | future. | pass. | passive. | voc. | vocative. |
| gen. | genitive. | pa.t. | past tense. | v.t. | verb transitive. |
| gener. | generally. | path. | pathology. | vul. | vulgar. |
| geog. | geography. | perf. | perfect. | zool. | zoology. |
| Amer. | American. | Fris. | Frisian. | Norw. | Norwegian. |
| Ar. | Arabic. | Gael. | Gaelic. | O. Fr. | Old French. |
| A.S. | Anglo-Saxon. | Ger. | German. | Pers. | Persian. |
| Austr. | Australian. | Goth. | Gothic. | Peruv. | Peruvian. |
| Bav. | Bavarian. | Gr. | Greek. | Pol. | Polish. |
| Beng. | Bengali. | Heb. | Hebrew. | Port. | Portuguese. |
| Bohem. | Bohemian. | Hind. | Hindustani. | Prov. | Provençal. |
| Braz. | Brazilian. | Hung. | Hungarian. | Rom. | Romance. |
| Bret. | Breton. | Ice. | Icelandic. | Russ. | Russian |
| Carib. | Caribbean. | Ind. | Indian. | Sans. | Sanskrit. |
| Celt. | Celtic. | Ion. | Ionic. | Scand. | Scandinavian. |
| Chal. | Chaldean. | Ir. | Irish. | Scot. | Scottish. |
| Chin. | Chinese. | It. | Italian. | Singh. | Singhalese. |
| Corn. | Cornish. | Jap. | Japanese. | Slav. | Slavonic. |
| Dan. | Danish. | Jav. | Javanese. | Sp. | Spanish. |
| Dut. | Dutch. | L. | Latin. | Sw. | Swedish. |
| Egypt. | Egyptian. | Lith. | Lithuanian. | Teut. | Teutonic. |
| Eng. | English. | L. L. | Low or Late Latin. | Turk. | Turkish. |
| Finn. | Finnish. | M. E. | Middle English. | U.S. | United States. |
| Flem. | Flemish. | Mex. | Mexican. | W. | Welsh. |
| Fr. | French. | Norm. | Norman. |
CHAMBERS'S
TWENTIETH CENTURY
DICTIONARY.
the first letter in our alphabet, its corresponding symbol standing first also in many other alphabets derived from the Phœnician. It originated in the hieroglyphic picture of an eagle (Old Egyptian ahom), the cursive hieratic form of which was the original of the Phœnician aleph, an ox, from a fancied resemblance to its head and horns.—A, as a note in music, is the major sixth of the scale of C; A1, the symbol by which first-class vessels are classed in Lloyd's Register of British and Foreign Shipping, hence first-rate.
A, the indefinite article, a broken-down form of An, and used before words beginning with the sound of a consonant. [An was a new development, after the Conquest, of the A.S. numeral án, one.]
A, ä or ā, a prep., derived from the old prep. on, and still used, as a prefix, in afoot, afield, apart, asleep, nowadays, twice-a-day; also with verbal nouns, as a-building, to be a-doing, to set a-going. It is now admitted only colloquially. [Short for A.S. an, a dialectic form of on, on, in, at. See Prefixes.]
A, ä, a dialectic corruption of he or she, as in quotha, (Shak.) 'A babbled of green fields.'—A, usually written a', Scotch for all; A, a form of the L. prep. ab, from, of, used before consonants, as in Thomas à Kempis, Thomas à Becket, &c.
Aardvark, ard′vark, n. the ground-hog of South Africa. [Dut. aarde, earth; vark, found only in dim. varken, a pig.]
Aardwolf, ard′wōōlf, n. the earth-wolf of South Africa, a carnivore belonging to a sub-family of the Hyænidæ. [Dut. aarde, earth, wolf, wolf.]
Aaronic, -al, ā-ron′ik, -al, adj. pertaining to Aaron, the Jewish high-priest, or to his priesthood.—n. Aa′ron's-rod (archit.), a rod having one serpent twined round it.—Aaron's beard, a popular name for a number of cultivated plants—among the best known, a species of Saxifrage (S. sarmentosa), usually grown in hanging pots, from which hang long stems, bearing clumps of roundish, hairy leaves.
