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An American Dictionary of the English Language

Revised and enlarged (Goodrich & Porter)

Springfield, Mass. · G. & C. Merriam · 1865

Entries
95,912
Pages
1,538
Illustrations
2,133

Look up a word as the writers of the time used it.

  1. Cen-tĕn'ni-al, a.p. 211Belonging to the hundredth anniversary; as, a centennial day. (Mason.) 2. Happening once in a hundred years; as, a centennial jubilee.
  2. Cen'ter or Cen'tre, n.p. 211A point equally distant from the extremities of a line, figure, or body; the middle point or place of any thing. 2. The middle or central portion of any thing; the midst. 3. A point of concentration…
  3. Cĕn′ter or Cĕn′tre, v. i.p. 211To be placed in a center; to be central. 2. To be collected to a point; to be concentrated. Our hopes must center on ourselves alone. Dryden.
  4. Cĕn’ter or Cĕn’tre, v. t.p. 211To place on a center; to fix on a central point. Milton. 2. To collect to a point; to concentrate. Thy joys are centered all in me alone. Prior.
  5. Cen'ter-bit or Cen'tre-bit, n.p. 211An instrument turning on a center, for boring circular holes.
  6. Cēnʹter-ing, n.p. 211(Arch.) The temporary woodwork of framing on which any vaulted work is constructed. [Written also centring.] Gwilt.
  7. Cen-tĕs'ĭ-mal, a.p. 211Hundredth; by the hundred; as, the centesimal part of a grain.
  8. Cen-tē'si-mal, n.p. 211A hundredth part. “The neglect of a few centesimals.” Arbuthnot.
  9. Cen-tēs'/i-mā'/tion, n.p. 211(Mil.) A military punishment for desertion, mutiny, or the like, where one person in a hundred is selected to receive the penalty.
  10. Cen'te-sĭm, n.p. 211The hundredth part of a thing. [Obs.] Hutton.
  11. Cen'ti-cĭp'i-tōus, a.p. 211Having a hundred heads.
  12. Cen-tĭf'i-dous, a.p. 211Divided into a hundred parts.
  13. Cen-ti-fō'li-ous, a.p. 211Having a hundred leaves. Bailey.
  14. Cĕn′ti-grāde, a.p. 211Consisting of a hundred degrees; graduated into a hundred divisions or equal parts. Centigrade thermometer, a thermometer having the zero or 0 at the freezing point, and the distance between that and…
  15. Cen'ti-grămme, n.p. 211A measure of weight, being the hundredth part of a gramme, equal to .15433 of a grain troy and .16924 of a grain avoirdupois. See GRAMME.
  16. Cen-tīl'i-ter or Cēn’ti-lī’ter, n.p. 211A measure of capacity or volume, being the hundredth part of a litre, or a little more than six tenths of a cubic inch.
  17. Cen-til'o-quy, n.p. 211A hundred fold discourse. [Rare.] Burton.
  18. Cen'time', n.p. 211(Fr. Coinage.) The hundredth part of a franc.
  19. Cen-tim'e-ter or Cĕn'ti-mē'ter or Centim'ētre, n.p. 211A measure of length, being the hundredth part of a meter, or rather more than thirty nine one hundredths of an inch English measure.
  20. Cĕn’ti-nel, n.p. 211See SENTINEL.
  21. Cen-tin'/o-dy, n.p. 211(Bot.) A kind of grass of the genus Illecebrum, a purslain-like plant.
  22. Cĕn’ti-ped, n.p. 211(Zoöl.) A species of the land articulates of the order Myriapoda. They are many-jointed, wingless, somewhat vermiform, and have a great number of feet. [Written also centipede (-peed).] Dana.
  23. Cént'ner, n.p. 211(Metal. & Assaying.) A weight divisible first into a hundred parts, and then into smaller parts. ☞ The metallurgists use a weight divided into a hundred equal parts, each one pound; the whole they…
  24. Cēn’to, n.p. 211A composition formed by verses or passages from different authors disposed in a new order. 2. (Mus.) An opera or other musical composition designedly compounded of selections connected by appropriate…
  25. Cen'to-nism, n.p. 211The act of making a composition by selection from various authors; compilation.
  26. Cen'tral, a.p. 211Relating to the center; placed in the center or middle; containing the center, or pertaining to the parts near the center. Central forces (Mech.), the two antagonist forces (the centripetal and…
