Words whose 8th letter is A
Abactinal (a.) Pertaining to the surface or end opposite to the mouth in a radiate animal; -- opposed to actinal.
Abbreviation (n.) One dash, or more, through the stem of a note, dividing it respectively into quavers, semiquavers, or demi-semiquavers.
Abbreviator (n.) One of a college of seventy-two officers of the papal court whose duty is to make a short minute of a decision on a petition, or reply of the pope to a letter, and afterwards expand the minute into official form.
Abdominales (n. pl.) A group including the greater part of fresh-water fishes, and many marine ones, having the ventral fins under the abdomen behind the pectorals.
Acalephae (n. pl.) A group of Coelenterata, including the Medusae or jellyfishes, and hydroids; -- so called from the stinging power they possess. Sometimes called sea nettles.
Accelerate (v. t.) To cause to move faster; to quicken the motion of; to add to the speed of; -- opposed to retard.
Acceleration (n.) The act of accelerating, or the state of being accelerated; increase of motion or action; as, a falling body moves toward the earth with an acceleration of velocity; -- opposed to retardation.
Acciaccatura (n.) A short grace note, one semitone below the note to which it is prefixed; -- used especially in organ music. Now used as equivalent to the short appoggiatura.
Accumulator (n.) A system of elastic springs for relieving the strain upon a rope, as in deep-sea dredging.
Acephala (n. pl.) That division of the Mollusca which includes the bivalve shells, like the clams and oysters; -- so called because they have no evident head. Formerly the group included the Tunicata, Brachiopoda, and sometimes the Bryozoa. See Mollusca.
Acroceraunian (a.) Of or pertaining to the high mountain range of "thunder-smitten" peaks (now Kimara), between Epirus and Macedonia.
Acropetal (a.) Developing from below towards the apex, or from the circumference towards the center; centripetal; -- said of certain inflorescence.
Adelphia (n.) A "brotherhood," or collection of stamens in a bundle; -- used in composition, as in the class names, Monadelphia, Diadelphia, etc.
Adularia (n.) A transparent or translucent variety of common feldspar, or orthoclase, which often shows pearly opalescent reflections; -- called by lapidaries moonstone.
Afterguard (n.) The seaman or seamen stationed on the poop or after part of the ship, to attend the after-sails.
Alliteration (n.) The repetition of the same letter at the beginning of two or more words immediately succeeding each other, or at short intervals; as in the following lines: -
Altisonant (a.) High-sounding; lofty or pompous.
Amalgamation (n.) The act or operation of compounding mercury with another metal; -- applied particularly to the process of separating gold and silver from their ores by mixing them with mercury.
Amphiblastic (a.) Segmenting unequally; -- said of telolecithal ova with complete segmentation.
Amphibrach (n.) A foot of three syllables, the middle one long, the first and last short (~ -- ~); as, h/b/r/. In modern prosody the accented syllable takes the place of the long and the unaccented of the short; as, pro-phet#ic.
Analemma (n.) An instrument of wood or brass, on which this projection of the sphere is made, having a movable horizon or cursor; -- formerly much used in solving some common astronomical problems.
Androphagi (n. pl.) Cannibals; man-eaters; anthropophagi.
Antelucan (a.) Held or being before light; -- a word applied to assemblies of Christians, in ancient times of persecution, held before light in the morning.
Anthophagous (a.) Eating flowers; -- said of certain insects.
Anticipant (a.) Anticipating; expectant; -- with of.
Antisolar (a.) Opposite to the sun; -- said of the point in the heavens 180? distant from the sun.
Appoggiatura (n.) A passing tone preceding an essential tone, and borrowing the time it occupies from that; a short auxiliary or grace note one degree above or below the principal note unless it be of the same harmony; -- generally indicated by a note of smaller size, as in the illustration above. It forms no essential part of the harmony.
Appreciate (v. t.) To raise the value of; to increase the market price of; -- opposed to depreciate.
Appreciation (n.) A rise in value; -- opposed to depreciation.
Arapaima (n.) A large fresh-water food fish of South America.
Arrowhead (n.) An aquatic plant of the genus Sagittaria, esp. S. sagittifolia, -- named from the shape of the leaves.
Asiphonate (a.) Destitute of a siphon or breathing tube; -- said of many bivalve shells.
Assibilation (n.) Change of a non-sibilant letter to a sibilant, as of -tion to -shun, duke to ditch.
Astarboard (adv.) Over to the starboard side; -- said of the tiller.
Auricula (n.) A species of Primula, or primrose, called also, from the shape of its leaves, bear's-ear.
Auricula (n.) A species of Hirneola (H. auricula), a membranaceous fungus, called also auricula Judae, or Jew's-ear.
Auricula (n.) A genus of air-breathing mollusks mostly found near the sea, where the water is brackish
Autodidact (n.) One who is self-taught; an automath.
Autodynamic (a.) Supplying its own power; -- applied to an instrument of the nature of a water-ram.
Barraclade (n.) A home-made woolen blanket without nap.
Beforehand (adv.) In a state of anticipation ore preoccupation; in advance; -- often followed by with.
Bibliolatry (n.) Book worship, esp. of the Bible; -- applied by Roman Catholic divines to the exaltation of the authority of the Bible over that of the pope or the church, and by Protestants to an excessive regard to the letter of the Scriptures.
Bicarinate (a.) Having two keel-like projections, as the upper palea of grasses.
Bichromate (n.) A salt containing two parts of chromic acid to one of the other ingredients; as, potassium bichromate; -- called also dichromate.
Bigeminate (a.) Having a forked petiole, and a pair of leaflets at the end of each division; biconjugate; twice paired; -- said of a decompound leaf.
Biocellate (a.) Having two ocelli (eyelike spots); -- said of a wing, etc.
Bisilicate (n.) A salt of metasilicic acid; -- so called because the ratio of the oxygen of the silica to the oxygen of the base is as two to one. The bisilicates include many of the most common and important minerals.
Blackcoat (n.) A clergyman; -- familiarly so called, as a soldier is sometimes called a redcoat or a bluecoat.
Blackguard (n.) The scullions and lower menials of a court, or of a nobleman's household, who, in a removal from one residence to another, had charge of the kitchen utensils, and being smutted by them, were jocularly called the "black guard"; also, the servants and hangers-on of an army.
Blackheart (n.) A heart-shaped cherry with a very dark-colored skin.
Bluebreast (n.) A small European bird; the blue-throated warbler.
Bonnyclabber (n.) Coagulated sour milk; loppered milk; curdled milk; -- sometimes called simply clabber.
Breastrail (n.) The upper rail of any parapet of ordinary height, as of a balcony; the railing of a quarter-deck, etc.
Broadleaf (n.) A tree (Terminalia latifolia) of Jamaica, the wood of which is used for boards, scantling, shingles, etc; -- sometimes called the almond tree, from the shape of its fruit.
Brunonian (a.) Pertaining to, or invented by, Brown; -- a term applied to a system of medicine promulgated in the 18th century by John Brown, of Scotland, the fundamental doctrine of which was, that life is a state of excitation produced by the normal action of external agents upon the body, and that disease consists in excess or deficiency of excitation.
Bushelman (n.) A tailor's assistant for repairing garments; -- called also busheler.
Cachinnation (n.) Loud or immoderate laughter; -- often a symptom of hysterical or maniacal affections.
Cachucha (n.) An Andalusian dance in three-four time, resembling the bolero.
Cacuminal (a.) Pertaining to the top of the palate; cerebral; -- applied to certain consonants; as, cacuminal (or cerebral) letters.
Calceolate (a.) Slipper-ahaped. See Calceiform.
Calicoback (n.) An hemipterous insect (Murgantia histrionica) which injures the cabbage and other garden plants; -- called also calico bug and harlequin cabbage bug.
Candlemas (n.) The second day of February, on which is celebrated the feast of the Purification of the Virgin Mary; -- so called because the candles for the altar or other sacred uses are blessed on that day.
Canvasback (n.) A Species of duck (Aythya vallisneria), esteemed for the delicacy of its flesh. It visits the United States in autumn; particularly Chesapeake Bay and adjoining waters; -- so named from the markings of the plumage on its back.
Capybara (n.) A large South American rodent (Hydrochaerus capybara) Living on the margins of lakes and rivers. It is the largest extant rodent, being about three feet long, and half that in height. It somewhat resembles the Guinea pig, to which it is related; -- called also cabiai and water hog.
Carinatae (n. pl.) A grand division of birds, including all existing flying birds; -- So called from the carina or keel on the breastbone.
Carpetbag (n.) A portable bag for travelers; -- so called because originally made of carpet.
Carpetbagger (n.) An adventurer; -- a term of contempt for a Northern man seeking private gain or political advancement in the southern part of the United States after the Civil War (1865).
Carpophagous (a.) Living on fruits; fruit-consuming.