Ab, ab, n. the eleventh month of the Jewish civil year, and the fifth of the ecclesiastical year, answering to parts of July and August. [Syriac.]
Aba, ab′a, n. a Syrian woollen stuff, of goat's or camel's hair, usually striped; an outer garment made of this. [Ar.]
Abaca, ab′a-ka, n. the native name of the so-called Manilla hemp of commerce—really a plantain, much grown in the Philippine Islands.
Aback, a-bak′, adv. (naut.) said of sails pressed backward against the mast by the wind—hence (fig.) Taken aback, taken by surprise, [A.S. on bæc. See On and Back.]
Abacot. See Bycocket.
Abactinal, ab-ak′ti-nal, adj. (zool.) remote from the actinal area, without rays.—adv. Abac′tinally.
Abaction, ab-ak′shun, n. (law) the stealing of a number of cattle at once.—n. Abac′tor, one who does this. [L. abigĕre, abactum, to drive off.]
Abacus, ab′a-kus, n. a counting-frame or table: (archit.) a level tablet on the capital of a column, supporting the entablature:—pl. Ab′acī.—ns. Abacis′cus, Abac′ulus, dims. of Abacus; Ab′acist, one who counts with the abacus. [L.—Gr. abax, abakos, a board for reckoning on.]
Abaddon, a-bad′don, n. the destroyer, or angel of the bottomless pit: (Milton) the bottomless pit, or abyss of hell itself. [Heb., from ābad, to be lost.]
Abaft, a-baft′, adv. and prep. on the aft, hind, or stern part of a ship: behind. [Pfx. a-, for A.S. on, on, and bæftan, after, behind; itself made up of pfx. be-, and æftan. See Aft.]
Abalienate, ab-āl′yen-āt, v.t. Same as Alienate.
Abandon, a-ban′dun, v.t. to give up: to desert: to yield (one's self) without restraint (with to).—v.t. Aband′ (Spens.), to abandon.—n. Aban′don (n to be nasalised), freedom from conventional restraints: careless freedom of manners.—adj. Aban′doned, given up, as to a vice: profligate: completely deserted: very wicked.—adv. Aban′donedly.—n. Aban′donment, act of abandoning: state of being given up: enthusiastic surrender of self to a cause: (law) the renunciation of a claim. [O. Fr. bandon, from the Teut. root ban, proclamation, came to mean decree, authorisation, permission; hence à bandon—at will or discretion, abandonner, to give up to the will or disposal of some one. See Ban, Banns.]
Abase, a-bās′, v.t. to cast down: to humble: to degrade.—adjs. Abā′sed, Abaissé (her.), depressed.—n. Abase′ment, state of humiliation. [O. Fr. abaissier, to bring low—L. ad, to, and root of Base, adj.]
Abash, a-bash′, v.t. to confuse with shame or guilt.—pa.p. Abashed′ (with at, of an occasion; by, of a cause).—n. Abash′ment, confusion from shame. [O. Fr. esbhir (Fr. s'ébahir), pr.p. esbahiss-ant, to be amazed—L. ex, out, and interj. bah, expressive of astonishment.]
Abate, a-bāt′, v.t. to lessen: to deduct (with of): to mitigate: (law) to put an end to, do away with, as of an action or a nuisance, to render null, as a writ.—v.i. to grow less.—adjs. Abāt′able, capable of being abated; Abāt′ed, beaten down or cut away, as the background of an ornamental pattern in relief.—n. Abate′ment, the act of abating: the sum or quantity abated: (law) the act of intruding on a freehold and taking possession before the heir, the abandonment of an action, or the reduction of a legacy: (her.) a supposed mark of dishonour on a coat of arms—apparently never actually used.—Abated arms, those whose edges have been blunted for the tournament. [O. Fr. abatre, to beat down—L. ab, from, and batĕre, popular form of batuĕre, to beat: conn. with Beat.]
Abatis, Abattis, a′bat-is, n.sing. and pl. (fort.) a rampart of trees felled and laid side by side, with the branches towards the enemy. [Fr. See Abate.]
