Dictionary
An American Dictionary of the English Language
Revised and enlarged (Goodrich & Porter)
Springfield, Mass. · G. & C. Merriam · 1865
- Entries
- 95,912
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Look up a word as the writers of the time used it.
Le-thär'gi-cal-ly, adv. p. 766In a lethargic manner; sleepily; heavily.Le-thär'gie-al-ness or Le-thär'gie-ness, n. p. 766The condition of being inclined to lethargy; sleepiness, especially as the result of disease. More.Lĕth'ar-gīze, v. t. p. 766To make lethargic. All bitters are poison, and act by stilling, and depressing, and lethargizing the irritability. Coleridge.Lĕth'ar-gy, n. p. 766Preternatural sleepiness; morbid drowsiness; continued or profound sleep, from which a person can scarcely be awaked. 2. Dullness; inaction; inattention. Europe lay then under a deep lethargy.…Lĕth'ar-gy, v. t. p. 766To make lethargic or dull; to lethargize. [Obs.] Churchill.Lē'the, n. p. 766(Gr. Myth.) A river of Africa, watering the city of Berenice, which, because it runs many miles under ground, was fabled by the poets to be one of the rivers of hell, and, because the name signifies…Le-thē'an, a. p. 766Inducing forgetfulness or oblivion.Lē'theed, a. p. 766Causing forgetfulness; lethean. [Obs. and rare.] "Letheed dullness." Shak.Lē'the-on, n. p. 766(Med.) Sulphuric ether used as an anæsthetic agent;—so called from its producing unconsciousness. [Rare.]Lē'the-on-īze, v. t. p. 766To subject to the influence of letheon; to cause to become unconscious or oblivious; to make forgetful.Le-thĭf’er-ōŭs, a. p. 766Deadly; mortal; bringing death or destruction.Lē'thy, a. p. 766Causing oblivion or forgetfulness; lethean. [Obs.] Marston.Lĕt'ter, n. p. 766One who lets or permits. 2. One who retards or hinders.Lēt'ter, n. p. 766A mark or character, used as the representative of a sound, or of an articulation of the human organs of speech; a first element of written language. 2. A written or printed message; an epistle; a…Lēt'ter, v. t. p. 766To impress or form letters on; as, to letter a book; a book gilt and lettered.Lĕt'ter-bōard, n. p. 766(Print.) A board on which pages of type are placed, when not immediately wanted, or for distribution.Lēt'ter-cāse, n. p. 766A case or book to put letters in. 2. (Print.) A case in which types are kept.Lēt'tered, a. p. 766Literate; educated; versed in literature or science. Collier. 2. Belonging to learning; suiting letters. 3. Furnished, marked, or designated with letters; as, the cuts are lettered.Lēt'ter-found'er, n. p. 766One who casts letters; a type-founder.Lĕt'ter-ing, n. p. 766The act of impressing letters. 2. The letters impressed.Lĕt'ter-less, a. p. 766Illiterate; unlettered; not learned. [Obs.] Waterland.Lēt'ter-ōf'fice, n. p. 766A place where letters are deposited and distributed; a post-office.Lēt'tern, n. p. 766See LECTURN.Lēt'ter-pā'per, n. p. 766Paper for writing letters, especially as distinguished from foolscap.Lĕt'ter-prĕss, n. p. 766Print; letters and words impressed on paper or other material by types;—often used in distinction from engraving.Lēt'ter-wood, n. p. 766(Bot.) The wood of a tree of the genus Piratinera (P. guianensis), found in Guiana;—so called from black spots in it which bear some resemblance to hieroglyphics.Lēt'ter-wrīt'er, n. p. 766One who writes letters. 