Castanea (n.) A genus of nut-bearing trees or shrubs including the chestnut and chinquapin.
Catamaran (n.) A kind of raft or float, consisting of two or more logs or pieces of wood lashed together, and moved by paddles or sail; -- used as a surf boat and for other purposes on the coasts of the East and West Indies and South America. Modified forms are much used in the lumber regions of North America, and at life-saving stations.
Catamaran (n.) Any vessel with twin hulls, whether propelled by sails or by steam; esp., one of a class of double-hulled pleasure boats remarkable for speed.
Catenulate (a.) Chainlike; -- said both or color marks and of indentations when arranged like the links of a chain, as on shells, etc.
Cavatina (n.) Originally, a melody of simpler form than the aria; a song without a second part and a da capo; -- a term now variously and vaguely used.
Cercaria (n.) The larval form of a trematode worm having the shape of a tadpole, with its body terminated by a tail-like appendage.
Chalybean (a.) Of superior quality and temper; -- applied to steel.
Chippeways (n. pl.) A tribe of Indians formerly inhabiting the northern and western shores of Lake Superior; -- called also Objibways.
Chlamydate (a.) Having a mantle; -- applied to certain gastropods.
Chloropal (n.) A massive mineral, greenish in color, and opal-like in appearance. It is essentially a hydrous silicate of iron.
Christian (n.) One of a sect (called Christian Connection) of open-communion immersionists. The Bible is their only authoritative rule of faith and practice. Chromatoscope (n.) A reflecting telescope, part of which is made to rotate eccentrically, so as to produce a ringlike image of a star, instead of a point; -- used in studying the scintillation of the stars.
Cockshead (n.) A leguminous herb (Onobrychis Caput-galli), having small spiny-crested pods.
Cofferdam (n.) A water-tight inclosure, as of piles packed with clay, from which the water is pumped to expose the bottom (of a river, etc.) and permit the laying of foundations, building of piers, etc.
Colcothar (n.) Polishing rouge; a reddish brown oxide of iron, used in polishing glass, and also as a pigment; -- called also crocus Martis.
Columbia (n.) America; the United States; -- a poetical appellation given in honor of Columbus, the discoverer.
Comatula (n.) A crinoid of the genus Antedon and related genera. When young they are fixed by a stem. When adult they become detached and cling to seaweeds, etc., by their dorsal cirri; -- called also feather stars.
Combattant (a.) In the position of fighting; -- said of two lions set face to face, each rampant.
Comfortable (a.) Free, or comparatively free, from pain or distress; -- used of a sick person.
Commandant (n.) A commander; the commanding officer of a place, or of a body of men; as, the commandant of a navy-yard.
Commentary (v. i.) A brief account of transactions or events written hastily, as if for a memorandum; -- usually in the plural; as, Caesar's Commentaries on the Gallic War.
Commissary (n.) An officer whose business is to provide food for a body of troops or a military post; -- officially called commissary of subsistence.
Compensate (v. i.) To make amends; to supply an equivalent; -- followed by for; as, nothing can compensate for the loss of reputation.
Compensation (n.) The extinction of debts of which two persons are reciprocally debtors by the credits of which they are reciprocally creditors; the payment of a debt by a credit of equal amount; a set-off.
Compensator (n.) One who, or that which, compensates; -- a name applied to various mechanical devices.
Compurgation (v. t.) The act or practice of justifying or confirming a man's veracity by the oath of others; -- called also wager of law. See Purgation; also Wager of law, under Wager.
Conferva (n.) Any unbranched, slender, green plant of the fresh-water algae. The word is frequently used in a wider sense.
Conformable (a.) Corresponding in form, character, opinions, etc.; similar; like; consistent; proper or suitable; -- usually followed by to.
Conformable (a.) Parallel, or nearly so; -- said of strata in contact.
Congregation (n.) The whole body of the Jewish people; -- called also Congregation of the Lord.
Conservative (a.) Of or pertaining to a political party which favors the conservation of existing institutions and forms of government, as the Conservative party in England; -- contradistinguished from Liberal and Radical.
Conservative (n.) One who desires to maintain existing institutions and customs; also, one who holds moderate opinions in politics; -- opposed to revolutionary or radical.
Contrabass (n.) Double bass; -- applied to any instrument of the same deep range as the stringed double bass; as, the contrabass ophicleide; the contrabass tuba or bombardon.
Conversant (a.) Familiar or acquainted by use or study; well-informed; versed; -- generally used with with, sometimes with in.
Conversative (a.) Relating to intercourse with men; social; -- opposed to contemplative.
Conversazioni (pl. ) of Conversazi-one
Copepoda (n. pl.) An order of Entomostraca, including many minute Crustacea, both fresh-water and marine.
Corallian (n.) A deposit of coralliferous limestone forming a portion of the middle division of the oolite; -- called also coral-rag.
Cornopean (n.) An obsolete name for the cornet-a-piston.
Corporeal (a.) Having a body; consisting of, or pertaining to, a material body or substance; material; -- opposed to spiritual or immaterial.
Cosmoplastic (a.) Pertaining to a plastic force as operative in the formation of the world independently of God; world-forming.
Cottontail (n.) The American wood rabbit (Lepus sylvaticus); -- also called Molly cottontail.
Crastination (n.) Procrastination; a putting off till to-morrow.
Cystidea (n. pl.) An order of Crinoidea, mostly fossils of the Paleozoic rocks. They were usually roundish or egg-shaped, and often unsymmetrical; some were sessile, others had short stems.
Dandiprat (n.) A little fellow; -- in sport or contempt.
Decacerata (n. pl.) The division of Cephalopoda which includes the squids, cuttlefishes, and others having ten arms or tentacles; -- called also Decapoda. [Written also Decacera.] See Dibranchiata.
Decentralize (v. t.) To prevent from centralizing; to cause to withdraw from the center or place of concentration; to divide and distribute (what has been united or concentrated); -- esp. said of authority, or the administration of public affairs.
Deliberate (a.) Weighing facts and arguments with a view to a choice or decision; carefully considering the probable consequences of a step; circumspect; slow in determining; -- applied to persons; as, a deliberate judge or counselor.
Deliberate (a.) Formed with deliberation; well-advised; carefully considered; not sudden or rash; as, a deliberate opinion; a deliberate measure or result.
Deliberate (v. i.) To take counsel with one's self; to weigh the arguments for and against a proposed course of action; to reflect; to consider; to hesitate in deciding; -- sometimes with on, upon, about, concerning.
Depositary (n.) One with whom anything is lodged in the trust; one who receives a deposit; -- the correlative of depositor.
Descendant (n.) One who descends, as offspring, however remotely; -- correlative to ancestor or ascendant.
Desmognathous (a.) Having the maxillo-palatine bones united; -- applied to a group of carinate birds (Desmognathae), including various wading and swimming birds, as the ducks and herons, and also raptorial and other kinds.
Dicentra (n.) A genus of herbaceous plants, with racemes of two-spurred or heart-shaped flowers, including the Dutchman's breeches, and the more showy Bleeding heart (D. spectabilis).
Dichromate (n.) A salt of chromic acid containing two equivalents of the acid radical to one of the base; -- called also bichromate.
Dilapidate (v. t.) To bring into a condition of decay or partial ruin, by misuse or through neglect; to destroy the fairness and good condition of; -- said of a building.
Dinoceras (n.) A genus of large extinct Eocene mammals from Wyoming; -- called also Uintatherium. See Illustration in Appendix.
Discoidal (a.) Disk-shaped; discoid.
Discourage (v. t.) To extinguish the courage of; to dishearten; to depress the spirits of; to deprive of confidence; to deject; -- the opposite of encourage; as, he was discouraged in his undertaking; he need not be discouraged from a like attempt.
Disdiapason (n.) An interval of two octaves, or a fifteenth; -- called also bisdiapason.
Disgregate (v. t.) To disperse; to scatter; -- opposite of congregate.
Dissentaneous (a.) Disagreeing; contrary; differing; -- opposed to consentaneous.
Dissociation (n.) The process by which a compound body breaks up into simpler constituents; -- said particularly of the action of heat on gaseous or volatile substances; as, the dissociation of the sulphur molecules; the dissociation of ammonium chloride into hydrochloric acid and ammonia.
Dissyllable (n.) A word of two syllables; as, pa-per.
Dracaena (n.) A genus of liliaceous plants with woody stems and funnel-shaped flowers.
Dulciana (n.) A sweet-toned stop of an organ.
Earthdrake (n.) A mythical monster of the early Anglo-Saxon literature; a dragon. Earthquake (n.) A shaking, trembling, or concussion of the earth, due to subterranean causes, often accompanied by a rumbling noise. The wave of shock sometimes traverses half a hemisphere, destroying cities and many thousand lives; -- called also earthdin, earthquave, and earthshock.
