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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- 2,133
Look up a word as the writers of the time used it.
Lēv'i-ty, n. p. 768The want of weight in a body, compared with another that is heavier; lightness; as, the levity of a bubble. Bentley. 2. Ease; buoyancy; spirit; hence, undue elevation of spirits; frivolity; vanity.…Lē'vo-gy'rate, a. p. 768Turning to the left, as in levogyrate circular polarization. Dana.Lēv'y, v. t. p. 768To raise, give up, or desist from, as a siege. [Obs.] 2. To raise; to collect; said of troops, to form into an army by enrollment, conscription, &c. Augustine, being refused of the Christian Britons…Lĕv'y, n. p. 768The act of levying or taking by authority or force for public service, as troops, taxes, &c. 2. That which is levied or taken by authority, as an army, tribute, &c. “The . . . service of organizing…Lēv′yne, n. p. 768(Min.) A whitish, reddish, or yellowish, transparent or translucent variety of chabazite, consisting chiefly of the hydrous silicate of alumina and lime. Dana.Lew, a. p. 768Tepid; lukewarm. 2. Pale; wan.Lewd, a. p. 768Not clerical; pertaining to, or characterizing, the laity; laic; laical; hence, unlearned; ignorant; foolish; simple. [Obs.] Yea, blessed be alway a lewed man That naught but only his believe can.…Lewd'ly, adv. p. 768In an unlearned or foolish manner; ignorantly. [Obs.] 2. Wickedly; wantonly. 3. With the unlawful indulgence of lust; lustfully.Lewd'ness, n. p. 768The state of being unlearned or foolish; ignorance. [Obs.] 2. The unlawful indulgence of lust, fornication, or adultery. 3. Wickedness; shamelessness. Syn. — Lasciviousness; impurity; unchastity…Lewd'ster, n. p. 768One given to lewdness; a lecher. [Obs.] Shak.Lew'is or Lew'is-son, n. p. 768An iron clamp dovetailed into a large stone to lift it by. 2. A kind of shears used in cropping woolen cloth. Ogilvie.Lēx, n. p. 768Law; as, lex talionis, the law of retaliation; lex terræ, the law of the land; lex fori, the law of the forum or court; lex loci, law of the place of the contract; lex mercatoria, the law or custom…Lēx'ic-al, a. p. 768Pertaining to a lexicon, or to lexicography; settled by lexicography; as, the lexical meaning of a word.Lĕx'ic-al-ly, adv. p. 768By means of, or according to, a lexicon. S. Davidson.Lĕx/i-cōg'ra-pher, n. p. 768The author or compiler of a lexicon or dictionary. Every other author may aspire to praise; the lexicographer can only hope to escape reproach, and even this negative recompense has been yet granted…Lēx'i-co-grāph'ic or Lēx'i-co-grāph'ic-al, a. p. 768Pertaining to the writing or compilation of a dictionary, or the proper principles on which a dictionary should be composed.Lēx'ĭ-cŏg'ra-phy, n. p. 768The act of writing a lexicon or dictionary, or the art of composing dictionaries. 2. The principles according to which dictionaries should be constructed.Lēx'i-cōl'o-gy, n. p. 768The science of the derivation and signification of words; that branch of learning which treats of the proper signification and just application of words.Lēx'i-cōn, n. p. 768A vocabulary, or book containing an alphabetical arrangement of the words in a language, with the definition of each; a dictionary. 2. A dictionary of words in a foreign language; as, a Latin, Greek…Lēx'i-con-ist, n. p. 768A writer of a lexicon. [Rare.]Lēx'i-grāph'ic, a. p. 768Pertaining to, or exhibiting, lexigraphy.Lex-ig'ra-phy, n. p. 768The art or practice of defining words.Lēx'i-phăn'ic, a. p. 768Ambitious or pretentious in style; inflated; bombastic; affected.Lēx'i-phān'i-çĭsm, n. p. 768The act or habit of using an affected, pretentious style; affectation in diction.Lĕx/i-phär/mĭe, a. p. 768See ALEXIPHARMIC.Ley, n. p. 768See LYE.Lēy, n. p. 768A meadow or field. See LAY.Ley'den-jār, n. p. 768Ley'den-phi'al p. 768A glass jar or bottle used to accumulate electricity. It is coated with tin foil, within and without, nearly to its top, and is surmounted by a brass knob for the purpose of charging it with…Lēze-mā’jes-ty, n. p. 768(Law.) Any crime committed against sovereign power.Lhĕrz'o-līte, n. p. 768(Min.) A variety of pyroxene of a deep green, or olive-green color. Dana.Lī'a-bil'i-ty, n. p. 768The state of being bound or obliged in law or justice; responsibility; as, the officer wishes to discharge himself from his liability. 