Abattoir, a-bat-wär′, n. a public slaughter-house. [Fr. See ety. of Abate.]
Abature, ab′a-tūr, n. the trail of a beast of the chase. [Fr.]
Abb, ab, n. properly woof- or weft-yarn, but sometimes warp-yarn. [Pfx. a-, and Web.]
Abba, ab′a, n. father, a term retained in the Gr. text of the New Testament, together with its translation 'father,' hence Abba father, applied to God the Father: also a bishop in the Syriac and Coptic Churches. [L.—Gr.—Syriac and Chaldee, abbā—Heb. ab, father.]
Abbacy, ab′a-si, n. the office or dignity of an abbot: the establishment under an abbot: an abbey.—adj. Abbā′tial. [The earlier form was abbatie—said by Dr Murray to have been originally a Scotch form.]
Abbate, ab-bä′te, n. a title loosely applied to ecclesiastics in Italy.—Also Abate. [It.]
Abbaye, an arch. form of Abbey.
Abbé, ab′ā, n. originally the French name for an abbot, but often used in the general sense of a priest or clergyman. Before the Revolution, abbés were often merely holders of benefices, enjoying a portion of the revenues, although in minor orders, or even laymen. They were often tutors in noble families, or men of letters, and were marked by a short violet-coloured robe.
Abbess, ab′es, n. the female superior of a religious community of women. [Earlier Abbatess, fem. of Abbot.]
Abbey, ab′e, n. a monastery of persons of either sex presided over by an abbot or abbess: the church now or formerly attached to it: in Newstead Abbey, &c., the name has been retained after the abbatial building had become a private house:—pl. Abb′eys. [O. Fr. abaïe (Fr. abbaye)—L. abbatia, See Abba.]
Abbot, ab′ut, n. the father or head of an abbey:—fem. Abb′ess.—n. Ab′botship. [L. abbas, abbatis—Abba.]
Abbreviate, ab-brē′vi-āt, v.t. to make brief or short: to abridge.—ns. Abbreviā′tion, Abbrē′viature, a shortening, a part of a word put for the whole; Abbrē′viator, one who abbreviates.—adj. Abbrē′viatory. [L. abbreviāre, -ātum—ab, intensive, and brevis, short. See Brief.]
Abc, Abcee, ā-bē-sē′, n. the alphabet from its first letters: a first reading-book (obs.), hence fig. the first rudiments of anything.—ABC book (Shak.), a book to teach the a, b, c, or alphabet.
Abdicate, ab′di-kāt, v.t. and v.i. formally to renounce or give up office or dignity.—adj. Ab′dicant.—n. Abdicā′tion. [L. ab, from or off, dicāre, -ātum, to proclaim.]
Abdomen, ab-dō′men, n. the belly: the lower part of the trunk.—adj. Abdom′inal.—adv. Abdom′inally.—adj. Abdom′inous, pot-bellied. [L.]
Abduce, ab-dūs′, v.t. an earlier form of Abduct.—adj. Abduc′ent, drawing back: separating. [L. abducĕre—ab, from ducĕre, ductum, to draw.]
Abduct, ab-dukt′, v.t. to take away by fraud or violence.—ns. Abduc′tion, the carrying away, esp. of a person by fraud or force; Abduc′tor, one guilty of abduction: a muscle that draws away. [L. abducĕre. See Abduce.]
Abeam, a-bēm′, adv. (naut.) on the beam, or in a line at right angles to a vessel's length. [Pfx. a- (A.S. on), on, and Beam.]
Abear, a-bār′, v.t. (Spens.) to bear, to behave: (prov.) to endure or tolerate.—n. Abear′ance, (obs.) behaviour. [A.S. pfx. a-, and Bear.]
Abecedarian, ā-be-se-dā′ri-an, adj. pertaining to the a, b, c: rudimentary.—Abecedarian Psalms (as the 119th) or Hymns are such as are divided into successive portions according to the letters of the alphabet.
Abed, a-bed′, adv. in bed. [Pfx. a-, on, and Bed.]
