Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary
CAVERNED — CENSUAL
CAVERNED, a.
1. Full of caverns, or deep chasms; having caverns.
2. Inhabiting a cavern.
CAVERNOUS, a. Hollow; full of caverns.
CAVERNULOUS, a. Full of little cavities; as cavernulous metal.
CAVETTO, n. In architecture, a hollow member, or round concave molding, containing the quadrant of a circle; used as an ornament in cornices.
CAVEZON, CAVESSON, n. A sort of nose-band, of iron, leather or wood, sometimes flat, and sometimes hollow or twisted, which is put on the nose of a horse to wring it, and thus to forward the suppling and breaking of him.
CAVIAR, n. The roes of certain large fish, prepared and salted. The best is made from the roes of the sterlet, sturgeon, sevruga, and beluga, caught in the lakes of rivers of Russia. The roes are put into a bag with a strong brine, and pressed by wringing, and then dried and put in casks, or into cisterns, perforated at bottom, where they are pressed by heavy weights. The poorest sort is trodden with the feet.
CAVIL, v.i.
1. To raise captious and frivolous objections; to find fault without good reason; followed by at.
It is better to reason than to cavil.
2. To advance futile objections, or to frame sophisms, for the sake of victory in an argument.
CAVIL, v.t. To receive or treat with objections.
Wilt thou enjoy the good. Then civil the conditions.
CAVIL, n. False or frivolous objections; also, a fallacious kind of reason, bearing some resemblance to truth, advanced for the sake of victory.
CAVILER, n. One who cavils; one who is apt to raise captious objections; a captious disputant.
CAVILING, ppr. Raising frivolous objections.
CAVILINGLY, adv. In a caviling manner.
CAVILLATION, n. The act or practice of caviling, or raising frivolous objections.
CAVILOUS, a. Captious; unfair in argument; apt to object without good reason.
CAVILOUSLY, adv. In a cavilous manner; captiously.
CAVILOUSNESS, n. Captiousness; disposition or aptitude to raise frivolous objections.
CAVIN, n. In the military art, a hollow way or natural hollow, adapted to cover troops and facilitate their approach to a place.
CAVITY, n. A hollow place; hollowness; an opening; as the cavity of the mouth or throat. This is a word of very general signification.
CAVOLINITE, n. A newly discovered Vesuvain mineral, of a hexahedral form, occurring in the interior of calcarious balls, accompanied with garnets, idocrase, mica, and granular pyroxene, lining the cavity of the geode, etc.
CAVY, n. A genus of quadrupeds, holding a middle place between the murine and leporine tribes.
CAW, v.i. To cry like a crow, rook or raven.
CAXOU, n. A chest of ores of any metal that has been burnt, ground and washed, and is ready to be refined.
CAYMAN, n. An animal of the genus Lacerta, found in the West Indies, the alligator.
CAZIC, CAZIQUE, n. The title of a king or chief among several tribes of Indians in America.
CEASE, v.i.
1. To stop moving, acting or speaking; to leave of; to give over; followed by from before a noun.
It is an honor for a man to cease from strife. Proverbs 20:3.
2. To fail; to be wanting.
The poor shall never cease out of the land. Deuteronomy 15:11.
3. To stop; to be at an end; as, the wonder ceases; the storm has ceased.
4. To be forgotten.
I would make the remembrance of them to cease. Deuteronomy 32:26.
5. To abstain; as, cease from anger. Psalm 37:8.
To cease from labor, is to rest; to cease from strife, is to be quiet; but in such phrases, the sense of cease is not varied.
CEASE, v.t. To put a stop to; to put an end to. Cease this impious rage. [But in this use the phrase is generally elliptical,]
CEASE, n. Extinction.
CEASELESS, a.
1. Without a stop or pause; incessant; continual; without intermission.
All these with ceaseless praise his works behold.
2. Endless; enduring for ever; as the ceaseless joys of heaven.
CEASELESSLY, adv. Incessantly; perpetually.
CEASING, ppr. Stopping; ending; desisting; failing.
CECCHN, n. A coin of Italy and Barbary. [See Zechin.]
CECITY, n. Blindness.
CEDAR, n. A tree. This name is given to different species of the juniper, and to a species of Pinus. The latter is that which is mentioned in scripture. It is an evergreen, grows to a great size, and is remarkable for its durability.
CEDAR-LIKE, a. Resembling a cedar.
CEDARN, a. Pertaining to the cedar.
CEDE, v.t.
1. To yield; to surrender; to give up; to resign; as to cede a fortress, a province or country, by treaty. This word is appropriately used to denote the relinquishment of a conquered city, fortress, or territory, to the former sovereign or proprietor.
2. To relinquish and grant; as, to cede all claims to a disputed right or territory.
The people must cede to the government some of their natural rights.
CEDED, pp. Yielded; surrendered; given up.
CEDING, ppr. Yielding; giving up.
CEDRAT, n. A species of citron-tree.
CEDRINE, a. Belonging to cedar.
