Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary
ADDERS-GRASS — ADJUDICATED
ADDER’S-GRASS, n. A plant about which serpents lurk.
ADDER’S-TONGUE, n. A plant whose seeds are produced on a spike resembling a serpent’s tongue.
ADDER’S-WORT, n. Snakeweed, so named from its supposed virtue in curing the bite of serpent.
ADDIBILITY, n. The possibility of being added.
ADDIBLE, a. [See Add.] That may be added.
ADDICE, Obs. [See Adz.]
ADDICT, a. Addicted. [Not much used.]
ADDICT, v.t. [L. addico, to devote, from ad and dico, to dedicate.]
To apply one’s self habitually; to devote time and attention by customary or constant practice; sometimes in a good sense.
They have addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints. 1 Corinthians 16:15.
More usually, in a bad sense, to follow customarily, or devote, by habitually practicing that which is ill; as, a man is addicted to intemperance.
To addict one’s self to a person, a sense borrowed from the Romans, who used the word for assigning debtors in service to their creditors, is found in Ben Jonson, but is not legitimate in English.
ADDICTED, pp. Devoted by customary practice.
ADDICTEDNESS, n. The quality or state of being addicted.
ADDICTING, ppr. Devoting time and attention; practicing customarily.
ADDICTION, n.
1. The act of devoting or giving up in practice; the state of being devoted.
His addiction was to courses vain.
2. Among the Romans, a making over goods to another by sale or legal sentence; also an assignment of debtors in service in their creditors.
ADDING, ppr. Joining; putting together; increasing.
ADDITAMENT, n. [L. additamentum, from additus and ment. See Add.]
An addition, or rather the thing added, as furniture in a house; any material mixed with the principal ingredient in a compound. Ancient anatomists gave the name to an epiphysis, or junction of bones without articulation. [Little used in either sense.]
ADDITION, n. [L. additio, from addo.]
1. The act of adding, opposed to subtraction, or diminution; as, a sum is increased by addition.
2. Any thing added, whether material or immaterial.
3. In arithmetic, the uniting of two or more numbers in one sum; also the rule or branch of arithmetic which treats of adding numbers. Simple addition is the joining of sums of the same denomination, as pounds to pounds, dollars to dollars. Compound addition is the joining of sums of different denominations, as dollars and cents.
4. In law, a title annexed to a man’s name, to show his rank, occupation or place of residence; as John Doe, Esq.; Richard Roe, Gent; Robert Dale, Mason; Thomas Way, of New York.
5. In music, a dot at the side of a note, to lengthen its sound one half.
6. In heraldry, something added to a coat of arms, as a mark of honor, opposed to abatements, as bordure, quarter, canton, gyron, pile, etc. See these terms.
7. In distilling, any thing added to the wash or liquor in a state of fermentation.
8. In popular language, an advantage, ornament, improvement; that is, an addition by way of eminence.
ADDITIONAL, a. That is added. it is used by Bacon for addition; but improperly.
ADDITIONALLY, adv. By way of addition.
ADDITIVE, a. That may be added, or that is to be added.
ADDITORY, a. That adds, or may add.
ADDLE, a. [Heb. to fail.]
In a morbid state; putrid; applied to eggs.
Hence, barren, producing nothing.
His brains grow addle.
ADDLED, a. Morbid, corrupt, putrid, or barren.
ADDLE-PATED, a. Having empty brains.
ADDOOM, v.t. [See Doom.] To adjudge.
ADDORSED, a. [L. ad and dorsum, the back.]
In heraldry, having the backs turned to each other, as beasts.
ADDRESS, v.t. [This is supposed to be from L. dirigo.]
1. To prepare; to make suitable dispositions for.
Turnus addressed his men to single fight.
2. To direct words or discourse; to apply to by words; as, to address a discourse to an assembly; to address the judges.
3. To direct in writing; as a letter; or to direct and transmit; as he addressed a letter to the speaker. Sometimes it is used with the reciprocal pronoun, as, he addressed himself to the speaker, instead of, he addressed his discourse. The phrase is faulty; but less so than the following. To such I would address with this most affectionate petition.
Young Turnus to the beauteous maid aldrest.
The latter is admissible in poetry, as an elliptical phrase.
4. To present an address, as a letter of thanks or congratulation, a petition, or a testimony of respect; as, the legislature addressed the president.