Abele, a-bēl′, n. the white poplar-tree. [Dut. abeel; O. Fr. abel, aubel—Late L. albellus, albus, white.]
Aberdevine, ab-ėr-de-vīn′, n. a bird-fancier's name for the siskin. [Ety. uncertain; prob. a fanciful coinage.]
Aberrate, ab′ėr-rāt, v.i. to wander or deviate from the right way:—pr.p. ab′errāting; pa.p. ab′errāted.—ns. Aber′rance, Aber′rancy (rare forms).—adj. Aber′rant (zool. and bot.), wandering, deviating in some particulars from its group.—n. Aberrā′tion, a wandering from the right path: deviation from truth or rectitude: in science, deviation from the type: abnormal structure or development.—Aberration of light, an apparent alteration in the place of a star, arising from the motion of the earth in its orbit, combined with the progressive passage of light. [L. aberrāre, -ātum—ab, from, errāre, to wander.]
Abet, a-bet′, v.t. to incite by encouragement or aid (used chiefly in a bad sense):—pr.p. abet′ting; pa.p. abet′ted.—ns. Abet′ment; Abet′ter, Abet′tor, one who abets. [O. Fr. abeter—à (—L. ad, to), and beter, to bait, from root of Bait.]
Abeyance, a-bā′ans, n. a state of suspension or expectation: temporary inactivity—also Abey′ancy.—The v. to Abey is rare. [Fr.—à (—L. ad, to), and bayer, to gape in expectation, from imitative root ba, to gape.]
Abhominable, an earlier spelling of Abominable.
Abhor, ab-hor′, v.t. to shrink from with horror: to detest: to loathe:—pr.p. abhor′ring; pa.p. abhorred′.—ns. Abhor′rence, extreme hatred; (obs.) Abhor′rency.—adj. Abhor′rent, detesting; repugnant (with of).—ns. Abhor′rer, one who abhors; Abhor′ring (B. and Shak.), object of abhorrence. [L. abhorrēre, from ab, from, and horrēre. See Horror.]
Abib, ā′bib, n. the first month of the Jewish ecclesiastical, the seventh of the civil year, later called Nisan, answering to parts of March and April. [Heb., 'an ear of corn'—ābab, to produce early fruit.]
Abide, a-bīd′, v.t. to bide or wait for: to endure: to tolerate.—v.i. to remain in a place, dwell or stay:—pa.t. and pa.p. abōde′.—n. Abid′ance.—adj. Abid′ing, continual.—n. an enduring.—adv. Abid′ingly. [A.S. ábídan—pfx. á- (= Goth. us = Ger. er), and bídan, to wait.]
Abide, a-bīd′, v.t. (Shak. and Milton) to redeem, pay the penalty for, suffer. [M. E. abyen, confounded with Abide. See Aby.]
Abies, ab′i-ez, n. the silver-fir.—adj. Abiet′ic, pertaining to trees of the genus Abies. [L.]
Abigail, ab′i-gāl, n. a lady's-maid. [From Abigail, 1 Sam. xxv.]
Ability, a-bil′i-ti, n. quality of being able: power: strength: skill.—n.pl. Abil′ities, the powers of the mind. [O. Fr. ableté (Fr. habileté)—L. habilitas—habilis, easily handled, from habēre, to have, hold. See Able.]
Abintestate, ab-in-tes′tāt, adj. inheriting the estate of one who died without having made a will. [L. ab, from, and Intestate.]
Abiogenesis, ab-i-o-jen′es-is, n. the origination of living by not-living matter, spontaneous generation.—adj. Abiogenet′ic—n. Abio′genist, one who believes in such. [Coined by Huxley in 1870; Gr. a, neg., bios, life, genesis, birth.]
Abject, ab-jekt′, v.t. (obs.) to throw or cast down or away. [L. abjicĕre, -jectum—ab, away, jacĕre, to throw.]
Abject, ab′jekt, adj. cast away: mean: worthless: cowering: base.—n. an outcast.—ns. Abjec′tion, Ab′jectness, a mean or low state: baseness: degradation.—adv. Ab′jectly. [L. abjectus, cast away—ab, away, jacĕre, to throw.]
