Saturday, May 16, 2009

ambassador-extraordinary - ancestor

ambassador-extraordinary (am-bas'- a-ddr-eks-tra-or'din-a-ri), n. an ambassador sent on a special mission.

ambassador-plenipotentiary (am- bas'a-der-plen-i-po-ten'shi-a-ri), n. an ambassador sent with full powers to make a treaty.

ambassadorial (am-bas-a-do'ri-al), adj. belonging to an ambassador, or to his office.

ambassadress (am-bas'a-dres), n. the wife of an ambassador; a woman ambassador.

amber (am'bor), n. a yellowish fossil resin found on the shores of the Baltic: adj. made of amber; amber- colored.

ambergris (am'bSr-gres), n. a very valuable morbid secretion from the intestines of the sperm-whale, usually found floating in tropical seas: used in perfumery.

ambidexter (am-bi-deks'tgr), adj. using both hands equally: n. a man of unusual dexterity.

ambidextrous (am-bi-deks'trus), adj. able to use both hands alike; unusually clever.

ambient (am'bi-ent), adj. surrounding; investing.

ambiguity (am-bi-gu'i-ti), n. [pi. ambiguities (am-bi-gu'i-tiz)], double or dubious signification; vagueness.

ambiguous (am-big'u-us), adj. doubtful; equivocal.

ambit (am'bit), n. a circuit or compass: the line or sum of the lines by which a figure is bounded; the perimeter.

ambition (am-bish'un), n. a seeking for preferment; a consuming desire to achieve some object or purpose, as to gain distinction, influence, &c.

ambitious (am-hish'us), adj. having ambition; aspirinfe.

amble (am'bl), v.i. to move with a peculiar pace, as a horse, by lifting the two feet on one side together: n. at an easy pace.

am lily i) pi a (am-bli-6'pi-a), n. dimness of vision. See amaurosis.

amboyna-wood (am-boi'na-wood), n. a beautifully mottled and curled wood used in cabinet-work.

ambrosia (am-bro'zhi-a), n. anything exquisitely pleasing to taste or smell;

a genus of weeds allied to the wormwood.

ambrosial (am-bro'zhi-al), adj. divinely delicious; fragrant.

ambroslally (am-bro'zhi-a-li), adv. with ambrosial fragrance.

ambrotype (am'bro-tip), n. a photographic process by which the light parts of a photograph are produced in silver, the dark parts showing as a background through the clear glass.

ambulance (am'bu-lans), n. a field hospital; an ambulance cart or wagon for the conveyance of the sick and wounded.

ambulant (am'bu-lant), adj. walking; moving about.

ambulatlon (am'bu-la'shun), n. the act of walking about.

ambulator (am'bu-la-ter), n. a walker; a pedometer.

airbulatory (am'bu-la-to-ri), adj. of or pertaining to walking; movable; temporary: n. a place for walking in; a covered way.

ambuscade (am-bus-kftd'), n. a strategic disposition of troops in ambush.

ambush (am'boosh). n. a lying in wait to attack by surprise: v.l. to place in ambush to surprise an enemy; waylay : v.i. to lie in wait for the purpose of attacking by surprise.

ameer (a-mer'), n. a prince; governor; the Mohammedan ruler of Afghanistan. Also written amir, emir.

ameliorable (a-mg'li-Sr-a-bl), adj. capable of improvement.

ameliorate (a-mc'li-6r-at), v.t. to make better: v.i. to grow better: improve.

amelioration (a-me-li-or-a'shun), n. the making or growing better; improvement.

ameliorative (a-me'li-or-a-tiv), adj. producing amendment; improving.

ameliorator (a-me'li-or-a-ter), n. one who amends.

amen (a-men' & ii'men'). arfc. verily: inter/, so be it; literally true. [Hebrew and liturgical.]

amenability (a-me-na-bil'i-ti). n. liability to answer (to a charge, &c.); tractableness; responsibility.

amenable (a-me'na-bl). adj. easy to lead; submissive; liable.