2. Exposedness; tendency; a state of being subject; as, the…Lī'a-ble, a. p. 768Obliged in law or equity; responsible; bound; answerable; as, the surety is liable for the debt of his principal. 2. Subject; obnoxious; exposed;—used with reference to evils; as, liable to…Lī'a-ble-ness, n. p. 768The state of being liable; liability.Lī'aġe, n. p. 768Union by league; alliance. [Obs.]Liaison, n. p. 768A union, or bond of union; an intimacy; especially, a secret, illicit intimacy between a man and a woman.Lī'ar, n. p. 768A person who knowingly utters falsehood; one who lies.Lī'ard, a. p. 768Gray. [Obs.] Chaucer. ☞ This old English word is still used in Scotland, with the spelling liart, or lyart; as, lyart haffits, gray hairs on the temples. Burns.Liard, n. p. 768A French copper coin of one fourth the value of a sous.Lī'as, n. p. 768(Geol.) A stratum of the middle secondary age, lying beneath the oölite; a species of limestone occurring in horizontal strata, belonging to the lias formation. [Dana.Lī-ăs'ic, a. p. 768Of the age of the lias; pertaining to the lias formation.Līb, v. t. p. 768To castrate. [Obs.] Chapman.Lĭb'a-ment, n. p. 769The same as LIBATION. [Obs.] Holland.Lī'bant, a. p. 769Sipping; hence, touching lightly. [Rare.]Lī-bā'tion, n. p. 769The act of pouring a liquor, usually wine, either on the ground or on a victim, in sacrifice, in honor of some deity. “A heathen sacrifice or libation to the earth.” Bacon. 2. The wine, or other…Lī'ba-to-ry, a. p. 769Engaged in, or pertaining to, libation.Lĭb'bard, n. p. 769A leopard. [Obs.] Spenser. Milton.Lĭb'bard's-bāne, n. p. 769Leopard's-bane. [Obs.]Lĭb'bet, n. p. 769A billet of wood; a stick or club; a staff. [Obs. or Prov. Eng.] Halliwell.Lī'bel, n. p. 769A writing of any kind, as a declaration, bill, certificate, request, or supplication, and the like. [Obs.] “A libel of forsaking [i. e., a writing of divorcement].” Wycliffe. 2. (Law.) A defamatory…Lī'bel, v. t. p. 769To defame, or expose to public hatred and contempt by a writing, picture, sign, and the like; to lampoon. Some wicked wits have libeled all the fair. Pope. 2. (Law.) To proceed against by filing a…Lī'bel, v. i. p. 769To spread defamation, written or printed;—with against; as, he libels against the peers of the realm. [Obs.]Lī'bel-ant, n. p. 769One who libels; one who brings a libel or institutes a suit in an ecclesiastical or admiralty court. The counsel for the libelant contended they had a right to read the instructions. Cranch.Lī'bel-er, n. p. 769One who libels. It is ignorance of ourselves which makes us the libelers of others. Buckminster.Li-bĕl'la, n. p. 769A small balance. 2. An instrument for detecting variations from a level, or for finding the level; a level, or leveling instrument.Li-bĕl'lu-la, n. p. 769(Entom.) A genus of neuropterous insects, characterized by their beauty, strength, and rapid flight; dragon-fly.Lī'bel-oŭs, a. p. 769Defamatory; containing that which exposes a person to public hatred, contempt, and ridicule. [Written also libellous.]Lī'ber, n. p. 769(Bot.) The inner bark of plants, lying next to the wood. It usually contains a large proportion of woody, fibrous cells, and is, therefore, the part from which the fiber of the plant is obtained, as…Lĭb'er-al, a. p. 769Free by birth; gentle in manners; refined. 2. Befitting a freeman or gentleman; as, liberal arts or studies; liberal education, that is, such as is extended beyond the practical necessities of life.…Lib'er-al, n. p. 769One who advocates greater freedom from restraint, especially in political or religious matters.