Abjudge, ab-juj′, v.t. (rare) to take away by judicial sentence. [L. ab, from, and Judge.]
Abjudicate, ab-jōō′di-kāt, v.t. to give by judgment from one to another. [L. ab, from, and Judicate.]
Abjure, ab-jōōr′, v.t. to renounce on oath or solemnly: to recant: to repudiate.—n. Abjurā′tion, official renunciation on oath of any principle or pretension.—adj. Abjur′atory.—n. Abjur′er. [L. ab, from, jurāre, -ātum, to swear.]
Abkari, ab-kä′ri, n. the manufacture or sale of spirituous liquors: the excise duty levied on such.—Also Abka′ry. [Pers.]
Ablactation, ab-lak-tā′shun, n. a weaning. [L. ab, from, lactāre, to suckle—lac, lactis, milk.]
Ablation, ab-lā′shun, n. the act of carrying away: (geol.) the wearing away of rock by the action of water.—adj. Ablati′tious. [L. ab, from, latum, supine of ferre, to bear.]
Ablative, ab′lat-iv, adj. used as a noun. The name applied to one of the cases in the declension of nouns and pronouns in the Indo-European languages, retained as in Latin and Sanskrit, or merged in another case, as in the genitive in Greek. Its meaning was to express direction from or time when.—adj. Ablatī′val. [L. ablativus—ab, from, ferre, latum, to take; as if it indicated taking away, or privation.]
Ablaut, ab′lowt, n. (philol.) vowel permutation, a substitution of one root vowel for another in derivation, as in sing, sang, song, sung, distinct from the phonetic influence of a succeeding vowel, as in the Umlaut. It is especially the change of a vowel to indicate tense-change in strong verbs. [Ger., from ab, off, and laut, sound.]
Ablaze, a-blāz′, adj. in a blaze, on fire: gleaming brightly. [Prep. a, and Blaze.]
Able, ā′bl, adj. (comp. A′bler; superl. A′blest) having sufficient strength, power, or means to do a thing: skilful.—adj. A′ble-bod′ied, of a strong body: free from disability, of a sailor, labourer, &c.: robust.—adv. A′bly. [See Ability.]
Ablegate, ab′le-gāt, n. a papal envoy who carries the insignia of office to a newly-appointed cardinal.
Abloom, a-blōōm′, adv. in a blooming state. [Prep. a, on, and Bloom.]
Abluent, ab′lōō-ent, adj. washing or cleaning by a liquid.—n. a medicine which carries off impurities from the system. [L. abluens, -entis, pr.p. of abluĕre, to wash away—ab, from, away, and luĕre = lavāre, to wash. See Lave.]
Ablution, ab-lōō′shun, n. act of washing, esp. the body, preparatory to religious rites: any ceremonial washing, symbolic of moral purification: the wine and water used to rinse the chalice, drunk by the officiating priest.—adj. Ablu′tionary. [L. ablutio—ab, away, luĕre = lavāre, to wash.]
Abnegate, ab′ne-gāt, v.t. to deny.—ns. Abnegā′tion, renunciation; Ab′negator, one who abnegates or renounces. [L. ab, away, and negāre, to deny.]
Abnormal, ab-nor′mal, adj. not normal or according to rule: irregular—also Abnor′mous.—ns. Abnormal′ity, Abnor′mity.—adv. Abnor′mally. [L. ab, away from, and Normal.]
Aboard, a-bōrd′, adv. or prep. on board: in a ship, or in a train (Amer.). [Prep. a, on, and Board.]
Abococke. See Bycocket.
Abode, a-bōd′, n. a dwelling-place: stay. [See Abide.]
Abode, a-bōd′, pa.t. and pa.p. of Abide.
Abodement, a-bōd′ment, n. (obs.) a foreboding: an omen. [From Abode, with suff. -ment. See Bode, Forebode.]