Earthquake (n.) A shaking, trembling, or concussion of the earth, due to subterranean causes, often accompanied by a rumbling noise. The wave of shock sometimes traverses half a hemisphere, destroying cities and many thousand lives; -- called also earthdin, earthquave, and earthshock.
Ectoparasite (n.) Any parasite which lives on the exterior of animals; -- opposed to endoparasite.
Edentata (n. pl.) An order of mammals including the armadillos, sloths, and anteaters; -- called also Bruta. The incisor teeth are rarely developed, and in some groups all the teeth are lacking.
Effeminacy (n.) Characteristic quality of a woman, such as softness, luxuriousness, delicacy, or weakness, which is unbecoming a man; womanish delicacy or softness; -- used reproachfully of men.
Effeminate (a.) Womanlike; womanly; tender; -- in a good sense.
Elasmosaurus (n.) An extinct, long-necked, marine, cretaceous reptile from Kansas, allied to Plesiosaurus.
Empirical (a.) Depending upon experience or observation alone, without due regard to science and theory; -- said especially of medical practice, remedies, etc.; wanting in science and deep insight; as, empiric skill, remedies.
Endoparasite (n.) Any parasite which lives in the internal organs of an animal, as the tapeworms, Trichina, etc.; -- opposed to ectoparasite. See Entozoon.
Entrochal (a.) Pertaining to, or consisting of, entrochites, or the joints of encrinites; -- used of a kind of stone or marble.
Ephemeral (a.) Short-lived; existing or continuing for a short time only.
Ephippial (a.) Saddle-shaped; occupying an ephippium.
Episcopacy (n.) Government of the church by bishops; church government by three distinct orders of ministers -- bishops, priests, and deacons -- of whom the bishops have an authority superior and of a different kind.
Equipedal (a.) Equal-footed; having the pairs of feet equal.
Erythema (n.) A disease of the skin, in which a diffused inflammation forms rose-colored patches of variable size.
Essential (a.) Necessary; indispensable; -- said of those tones which constitute a chord, in distinction from ornamental or passing tones.
Eutychian (n.) A follower of Eutyches [5th century], who held that the divine and the human in the person of Christ were blended together as to constitute but one nature; a monophysite; -- opposed to Nestorian.
Exannulate (a.) Having the sporangium destitute of a ring; -- said of certain genera of ferns.
Exarillate (a.) Having no aril; -- said of certain seeds, or of the plants producing them.
Extrabranchial (a.) Outside of the branchial arches; -- said of the cartilages thus placed in some fishes.
Factorial (n.) A name given to the factors of a continued product when the former are derivable from one and the same function F(x) by successively imparting a constant increment or decrement h to the independent variable. Thus the product F(x).F(x + h).F(x + 2h) . . . F[x + (n-1)h] is called a factorial term, and its several factors take the name of factorials.
Falanaka (n.) A viverrine mammal of Madagascar (Eupleres Goudotii), allied to the civet; -- called also Falanouc.
Fashionable (a.) Genteel; well-bred; as, fashionable society.
Fashionable (n.) A person who conforms to the fashions; -- used chiefly in the plural.
Fenestration (n.) The arrangement and proportioning of windows; -- used by modern writers for the decorating of an architectural composition by means of the window (and door) openings, their ornaments, and proportions.
Flagellant (n.) One of a fanatical sect which flourished in Europe in the 13th and 14th centuries, and maintained that flagellation was of equal virtue with baptism and the sacrament; -- called also disciplinant.
Flamboyant (a.) Characterized by waving or flamelike curves, as in the tracery of windows, etc.; -- said of the later (15th century) French Gothic style.
Florideae (n. pl.) A subclass of algae including all the red or purplish seaweeds; the Rhodospermeae of many authors; -- so called from the rosy or florid color of most of the species.
Footbreadth (n.) The breadth of a foot; -- used as a measure.
Forbearance (n.) The quality of being forbearing; indulgence toward offenders or enemies; long-suffering.
Fritillaria (n.) A genus of liliaceous plants, of which the crown-imperial (Fritillaria imperialis) is one species, and the Guinea-hen flower (F. Meleagris) another. See Crown-imperial.
Fritillary (n.) A plant with checkered petals, of the genus Fritillaria: the Guinea-hen flower. See Fritillaria.
Fritillary (n.) One of several species of butterflies belonging to Argynnis and allied genera; -- so called because the coloring of their wings resembles that of the common Fritillaria. See Aphrodite.
Furzechat (n.) The whinchat; -- called also furzechuck.
Garcinia (n.) A genus of plants, including the mangosteen tree (Garcinia Mangostana), found in the islands of the Indian Archipelago; -- so called in honor of Dr. Garcin.
Gardenia (n.) A genus of plants, some species of which produce beautiful and fragrant flowers; Cape jasmine; -- so called in honor of Dr. Alexander Garden.
Gastraea (n.) A primeval larval form; a double-walled sac from which, according to the hypothesis of Haeckel, man and all other animals, that in the first stages of their individual evolution pass through a two-layered structural stage, or gastrula form, must have descended. This idea constitutes the Gastraea theory of Haeckel. See Gastrula.
Gastromalacia (n.) A softening of the coats of the stomach; -- usually a post-morten change.
Gastrula (n.) An embryonic form having its origin in the invagination or pushing in of the wall of the planula or blastula (the blastosphere) on one side, thus giving rise to a double-walled sac, with one opening or mouth (the blastopore) which leads into the cavity (the archenteron) lined by the inner wall (the hypoblast). See Illust. under Invagination. In a more general sense, an ideal stage in embryonic development. See Gastraea.
Generical (a.) Very comprehensive; pertaining or appropriate to large classes or their characteristics; -- opposed to specific.
Gentleman (n.) One of gentle or refined manners; a well-bred man.
Gentleman (n.) A man, irrespective of condition; -- used esp. in the plural (= citizens; people), in addressing men in popular assemblies, etc.
Gentlemanly (a.) Of, pertaining to, resembling, or becoming, a gentleman; well-behaved; courteous; polite.
Geodephagous (a.) Living in the earth; -- applied to the ground beetles.
Gephyrean (a.) Belonging to the Gephyrea. -- n. One of the Gerphyrea.
Gibbartas (n.) One of several finback whales of the North Atlantic; -- called also Jupiter whale.
Gloxinia (n.) American genus of herbaceous plants with very handsome bell-shaped blossoms; -- named after B. P. Gloxin, a German botanist.
Gravigrade (a.) Slow-paced.
Greenshank (n.) A European sandpiper or snipe (Totanus canescens); -- called also greater plover. Greenstone (n.) A name formerly applied rather loosely to certain dark-colored igneous rocks, including diorite, diabase, etc.
\d8Gregarin\91 (n. pl.) An order of Protozoa, allied to the Rhizopoda, and parasitic in other animals, as in the earthworm, lobster, etc. When adult, they have a small, wormlike body inclosing a nucleus, but without external organs; in one of the young stages, they are amoebiform; -- called also Gregarinida, and Gregarinaria.
Groomsman (n.) A male attendant of a bridegroom at his wedding; -- the correlative of bridesmaid.
Grossular (a.) A translucent garnet of a pale green color like that of the gooseberry; -- called also grossularite.
Gymnoblastea (n. pl.) The Athecata; -- so called because the medusoid buds are not inclosed in a capsule.
Hacienda (n.) A large estate where work of any kind is done, as agriculture, manufacturing, mining, or raising of animals; a cultivated farm, with a good house, in distinction from a farming establishment with rude huts for herdsmen, etc.; -- a word used in Spanish-American regions.
Hackmatack (n.) The American larch (Larix Americana), a coniferous tree with slender deciduous leaves; also, its heavy, close-grained timber. Called also tamarack.
Hatteria (n.) A New Zealand lizard, which, in anatomical character, differs widely from all other existing lizards. It is the only living representative of the order Rhynchocephala, of which many Mesozoic fossil species are known; -- called also Sphenodon, and Tuatera. Haugh (n.) A low-lying meadow by the side of a river.
Heliozoa (n. pl.) An order of fresh-water rhizopods having a more or less globular form, with slender radiating pseudopodia; the sun animalcule.
Hemadynamometer (n.) An instrument by which the pressure of the blood in the arteries, or veins, is measured by the height to which it will raise a column of mercury; -- called also a haemomanometer.
Hepatica (n.) Any plant, usually procumbent and mosslike, of the cryptogamous class Hepaticae; -- called also scale moss and liverwort. See Hepaticae, in the Supplement.
Heterogamy (n.) The process of fertilization in plants by an indirect or circuitous method; -- opposed to orthogamy.
Heterogamy (n.) That form of alternate generation in which two kinds of sexual generation, or a sexual and a parthenogenetic generation, alternate; -- in distinction from metagenesis, where sexual and asexual generations alternate.