amend (a-mend'), v.l. to free from fault; improve; correct.

ate, iirm, at, awl; me. merge, met; mite, init; note, nOrth, not; boon, book;

AMENDATORY

29

, AMORPHISM

amendatory ta-men'da-t5r-i), adj. tending to amend.

amende-honorable (a-mand-on-o-ra'- bl), n. a public apology and reparation; a punishment formerly inflicted in France on traitors and the sacrilegious. [French.]

amendment (a-mend'ment), n. the removal of faults; the alteration of a bill before Parliament; a counter- motion at a public meeting.

amend* (a-mendz'), n.pl. compensation for loss or injury; reparation.

amenity (a-men'i-ti), n. [pi. amenities (a-men'i-tiz)], pleasantness, as of climate or demeanor; geniality.

amenorrhcea (a-men-or-re'a), n. entire or partial suppression of the menses.

amentia (a-men'shi-a), n. want of reason: mental imbecility.

amerce (a-mers'), v.t. to punish by an arbitrary fine.

amerceable (a-mcr'sa-bl), adj. liable to be amerced.

amercement (a-mers'ment), n. an arbitrary fine left to the discretion of a court.

American (a-mer'i-kan), adj. belonging to, or characteristic of, America.

Americanism (a-mer'i-kan-izm), n. a form of expression peculiar to the United States; a custom peculiar to the United States or America; attachment to the United States.

Americanize (a-mer'i-kan-Iz), v.l. to render American; assimilate to the political and social institutions of the United States.

Amerind (am'er-ind), n. a word used by some ethnologists to denote the American Indian.

amethyst (am'e-thist), n. a violet- purple variety of quartz or rock- crystal. [Greek.]

amethystine (am-e-this'tin), adj. containing, composed of, or colored, like amethyst.

amiability (a-mi-a-bil'i-ti), n. ami- ableness; excellence of disposition; lovableness.

amiable (a'mi-a-bl), adj. friendly; worthy of love; lovable.

amicable (am'i-ka-bl), adj. friendly; peaceable.

amice (am'is), n. a square of white linen formerly worn on the head,

but now worn about the neck and shoulders by celebrant priests while saying Mass.

amid (a-mid') or amidst (a-midsf), prep, in the middle of; among.

amidships (a-mid'ships), adv. in the middle of a ship.

amiss (a-mis'), adj. wrong; faulty: adv. wrongly; that misses the mark.

amity (am'i-ti), n. friendly relations; friendship.

ammonia (a-mo'ni-a), n. a transparent, pungent volatile gas, used in medicine and the arts; spirits of hartshorn.

ammoniac (a-mp'ni-ak), adj. pertaining to ammonia: n. sal ammoniac; chloride of ammonium, formerly called muriate of ammonia.

ammonite (am'on-It), n. a fossil shell, twisted like a ram's horn; snake- stone.

ammonol (am'o-n6l), adj. a drug used for relieving pain.

ammunition (am-u-nish'un), n. powder, balls, &c., used in charging firearms of all kinds; military stores: adj. supplied to troops as equipment, &c.

amnesia (am-ne'si-a), n. loss of memory. [Greek.]

amnesty (am ncs-ti), n. an act of oblivion for political offenses; a general pardon: v.t. [p.t. & p.p. amnestied, p.pr. amnestying], to grant pardon to.

amnlon (am'ni-on), n. the thin innermost membrane surrounding the foetus of mammals, birds, and reptiles.

amoeba (a-me'ba), n. [pi. amcebas (a- me'baz) & -bae ('bej], a genus of microscopic organisms consisting of a mass of protoplasm which moves about in fresh-water ponds by means of finger- like processes with which it. grasps its food.

amoeboid (a-me'boid), adj. resembling or having the characteristics of an amoeba.

among (a-mung') or amongst (a- mungst'), prep. & adv. mixed with; surrounded by; amidst.

amorous (am'or-us), adj. fond of the opposite sex; loving.