Abolish, ab-ol′ish, v.t. to put an end to: to annul.—adj. Abol′ishable, capable of being abolished.—ns. Abol′ishment (rare); Aboli′tion, the act of abolishing; Aboli′tionism, advocacy of abolitionist principles; Aboli′tionist, one who seeks to abolish anything, esp. slavery. [Fr. abolir, aboliss—from L. abolēre, -itum—ab, from, olēre, to grow. The prep. ab here reverses the meaning of the simple verb.]
Abomasus, ab-ō-mā′sus, n. the fourth stomach of ruminants, lying close to the omasum or third stomach.—Also Abomā′sum. [L. ab, and omasum, paunch.]
Abominate, ab-om′in-āt, v.t. to abhor: to detest extremely.—adj. Abom′inable, hateful: detestable, an old spelling is Abhom′inable, to agree with a fancied etymology in Lat. ab homine.—n. Abom′inableness.—adv. Abom′inably.—n. Abominā′tion, extreme aversion: anything disgusting or detestable. [L. abomināri, -ātus, to turn from as of bad omen. See Omen.]
Abord, a-bōrd′, v.t. (arch.) to accost: (Spens.) astray, at a loss.—n. (Spens.) harbour: act of approaching: manner of approach. [Fr. aborder, à bord. See Aboard and Border.]
Aboriginal, ab-o-rij′in-al, adj. first, primitive, indigenous.—adv. Aborig′inally.
Aborigines, ab-o-rij′in-ēz, n.pl. the original inhabitants of a country. [L. See Origin.]
Abort, ab-ort′, v.i. to miscarry in birth: to remain in a rudimentary state.—n. Abor′tion, premature delivery, or the procuring of such: anything that does not reach maturity: a mis-shapen being or monster.—adj. Abort′ive, born untimely: unsuccessful: producing nothing: brought forth in an imperfect condition: rudimentary.—adv. Abort′ively.—n. Abort′iveness. [L. aborīri, abortus—ab, from, away, orīri, to rise.]
Abound, ab-ownd′, v.i. to overflow, be in great plenty: to possess in plenty (with in): to be filled with (used with with). [O. Fr. abunder—L. abundāre, to overflow, ab, from, unda, a wave.]
About, a-bowt′, prep. round on the outside: around: here and there in: near to: concerning: engaged in.—adv. around: nearly: here and there.—Bring about, to cause to take place; Come about, to take place; Go about, to prepare to do; Put about, disturbed; To be about, to be astir; Turn about, alternately. [A.S. on bútan; on, in, bútan, without, itself compounded of be, by, and útan, locative of út, out.]
Above, a-buv′, prep. on the upside: higher than: more than.—adv. overhead: in a higher position, order, or power.—adjs. Above′-board, open, honourable; Above′-ground, alive: not buried. [A.S. ábúfan—á, on, bufan, above, itself compounded of be, by, ufan, high, upwards, prop. the locative of uf, up.]
Abracadabra, ab-ra-ka-dab′ra, n. a cabbalistic word, written in successive lines, each shorter by a letter than the one above it, till the last letter A formed the apex of a triangle. It was worn as a charm for the cure of diseases. Now used generally for a spell or conjuring word: mere gibberish. [First found in 2d-cent. poem (Præcepta de Medicina) by Q. Serenus Sammonicus; further origin unknown.]
Abrade, ab-rād′, v.t. to scrape or rub off: to wear down by friction. [L. ab, off, radĕre, rasum, to scrape.]
Abraham-man, ā′bra-ham-man, n. originally a lunatic beggar from Bethlehem Hospital in London, marked by a special badge. Many sturdy beggars assumed this, hence the phrase To sham Abraham, to feign sickness, still used among sailors. [The wards in the old Bedlam are said to have been distinguished by the names of saints and patriarchs, as Abraham. Some find the origin of the name in an allusion to the parable of the beggar Lazarus, who found his rest in Abraham's bosom (Luke xvi.).]
Abranchiate, a-brang′ki-āt, adj. having no gills.—Also Abran′chial. [Gr. a, priv., and brangchia, gills.]
Abrasion, ab-rā′zhun, n. the act of rubbing off.—adj. and n. Abrā′sive. [See Abrade.]