Heterogangliate (a.) Having the ganglia of the nervous system unsymmetrically arranged; -- said of certain invertebrate animals.
Hexagonal (a.) Having six sides and six angles; six-sided.
Hexapoda (n. pl.) The true, or six-legged, insects; insects other than myriapods and arachnids.
Hippophagous (a.) Feeding on horseflesh; -- said of certain nomadic tribes, as the Tartars.
Holometabolic (a.) Having a complete metamorphosis;-said of certain insects, as the butterflies and bees.
Holophrastic (a.) Expressing a phrase or sentence in a single word, -- as is the case in the aboriginal languages of America.
Hydrocyanide (n.) A compound of hydrocyanic acid with a base; -- distinguished from a cyanide, in which only the cyanogen so combines. Hydrogenium (n.) Hydrogen; -- called also in view of its supposed metallic nature.
Hypethral (a.) Exposed to the air; wanting a roof; -- applied to a building or part of a building.
Ianthina (n.) Any gastropod of the genus Ianthina, of which various species are found living in mid ocean; -- called also purple shell, and violet snail.
Iliopsoas (n.) The great flexor muscle of the hip joint, divisible into two parts, the iliac and great psoas, -- often regarded as distinct muscles.
Illiberal (a.) Indicating a lack of breeding, culture, and the like; ignoble; rude; narrow-minded; disingenuous.
Illuminati (v. t.) Members of a sect which sprung up in Spain about the year 1575. Their principal doctrine was, that, by means of prayer, they had attained to so perfect a state as to have no need of ordinances, sacraments, good works, etc.; -- called also Alumbrados, Perfectibilists, etc.
Inaugurate (v. t.) To cause to begin, esp. with formality or solemn ceremony; hence, to set in motion, action, or progress; to initiate; -- used especially of something of dignity or worth or public concern; as, to inaugurate a new era of things, new methods, etc.
Inconstant (a.) Not constant; not stable or uniform; subject to change of character, appearance, opinion, inclination, or purpose, etc.; not firm; unsteady; fickle; changeable; variable; -- said of persons or things; as, inconstant in love or friendship.
Inequilateral (a.) Having unequal sides; unsymmetrical; unequal-sided.
Infiltrate (v. t.) To penetrate gradually; -- sometimes used reflexively.
Infrabranchial (a.) Below the gills; -- applied to the ventral portion of the pallial chamber in the lamellibranchs.
Ingratiate (v. t.) To introduce or commend to the favor of another; to bring into favor; to insinuate; -- used reflexively, and followed by with before the person whose favor is sought.
Ingratiate (v. t.) To recommend; to render easy or agreeable; -- followed by to.
Inscribable (a.) Capable of being inscribed, -- used specif. (Math.) of solids or plane figures capable of being inscribed in other solids or figures.
Inseparable (a.) Invariably attached to some word, stem, or root; as, the inseparable particle un-.
Inveteracy (n.) Firm establishment by long continuance; firmness or deep-rooted obstinacy of any quality or state acquired by time; as, the inveteracy of custom, habit, or disease; -- usually in a bad sense; as, the inveteracy of prejudice or of error.
Inveterate (a.) Old; long-established.
Inveterate (a.) Firmly established by long continuance; obstinate; deep-rooted; of long standing; as, an inveterate disease; an inveterate abuse.
Isocephalism (n.) A peculiarity in the design of bas-relief by which the heads of human figures are kept at the same height from the ground, whether the personages are seated, standing, or mounted on horseback; -- called also isokephaleia.
Karyoplasma (n.) The protoplasmic substance of the nucleus of a cell: nucleoplasm; -- in opposition to kytoplasma, the protoplasm of the cell.
Kindergarten (n.) A school for young children, conducted on the theory that education should be begun by gratifying and cultivating the normal aptitude for exercise, play, observation, imitation, and construction; -- a name given by Friedrich Froebel, a German educator, who introduced this method of training, in rooms opening on a garden. Kinesiatrics (n.) A mode of treating disease by appropriate muscular movements; -- also termed kinesitherapy, kinesipathy, lingism, and the
Lachrymatory (n.) A "tear-bottle;" a narrow-necked vessel found in sepulchers of the ancient Romans; -- so called from a former notion that the tears of the deceased person's friends were collected in it. Called also lachrymal or lacrymal.
Larvalia (n. pl.) An order of Tunicata, including Appendicularia, and allied genera; -- so called because certain larval features are retained by them through life. Called also Copelata. See Appendicularia.
Leap year () Bissextile; a year containing 366 days; every fourth year which leaps over a day more than a common year, giving to February twenty-nine days. See Bissextile.
Levorotatory (a.) Turning or rotating the plane of polarization towards the left; levogyrate, as levulose, left-handed quartz crystals, etc.
Lithophagous (a.) Eating or destroying stone; -- applied to various animals which make burrows in stone, as many bivalve mollusks, certain sponges, annelids, and sea urchins. See Lithodomus.
Lithophane (n.) Porcelain impressed with figures which are made distinct by transmitted light, -- as when hung in a window, or used as a lamp shade.
Lymphoma (n.) A tumor having a structure resembling that of a lymphatic gland; -- called also lymphadenoma.
Macrognathic (a.) Long-jawed.
Magistral (a.) Formulated extemporaneously, or for a special case; -- opposed to officinal, and said of prescriptions and medicines. Magma (n.) The amorphous or homogenous matrix or ground mass, as distinguished from well-defined crystals; as, the magma of porphyry.
Magnolia (n.) A genus of American and Asiatic trees, with aromatic bark and large sweet-scented whitish or reddish flowers. Maharajah (n.) A sovereign prince in India; -- a title given also to other persons of high rank.
Maharajah (n.) A sovereign prince in India; -- a title given also to other persons of high rank.
Maidenhair (n.) A fern of the genus Adiantum (A. pedatum), having very slender graceful stalks. It is common in the United States, and is sometimes used in medicine. The name is also applied to other species of the same genus, as to the Venus-hair.
Mallophaga (n. pl.) An extensive group of insects which are parasitic on birds and mammals, and feed on the feathers and hair; -- called also bird lice. See Bird louse, under Bird.
Mammillated (a.) Bounded like a nipple; -- said of the apex of some shells.
Mantilla (n.) A kind of veil, covering the head and falling down upon the shoulders; -- worn in Spain, Mexico, etc.
Martingal (n.) The act of doubling, at each stake, that which has been lost on the preceding stake; also, the sum so risked; -- metaphorically derived from the bifurcation of the martingale of a harness.
Martinmas (n.) The feast of St. Martin, the eleventh of November; -- often called martlemans.
Masturbation (n.) Onanism; self-pollution.
Mechoacan (n.) A species of jalap, of very feeble properties, said to be obtained from the root of a species of Convolvulus (C. Mechoacan); -- so called from Michoacan, in Mexico, whence it is obtained.
Melop/ia (n.) The art of forming melody; melody; -- now often used for a melodic passage, rather than a complete melody.
Mercurial (a.) Having the form or image of Mercury; -- applied to ancient guideposts.
Mercurial (a.) Of or pertaining to Mercury as the god of trade; hence, money-making; crafty.
Meropidan (n.) One of a family of birds (Meropidae), including the bee-eaters.
Metaphrase (n.) A verbal translation; a version or translation from one language into another, word for word; -- opposed to paraphrase.
Metasomatism (n.) An alteration in a mineral or rock mass when involving a chemical change of the substance, as of chrysolite to serpentine; -- opposed to ordinary metamorphism, as implying simply a recrystallization.
Middleman (n.) An agent between two parties; a broker; a go-between; any dealer between the producer and the consumer; in Ireland, one who takes land of the proprietors in large tracts, and then rents it out in small portions to the peasantry.
Mimetical () Characterized by mimicry; -- applied to animals and plants; as, mimetic species; mimetic organisms. See Mimicry.
Minuteman (n.) A militiaman who was to be ready to march at a moment's notice; -- a term used in the American Revolution.
Miscellane (n.) A mixture of two or more sorts of grain; -- now called maslin and meslin.
Misdemean (v. t.) To behave ill; -- with a reflexive pronoun; as, to misdemean one's self.
Mithridate (n.) An antidote against poison, or a composition in form of an electuary, supposed to serve either as a remedy or a preservative against poison; an alexipharmic; -- so called from King Mithridates, its reputed inventor.
Mizzenmast (n.) The hindmost mast of a three-masted vessel, or of a yawl-rigged vessel.
Monerula (n.) A germ in that stage of development in which its form is simply that of a non-nucleated mass of protoplasm. It precedes the one-celled germ. So called from its likeness to a moner.
Monodical (a.) Homophonic; -- applied to music in which the melody is confined to one part, instead of being shared by all the parts as in the style called polyphonic.
