Dictionary
An American Dictionary of the English Language
Revised and enlarged (Goodrich & Porter)
Springfield, Mass. · G. & C. Merriam · 1865
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Look up a word as the writers of the time used it.
Prŏd'i-gal, a. p. 1042Given to extravagant expenditures; expending money or other things without necessity; recklessly profuse; lavish; wasteful; not frugal or economical; as, a prodigal man; the prodigal son. “In…Prŏd'i-gal, n. p. 1042One who expends money extravagantly or without necessity; one that is profuse or lavish; a waster; a spendthrift. “On that bleak Crimean headland noble prodigals of life.” Trench.Prŏd'i-găl'i-ty, n. p. 1042Extravagance in expenditure, particularly of money; profusion; waste; excessive liberality; — opposed to frugality, economy, and parsimony. The most severe censor can not but be pleased with the…Prŏd'i-gal-ize, v. i. p. 1042To be extravagant in expenditures. [Obs.] Sherwood.Prŏd'i-gal-ly, adv. p. 1042In a prodigal manner; with profusion of expense; extravagantly; lavishly; wastefully; profusely; as, an estate prodigally dissipated. Nature not bounteous now, but lavish grows; Our paths with…Prŏd'i-gence, n. p. 1042Waste; profusion; prodigality. [Obs.] Bp. Hall.Pro-dĭg'ious, a. p. 1042Of the nature of a prodigy; marvelous; portentous. It is prodigious to have thunder in a clear sky. Browne. 2. Very great; huge; enormous in size, quantity, extent, or the like; as, a mountain of…Pro-dĭg'ioŭs-ly, adv. p. 1042Enormously; wonderfully; astonishingly; as, a number prodigiously great. 2. Very much; extremely; as, he was prodigiously pleased. [Colloq.]Pro-dĭg'ioŭs-ness, n. p. 1042The state or quality of being prodigious; enormousness of size; the state of having qualities that excite wonder or astonishment.Prŏd'i-gy, n. p. 1042Something extraordinary from which omens are drawn; portent; as, eclipses and meteors were anciently deemed prodigies. So many terrors, voices, prodigies May warn thee, as a sure foregoing sign.…Pro-dĭ'tion, n. p. 1042Treachery; treason. [Obs.] Ainsworth.Prŏd'i-tor, n. p. 1042A traitor. [Obs.] Shak.Prŏd'i-tō'rī-oŭs, a. p. 1042Treacherous; perfidious; traitorous. Daniel. 2. Apt to make discoveries or disclosures. “Nature is proditorious.” Walton.Prŏd'ī-to-ry, a. p. 1042Treacherous; perfidious. [Obs.]Prō'drōme, n. p. 1042A forerunner. [Obs.]Prŏd'ro-moŏus, a. p. 1042Going before; forerunning. [Obs.]Pro-dūce', v. t. p. 1042To bring forward; to lead forth; to offer to view or notice; to exhibit; as, to produce a witness or evidence in court. Your parents did not produce you much into the world. Swift. 2. To bring forth…Pro-dūce', v. i. p. 1042To yield or furnish appropriate offspring, products, effects, consequences, or results.Prŏd'ūce, n. p. 1042That which is produced, brought forth, or yielded; product; yield; proceeds; result of labor, especially of agricultural labors; hence, specifically, agricultural products.Pro-dūce'ment, n. p. 1042Production. [Obs.] Milton.Pro-dū'cent, n. p. 1042One who produces, exhibits, or offers to view or notice. [Obs.]. Ayliffe.Pro-dū'cer, n. p. 1042One who produces, brings forth, or generates.Pro·dū'çi·bil'i·ty, n. p. 1042The quality of being producible. [Obs.] Barrow.Pro-dū'ci-ble, a. p. 1042Capable of being produced, or of being brought forward, brought forth, generated, or extended. South.Pro-dū'ci·ble-ness, n. p. 1042The state or quality of being producible. Boyle.Prŏd'uct, n. p. 1042That which is produced, brought forth, effected, or generated; production; yield; result; effect; fruit, whether of growth or labor, either physical or intellectual; as, the product of land; the…Pro-dūct′, v. t. p. 1042To lengthen out; to extend; to produce. He that doth much in a short life products his mortality. Hackett.Pro-dūc'ta, n. p. 1042(Palæon.) An extinct genus of fossil bivalve shells closely allied to the living genus Terebratula, found only in the older secondary rocks. Brande.Pro·dūct'i·ble, a. p. 1042Capable of being produced; producible.Pro-dūc'tile, a. p. 1042Capable of being extended or prolonged; extensible; ductile.Pro·dūc'tion, n. p. 1042The act or process of producing, bringing forth, or exhibiting to view. 2. That which is produced or made; product; fruit of labor; as, the productions of the earth, comprehending all vegetables and…Pro-dūc'tive, a. p. 1043Having the quality or power of producing; yielding or furnishing results; as, productive labor is that which increases the number or amount of products; — opposed to unproductive labor. 