Dictionary
An American Dictionary of the English Language
Revised and enlarged (Goodrich & Porter)
Springfield, Mass. · G. & C. Merriam · 1865
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Look up a word as the writers of the time used it.
A·eū-pūnet·ū-rā'tion, n. p. 17See ACUPUNCTURE.A'cu-punc'ture, n. p. 17(Med.) The introduction of needles into the living tissues for remedial purposes.A-cūt-ăn′gu-lar, a. p. 17Having acute angles.A-cūte′, a. p. 17Sharp at the end; ending in a sharp point; pointed; — opposed to blunt or obtuse; as, an acute angle; an acute leaf. 2. Having nice discernment; perceiving or using minute distinctions; penetrating…A-cūte', v. t. p. 17To give an acute sound to; as, he acutes his rising inflection too much. Walker.A-cūte'ly, adv. p. 17In an acute manner; sharply; keenly; with nice discrimination.A-cūte'ness, n. p. 17The quality of being acute or pointed; sharpness; as, the acuteness of an angle. 2. The faculty of nice discernment or perception; acumen; — applied to the senses, or the understanding. By an…A-cū'ti-ā'tor, n. p. 17A person whose office it was to sharpen instruments. (Obs.)A·ēu'ti·fō'li·ate, a. p. 17(Bot.) Having sharp-pointed leaves. Gray.A-cū'ti-lō'bate, a. p. 17(Bot.) Having acute lobes like some leaves. Gray.Ad. p. 17A Latin preposition, signifying to. In composition, the last letter is usually changed into the first letter of the word to which it is prefixed. Thus for adclamo, the Romans wrote acclamo; for…Ad·ăct', v. t. p. 18To compel; to drive. [Obs.] Folkerby.A-dăc'tyl, a. p. 18(Zool.) Having no toes or fingers. [Written also adactyle.] Dana.Ăd'ăge, n. p. 18An old saying, which has obtained credit by long use; a wise observation handed down from antiquity. Letting “I dare not” wait upon “I would,” Like the poor cat i’ the adage. Shak. Syn.— Axiom…A-dă'gi-al, a. p. 18Pertaining to the adage; proverbial. [Rare.] “Adagial verse.” Barrow.A·dă'gio, a. p. 18(Mus.) Slow; moving slowly, leisurely, and gracefully. When repeated, adagio, adagio, it directs the movement to be very slow.A-dä'ġio, n. p. 18A piece of music in adagio time; a slow movement; as, an adagio of Haydn.Ăd'a-lan-tä'do, n. p. 18See ADELANTADO. B. Jonson.Ăd'a-mant, n. p. 18A stone imagined by some to be of impenetrable hardness; a name given to the diamond and other substances of extreme hardness; but in modern mineralogy it has no technical signification. Opposed the…Ăd'a-man-tē'an, a. p. 18Hard as adamant. Milton.Ăd'a-măn' tine, a. p. 18Made of, or having the qualities of, adamant; incapable of being broken, dissolved, or penetrated; as, adamantine bonds or chains. Adamantine spar (Min.), a variety of corundum, with gray, brown, or…Ăd'a-măn'/toid, n. p. 18(Crystallog.) A form of crystal bounded by forty-eight equal triangles occurring in the diamond; a hexoctahedron. Dana.A-dăm'ic, a. p. 18Pertaining to Adam. Adamic earth, a name given to common red clay, from a notion that Adam means red earth.Ăd'am-ite, n. p. 18(Eccl. Hist.) One of a sect of visionaries, who pretended to establish a state of innocence, and, like Adam, went naked. They abhorred marriage, holding it to be the effect of sin.Ăd'am-it'ic, a. p. 18Pertaining to, or in any respect resembling, the sect of Adamites. “Adamitic impudence.” Bp. Taylor.Ăd'am's-ăp'ple, n. p. 18A species of citron. [See CITRON.] 2. The projection formed by the thyroid cartilage in the neck. It is particularly prominent in males, and is so called from a notion that it was caused by the apple…Ad'am's-nee'dle, n. p. 18(Bot.) The Yucca gloriosa, the roots of which are thick and tuber-like, and were used by the Indians to make coarse meal and bread. See YUCCA.