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An American Dictionary of the English Language

by Noah Webster

Revised and enlarged (Goodrich & Porter)

Springfield, Mass. · G. & C. Merriam · 1865

Entries
95,912
Pages
1,538
Illustrations
2,133

Look up a word as the writers of the time used it.

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  1. Sēre, a.p. 1204Dry; withered; sear. See SEAR. But with its sound it shook the sails That were so thin and sere. Coleridge.
  2. Sēre, n.p. 1205A claw or talon. [Obs.] “Their neck and cheeks tore with their eager serres.” Chapman.
  3. Sĕr-e-nāde', n.p. 1205(Mus.) (a.) Music performed in the open air at night;—usually applied to musical entertainments given in the open air at night, especially by gentlemen, in a spirit of gallantry, under the windows of…
  4. Sĕr-e-nāde', v. t.p. 1205To entertain with nocturnal music.
  5. Sĕr-e-nāde', v. i.p. 1205To perform nocturnal music.
  6. Sĕr'e-nā'tȧ or Sĕr'e-nāte, n.p. 1205(Mus.) A piece of vocal music on an amorous subject; a serenade. Or serenate which the starved lover sings To his proud fair. Milton.
  7. Se-rēne', a.p. 1205Clear and calm; not ruffled or clouded; fair; bright; as, a serene sky; serene air. “Full many a gem of purest ray serene.” Gray. 2. Calm; unruffled; undisturbed; as, a serene aspect; a serene soul.…
  8. Se-rēne', n.p. 1205Serenity; calmness; tranquillity. [Poet.] To their master is denied To share their sweet serene. Young. 2. Evening air; night chill. [Obs.] “Some serene blast me.” B. Jonson.
  9. Se-rēne′, v. t.p. 1205To make clear and calm; to quiet. 2. To clear; to brighten.
  10. Se-rēne'ly, adv.p. 1205In a serene manner; calmly; quietly; The setting sun now shone serenely bright. Pope. 2. With unruffled temper; coolly. Prior.
  11. Se-rēne'ness, n.p. 1205The state of being serene; se-
  12. Se-rēn'i-tūde, n.p. 1205Calmness; serenity. [Obs.]
  13. Se-rĕn'i-ty, n.p. 1205The condition or quality of being serene; clearness and calmness; quietness; stillness; peace. A general peace and serenity newly succeeded general trouble. Sir W. Temple. 2. Calmness of mind…
  14. Sērf, n.p. 1205A servant or slave employed in husbandry, and, in some countries, attached to the soil, and transferred with it, as formerly in Russia. Syn. — Slave; servant. — SERF, SLAVE. A slave is the absolute…
  15. Sĕrf'āge, n.p. 1205The same as SERFDOM.
  16. Sĕrf'dŏm, n.p. 1205The state or condition of serfs.
  17. Sērf'hood or Sērf'ism, n.p. 1205The same as SERFDOM. [Rare.]
  18. Sêrge, n.p. 1205A woolen twilled stuff, the warp of which is worsted and the weft woolen. Silk serge, a twilled silk fabric used mostly by tailors for lining parts of gentlemen's coats.
  19. Sōr'ge, n.p. 1205A large candle, sometimes weighing many pounds, used in the ceremonies of the Roman Catholic church. Fairholt.
  20. Ser'gean-cy, n.p. 1205The office of a sergeant; sergeantship.
  21. Ser'geant, n.p. 1205Formerly, an officer in England, nearly answering to the more modern bailiff of the hundred; also, an officer whose duty was to attend on the king, and on the lord high steward in court, to arrest…
  22. Ser'geant-at-ärms', n.p. 1205(Legislative Bodies.) An officer who executes the commands of the body in preserving order and punishing offenses. Brande.
  23. Ser'geant-cy, n.p. 1205The same as SERGEANTSHIP, q. v.
  24. Ser'geant-mā'jor, n.p. 1205(Mil.) A non-commissioned officer who acts as assistant to the adjutant. Brande.
  25. Ser'geant-ry, n.p. 1205The same as SERGEANTY. [Rare.]
  26. Ser'geant-ship, n.p. 1205The office of a sergeant.
  27. Ser'geant-y, n.p. 1205An honorary kind of service that can not be due from a tenant to any lord, but to the king only. [Eng.] Grand sergeanty, a particular kind of tenure by which the tenant was bound to do some special…
  28. Sē'ri-al, a.p. 1205Pertaining to a series; consisting of a series; appearing in successive parts; as, a serial work. 2. (Bot.) Of, or pertaining to, rows. Gray.