2. Bringing…Pro-dūc'tive-ly, adv. p. 1043By production; with abundant produce.Pro-dŭc'tive-ness, n. p. 1043The quality of being productive; as, the productiveness of land or labor.Prō-duc-tīv'i-ty, n. p. 1043The state or quality of being productive; productiveness; capacity to produce. “Not indeed as the product, but as the producing power, the productivity.” Coleridge.Pro-dūc'tress, n. p. 1043A female who produces.Prō'e-gū'mi-nal, a. p. 1043(Med.) Serving to predispose; predisposing; as, a proeguminal cause of disease.Prō'em, n. p. 1043Preface; introduction; preliminary observations; prelude. Thus much may serve by way of proem; Proceed we therefore to our poem. Swift.Prō'em, v. t. p. 1043To preface. [Obs.] South.Pro-ē'mi-al, a. p. 1043Introductory; prefatory; preliminary. [Rare.] Hammond.Prō'emp-tō'sis, n. p. 1043(Chron.) The lunar equation, or addition of a day, necessary to prevent the new moon from being reckoned as happening a day too soon. Brande.Prō'face, interj. p. 1043Much good may it do you! — a familiar salutation or welcome. [Obs.] Master Page, good Master Page, sit. proface. Shak.Prōf'a-nāte, v. t. p. 1043To profane. [Obs.]Prōf/a-nā'tion, n. p. 1043The act of violating sacred things, or of treating them with contempt or irreverence; irreverent or too familiar treatment of what is sacred; as, the profanation of the Sabbath; the profanation of a…Pro-fāne', a. p. 1043Not sacred or holy; unconsecrated; not possessing peculiar sanctity; hence, secular; relating to matters other than sacred; as, profane history; a profane place. After the whole procession had…Pro-fāne', v. t. p. 1043To violate, as any thing sacred; to treat with abuse, irreverence, obloquy, or contempt; to desecrate; to pollute; as, to profane the name of God; to profane the Sabbath; to profane the Scriptures or…Pro-fāne'ly, adv. p. 1043With irreverence to sacred things or names; with want of due respect. “The character of God profanely impeached.” Dwight. That proud scholar . . . speaks of Homer too profanely. Broome.Pro-fāne'ness, n. p. 1043The quality or character of being profane; scandalous irreverence; especially, the use of language which implies irreverence toward God; the taking of God's name in vain.Pro-fān'er, n. p. 1043One who treats sacred things with irreverence; one who uses profane language. 2. A polluter; a defiler; as, a profaner of the temple. Hooker.Prŏf'a-nism, n. p. 1043Profanity. [Obs.] Marston.Pro-făn'-i-ty, n. p. 1043The quality or character of being profane; profaneness; irreverence; especially, the use of profane language; blasphemy. 2. That which is profane; profane language. In a revel of debauchery, amid the…Pro-fĕc'tion, n. p. 1043A going forward; advance; progression. [Obs.] Browne.Prō-fee-tī'tious, a. p. 1043Proceeding from, as from a parent; derived, as from an ancestor. The threefold distinction of profectitious, adventitious, and professional was ascertained. Gibbon.Prō'fērt, n. p. 1043(Law.) The exhibition or production of a record or paper in open court.Pro-fĕss’, v. t. p. 1043To make open declaration of; to avow or acknowledge; to confess publicly; to own freely. The best and wisest of them all professed To know this only, that he nothing knew. Milton. 2. To set up a…Pro-fĕss', v. i. p. 1043To take a profession upon one's self; to confess. Drayton. 2. To declare friendship. [Obs.] Shak.Pro-fĕssed', p. a. p. 1043Openly declared, avowed, or acknowledged; as, a professed foe; a professed tyrant; a professed Christian; a professed atheist.Pro-fĕss'ed ly, adv. p. 1043By profession; by open declaration or avowal. I could not grant too much to men . . . professedly my subjects. K. Charles. England I traveled over, professedly searching all places as I passed along.…Pro-fĕs'sion, n. p. 1043The act of professing; open declaration; public avowal or acknowledgment; as, professions of friendship or sincerity; a profession of faith or religion. 2. That which one professes; a declaration; an…Pro-fĕs'sion-al, a. p. 1043Pertaining to a profession or to a calling; following a profession. His brain was almost turned by pride, not personal, but professional. Macaulay. 2. Professed; being by profession; avowed. Perfect…