2. An instrument for copying letters.Lēt'ting, n. p. 766The putting out on lease, as a farm. 2. The putting out of portions of work to be performed by contract, as on a railroad or canal.Lĕt'tuce or Lettuce-opium, n. p. 766[O. Fr. laictue, letue, for laictuce, lectuce, Pr. laytuga, lachuga, Sp. lechuga, It. lattuga, Lat. lactuca, according to Varro, from lac, milk, on account of the milky white juice which flows from…Leū'cine, n. p. 767(Chem.) A peculiar, white, pulverulent substance, obtained from fibrine by the action of dilute sulphuric acid.Leū-cis'cus, n. p. 767(Ichth.) A genus of fishes, including the dace, chub, minnow, and the like.Leū'co-dēn'dron, n. p. 767(Bot.) A genus of evergreen shrubs from the Cape of Good Hope, having a handsome foliage.Leū'cite, n. p. 767(Min.) A mineral having a dull, glassy appearance, occurring in translucent, twenty-four sided (trapezohedral) crystals. It is found in the volcanic rocks of Italy, especially at Vesuvius…Leū-cīt'ic, a. p. 767(Min.) Containing leucite; as, leucitic rocks. Dana.Leū'ci-toid, n. p. 767(Crystallog.) The trapezohedron; — so called as being the form of the mineral leucite. Dana.Leu'co-cy-thæ'mi-ă or Leu'co-cy-thē'mi-ā, n. p. 767(Med.) A disease in which the white corpuscles of the blood are largely increased in number, and the spleen, or lymphatic glands, are enlarged.Leu'-co-ē'thi-ōp'ie, a. p. 767White and black; — designating a white animal of a black species, or the albino of the negro race.Leu-cō'mā, n. p. 767(Med.) A white opacity in the cornea of the eye. It is the result of violent acute ophthalmia, and is also called albugo. Dunglison.Leū'co-phāne, n. p. 767(Min.) A mineral, occurring imperfectly crystallized, of a greenish or wine-yellow color, consisting of silica, fluorine, glucina, lime, and sodium.Leū-cōp'a-thy, n. p. 767The state of an albino, or of a white child of black parents.Leū'/co·phlēg'ma·cy, n. p. 767(Med.) A dropsical habit of body, or the commencement of anasarca; paleness, with viscid juices and cold sweats.Leū'-co-phleg-māt'ic, a. p. 767Having a dropsical habit of body, with a white, bloated skin.Leū-cōp'y-rīte, n. p. 767(Min.) A mineral of a color between white and steel-gray, with a metallic luster, and consisting chiefly of arsenic and iron. Dana.Leu'-cor-rhoë'a, n. p. 767(Med.) A discharge of a white, yellowish, or greenish mucus, resulting from inflammation or irritation of the membrane lining the genital organ of the female. Dunglison.Leū-cō'thi-op, n. p. 767An albino of a black race.Leuĭ'coïs, a. p. 767White; — applied to albinos, from the fairness of their skin and hair.Leū'ke, a. p. 767See LUKE.Leū'ke'ness, n. p. 767See LUKENESS.Lē'vant, a. p. 767Eastern; denoting the part of the hemisphere where the sun rises. Forth rush the levant and the ponent winds. Milton. Levant and couchant. (Law.) See COUCHANT.Le-vānt', n. p. 767A country to the eastward; but especially, the countries of Turkey, Syria, Asia Minor, Greece, Egypt, &c., which are washed by the eastern part of the Mediterranean and its contiguous waters.Le-vānt', v. t. p. 767To run away disgracefully. [Cant. Eng.]Le-vănt’er, n. p. 767A strong easterly wind in the Mediterranean. 2. One who bets at a horse-race, and runs away without paying the wager lost; hence, one who runs away disgracefully. [Cant. Eng.] No prelusive murmurs…Le-vănt'ine or Lēv'ant-īne, a. p. 767Pertaining or belonging to the Levant.Le-vānt'ine or Lē'v'ant-īne, n. p. 767(Geog.) A native or inhabitant of the Levant. 2. A particular kind of silk cloth.Le-vā'rī-fā'ci-as, n. p. 767A writ of execution at common law. Wharton.Le-vā'tor, n. p. 767(Anat.) A muscle that serves to raise some part, as the lip or the eyelid. 2. A surgical instrument used to raise a depressed part of the skull.Lēve, a. p. 767Dear; beloved. [Obs.] See LIEF.Lēve, v. t. p. 767To believe. [Obs.] Gower.Lēv'ee, n. p. 767The act or time of rising. [Obs.] 2. A morning assembly of visitors;—in distinction from a soirée, or evening assembly; a matinée; hence, also, any general or somewhat miscellaneous gathering of…Lēv'ee, v. t. p. 767To attend the levee of; to pursue at levees. “He levees all the great.” Young. 2. To keep within a channel by means of levees; as, to levee a river.