  29. Sē'ri-al, n.p. 1205A work appearing in a series or succession of parts; a tale, or other writing, published in successive numbers of a periodical.
  30. Sē'ri-al-ly, adv.p. 1205In a series, or regular order; as, arranged serially, or published serially.
  31. Sē'ri-ate, a.p. 1205Arranged in a series or succession; pertaining to a series.
  32. Sē'ri-ate-ly, adv.p. 1205In a regular series.
  33. Sē-rĭ-ā'tim, adv.p. 1205In regular order.
  34. Se-ri'ceous, a.p. 1205Pertaining to silk; consisting of silk; silky. 2. (Bot.) Covered with very soft hairs pressed close to the surface; as, a sericeous leaf.
  35. Sē'r'i-cūlt'ūre, n.p. 1205The raising of silk-worms.
  36. Sē'rĭēs, n.p. 1205A number of things or events standing or succeeding in order, and connected by a like relation; sequence; order; course; a succession of things; a line or row of things; as, a series of calamitous…
  37. Sē'rin, n.p. 1205(Ornith.) A song-bird of the finch family, found in the central parts of Europe. It has a small, horny, and short bill, and its habits are mostly similar to those of the canary bird.
  38. Sē'ri-o-cōm'ic or Sē'ri-o-cōm'ic-al, a.p. 1205Having a mixture of seriousness and sport; partaking both of seriousness and comicality.
  39. Sē'ri-ous, a.p. 1205Grave in manner or disposition; earnest; solemn; not light, gay, or volatile. He is always serious, yet there is about his manner a graceful ease. Macaulay. 2. Really intending what is said; being in…
  40. Sē'ri-ōs-ly, adv.p. 1205In a serious manner; gravely; solemnly; in earnest; without levity; in an important degree.
  41. Sē'ri-ous-ness, n.p. 1205The condition or quality of being serious; gravity of manner or of mind; solemnity. That spirit of religion and seriousness vanished all at once. Atterbury.
  42. Ser'jeant, n.p. 1205A sergeant. See SERGEANT.
  43. Ser-mōc'i-nā'tion, n.p. 1205The making of speeches or sermons; sermonizing. [Obs.] Peacham.
  44. Ser-mōc'ī-nā'tor, n.p. 1205One who makes sermons or speeches. [Obs.]
  45. Sĕr'mon, n.p. 1205A discourse or address; a talk. [Obs.] 2. Specifically, a discourse delivered in public, usually by a clergyman, for the purpose of religious instruction, and grounded on some text or passage of…
  46. Sēr'mon, v. t.p. 1205To discourse to or of, as in a sermon. Spencer. 2. To tutor; to lesson; to teach. “Come, sermon me no further.” Shak.
  47. Sēr'mon, v. i.p. 1205To compose or deliver a sermon. [Obs.] Milton.
  48. Sĕr'mon-eer', n.p. 1205A preacher; a sermonizer; a sermonist. [Rare.] B. Jonson.
  49. Ser-mōn'ic, a.p. 1205Resembling, or appropriate to,
  50. Ser-mŏn'ic-alp. 1205a sermon; grave and didactic. [Rare.] “Conversation . . . grave or gay, satirical or sermonic.” Prof. Wilson.
  51. Sĕr'mon-ing, n.p. 1205Discourse; instruction; advice. [Obs.] Chaucer.
  52. Sĕr'mon-ish, a.p. 1205Resembling a sermon. [Rare.]
  53. Sĕr'mon-ist, n.p. 1205A writer or deliverer of sermons; a sermonizer.
  54. Sĕr'mon-īze, v. t.p. 1205To preach or discourse to; to affect or influence by means of a sermon or of sermons. [Rare.] Which of us shall sing or sermonize the other fast asleep. Landor.
  55. Sĕr'mon-ize, v. i.p. 1205To make sermons; to compose or write a sermon or sermons; to preach. 2. To inculcate rigid rules. [Rare.] Chesterfield.
  56. Sĕr'mon-īz'er, n.p. 1205One who sermonizes.
  57. Sēr'mount-ain, n.p. 1205(Bot.) A plant of the genus Laserpitium (L. siler). Lee.
  58. Se-ron' or Se-roon', n.p. 1205(Synop., § 130). [Fr. serron, Sp. seron, a hamper, pannier, augm. of sera, a large pannier or basket.] 1. A bale or package of skin or leather for drugs or the like; a ceroon. 2. (Com.) (a.) A…
  59. Sĕ'rōse, a.p. 1205Watery; serous. [Obs.] More.
  60. Se-rōs'i-ty, n.p. 1205The thin, watery liquid forming the chief constituent of most animal fluids, as of blood, milk, and the like; serum. 2. A fluid which exudes from the albumen of the serum of the blood when coagulated…