5. To court or make suit as a lover.
6. In commerce, to consign or entrust to the care of another, as agent or factor; as, the ship was addressed to a merchant in Baltimore.
ADDRESS, n.
1. A speaking to; verbal application; a formal manner of speech; as, when introduced, the president made a short address.
2. A written or formal application; a message of respect, congratulation, thanks, petition, etc.; as, an address of thanks; an officer is removable upon the address of both houses of assembly.
3. Manner of speaking to another; as, a man of pleasing address.
4. Courtship; more generally in the plural, addresses; as, he makes or pays his addresses to a lady.
5. Skill; dexterity; skillful management; as, the envoy conducted the negotiation with address.
6. Direction of a letter, including the name, title, and place of residence of the person for whom it is intended. hence these particulars are denominated, a man’s address.
ADDRESSED, pp. Spoken or applied to; directed; courted; consigned.
ADDRESSER, n. One who addresses or petitions.
ADDRESSING, ppr. Speaking or applying to, directing; courting; consigning.
ADDUCE, v.t. [L. adduco, to lead or bring to; ad and duco, to lead. See Duke.]
1. To bring forward, present or offer; as, a witness was adduced to prove the fact.
2. To cite, name or introduce; as, to adduce an authority or an argument.
ADDUCED, pp. Brought forward; cited; alledged in argument.
ADDUCENT, a. Bringing forward, or together; a word applied to those muscles of the body which pull one part towards another. [See Adductor.]
ADDUCIBLE, a. That may be adduced.
ADDUCING, ppr. Bringing forward; citing in argument.
ADDUCTION, n. The act of bringing forward.
ADDUCTIVE, a. That brings forward.
ADDUCTOR, n. [L.]
A muscle which draws one part of the body towards another; as the adductor oculi, which turns the eye towards the nose; the adductor pollicis manus, which draws the thumb towards the fingers.
ADDULCE, v.t. adduls’. [L. ad and dulcis, sweet.]
To sweeten. [Not used.]
ADEB, n. An Egyptian weight of 210 okes, each of three rotolos, which is a weight of about two drams less than the English pound. But at Rosetta, the adeb is only 150 okes.
ADELANTADO, n. A governor of a province; a lieutenant governor.
ADELING, n. A title of honor given by our Saxon ancestors to the children of princes, and to young nobles. It is composed of adel, or rather athel, the Teutonic term for noble, illustrious, and ling, young posterity.
ADELITE, n. adelites or Almogenens, in Spain, were conjurers, who predicted the fortunes of individuals by the flight and singing of birds, and other accidental circumstances.
ADEMPTION, n. [L. adimo, to take away; of ad and emo, to take.]
In the civil law, the revocation of a grant, donation, or the like.
ADENOGRAPHY, n. [Gr. a gland, and to describe.]
That part of anatomy which treats of the glands.
ADENOID, a. [Gr. a gland, and form.]
In the form of a gland; glandiform; glandulous; applied to the prostate glands.
ADENOLOGICAL, a. Pertaining to the doctrine of the glands.
ADENOLOGY, n. [Gr. a gland, and discourse.]
In anatomy, the doctrine of the glands, their nature, and their uses.
ADENOS, n. A species of cotton, from Aleppo, called also marine cotton.
ADEPT, n. [L. adeptus, obtained, from adipiscor.]
One fully skilled or well versed in any art. The term is borrowed from the Alchimists, who applied it to one who pretended to have found the philosopher’s stone, or the panacea.
ADEPT, a. Well skilled; completely versed or acquainted with.
ADEPTION, n. [L. adeptio.]
An obtaining; acquirement. Obs.
ADEQUACY, n. [L. adaequatus, of ad and aquatus, made equal.]
The state or quality of being equal to, proportionate, or sufficient; a sufficiency for a particular purpose; as, “the adequacy of supply to the expenditure.”
ADEQUATE, a. Equal; proportionate; correspondent to; fully sufficient; as, means adequate to the object; we have no adequate ideas of infinite power.
Adequate ideas, are such as exactly represent their object.
ADEQUATE, v.t. To resemble exactly. [Not used.]
ADEQUATELY, adv. In an adequate manner; in exact proportion; with just correspondence, representation, or proportion; in a degree equal to the object.
ADEQUATENESS, n. The state of being adequate; justness of proportion or representation; sufficiency.
ADEQUATION, n. Adequateness. [not used.]
