Dictionary
An American Dictionary of the English Language
Revised and enlarged (Goodrich & Porter)
Springfield, Mass. · G. & C. Merriam · 1865
- Entries
- 95,912
- Pages
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- Illustrations
- 2,133
Look up a word as the writers of the time used it.
Ŏp'er-ă-house, n. p. 914A house or theater for the representation of operas.ŏp'er-ăm'e-ter, n. p. 914An instrument or machine for measuring work done, especially for ascertaining the number of rotations made by a machine or wheel in manufacturing cloth; a counter.ŏp'er-ance or ŏp'er-an-cy, n. p. 914The act of operating or working; operation. [Rare.] He never denies, yet never admits, it any separate operancy. Coleridge.ŏp'er-ant, a. p. 914Having power to produce an effect; operative. [Obs.] Shak.Ōp'er-ant, n. p. 914One who operates; an operator. [Rare.] Coleridge.Ŏp'er-āte, v. i. p. 914To perform a work or labor; to act; to exert power or strength, physical or mechanical. 2. To produce an appropriate physical effect; to issue in the result designed by nature; especially (Med.), to…Ŏp'er-āte, v. t. p. 914To produce as an effect; to cause; to occasion. The same cause would operate a diminution of the value of stock. Hamilton. 2. To put into or to continue in operation or activity; to work; as, to…Ŏp'er-āt'ic or Ŏp'er-āt'ic-al, a. p. 914Pertaining to the opera; resembling the opera; appropriate to, or designed for, the opera.ŏp'er-ā'tion, n. p. 914The act or process of operating; agency; the exertion of power, physical, mechanical, or moral. The pain and sickness caused by manna are the effects of its operation on the stomach. Locke.…ŏp'er-a-tīve, a. p. 914Having the power of acting; hence, exerting force, physical or moral; active in the production of effects. It holds in all operative principles, especially in morality. South. 2. Efficient in work…Ōp'er-a-tīve, n. p. 914A laboring man; a laborer, artisan, or workman in manufactories.Ōp'er-a-tīve-ly, adv. p. 914In an operative manner.Ōp'er-ā'tor, n. p. 914One who, or that which, operates; one who, or that which, produces an effect. 2. (Surg.) The person who performs some act upon the human body by means of the hand, or with instruments; as, a skillful…Ōp'er-a-to-ry, n. p. 914A laboratory. [Obs.]O-pĕr'eu-lar, a. p. 914(Bot.) Pertaining or belonging to the operculum. 2. (Ichth.) Pertaining or belonging to the operculum or gill-cover, which consists usually of four pieces, the anterior of which, being articulated…O-pĕr'eu-late or O-pĕr'eu-lā'ted, a. p. 914(Bot.) Closed by a lid or cover, as the capsules of the mosses. 2. (Ichth.) Having an operculum, or apparatus for protecting the gills; — said of fishes or their gills.O-pĕr'cu-li-fōrm or Ō'per-cū'li-fōrm, a. p. 914Having the form of a lid or cover.O-pĕr'eu-lŭm, n. p. 914(Bot.) (a.) The lid of a pitcher-form leaf. (b.) The lid of the urn-like flower capsule of mosses. 2. (Conch.) (a.) The lid closing the aperture of various species of snails' shells, as the common…Ŏp'er-ēt'tā, n. p. 914(Mus.) A short, light, musical drama.Ōp'er-ōse', a. p. 914Wrought with labor; requiring labor; laborious; hence, tedious; wearisome. “A very operose calculation.” De Quincey. All these operose proceedings were adopted by one of the most decided tyrants in…Ōp'er-ōse'ly, adv. p. 914In an operose manner.Ōp'er-ōse'ness, n. p. 914The state of being operose or laborious.ŏp'er-ŏs'i-ty, n. p. 914Laboriousness. [Rare.]Ōp'er-ōŭs, a. p. 914The same as OPEROSE. [Obs.]Ōp'er-oŭs-ly, adv. p. 914In an operose manner. “I conceive myself not here concerned operously to insist in proving.” J. Howe.ŏp'er-tā'ne-oŭs, a. p. 914Concealed from others; private. [Obs.]