amorphism (a-mdr'fizm), n. want of regular form; without crystalline AMORPHOUS

ate, iirm, at, awl; me, mSrge, met; mite, mit; note, nOrth, not; boon, book; 30

AN

structure; the communistic system of Bakunin, the Russian anarchist.

amorphous (a-m6r'fus), adj. formless; irregularly shaped; uncrystallized; anomalous; unorganized.

amount (a-mountO, v.i. to mount up to; be equivalent or equal to: n. the totality; sum.

amour (a-moor'). n. a love-intrigue.

ampere (am-par'), n. the unit of measurement of the strength of an electrical current. [French.]

ampere-meter (am-par'me-te'r) or amperemeter (am-pe-rom'e-ter), n. an instrument for measuring in amperes the power of an electric current.

Amphibia (am-fib'i-a), n.pl. the fourth division of vertebrates, intermediate between fishes and reptiles, which in their early state breathe by gills.

amphibian (am-fib'i-an), n. one of the Amphibia.

amphibious (am-fib'i-us), adj. having the power of living both on land and in water.

amphibrach (am'fi-brak), n. a foot ol three syllables, the middle long, the first and last short.

ampbiozus (am-fi-ox'us), n. the name of the lancelet, a fish with a body tapering at both ends, the lowest in organization of the vertebrates.

amphitheater, -re (am-fi-the'a-ter), n. a double theater; a theater with seats all round the arena; a circus.

am phi type (am'fi-tlp), n. a photographic process which simultaneously produces negatives and positives.

amphora (am'for-a), n. [pi. amphorae (am'for-e)], a two-handled vessel of oblong shape, used by the ancients for holding wine, &c.; a Greek and Roman liquid measure, the former = 9 gals., the latter = 6 gals.

ample (am'pl), adj. full; large; abundant.

ampliative (am'pli-a-tiv), adj. enlarging; synthetic.

amplification (am-pli-n-ka'shun), n. the act of amplifying or expanding; enlargement.

amplify (am'pli-fi), v.t. [p.t. & p.p. amplified, p.pr. amplifying], to make large: v.i. to speak or write diffusely; expand.

amplitude (am'pli-tQd), n. the angular distance of a celestial body at rising or setting from the eastern or western points of the horizon; an angle on which the value of some mathematical function depends; the distance which a particle moves in performing a complete vibration.

amply (am'pli), adv. in an ample manner; liberally.

ampulla (am-pul'la), n. [pi. ampulla? (am-pul'le)], an ancient vessel which contained unguents for the bath; a drinking vessel; a vessel for consecrated oil or chrism used in Church rites, and at the coronation of sovereigns. [Latin.]

amputate (am'pU-tat), v.t. to lop off in pruning; to cut off a limb; dismember.

amputation (am-pu-ta'shun), n. a cutting off; the operation of cutting off a limb.

amt (amt), n. the largest territorial administrative division of Norway and Denmark.

amt-man (amt'man), n. \pl. -men], the principal executive official of an amt.

amuck (a-muk' or am6k), adj. or adv. (used only in the phrase, to run amuck), running about armed, in a state of frenzy, attacking all that come in the way, or committing indiscriminate slaughter. [Malay.]

amulet (am'u-lct), n. a charm worn to protect against evil; a talisman.

amuse (a-muz'), v.t. to occupy the attention pleasantly; beguile; entertain; divert.

amusement (a-muz'ment), n. that which amuses; a pastime.

amygdalin (a-mig da-lin), n. white crystalline substance obtained from the kernels of almonds. [Greek.]

arayl (am'il), n. the hypothetical alcohol radical of many chemical compounds.

amylaceous (am-i-la'shus), adj. starchy.

amylene (am'i-len), n. a hydrocarbon obtained by the removal of water from amyl alcohol.

amyllc (a-mil'ik), "'/. of or pertaining to amyl.