Motherland (n.) The country of one's ancestors; -- same as fatherland.
Mozzetta (n.) A cape, with a small hood; -- worn by the pope and other dignitaries of the Roman Catholic Church.
Mustaiba (n.) A close-grained, neavy wood of a brownish color, brought from Brazil, and used in turning, for making the handles of tools, and the like.
Myohaematin (n.) A red-colored respiratory pigment found associated with hemoglobin in the muscle tissue of a large number of animals, both vertebrate and invertebrate.
Nehushtan (n.) A thing of brass; -- the name under which the Israelites worshiped the brazen serpent made by Moses.
Nocturnal (a.) Of, pertaining to, done or occuring in, the night; as, nocturnal darkness, cries, expedition, etc.; -- opposed to diurnal.
Amyloplastic (a.) Starch-forming; amylogenic.
Autocatalysis (n.) Self-catalysis; catalysis of a substance by one of its own products, as of silver oxide by the silver formed by reduction of a small portion of it.
Calorisator (n.) An apparatus used in beet-sugar factories to heat the juice in order to aid the diffusion.
Chemiotaxis () The sensitiveness exhibited by small free-swimming organisms, as bacteria, zoospores of algae, etc., to chemical substances held in solution. They may be attracted (positive chemotaxis) or repelled (negative chemotaxis).
Christian Seneca () Joseph Hall (1574 -- 1656), Bishop of Norwich, a divine eminent as a moralist. Cinch (v. i.) To perform the action of cinching; to tighten the cinch; -- often with up.
Clydesdale terrier () One of a breed of small silky-haired terriers related to, but smaller than, the Skye terrier, having smaller and perfectly erect ears.
Comitiva (n.) A body of followers; -- applied to the lawless or brigand bands in Italy and Sicily.
Conductance (n.) Conducting power; -- the reciprocal of resistance. A suggested unit is the mho, the reciprocal of the ohm.
Demountable () Capable of being dismounted; -- said of a form of rim, for an automobile wheel, which can be removed with its tire from the wheel.
Diaspora (n.) Lit., "Dispersion." -- applied collectively: (a) To those Jews who, after the Exile, were scattered through the Old World, and afterwards to Jewish Christians living among heathen. Cf. James i. 1. (b) By extension, to Christians isolated from their own communion, as among the Moravians to those living, usually as missionaries, outside of the parent congregation.
Dictograph (n.) A telephonic instrument for office or other similar use, having a sound-magnifying device enabling the ordinary mouthpiece to be dispensed with. Much use has been made of it for overhearing, or for recording, conversations for the purpose of obtaining evidence for use in litigation.
Gibraltar (n.) A kind of candy sweetmeat, or a piece of it; -- called, in full, Gibraltar rock.
Heliography (n.) An early photographic process invented by Nicephore Niepce, and still used in photo-engraving. It consists essentially in exposing under a design or in a camera a polished metal plate coated with a preparation of asphalt, and subsequently treating the plate with a suitable solvent. The light renders insoluble those parts of the film which is strikes, and so a permanent image is formed, which can be etched upon the plate by the use of acid.
Hinterland (n.) The land or region lying behind the coast district. The term is used esp. with reference to the so-called doctrine of the hinterland, sometimes advanced, that occupation of the coast supports a claim to an exclusive right to occupy, from time to time, the territory lying inland of the coast. Holluschickie (n. sing. & pl.) A young male fur seal, esp. one from three to six years old; -- called also bachelor, because prevented from breeding by the older full-grow
Identical (a.) In diplomacy (esp. in the form identic), precisely agreeing in sentiment or opinion and form or manner of expression; -- applied to concerted action or language which is used by two or more governments in treating with another government.
Kulturkampf (n.) Lit., culture war; -- a name, originating with Virchow (1821 -- 1902), given to a struggle between the the Roman Catholic Church and the German government, chiefly over the latter's efforts to control educational and ecclesiastical appointments in the interest of the political policy of centralization. The struggle began with the passage by the Prussian Diet in May, 1873, of the so-called May laws, or Falk laws, aiming at the regulation of the clergy. Opposition eventually com>
Levorotation (n.) Rotation in the direction of an outgoing right-handed screw; counter-clockwise rotation; -- applied chiefly to the turning of the plane of polarization of light.
Melanoma (n.) Development of dark-pigmented tumors.
Multigraph (n.) A combined rotary type-setting and printing machine for office use. The type is transferred semi-automatically by means of keys from a type-supply drum to a printing drum. The printing may be done by means of an inked ribbon to print "typewritten" letters, or directly from inked type or a stereotype plate, as in a printing press.
Paranoia (n.) A chronic form of insanity characterized by very gradual impairment of the intellect, systematized delusion, and usually by delusious of persecution or mandatory delusions producing homicidal tendency. In its mild form paranoia may consist in the well-marked crotchetiness exhibited in persons commonly called "cranks." Paranoiacs usually show evidences of bodily and nervous degeneration, and many have hallucinations, esp. of sight and hearing.
Photoplay (n.) A play for representation or exhibition by moving pictures; also, the moving-picture representation of a play.
Pressboard (n.) A kind of highly sized rag paper or board, sometimes containing a small admixture of wood pulp; -- so called because used originally, as now, in presses for pressing and finishing knit underwear.
Psychanalysis (n.) A method or process of psychotherapeutic analysis based on the work of Dr. Sigmund Freud (1856- --) of Vienna. The method rests upon the theory that hysteria is characteristically due to repression of desires consciously rejected but subconsciously persistent; it consists in a close analysis of the patient's mental history, stress being laid upon the dream life, and of treatment by means of suggestion. Pucka (a.) Good of its kind; -- variously used as imply
Rejuvenated (p. a.) Stimulated by uplift to renewed erosive activity; -- said of streams.
Rejuvenated (p. a.) Developed with steep slopes inside a district previously worn down nearly to base level; -- said of topography, or features of topography, as valleys, hills, etc.
Ressaldar (n.) In the Anglo-Indian army, a native commander of a ressala.
Suberization (n.) Conversion of the cell walls into cork tissue by development of suberin; -- commonly taking place in exposed tissues, as when a callus forms over a wound. Suberized cell walls are impervious to water.
Thermotank (n.) A tank containing pipes through which circulates steam, water, air, or the like, for heating or cooling; -- used in some heating and ventilation systems.
Tolstoian (a.) Of or pertaining to Tolstoy (1828-1910).
Valorization (n.) Act or process of attempting to give an arbitrary market value or price to a commodity by governmental interference, as by maintaining a purchasing fund, making loans to producers to enable them to hold their products, etc.; -- used chiefly of such action by Brazil.
Victoria (n.) One of an American breed of medium-sized white hogs with a slightly dished face and very erect ears.
Whitehead (n.) A form of self-propelling torpedo.
Zwinglian (a.) Of or pertaining to Ulric Zwingli (1481-1531), the reformer of German Switzerland, who maintained that in the Lord's Supper the true body of Christ is present by the contemplation of faith but not in essence or reality, and that the sacrament is a memorial without mystical elements.
Obliterate (a.) Scarcely distinct; -- applied to the markings of insects.
Octocerata (n.pl.) A suborder of Cephalopoda including Octopus, Argonauta, and allied genera, having eight arms around the head; -- called also Octopoda.
Ocypodian (n.) One of a tribe of crabs which live in holes in the sand along the seashore, and run very rapidly, -- whence the name.
Officinal (a.) Kept in stock by apothecaries; -- said of such drugs and medicines as may be obtained without special preparation or compounding; not magistral.
Oligoclase (n.) A triclinic soda-lime feldspar. See Feldspar.
Operculated (a.) Having an operculum, or an apparatus for protecting the gills; -- said of shells and of fishes.
Ophiophagous (a.) Feeding on serpents; -- said of certain birds and reptiles.
Orangeman (n.) One of a secret society, organized in the north of Ireland in 1795, the professed objects of which are the defense of the regning sovereign of Great Britain, the support of the Protestant religion, the maintenance of the laws of the kingdom, etc.; -- so called in honor of William, Prince of Orange, who became William III. of England.
Orangetawny (a. & n.) Deep orange-yellow; dark yellow.
Orthoclastic (a.) Breaking in directions at right angles to each other; -- said of the monoclinic feldspars.
Orthognathous (a.) Having the front of the head, or the skull, nearly perpendicular, not retreating backwards above the jaws; -- opposed to prognathous. See Gnathic index, under Gnathic.
Outspread (v. t.) To spread out; to expand; -- usually as a past part. / adj.
Oxanillamide (n.) A white crystalPachonta (n.) A substance resembling gutta-percha, and used to adulterate it, obtained from the East Indian tree Isonandra acuminata.
Papaveraceous (a.) Of, pertaining to, or resembling, a natural order of plants (Papaveraceae) of which the poppy, the celandine, and the bloodroot are well-known examples.