Ōpe'-tide, n. p. 914Open time; — applied to different things; as, (a.) To the early spring, or the time when flowers begin to open. Nares. (b.) To the period between Epiphany and Ash Wednesday, wherein marriages were…Ŏph'i-cleīde, n. p. 914(Mus.) A large brass wind instrument of the trumpet kind, used in the orchestra, and in military bands, having a loud tone, deep pitch, and a compass of three octaves. Moore.O-phīd′i-an, n. p. 914(Zoöl.) An animal of the group of snakes, or of the order Ophidia of reptiles. They are characterized by an elongate scaly form, without anterior members, moving by flexions of the body, and by…O-phīd'i-an or O-phīd'i-oŭs, a. p. 914Pertaining to serpents; belonging to an order of vertebral animals destitute of feet or fins.O-phīd'i-ōn, n. p. 914(Ichth.) A kind of sea-fish resembling an eel or serpent.Ō'phi-o-lōg'ic or Ō'phi-o-lōg'ic-al, a. p. 914Pertaining to ophiology.Ō'phi-ōl'o-gĭst, n. p. 914One versed in the natural history of serpents.Ō'phi-ŏl'o-gy, n. p. 914That part of natural history which treats of the ophidians or serpents, or in accordance with the principles of which the various kinds are described and arranged.ŏ'phi-o-măn'cy, n. p. 915The art of divining or predicting events by serpents, as by their manner of eating or by their coils.ō'phi-o-mōr'phīte, n. p. 915(Paleon.) The fossil shell of an extinct genus of mollusks; an ammonite. See AMMONITE.ō'phi-o-mōr'phōus, a. p. 915Having the form of a serpent.ŏ'phi-ŏph'a-gōūs, a. p. 915Eating or feeding on serpents. [Obs.] Browne.ō'phīte, a. p. 915Pertaining to a serpent. [Obs.]Ō'phīte, n. p. 915(Min.) Serpentine; also, one of the varieties of serpentine or verd-antique marble; also, green porphyry; — so called from the spots of different colors which give it a mottled appearance resembling…Ō'phīte, n. p. 915(Eccl. Hist.) A member of a Gnostic sect of the second century, who paid worship to a serpent.Ō'phi-ū'chus, n. p. 915(Astron.) A constellation in the northern hemisphere.ŏph-thăl'mi-ă, n. p. 915See OPHTHALMY.Oph-thāl'mic, a. p. 915Pertaining to the eye.Ŏph·thal·mōg'ra·phy, n. p. 915An anatomical description of the eye. Dunglison.ŏph·thal·mŏl'o·gist, n. p. 915One skilled in ophthalmology.ŏph·thal·mŏl'o·gy, n. p. 915(Anat.) A treatise on, or description of, the eye. Dunglison.Oph/thál-mŏm'e-ter, n. p. 915(Anat.) An instrument for the purpose of measuring the capacity of the anterior and posterior chambers of the eye in anatomical experiments. Dunglison.Oph-thál’mo-scōpe, n. p. 915(Med.) An instrument by which the interior of the eye is rendered visible. Light is thrown into the eye by a concave mirror, and the organ thus illuminated is examined with a lens.Ŏph'/thal-mōs'eo-py, n. p. 915A branch of physiognomy which deduces the knowledge of a man's temper and character from the appearance of the eyes.Ŏph’thal-mo-tŏl’o-gĭst, n. p. 915One versed in ophthalmology; an ophthalmologist.ŏph'thal-mo-tŏl'o-gy, n. p. 915The science of ophthalmia, or a treatise on it; ophthalmology.ŏph'thal-my, n. p. 915(Med.) An inflammation of the membranes or coats of the eye, or of the eyeball. [Written also ophthalmia.]Ō'pi-ate, n. p. 915Originally, a medicine of a thicker consistence than syrup, prepared with opium. Parr. 2. Any medicine that contains opium, and has the quality of inducing sleep or repose; a narcotic. 3. That which…Ō'pi-ate, a. p. 915Inducing sleep; soporiferous; somniferous; narcotic. 2. Hence, causing rest or inaction.Ō'pi-āte, v. t. p. 915To subject to the influence of an opiate; to put to sleep. [Rare.]Ō'pi-ā'ted, a. p. 915Mixed with opiates; under the influence of opiates.Ō-pĭf'ĕr-ōus, a. p. 915Bringing help.ŏp'i-fĭce, n. p. 915Workmanship. [Obs.]Ō-pĭf'i-cer, n. p. 915One who performs any work. [Obs.] Bentley.