CEDRY, a. Having the color or properties of cedar.
CEDUOUS, a. Fit to be felled.
CEIL, v.t. To overlay or cover the inner roof of a building; or to cover the top or roof of a room.
And the greater house he ceiled with fir-tree. 2 Chronicles 3:5.
CEILED, pp. Overlaid with timber, or with plastering.
CEILING, ppr. Covering the top of a room or building.
CEILING, n.
1. The covering which overlays the inner roof of a building, or the timbers which form the top of a room. This covering may be of boards, or of lath and plastering. Hence ceiling is used for the upper part of a room.
2. In ship building, the inside planks of a ship.
CELANDINE, n. A plant, swallow-wort, horned or prickly poppy, growing on old walls, among rubbish, and in waste places. The lesser celandine is called pile-wort, a species of Ranunculus. The name is also given to the Bocconia, a plant of the West Indies, called the greater tree-celandine. The true orthography would be Chelidine.
CELATURE, n.
1. The act or art of engraving or embossing.
2. That which is engraved.
CELEBRATE, v.t.
1. To praise; to extol; to commend; to give to; to make famous; as, to celebrate the name of the Most High.
The grave cannot celebrate thee. Isaiah 38:18.
2. To distinguish by solemn rites; to keep holy.
From even to even shall ye celebrate your Sabbath. Leviticus 23:32.
3. To honor or distinguish by ceremonies and marks of joy and respect; as, to celebrate the birth day of Washington; to celebrate a marriage.
4. To mention in a solemn manner, whether of joy or sorrow.
CELEBRATED, pp. Praised; extolled; honored.
CELEBRATING, ppr. Praising; honoring.
CELEBRATION, n.
1. Solemn performance; a distinguishing by solemn rites; as the celebration of a marriage, or of a religious festival.
2. A distinguishing by ceremonies, or by marks of joy or respect; as the celebration of a birth day, or other anniversary.
3. Praise; renown; honor or distinction bestowed, whether by songs, eulogies, or rites and ceremonies.
CELEBRATOR, n. One who celebrates.
CELEBRIOUS, a. Famous; renowned.
CELEBRIOUSLY, adv. With praise or renown.
CELEBRIOUSNESS, n. Fame; renown.
CELEBRITY, n.
1. Fame; renown; the distinction or honor publicly bestowed on a nation or person, on character or exploits; the distinction bestowed on whatever is great or remarkable, and manifested by praises or eulogies; as the celebrity of the duke of Wellington; the celebrity of Homer, or of the Iliad.
England acquired celebrity from the triumphs of Marlborough.
2. Public and splendid transaction; as the celebrity of a marriage. In this sense, as used by Bacon, we now use celebration.
CELERI. [See Celery.]
CELE-RIAC, n. A variety of celery, called also the turnep-rooted celery. [See Celery.]
CELERITY, n.
1. Rapidity in motion; swiftness; speed; applied most generally to bodies moving on or near the earth; as the celerity of horse or of a fowl. We speak of the velocity of sound or of light, or of a planet in its orbit. This distinction however is not general, nor can the different uses of the two words be precisely defined. We apply celerity rather than velocity to thought; but there seems to be no reason, except usage, why the two words should not be synonymous.
2. An affection of motion by which a movable body runs through a given space in a given time.
CELERY, n. A plant, a species of Apium cultivated for the table.
CELESTIAL, a.
1. Heavenly; belonging or relating to heaven; dwelling in heaven; as celestial spirits; celestial joys. Hence the word conveys the idea of superior excellence, delight, purity, etc.
2. Belonging to the upper regions, or visible heaven; as celestial signs; the celestial globe.
3. Descending from heaven; as a suit of celestial armor.
CELESTIAL, n. An inhabitant of heaven.
CELESTIALLY, adv. In a heavenly or transporting manner.
CELESTIFY, v.t. To communicate something of a heavenly nature to any thing.
CELESTIN, CELESTINE, n. In mineralogy, native sulphate of strontian, a mineral so named from its occasional delicate blue color.
CELESTINS, n. A religious order, so named from Pope Celestin. They have ninety-six convents in Italy, and twenty-one in France. They rise two hours after midnight to say matins. They eat no flesh, except when sick, and fast often. Their habit is a white gown, a capuche and a black scapulary.
CELIAC, a. Pertaining to the lower belly, or intestines.
CELIBACY, n. An unmarried state; a single life. It is most frequently if not always applied to males, or to a voluntary single life.
They look on celibacy as an accursed state.
CELIBATE, n. A single life; celibacy; chiefly used when speaking of the single life of the Popish clergy.
CELL, n.
1. A small or close apartment, as in a prison, or a bath.
2. A cottage; a cave; a small or mean place of residence.
3. A small cavity or hollow place, variously applied; as the cells of the brain; the cells of a honey comb, etc.
4. In botany, a hollow place in a pericarp, particularly in a capsule, in which seeds are lodged. According to the number of these cells, pericarps are called unilocular, bilocular, trilocular, etc.