Paraphrase (n.) A restatement of a text, passage, or work, expressing the meaning of the original in another form, generally for the sake of its clearer and fuller exposition; a setting forth the signification of a text in other and ampler terms; a free translation or rendering; -- opposed to metaphrase.
Passionate (a.) Capable or susceptible of passion, or of different passions; easily moved, excited or agitated; specifically, easily moved to anger; irascible; quick-tempered; as, a passionate nature.
Payndemain (n.) The finest and whitest bread made in the Middle Ages; -- called also paynemain, payman.
Perfoliate (a.) Having the basal part produced around the stem; -- said of leaves which the stem apparently passes directory through.
Perpetration (n.) The act of perpetrating; a doing; -- commonly used of doing something wrong, as a crime.
Perspicacious (a.) Having the power of seeing clearly; quick-sighted; sharp of sight.
Petechiae (n. pl.) Small crimson, purple, or livid spots, like flea-bites, due to extravasation of blood, which appear on the skin in malignant fevers, etc.
Petticoat (n.) A loose under-garment worn by women, and covering the body below the waist.
Pettychaps (n.) Any one of several species of small European singing birds of the subfamily Sylviinae, as the willow warbler, the chiff-chaff, and the golden warbler (Sylvia hortensis).
Phthongal (a.) Formed into, or characterized by, voice; vocalized; -- said of all the vowels and the semivowels, also of the vocal or sonant consonants g, d, b, l, r, v, z, etc.
Physalia (n.) A genus of large oceanic Siphonophora which includes the Portuguese man-of-war.
Piassava (n.) A fibrous product of two Brazilian palm trees (Attalea funifera and Leopoldinia Piassaba), -- used in making brooms, and for other purposes. Called also piacaba and piasaba.
Pistillate (a.) Having a pistil or pistils; -- usually said of flowers having pistils but no stamens.
Planoblast (n.) Any free-swimming gonophore of a hydroid; a hydroid medusa. Planorbis (n.) Any fresh-water air-breathing mollusk belonging to Planorbis and other allied genera, having shells of a discoidal form.
Plesiosauria (n. pl.) An extinct order of Mesozoic marine reptiles including the genera Plesiosaurus, and allied forms; -- called also Sauropterygia.
Plethora (n.) Overfullness; especially, excessive fullness of the blood vessels; repletion; that state of the blood vessels or of the system when the blood exceeds a healthy standard in quantity; hyperaemia; -- opposed to anaemia.
Pleurocarpous (a.) Side-fruited; -- said of those true mosses in which the pedicels or the capsules are from lateral archegonia; -- opposed to acrocarpous.
Polarization (n.) An effect produced upon the plates of a voltaic battery, or the electrodes in an electrolytic cell, by the deposition upon them of the gases liberated by the action of the current. It is chiefly due to the hydrogen, and results in an increase of the resistance, and the setting up of an opposing electro-motive force, both of which tend materially to weaken the current of the battery, or that passing through the cell.
Polygala (n.) A genus of bitter herbs or shrubs having eight stamens and a two-celled ovary (as the Seneca snakeroot, the flowering wintergreen, etc.); milkwort.
Porcellaneous (a.) Having a smooth, compact shell without pores; -- said of certain Foraminifera.
Porifera (n. pl.) A grand division of the Invertebrata, including the sponges; -- called also Spongiae, Spongida, and Spongiozoa. The principal divisions are Calcispongiae, Keratosa or Fibrospongiae, and Silicea.
Potential (n.) In the theory of gravitation, or of other forces acting in space, a function of the rectangular coordinates which determine the position of a point, such that its differential coefficients with respect to the coordinates are equal to the components of the force at the point considered; -- also called potential function, or force function. It is called also Newtonian potential when the force is directed to a fixed center and is inversely as the square of the distance from the cen>
Potential (n.) The energy of an electrical charge measured by its power to do work; hence, the degree of electrification as referred to some standard, as that of the earth; electro-motive force.
Preachman (n.) A preacher; -- so called in contempt.
Precisian (n.) An overprecise person; one rigidly or ceremoniously exact in the observance of rules; a formalist; -- formerly applied to the English Puritans.
Prelumbar (a.) Situated immediately in front of the loins; -- applied to the dorsal part of the abdomen.
Presentation (n.) The particular position of the child during labor relatively to the passage though which it is to be brought forth; -- specifically designated by the part which first appears at the mouth of the uterus; as, a breech presentation.
Preventative (n.) That which prevents; -- incorrectly used instead of preventive.
Priestcap (n.) A form of redan, so named from its shape; -- called also swallowtail.
Principal (n.) A leader, chief, or head; one who takes the lead; one who acts independently, or who has controlling authority or influence; as, the principal of a faction, a school, a firm, etc.; -- distinguished from a subordinate, abettor, auxiliary, or assistant.
Principal (n.) The chief actor in a crime, or an abettor who is present at it, -- as distinguished from an accessory.
Principal (n.) A chief obligor, promisor, or debtor, -- as distinguished from a surety.
Principal (n.) One who employs another to act for him, -- as distinguished from an agent.
Principal (n.) A capital sum of money, placed out at interest, due as a debt or used as a fund; -- so called in distinction from interest or profit.
Principal (n.) The construction which gives shape and strength to a roof, -- generally a truss of timber or iron, but there are roofs with stone principals. Also, loosely, the most important member of a piece of framing.
Proctorage (n.) Management by a proctor, or as by a proctor; hence, control; superintendence; -- in contempt.
Propitiatory (n.) The mercy seat; -- so called because a symbol of the propitiated Jehovah.
Protestant (v.) One who protests; -- originally applied to those who adhered to Luther, and protested against, or made a solemn declaration of dissent from, a decree of the Emperor Charles V. and the Diet of Spires, in 1529, against the Reformers, and appealed to a general council; -- now used in a popular sense to designate any Christian who does not belong to the Roman Catholic or the Greek Church.
Protestation (n.) Formerly, a declaration in common-law pleading, by which the party interposes an oblique allegation or denial of some fact, protesting that it does or does not exist, and at the same time avoiding a direct affirmation or denial.
Protoplasm (n.) The viscid and more or less granular material of vegetable and animal cells, possessed of vital properties by which the processes of nutrition, secretion, and growth go forward; the so-called " physical basis of life;" the original cell substance, cytoplasm, cytoblastema, bioplasm sarcode, etc.
Protoplast (n.) A first-formed organized body; the first individual, or pair of individuals, of a species.
Protoplasta (n. pl.) A division of fresh-water rhizopods including those that have a soft body and delicate branched pseudopodia. The genus Gromia is one of the best-known.
Protoplastic (a.) First-formed.
Pseudonavicula (n.) One of the minute spindle-shaped embryos of Gregarinae and some other Protozoa.
Pseudovary (n.) The organ in which pseudova are produced; -- called also pseudovarium.
Psychical (a.) Of or pertaining to the mind, or its functions and diseases; mental; -- contrasted with physical.
Pulmobranchiate (a. & n.) Same as Pulmonibranchiata, -ate.
Pursuivant (n.) A functionary of lower rank than a herald, but discharging similar duties; -- called also pursuivant at arms; an attendant of the heralds. Also used figuratively.
Quadrivalent (a.) Having a valence of four; capable of combining with, being replaced by, or compared with, four monad atoms; tetravalent; -- said of certain atoms and radicals; thus, carbon and silicon are quadrivalent elements.
Quadrivalve (a.) Dehiscent into four similar parts; four-valved; as, a quadrivalve pericarp.
Quadrumana (n. pl.) A division of the Primates comprising the apes and monkeys; -- so called because the hind foot is usually prehensile, and the great toe opposable somewhat like a thumb. Formerly the Quadrumana were considered an order distinct from the Bimana, which last included man alone.
Quaternary (a.) Later than, or subsequent to, the Tertiary; Post-tertiary; as, the Quaternary age, or Age of man.
Rallentando (a.) Slackening; -- a direction to perform a passage with a gradual decrease in time and force; ritardando.
Raptorial (a.) Rapacious; living upon prey; -- said especially of certain birds.
Raptorial (a.) Adapted for seizing prey; -- said of the legs, claws, etc., of insects, birds, and other animals.
Redoubtable (a.) Formidable; dread; terrible to foes; as, a redoubtable hero; hence, valiant; -- often in contempt or burlesque.
Redstreak (n.) A kind of apple having the skin streaked with red and yellow, -- a favorite English cider apple.
Regeneration (n.) The reproduction of a part which has been removed or destroyed; re-formation; -- a process especially characteristic of a many of the lower animals; as, the regeneration of lost feelers, limbs, and claws by spiders and crabs.