an (an), indef. art. any; each. [An is properly an adj., and is used before ANA

Ste, arm, at, awl; me, mSrge, met; mite, mit: note, north, not; boon, book;

31

ANALOGOUS

nouns of the singular number only; also before a word having an initial vowel and silent h (see H). [An has a distributive force in such expressions as "once an hour"; "a dime an ounce."]

ana (a'na), [pi. anas (a'naz)], a collection of notable sayings, literary gossip, anecdotes, &c., as Shakes- periana, boxiana.

anachronism (an-ak'ron-izm), n. an error in the order of time, hence any error in the misplacement of persons or events in point of time.

anachronistic lan-ak-ron-is'tik), adj. out of date.

anaconda (an-a-kon'da), n. the specific name of a large South American boa, and loosely applied to any large snake which crushes its prey.

anacrusis (an-a-kru'sis), n. an upward stroke in music; in verse, especially iambic verse, the first syllable of the line which, if neglected, converts the whole into trochaic verse. See the passage in trochaic meter in the introduction to this Dictionary under the head of "Versification."

anadromous (a-nad'ro-mus), adj. ascending from the sea to freshwater rivers to deposit spawn, as the salmon, &c.; tending upwards: said of ferns.

anaemia, anemia (a-ne'mi-a), n. deficiency or low condition of the blood.

anesthesia, anesthesia (an-es-the'- si-a), n. a condition of insensibility to pain, combined with loss of the sense of touch, produced by anaesthetics.

anaesthetic, anesthetic (an-es-thet'- ik), adj. pertaining to loss of the sense of feeling: n. a drug which produces insensibility.

anaesthetize (an-es'the-tiz), v.t. to I 'ring under the influence of an anaesthetic; render insensible to pain.

anaglyph (an'a-glif), n. a work of art carvea in relief, as distinguished from intaglio.

anaglyptic (an-a-glip'tik), adj. relating to anaglyphs, or the art of decoration in relief.

anaglyptograph (an-a^glip'to-graf), n. an instrument by which a medallion- engraving of any object in relief can be made.

anaglyptographlc (an-a-glip'to-

graf'ic), adj. relating to the production of engravings in relief.

anaglyptography (an-a-glip-tog'ra-fi), n. the art of reproducing relief-work on paper.

anagram (an'a-gram), n. a word or a sentence constructed out of another by the transposition of the letters contained in the second; a word obtained by reading the letters of another word backwards.

anagrammatic (an-a-gram-mat'ik) or anagrammatical Ci-kal), adj. relating to, or forming an anagram.

anagrammatically (an-a-gram-mat'- ik-a-li), adv. in the style of an anagram.

anagrammatize (an-a-gram'ma-tlz), v.t. to make into an anagram: v.i. to construct anagrams.

anal (a'nal), adj. relating to the anus; situated near to the anal orifice.

analeet (an'a-lekt), n. [pi. analects (an'a-Iekts) &analecta (an-a-lek'ta)], a passage or extract from a published work: pi. a collection of such extracts from different authors.

analectlc (an-a-lek'tik), adj. pertaining to, or composed of, selections from other works.

analgesia (an-al-je'si-a), n. insensibility to pain in any part of the body. Called also analgia.

analgesic (an-al-jes'ik), adj. that which allays pain: n. an anodyne.

analgetic (an-al-jet'ik), adj. pertaining to analgesia; insensible to pain; painless.

analogical (an-a-loj'i-kal), adj. bearing reference; having relation or resemblance.

analogically (an-a-loj'i-ka-li), adv. by way of analogy.

analogism (a-nal'o-jism), n. a reasoning from the cause to the effect; study and examination of matters and things by reference to their analogies.

analogist (a-nal'6-jist), n. one who reasons from the standpoint of analogy.

analogize (a-nal'o-jlz), v.t. to reason or expound by reference to analogy: v.i. to treat or investigate by use of analogy.

analogous (a-nal'6-gus), adj. possessing points of analogy; linked by resemblance; similar.