  27. Cĕn′tral-ism, n.p. 211The state or quality of being central; the combination of several parts in one whole.
  28. Cen-trāl'i-ty, n.p. 211The state of being central. More.
  29. Cĕn′tral-i-zā′tion, n.p. 211Act of centralizing; the act or process of combining or reducing several parts to a whole; as, the centralization of power in the general government; the centralization of commerce in a city.
  30. Cĕn’tral-ize, v. t.p. 211To draw to a central point; to bring to a center; to make central. “ [To] centralize the power of government.” Bancroft.
  31. Cen'tral-ly, adv.p. 211In a central manner; with regard to the center.
  32. Cen-trā'tion, n.p. 211Tendency to the center. [Obs.] More.
  33. Cĕn’tre, n.p. 211See CENTER.
  34. Cen'tric or Cen'tric-al, a.p. 211Placed in the center or middle; central. Donne.
  35. Cen'tric-al-ly, adv.p. 211In a central position.
  36. Cen'tric-al-ness, n.p. 211Situation in the center.
  37. Cen-tric'i-ty, n.p. 211The state of being centric.
  38. Cen-trif'u-gal, a.p. 211Tending to recede from the center. 2. (Bot.) (a.) Expanding first at the summit, and later at the base, as a flower. Lindley. (b.) Having the radicle turned toward the sides of the fruit, as some…
  39. Centrifugal forcep. 211that force by which a body, moving in a curve tends to fly off from the axis of motion, in a tangent to the periphery of the curve.
  40. Cĕn’tring, n.p. 211See CENTERING.
  41. Cen-trĭp'e-tal, a.p. 211Tending toward the center. 2. (Bot.) (a.) Expanding first at the base of the inflorescence, and later at the summit, as a flower. Lindley. (b.) Having the radicle turned toward the axis of the fruit…
  42. Cen-trip'e-ten-cy, n.p. 211Tendency toward the center.
  43. Cen'tro-bā'rie, a.p. 211Relating to the center of gravity, or to the process of finding it. Centrobariæ method (Math.), a process invented for the purpose of measuring the area or the volume generated by the rotation of a…
  44. Cĕn′tro-līn′e-ad, n.p. 211An instrument for drawing lines through a point, or converging to a center.
  45. Cen'tro-lin'e-al, a.p. 211Converging to a center;—applied to lines drawn so as to meet in a point or center.
  46. Cĕn’try, n.p. 211See SENTRY.
  47. Cen-tūm'vir, n.p. 211(Rom. Antiq.) A judge appointed by the pretor to decide common causes among the people;—so called because, although the original number was one hundred and five, it was commonly spoken of as one…
  48. Cen-tūm'vi-ral, a.p. 211Pertaining to the centumviri, or to a centumvir.
  49. Cen-tūm'/vi-rate, n.p. 211The office of a centumvir, or of the centumviri.
  50. Cĕnʹtu-ple, a.p. 211Hundred-fold. Mussinger.
  51. Cĕn’tu-ple, v. t.p. 211To increase a hundred-fold.
  52. Cen-tū'pli-āte, v. t.p. 211To make a hundred-fold. [Rare.]
  53. Cen-tū'ri-al, a.p. 211Relating to a century, or a hundred years; as, a centurial sermon. [Rare.] When the third centurial jubilee of New England shall come, who of us will then be living to participate the general joy? J.…
  54. Cen-tū'ri-āte, v. t.p. 211To divide into hundreds. [Obs.]
  55. Cen-tū'ri-ā'tor or Cent'ū-rist, n.p. 211An historian who distinguishes time by centuries. [Rare.] Ayliffe. Sheldon. The centuriatores of Magdeburg were the first that discovered this grand imposture. Ayliffe.
  56. Cen-tū'ri-on, n.p. 211(Rom. Antiq.) A military officer who commanded a century, or company of infantry comprising a hundred men, answering to the captain in modern armies.
  57. Cēnt'ū-ry, n.p. 211The aggregate of a hundred individual persons or things; a hundred; as, a century of sonnets. “A century send forth.” Shak. 2. A period of a hundred years. This is the most common signification of…
  58. Cē'pī, n.p. 212(Bot.) A plant (Allium cepa); the common onion.
  59. Ce-pēv'o-rous, a.p. 212Feeding upon onions. Sterling.
  60. Cēph'al-āl'gie, a.p. 212Relating to headache.