Regenerator (n.) A device used in connection with hot-air engines, gas-burning furnaces, etc., in which the incoming air or gas is heated by being brought into contact with masses of iron, brick, etc., which have been previously heated by the outgoing, or escaping, hot air or gas.
Registrant (n.) One who registers; esp., one who , by virtue of securing an official registration, obtains a certain right or title of possession, as to a trade-mark.
Reptilia (n. pl.) A class of air-breathing oviparous vertebrates, usually covered with scales or bony plates. The heart generally has two auricles and one ventricle. The development of the young is the same as that of birds.
Respectant (a.) Placed so as to face one another; -- said of animals.
Retitelae (n. pl.) A group of spiders which spin irregular webs; -- called also Retitelariae.
Retrograde (a.) Tending or moving backward; having a backward course; contrary; as, a retrograde motion; -- opposed to progressive.
Revestiary (n.) The apartment, in a church or temple, where the vestments, etc., are kept; -- now contracted into vestry.
Rhizophagous (a.) Feeding on roots; root-eating.
Rinforzando (a.) Increasing; strengthening; -- a direction indicating a sudden increase of force (abbreviated rf., rfz.) Cf. Forzando, and Sforzando.
Ringstraked (a.) Ring-streaked.
Rounceval (a.) Large; strong; -- from the gigantic bones shown at Roncesvalles, and alleged to be those of old heroes.
Saccholactate (n.) A salt of saccholactic acid; -- formerly called also saccholate.
Saddleback (a.) Same as Saddle-backed.
Saddleback (n.) Anything saddle-backed; esp., a hill or ridge having a concave outSaddleback (n.) The larva of a bombycid moth (Empretia stimulea) which has a large, bright green, saddle-shaped patch of color on the back. Saddled (a.) Having a broad patch of color across the back, like a saddle; saddle-backed.
Sanguinaceous (n.) Of a blood-red color; sanguine.
Sapucaia (n.) A Brazilian tree. See Lecythis, and Monkey-pot.
Sarcophagous (a.) Feeding on flesh; flesh-eating; carnivorous.
Sarcophagus (n.) A coffin or chest-shaped tomb of the kind of stone described above; hence, any stone coffin.
Sauerkraut (n.) Cabbage cut fine and allowed to ferment in a brine made of its own juice with salt, -- a German dish.
Schizocarp (n.) A dry fruit which splits at maturity into several closed one-seeded portions.
Sclerobase (n.) The calcareous or hornlike coral forming the central stem or axis of most compound alcyonarians; -- called also foot secretion. See Illust. under Gorgoniacea, and Coenenchyma.
Scutellated (a.) Having the tarsi covered with broad transverse scales, or scutella; -- said of certain birds.
Securipalp (n.) One of a family of beetles having the maxillary palpi terminating in a hatchet-shaped joint.
Segmentation (n.) The act or process of dividing into segments; specifically (Biol.), a self-division into segments as a result of growth; cell cleavage; cell multiplication; endogenous cell formation.
Semihoral (a.) Half-hourly.
Semolina (n.) The fine, hard parts of wheat, rounded by the attrition of the millstones, -- used in cookery.
Semuncia (n.) A Roman coin equivalent to one twenty-fourth part of a Roman pound.
Septifragal (a.) Breaking from the partitions; -- said of a method of dehiscence in which the valves of a pod break away from the partitions, and these remain attached to the common axis.
Serpentarius (n.) A constellation on the equator, lying between Scorpio and Hercules; -- called also Ophiuchus.
Sexradiate (a.) Having six rays; -- said of certain sponge spicules. See Illust. of Spicule.
Shillelah (n.) An oaken sapling or cudgel; any cudgel; -- so called from Shillelagh, a place in Ireland of that name famous for its oaks.
Shorthead (n.) A sucking whale less than one year old; -- so called by sailors.
Showbread (n.) Bread of exhibition; loaves to set before God; -- the term used in translating the various phrases used in the Hebrew and Greek to designate the loaves of bread which the priest of the week placed before the Lord on the golden table in the sanctuary. They were made of fine flour unleavened, and were changed every Sabbath. The loaves, twelve in number, represented the twelve tribes of Israel. They were to be eaten by the priests only, and in the Holy Place.
Sideromancy (n.) Divination by burning straws on red-hot iron, and noting the manner of their burning.
Sinistral (a.) Of or pertaining to the left, inclining to the left; sinistrous; -- opposed to dextral.
Sinistral (a.) Having the whorls of the spire revolving or rising to the left; reversed; -- said of certain spiral shells.
Snakehead (n.) A loose, bent-up end of one of the strap rails, or flat rails, formerly used on American railroads. It was sometimes so bent by the passage of a train as to slip over a wheel and pierce the bottom of a car.
Snakehead (n.) The Guinea-hen flower. See Snake's-head, and under Guinea.
Solifugae (n. pl.) A division of arachnids having large, powerful fangs and a segmented abdomen; -- called also Solpugidea, and Solpugides.
Spiritual (a.) Of or pertaining to the soul or its affections as influenced by the Spirit; controlled and inspired by the divine Spirit; proceeding from the Holy Spirit; pure; holy; divine; heavenly-minded; -- opposed to carnal.
Spiritualism (n.) The doctrine, in opposition to the materialists, that all which exists is spirit, or soul -- that what is called the external world is either a succession of notions impressed on the mind by the Deity, as maintained by Berkeley, or else the mere educt of the mind itself, as taught by Fichte.
Spirituality (n.) The quality or state of being spiritual; incorporeality; heavenly-mindedness.
Spiritualize (v. t.) To give a spiritual meaning to; to take in a spiritual sense; -- opposed to literalize.
Spiritualness (n.) The quality or state of being spiritual or spiritual-minded; spirituality.
Statoblast (n.) One of a peculiar kind of internal buds, or germs, produced in the interior of certain Bryozoa and sponges, especially in the fresh-water species; -- also called winter buds.
Steamboat (n.) A boat or vessel propelled by steam power; -- generally used of river or coasting craft, as distinguished from ocean steamers.
Steelhead (n.) A North Pacific salmon (Salmo Gairdneri) found from Northern California to Siberia; -- called also hardhead, and preesil.
Stereobate (n.) The lower part or basement of a building or pedestal; -- used loosely for several different forms of basement.
Stiacciato (n.) The lowest relief, -- often used in Italian sculpture of the 15th and 16th centuries.
Stonebrash (n.) A subsoil made up of small stones or finely-broken rock; brash.
Stonechat (n.) A small, active, and very common European singing bird (Pratincola rubicola); -- called also chickstone, stonechacker, stonechatter, stoneclink, stonesmith.
Suprabranchial (a.) Situated above the branchiae; -- applied especially to the upper division of the gill cavity of bivalve mollusks.
Supraclavicle (n.) A bone which usually connects the clavicle with the post-temporal in the pectorial arch of fishes.
Sweetmeat (n.) Fruit preserved with sugar, as peaches, pears, melons, nuts, orange peel, etc.; -- usually in the plural; a confect; a confection.
Synclinal (a.) Formed by strata dipping toward a common Tardigrada (a.) An order of minute aquatic arachnids; -- called also bear animalcules, sloth animalcules, and water bears.
Tardigrade (a.) Moving or stepping slowly; slow-paced.
Tardigradous (a.) Moving slowly; slow-paced.
Tasmanian (a.) Of or pertaining to Tasmania, or Van Diemen's Land. -- n. A native or inhabitant of Tasmania; specifically (Ethnol.), in the plural, the race of men that formerly inhabited Tasmania, but is now extinct.
Tectorial (a.) Of or pertaining to covering; -- applied to a membrane immediately over the organ of Corti in the internal ear.
Terneplate (a.) Thin iron sheets coated with an alloy of lead and tin; -- so called because made up of three metals.
Theorica (n. pl.) Public moneys expended at Athens on festivals, sacrifices, and public entertainments (especially theatrical performances), and in gifts to the people; -- also called theoric fund. Thereby (adv.) Thereabout; -- said of place, number, etc.
Theriaca (n.) An ancient composition esteemed efficacious against the effects of poison; especially, a certain compound of sixty-four drugs, prepared, pulverized, and reduced by means of honey to an electuary; -- called also theriaca Andromachi, and Venice treacle.
Thickhead (n.) A thick-headed or stupid person.
Thickhead (n.) Any one of several species of Australian singing birds of the genus Pachycephala. The males of some of the species are bright-colored. Some of the species are popularly called thrushes. Thiller (n.) The horse which goes between the thills, or shafts, and supports them; also, the last horse in a team; -- called also thill horse.
Tittlebat (n.) The three-spined stickleback.
Trachycarpous (a.) Rough-fruited.
Traducianism (n.) The doctrine that human souls are produced by the act of generation; -- opposed to creationism, and infusionism.
