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.
Lit'er-al, a. p. 779According to the letter; primitive; real; not figurative or metaphorical; as, the literal meaning of a phrase. 2. Following the letter or exact words; not free; as, a literal translation. 3.…Lit'er-al, n. p. 779Literal meaning. [Obs.] Browne.Lit'er-al-ism, n. p. 779That which accords with the letter; a mode of interpreting literally.Lit'er-al-ist, n. p. 779One who adheres to the letter or exact word; an interpreter according to the letter.Lit'er-ăl'i-ty, n. p. 779The quality of being literal. Browne.Lit'er-al-i-zā'tion, n. p. 779The act of literalizing; reduction to a literal meaning.Lit'er-al-ize, v. t. p. 779To adhere to the letter of a thing; to interpret or put in practice according to the strict meaning of the words; — opposed to spiritualize.Lit'er-al-ly, adv. p. 779According to the primary and natural import of words; not figuratively; as, a man and his wife can not be literally one flesh. 2. With close adherence to words; word by word. So wild and ungovernable…Lit'er-al-ness, n. p. 779The state of being literal; literal import.Lit'er-a-ry, a. p. 779Pertaining to letters or literature; respecting learning or learned men; as, literary fame; a literary history; literary conversation. 2. Versed in, or acquainted with, literature; as, a literary…Lit'er-ate, a. p. 779Instructed in learning and science; learned; lettered. The literate now chose their emperor, as the military chose theirs. Landor.Lit'er-ate, n. p. 779One educated, but not having taken a university degree. [Eng.] 2. A literary man.Lĭt′er-ā′tim, adv. p. 779Letter for letter.Lit'er-ā'tor, n. p. 779One who teaches the letters or elements of knowledge; a petty schoolmaster. Burke. 2. A person of literary tastes and culture; one of the literati; a learned or literary man. That class of subjects…Lit’er-a-tūre, n. p. 779Learning; acquaintance with letters or books. 2. The collective body of literary productions, embracing the entire results of knowledge and fancy preserved in writing; also, the whole body of…Lĭt'er-ā'tus, n. p. 779A learned man; a man of erudition;—chiefly used in the plural. Now we are to consider that our bright ideal of a literatus may chance to be maimed. De Quincey.Lith, n. p. 779A joint or limb; a division; a member; a part formed by growth, and articulated to, or symmetrical with, other parts. The reader will at once comprehend the reason by cutting an orange through its…Lith'arge, n. p. 779(Chem.) Protoxide of lead, produced by exposing melted lead to a current of air. It fuses readily, and, on cooling, forms a mass consisting of glistering, semitransparent, yellow or reddish-yellow…Lith'ate, n. p. 779(Chem.) A salt, or compound formed by the union of lithic acid with a base. [Written also lithiate.]Lithe, a. p. 779Capable of being easily bent; pliant; flexible; limber; as, the elephant’s lithe proboscis. Milton.Lithe, v. t. p. 779To smooth; to soften; to palliate. [Obs.] 2. [Scot. lith.] To listen. [Obs.] See LISTEN.Lithe'ness, n. p. 779The state of being lithe; flexibility; limberness.Lith'er, a. p. 779(Obs.) 1. Soft; pliant; yielding. “The lither sky.” Shak. 2. Bad; corrupt. Woolton.Lith'er-ly, adv. p. 779In a lither manner. [Obs.]Lith'er-ness, n. p. 779The quality of being lither. [Obs.]Lithe'sōme, a. p. 779Pliant; limber; nimble; lissom.Lith'i-a, n. p. 779(Chem.) The oxide of lithium, an alkali discovered by Arfvedsan, in 1818, in the mineral petalite. In general properties, it resembles potash and soda. It occurs in various minerals and mineral…Lī-thī'a-sīs, n. p. 779(Med.) The formation of stony concretions in any part of the body, especially in the bladder and urinary passages. Dunglison.Lith'i-ate, n. p. 779(Chem.) See LITHIATE.Lith'ic, a. p. 779(Chem.) Pertaining to the stone in the bladder; uric; as, lithic acid.Lith'i-ŭm, n. p. 779(Chem.) One of the alkaline metals, so called because obtained from a mineral. It is the lightest metal known, its specific gravity being 0.59, and its atomic weight 7.Lĭth'o-bĭb'li-on, n. p. 779See LITHO-PHYL.Lith'o-cärp, n. p. 779(Palæon.) Fossil fruit; fruit petrified.Lith'o-chrō'mies, n. sing. p. 779The art of printing colored pictures from oil paintings on stone; chromolithography. [See Note under MATHEMATICS.]Lith'o-cōl'lia, n. p. 779A cement that unites stones. Ash.Lith'o-dĕn'dron, n. p. 779A kind of coral; — so called from its resembling a petrified branch.Lith'o-dōme, n. p. 779(Zool.) One of several species of molluscous animals, which form holes in solid rocks, in which they lodge themselves. Lyell.Lī-thōd'o-mī, n. pl. p. 779See LITHODOME.Lī-thōd'o-mōus, a. p. 779Relating to a genus of molluscan animals which perforate stones.Lith'o-gĕn'e-sy, n. p. 779(Nat. Hist.) The doctrine or science of the origin of minerals composing the globe, and of the causes which have produced their form and disposition.Lī-thŏg'e-nous, a. p. 779Stone-producing; — said of polyps which form coral.Lith'o-glyph, n. p. 779The art of engraving on precious stones.Lī-thŏg'ly-pher, n. p. 779One who cuts or engraves precious stones. [Obs.]Lith'o-glyph'ic, a. p. 779Pertaining to the art of cutting and engraving precious stones.Lī-thōg'ly-phyte, n. p. 779(Nat. Hist.) A fossil that presents the appearance of being engraved or shaped by art.Lith'o-glyp'ties, n. sing. p. 779The art of cutting and engraving gems; lithoglyph. [See Note under MATHEMATICS.]Lith'o-grāph, v. t. p. 779To trace on stone, and transfer to paper by printing.Lith'o-grāph, n. p. 779A print from a drawing on stone.Lī-thōg'ra-pher, n. p. 779One who practices lithography.Lith'o-grāph'ic or Lith'o-grāph'ic-al, a. p. 779Pertaining to lithography; engraved upon, or printed from, stone; as, a lithographic picture.Lith'o-grāph'ie-al-ly, adv. p. 779By the lithographic art.Lī-thŏg'ra-phy, n. p. 779The art by which impressions or prints are obtained by a chemical process, from designs made with a greasy material upon stone, the best kind for this purpose being a sort of calcareous slate found…Lī-thoid'al, a. p. 779Like a stone; having a stony structure.Lith'o-lōg'ic or Lith'o-lōg'ic-al, a. p. 779(Geol.) Pertaining to the character of a rock, as derived from the nature and mode of aggregation of its mineral contents. Dana.Lith'o-lŏg'ie-al-ly, adv. p. 779From a lithological point of view; as, to consider a stratum lithologically.Lī-thŏl'o-gĭst, n. p. 779A person skilled in the science of stones.Lī-thŏl'o-gy, n. p. 779The science which treats of the characteristics and classification of rocks. 2. (Med.) A treatise on stones found in the body.Lith’o-mān’cy, n. p. 779Divination or prediction of events by means of stones.Lith'o-mārge, n. p. 779A compact clay of a fine, smooth texture, and very sectile. Dana.Lith'on-thrĭp'tie or Lith'on-thrŷp'tie, a. & n. p. 780The same as LITHONTRIPTIC.