ADESSENARIANS, n. [L. adesse, to be present.]
In church history, a sect who hold the real presence of Christ’s body in the eucharist, but not by transubstantiation. They differ however as to this presence; some holding the body of Christ to be in the bread; others, about the bread.
ADFECTED, a. In algebra, compounded; consisting of different powers of the unknown quantity.
ADFILIATED, a. Adopted as a son. [See Affiliate.]
ADFILIATION, n. [L. ad and filius, a son.]
A Gothic custom, by which the children of a former marriage, are put upon the same footing with those of a succeeding one; still retained in some parts of Germany.
ADHERE, v.i. [L. adhaereo, ad and haereo, to stick.]
1. To stick to, as glutinous substances, or by natural growth; as, the lungs sometimes adhere to the pleura.
2. To be joined, or held in contact; to cleave to.
3. Figuratively, to hold to, be attached, or remain fixed, either by personal union or conformity of faith, principle, or opinion; as, men adhere to a party, a leader, a church, or creed.
4. To be consistent; to hold together as the parts of a system.
Every thing adheres together.
ADHERENCE, n.
1. The quality or state of sticking or adhering.
2. Figuratively, a being fixed in attachment; fidelity; steady attachment; as, an adherence to a party or opinions.
ADHERENCY, n. The same as adherence. In the sense of that which adhers, not legitimate.
ADHERENT, a. Sticking, uniting, as glue or wax; united with, as an adherent mode in Locke, that is, a mode accidentally joined with an object, as wetness in a cloth.
ADHERENT, n. The person who adheres; one who follows a leader, party or profession; a follower, or partisan; a believer in a particular faith or church.
In the sense of appendage. Obs.
ADHERENTLY, adv. In an adherent manner.
ADHERER, n. One that adheres; an adherent.
ADHESION, n. adhe’shun. [L. adhasio.]
1. The act or state of sticking, or being united and attached to; as the adhesion of glue, or of parts united by growth, cement, and the like. Adhesion is generally used in a literal; adherence, in a metaphorical sense.
2. Sometimes figuratively, adherence, union or steady attachment; firmness in opinion; as, an adhesion to vice: but in this sense nearly obsolete. The union of bodies by attraction is usually denominated cohesion.
ADHESIVE, a. Sticky; tenacious, as glutinous substances; apt or tending to adhere. Thus gums are adhesive.
ADHESIVELY, adv. In an adhesive manner.
ADHESIVENESS, n. The quality of sticking or adhering; stickiness; tenacity.
ADHIBIT, v.t. [L. adhibeo, ad and habeo, to have.]
To use, or apply. [Rarely used.]
ADHIBITION, n. Application; use.
ADHIL, n. A star of the sixth magnitude, upon the garment of Andromeda, under the last star in her foot.
ADHORTATION, n. [L. adhortatio.]
Advice. [Seldom used.]
ADHORTATORY, a. [L. adhortor, to advise, ad and hortor.]
Advisory; containing counsel or warning.
ADIAPHORISTS, n. [Gr. indifferent.]
Moderate Lutherans; a name given in the sixteenth century, to certain men that followed Melancthon, who was more pacific than Luther
The adiaphorists held some opinions and ceremonies to be indifferent, which Luther condemned as sinful or heretical.
ADIAPHOROUS, a. Indifferent; neutral; a name given by Boyle to a spirit distilled from tartar, and some other vegetable substances, neither acid, nor alkaline, or not possessing the distinct character of any chimical body.
ADIEU, Adu’.
Farewell; an expression of kind wishes at the parting of friends.
ADIEU, n. A farewell, or commendation to the care of God; as an everlasting adieu.
ADIPOCERATE, v.t. To convert into adipocere.
ADIPOCERATION, n. The act or process of being changed into adipocere.
ADIPOCERE, n. [L. adeps, fat, and cera.]
A soft unctuous or waxy substance, of a light brown color, into which the muscular fibers of dead animal bodies are converted, when protected from atmospheric air, and under certain circumstances of temperature and humidity. This substance was first discovered by Fourcroy, in the burying ground of the Church des Innocens, when it was removed in 1787. It is speedily produced, when the body is immersed in running water.
ADIPOSE, ADIPOUS, a. [L. adiposus, from adeps, fat. Heb. fat, gross, stupid.]