Trichomanes (n.) Any fern of the genus Trichomanes. The fronds are very delicate and often translucent, and the sporangia are borne on threadlike receptacles rising from the middle of cup-shaped marginal involucres. Several species are common in conservatories; two are native in the United States.
Trichomatose (a.) Affected with a disease which causes agglutination and matting together; -- said of the hair when affected with plica. See Plica, 1.
Tricostate (a.) Three-ribbed; having three ribs from the base.
Tridentated (a.) Having three teeth; three-toothed.
Tridiapason (n.) A triple octave, or twenty-second.
Trinervate (a.) Having three ribs or nerves extending unbranched from the base to the apex; -- said of a leaf.
Trinomial (n.) A quantity consisting of three terms, connected by the sign + or -; as, x + y + z, or ax + 2b - c2.
Tripinnatifid (a.) Thrice pinnately cleft; -- said of a pinnatifid leaf when its segments are pinnatifid, and the subdivisions of these also are pinnatifid.
Tripodian (n.) An ancient stringed instrument; -- so called because, in form, it resembled the Delphic tripod.
Trisacramentarian (n.) One who recognizes three sacraments, and no more; -- namely, baptism, the Lord's Supper, and penance. See Sacrament.
Trisoctahedron (n.) A solid of the isometric system bounded by twenty-four equal faces, three corresponding to each face of an octahedron.
Trisulcate (a.) Having three furrows, forks, or prongs; having three grooves or sulci; three-grooved.
Trisyllable (n.) A word consisting of three syllables only; as, a-ven-ger.
Triternate (a.) Three times ternate; -- applied to a leaf whose petiole separates into three branches, each of which divides into three parts which each bear three leafiets.
Tubipora (n.) A genus of halcyonoids in which the skeleton, or coral (called organ-pipe coral), consists of a mass of parallel cylindrical tubes united at intervals by transverse plates. These corals are usually red or purple and form large masses. They are natives of the tropical parts of the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
Tulipomania (n.) A violent passion for the acquisition or cultivation of tulips; -- a word said by Beckman to have been coined by Menage.
Umbilicated (a.) Depressed in the middle, like a navel, as a flower, fruit, or leaf; navel-shaped; having an umbilicus; as, an umbilicated smallpox vesicle.
Umbilication (n.) A slight, navel-like depression, or dimpling, of the center of a rounded body; as, the umbilication of a smallpox vesicle; also, the condition of being umbilicated.
Umbrella (n.) Any marine tectibranchiate gastropod of the genus Umbrella, having an umbrella-shaped shell; -- called also umbrella shell.
Underglaze (a.) Applied under the glaze, that is, before the glaze, that is, before the glaze is put on; fitted to be so applied; -- said of colors in porcelain painting.
Undersparred (a.) Having spars smaller than the usual dimension; -- said of vessels.
Unicostate (a.) Having a single rib or strong nerve running upward from the base; -- said of a leaf.
Unicursal (a.) That can be passed over in a single course; -- said of a curve when the coordinates of the point on the curve can be expressed as rational algebraic functions of a single parameter /.
Uniseptate (a.) Having but one septum, or partition; -- said of two-celled fruits, such as the silicles of cruciferous plants.
Unisexual (a.) Having one sex only, as plants which have the male and female flowers on separate individuals, or animals in which the sexes are in separate individuals; di/cious; -- distinguished from bisexual, or hermaphrodite. See Di/cious.
Universal (a.) Of or pertaining to the universe; extending to, including, or affecting, the whole number, quantity, or space; unlimited; general; all-reaching; all-pervading; as, universal ruin; universal good; universal benevolence or benefice.
Universal (a.) Forming the whole of a genus; relatively unlimited in extension; affirmed or denied of the whole of a subject; as, a universal proposition; -- opposed to particular; e. g. (universal affirmative) All men are animals; (universal negative) No men are omniscient.
Universality (n.) The quality or state of being universal; unlimited extension or application; generality; -- distinguished from particularity; as, the unversality of a proposition; the unversality of sin; the unversality of the Deluge.
Urohaematin (n.) Urinary haematin; -- applied to the normal coloring matter of the urine, on the supposition that it is formed either directly or indirectly (through bilirubin) from the haematin of the blood. See Urochrome, and Urobilin.
Utricular (a.) Resembling a utricle or bag, whether large or minute; -- said especially with reference to the condition of certain substances, as sulphur, selenium, etc., when condensed from the vaporous state and deposited upon cold bodies, in which case they assume the form of small globules filled with liquid.
Vasodilator (a.) Causing dilation or relaxation of the blood vessels; as, the vasodilator nerves, stimulation of which causes dilation of the blood vessels to which they go. These nerves are also called vaso-inhibitory, and vasohypotonic nerves, since their stimulation causes relaxation and rest.
Veridical (a.) Truth-telling; truthful; veracious.
Vertebrally (adv.) At or within a vertebra or vertebrae; -- distinguished from interverterbrally.
Vertebrarterial (a.) Of or pertaining to a vertebrae and an artery; -- said of the foramina in the transverse processes of cervical vertebrae and of the canal which they form for the vertebral artery and vein.
Vertebrated (a.) Having movable joints resembling vertebrae; -- said of the arms ophiurans.
Vertebrated (a.) Of or pertaining to the Vertebrata; -- used only in the form vertebrate.
Vibrissa (n.) One of the specialized or tactile hairs which grow about the nostrils, or on other parts of the face, in many animals, as the so-called whiskers of the cat, and the hairs of the nostrils of man.
Victoria (n.) A genus of aquatic plants named in honor of Queen Victoria. The Victoria regia is a native of Guiana and Brazil. Its large, spreading leaves are often over five feet in diameter, and have a rim from three to five inches high; its immense rose-white flowers sometimes attain a diameter of nearly two feet.
Victoria (n.) A kind of low four-wheeled pleasure carriage, with a calash top, designed for two persons and the driver who occupies a high seat in front.
Victoria (n.) An asteroid discovered by Hind in 1850; -- called also Clio.
Viscacha (n.) Alt. of Viz-cacha Viscus (n.) One of the organs, as the brain, heart, or stomach, in the great cavities of the body of an animal; -- especially used in the plural, and applied to the organs contained in the abdomen.
Vivipara (n. pl.) An artificial division of vertebrates including those that produce their young alive; -- opposed to Ovipara.
Vocabulary (n.) A list or collection of words arranged in alphabetical order and explained; a dictionary or lexicon, either of a whole language, a single work or author, a branch of science, or the like; a word-book.
Wallerian degeneration () A form of degeneration occurring in nerve fibers as a result of their division; -- so called from Dr. Waller, who published an account of it in 1850. Wallflower (n.) A perennial, cruciferous plant (Cheiranthus Cheiri), with sweet-scented flowers varying in color from yellow to orange and deep red. In Europe it very common on old walls. Wamble (v. i.) To heave; to be disturbed by nausea; -- said of the stomach.
Waterleaf (n.) Any plant of the American genus Hydrophyllum, herbs having white or pale blue bell-shaped flowers.
Waterscape (n.) A sea view; -- distinguished from landscape.
Weighbeam (n.) A kind of large steelyard for weighing merchandise; -- also called weighmaster's beam.
Whitebeam (n.) The common beam tree of England (Pyrus Aria); -- so called from the white, woolly under surface of the leaves. Whitecap (n.) The European redstart; -- so called from its white forehead.
Whitehead (n.) The blue-winged snow goose.
Withernam (n.) A second or reciprocal distress of other goods in lieu of goods which were taken by a first distress and have been eloigned; a taking by way of reprisal; -- chiefly used in the expression capias in withernam, which is the name of a writ used in connection with the action of replevin (sometimes called a writ of reprisal), which issues to a defendant in replevin when he has obtained judgment for a return of the chattels replevied, and fails to obtain them on the writ of return.
Xanthoma (n.) A skin disease marked by the development or irregular yellowish patches upon the skin, especially upon the eyelids; -- called also xanthelasma.
Xiphiplastron (n.) The posterior, or fourth, lateral plate in the plastron of turtles; -- called also xiphisternum.
Yellowtail (n.) Any one of several species of marine carangoid fishes of the genus Seriola; especially, the large California species (S. dorsalis) which sometimes weighs thirty or forty pounds, and is highly esteemed as a food fish; -- called also cavasina, and white salmon.
Yesterday (adv.) On the day last past; on the day preceding to-day; as, the affair took place yesterday.
About the author
Mark McCracken
Author: Mark McCracken is a corporate trainer and author living in Higashi Osaka, Japan. He is the author of thousands of online articles as well as the Business English textbook, "25 Business Skills in English".
Copyright © 2011 by Mark McCracken, All Rights Reserved.
About the author
|
| Mark McCrackenAuthor: Mark McCracken is a corporate trainer and author living in Higashi Osaka, Japan. He is the author of thousands of online articles as well as the Business English textbook, "25 Business Skills in English".
|