Ăd'an-sō'ni-ă, n. p. 18(Bot.) The famous African tree, called the Baobab, or Monkey's Bread, or African Calabash. It attains a height of seventy or eighty feet, with twice that diameter of shade. The fruit resembles a…A-dăpt', v. t. p. 18To make suitable; to fit, or suit. For nature, always in the right, To your decays adapts my sight. Swift.A-dăpt'a-bĭl'i-ty or A-dăpt'a-ble-ness, n. p. 18The quality of being adaptable; suitableness.A-dăpt'a-ble, a. p. 18Capable of being adapted.Ad'ap-tā'tion, n. p. 18The act of making, adapting, or fitting; or the state of being adapted or fitted; fitness. “A perfect adaptation of the means to the end.” Erskine.A-dăpt'ed-ness or A-dăpt'ive-ness, n. p. 18State of being adapted; suitableness.A-dăpt'er, n. p. 18One who adapts. 2. (Chem.) A glass tube open at both ends, placed between a retort and receiver to give more space to elastic vapors; an adopter.A-dăp'tion, n. p. 18Adaptation; the act of fitting. [Obs. and rare.] Cheyne.A-dăpt'ive, a. p. 18Suited or tending to adaptation.A-dăpt'ly, adv. p. 18In a suitable manner. [Rare.] For active horsemanship adaptly fit. Prior.A-dăpt'ness, n. p. 18A state of being adapted, or fitted. [Rare.] Bp. Newton.Ăd'ap-tō'ri-al, a. p. 18Same as ADAPTIVE. [Rare.]Ā'där, n. p. 18A Hebrew month, answering to the latter part of February and the beginning of March, the 12th of the sacred, and 6th of the civil, year.A-där'çe, n. p. 18A saltish concretion on reeds and grass in marshy grounds in Galatia. It is soft and porous, and was formerly used for cleansing the skin from freckles and tetters, and also in leprosy. Dana.Ad'a-tīs, n. p. 18A fine cotton cloth of India. Buchanan.A-däunt′, v. t. p. 18To daunt or subdue. [Rare.] Skelton.Ad·aw′, v. t. p. 18To fill with awe; to daunt; to subject. [Obs.] The sight whereof did greatly him adaw. Spenser. 2. [Fr. adoucir, to soften.] To moderate. [Obs.] Gins to abate the brightness of his beam, And fervor…A-dāys', adv. p. 18By day, or every day. [Obs., except in the compound now-a-days.] Spencer. Fielding.Ad·eōr'po·rāte, v. t. p. 18To unite with another body; to accorporate. [Obs.]Add, v. t. p. 18To join or unite, as one thing or sum to another, so as to increase the number, augment the quantity, enlarge the magnitude, or so as to form into one aggregate. “As easily as he can add together the…Add, v. i. p. 18To augment, by joining one thing to another; to increase; — followed by to or unto. “I will add to your yoke.” 1 Kings xii. 14.Ăd'da-ble, a. p. 18See ADDIBLE.Ad-dĕç'i-māte, v. t. p. 18To take or ascertain the tenth part of; to tithe; to decimate. Bailey.Ad-deem’, v. t. p. 18To award; to sentence. [Rare.] “Unto him they did addeem the prize.” Spenser.Ad-dĕn'dum, n. p. 18A thing to be added; an appendix. Addendum circle (Mech.), the distance or space between the pitch line of a gear and the circle touching the ends of the teeth. Rankine.Ăd'der, n. p. 18(Zoöl.) A venomous serpent of the genus Vipera. The common adder is the Vipera berus. Baird. 2. A serpent in general. Milton. 3. (Ichth.) The same as SEA-ADDER.Ad'der-fly, n. p. 18The dragon-fly.Ad'der's-grāss, n. p. 18A plant about which serpents lurk.Ad'der's-tōngue, n. p. 18A genus of ferns, whose seeds are produced on a spike resembling a serpent's tongue; Ophioglossum. London.Ad'der's-wōrt, n. p. 18Snakeweed (Polygonum bis-torta); — so named from its supposed virtue in curing the bite of serpents.Ăd'di-bil'i-ty, n. p. 18State or quality of being addible; possibility of being added. Locke.Ăd'di·ble, a. p. 18Capable of being added. “Addible numbers.” Locke.Ad'dĭce, n. p. 18See ADZE.