Fat. The adipose membrane is the cellular membrane, containing the fat in its cells, and consisting of ductile membranes, connected by a sort of net-work. The adipose vein spreads itself on the coat and fat that covers the kidneys. The adipose ducts are the bags and ducts which contain the fat.
ADIT, n. [L. aditus, from adeo, aditum, to approach, ad and eo, to go.]
An entrance or passage; a term in mining, used to denote the opening by which a mine is entered, or by which water and ores are carried away. It is usually made in the side of a hill. The word is sometimes used for aid-shaft, but not with strict propriety.
ADJACENCY, n. [L. adjaceo, to lie contiguous, from ad and jaceo, to lie.]
The state of lying close or contiguous; a bordering upon, or lying next to; as the adjacency of lands or buildings. In the sense of that which is adjacent, as used by Brown, it is not legitimate.
ADJACENT, a. Lying near, close, or contiguous; bordering upon; as, a field adjacent to the highway.
ADJACENT, n. That which is next to or contiguous. [Little used.]
ADJECT, v.t. [L. adjicio, of ad and jacio, to throw.]
To add or put, as one thing to another.
ADJECTION, n. The act of adding, or thing added. [Little used.]
ADJECTITIOUS, a. Added
ADJECTIVE, n. In grammar, a word used with a noun, to express a quality of the thing named, or something attributed to it, or to limit or define it, or to specify or describe a thing, as distinct from something else. It is called also an attributive or attribute. Thus, in the phrase, a wise ruler, wise is the adjective or attribute, expressing a particular property of ruler.
ADJECTIVELY, adv. In the manner of an adjective; as, a word is used adjectively.
ADJOIN, v.t. [L. adjungo, ad and jungo. See Join.]
To join or unite to; to put to, by placing in contact; to unite, by fastening together with a joint, mortise, or knot. But in these transitive senses, it is rarely used. [See Join.]
ADJOIN, v.i. To lie or be next to, or in contact; to be contiguous; as, a farm adjoining to the highway. This is the common use of the word, and to is often omitted; as adjoining the highway.
ADJOINANT, a. Contiguous to. [Not used.]
ADJOINED, pp. Joined to; united.
ADJOINING, ppr. Joining to; adjacent; contiguous.
ADJOURN, v.t. Adjurn’.
Literally, to put off, or defer to another day; but now used to denote a formal intermission of business, a putting off to any future meeting of the same body, and appropriately used of public bodies or private commissioners, entrusted with business; as, the court adjourned the consideration of the question.
ADJOURN, v.i. To suspend business for a time; as, from one day to another, or for a longer period, usually public business, as of legislatures and courts, for repose or refreshment; as, congress adjourned at four o’clock. It is also used for the act of closing the session of a public body; as, the court adjourned without day.
It was moved that parliament should adjourn for six weeks.
ADJOURNED, pp.
1. Put off, delayed, or deferred for a limited time.
2. As an adjective, existing or held by adjournment, as an adjourned session of a court, opposed to stated or regular.
ADJOURNING, ppr. Deferring; suspending for a time; closing a session.
ADJOURNMENT, n.
1. The act of adjourning; as, in legislatures, the adjournment of one house is not an adjournment of the other.
2. The putting off till another day or time specified, or without day; that is, the closing of a session of a public or official body.
3. The time or interval during which a public body defers business; as, during an adjournment. but a suspension of business, between the forming of a house and an adjournment for refreshment, is all a recess. In Great Britain, the close of a session of parliament is called a prorogation; as the close of a parliament is a dissolution. But in Great Britain, as well as in the United States, adjournment is now used for an intermission of business, for any indefinite time; as, an adjournment of parliament for six weeks.
ADJUDGE, v.t.
To decide, or determine, in the case of a controverted question; to decree by a judicial opinion; used appropriately of courts of law and equity.
The case was adjudged in Hilary term.
The prize was adjudged to the victor; a criminal was adjudged to suffer death.
It has been used in the sense of to judge; as, he adjudged him unworthy of his friendship. But this sense is unusual.
ADJUDGED, pp. Determined by judicial opinion; decreed; sentenced.
ADJUDGING, ppr. Determining by judicial opinion; sentencing.
ADJUDGMENT, n. The act of judging; sentenced.
ADJUDICATE, v.t. [L. adjudico, to give sentence. See Judge.]
To adjudge; to try and determine, as a court. it has the sense of adjudge.