ite, arm. at, awl; mg, merge, met; mite, mit; note, nOrth, not; boon, book: 32

ANALOGUE

ANCESTOR

analogue (an'a-log), n. an object which bears analogy to something else; a part which corresponds with another in structure, function, or other relations.

analogy _(a-nal'6-ji), n. [pi. analogies (a-nal'6-jiz)], agreement, resemblance, or correspondence in relations between different objects; the inference as to general agreement which is derived from similarity in certain essential particulars; equality of mathematical ratios; conformity of its parts to the general rules and structures of a language.

analysis (a-nal'i-sis), n. [pi. analyses (a-nal'i-sez)^ the resolution of a compound into its constituent parts; the method of determining the nature of a compound by resolution into its constituent parts; the resolving of problems by reducing the conditions that are in them to equations; a synopsis.

analyst (an'a-list), n. one who is skilled in analysis; one skilled in the resolution of chemical compounds.

analytic (an-a-lit'ik) or analytical (-i-kal), adj. relating to, or characterized by, the method of analysis.

analytically (an-a-lit'i-ka-li), adv. in the manner or by means of analysis.

analytics (an-a-jit'iks), n.pl. the science of analysis.

analyzable (an'a-ll-za-ol), adj. capable of being resolved by, or that may be subjected to, analysis.

analyze (an'a-liz), v.t. to separate or resolve; determine the nature of a compound by resolution of its constituent parts.

anapaest or anapest (an'a-pest), n. a foot comprising two short syllables followed by one long syllable.

anaphrodlsiac (an-af-ro-diz'i-ak), n. a drug or medical treatment that tends to allay sexual desire.

anaplasty (an-a-plas'ti), n. the repairing of wounds by the transplantation of adjacent healthy tissue.

anarchic (an-iir'kik) or anarchical (an-ar'ki-kal), adj. of or pertaining to anarchy, or the theory of anarchism.

anarchism (an'ar-kizm). n. lawlessness; confusion; anarchy; the doctrines of the anarchists.

anarchist (an'ar-kist), n. one who supports or promotes a scheme for

anarchy, or upholds the abolition of law as a social theory.

anarchy (an'iir-ki), n. non-existence or incapability of governmental rule: a lawless condition of society; the theory of individual liberty.

anarthrous (an-ar'thrus), adj. without the article; destitute of joints; without articulated limbs.

anastrophe or anastrophy (a-nas'- tr5-fe), n. an invasion ofthe sequence of words in a sentence, as "echoed the hills," for "the hills echoed."

anathema (a-nath'e-ma), n. [pi. anathemas (a-nath'e-maz)], the curse accompanying excommunication pronounced by a religious assembly or convocation; an imprecation or curse; the thing or person held to be accursed. [Greek.]

anathematize (a-nath'e-ma-tlz), v.t. to pronounce a decree of excommunication against: v.i. to curse.

anatomical (an-a-tom'i-kal), adj. relating to, or according to, the laws of anatomy.

anatomically (an-a-tom'i-ka-li), adr. in an anatomical manner.

anatomism (a-nat'o-mizm), n. anatomical analysis or structure; anatomy as the basis of life of organized bodies; the explanation of vital phenomena by anatomical structure; the application of the principles of anatomy, as in art.

anatomist (a-nat'o-mist). n. one possessing a knowledge of anatomy derived from dissection.

anatomize i nat'o-iniz), v.t. to separate by dissection and exhibit the relative position and structure of the parts of an animal or plant.

anatomy (a-nat'o-mi), n. [pi. anatomies (a-natx>-miz)], separation by dissection of the various parts of a body. with a view to the examination aarl determination of their structure and relations; the art or science of dissection; a descriptive account of the parts of an organic body; a withered or emaciated person.

anatripsis (an-a-trip'sis), n. mass&ge.

ancestor (an'ses-ter), n. a forefather or progenitor, on the side of father or mother, from whom one is descended in direct line; one who held previous possession.

No comments:

Post a Comment