5. In anatomy, a little bag, or bladder, containing fluid or other matter; as the adipose cells, containing fat.
6. A religious house.
CELLAR, n. A room under a house or other building, used as a repository of liquors, provisions, and other stores for a family.
CELLARAGE, n. A case of cabinet work, for holding bottles of liquors.
CELLARIST, CELLARER, n. An officer in a monastery who has the care of the cellar, or the charge of procuring and keeping the provisions; also, an officer in chapters, who has the care of the temporals, and particularly of distributing bread, wine, and money to canons, an account of their attendance in the choir.
CELLIFEROUS, a. Bearing or producing cells.
CELLULAR, a. Consisting of cells, or containing cells.
The cellular membrane, in animal bodies, is composed of an infinite number of minute cells, communicating with each other. It invests every fiber, and seems to be the medium of connection between all parts of the body. The cells serve as reservoirs for fat.
CELLULIFEROUS, a. Bearing or producing little cells.
CELSITUDE, n. Highth; elevation.
CELT, n. One of the primitive inhabitants of the South of Europe. [see Celtic.]
CELTIBERIAN, a. Pertaining to Celtiberia, and its inhabitants, the Celtiberi, or Celts of the Iberus, a river in Spain.
CELTIBERIAN, n. An inhabitant of Celtiberia.
CELTIC, a. Pertaining to the primitive inhabitants of the South and West of Europe, or to the early inhabitants of Italy, Gaul, Spain and Britain. We say, Celtic nations; Celtic customs; Celtic origin.
CELTIC, n. The language of the Celts.
CELTICISM, n. The manners and customs of the Celts.
CELTIS, n. The nettle-tree, of several species; among which are the australis or southern, a native of Africa and the South of Europe; the oriental, growing an Armenia and Taurica; and the western, growing in Virginia.
CEMENT, n.
1. Any glutinous or other substance capable of uniting bodies in close cohesion, as mortar, glue, soder, etc. In building, cement denotes a stronger kind of mortar than that which is ordinarily used.
2. Bond of union; that which unites firmly, as persons in friendship, or men in society.
3. Powders or pastes, surrounding bodies in pots and crucibles, for chimical purposes.
CEMENT, v.t. To unite by the application of glutinous substances, by mortar which hardens, or other matter that produces cohesion of bodies.
2. To unite firmly or closely; as, to cement all parts of the community; to cement friendship.
CEMENT, v.t. To unite or become solid; to unite and cohere.
CEMENTATION, n.
1. The act of cementing; the act of uniting by a suitable substance.
2. In chimistry, the act of applying cements to substances, or the corroding and changing of them by cement. This is done by surrounding them with the powder of another body, and exposing them, in a close vessel, to a heat not sufficient to fuse them.
CEMENTATORY, a. Cementing; having the quality of uniting firmly.
CEMENTED, pp. United by cement; changed by cement; firmly united; consolidated.
CEMENTER, n. The person or thing that cements.
CEMENTING, ppr. Uniting by cement; changing by means of a cement; uniting closely; consolidating.
CEMENTITIOUS, a. Having the quality of cementing.
CEMETERY, n. A place where the dead bodies of human beings are buried.
CENATORY, a. Pertaining or relating to supper.
CENOBITE, n. One of a religious order, who live in a convent, or in community; in opposition to an anchoret, or hermit, who lives in solitude.
CENOBITIC, CENOBITICAL, a. Living in community, as men belonging to a convent.
CENOBY, n. A place where person live in community.
CENOTAPH, n. An empty tomb erected in honor of some deceased person; a monument erected to one who is buried elsewhere.
CENSE, n.
1. A public rate or tax.
2. Condition; rank.
CENSE, v.t. To perfume with odors from burning substances.
CENSER, n. A vase or pan in which incense is burned. Among the Jews, a kind of chafing-dish, covered by a dome, and suspended by a chain, used to offer perfumes in sacrifices.
CENSING, ppr. Perfuming with odors.
CENSION, n. A rate, tax, or assessment.
CENSOR, n.
1. An officer, in ancient Rome, whose business was to register the effects of the citizens, to impose taxes according to the property which each man possessed, and to inspect the manners of the citizens, with power to censure vice and immorality, by inflicting a public mark of ignominy on the offender.
2. One who is empowered to examine all manuscripts and books, before they are committed to the press, and to see that they contain nothing heretical or immoral.
3. One who is given to censure.
CENSORIAL, CENSORIAN, a.
1. Belonging to a censor, or to the correction of public morals; as, censorial power.
2. Full of censure; See Censorious, the proper word.
CENSORIOUS, a.
1. Addicted to censure; apt to blame or condemn; severe in making remarks on others, or on their writings or manners; often implying ill-nature, illiberality, or uncharitableness; as a censorious critic.
2. Implying or expressing censure; as, censorious remarks.
CENSORIOUSLY, adv. In a censorious manner.
CENSORIOUSNESS, n.
1. Disposition to blame and condemn; the habit o censuring or reproaching.
2. The quality of being censorious.