Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary
APPOSE — AQUARIUS
APPOSE, v.t. s as z. [L. appono. See Apposite.]
1. To put questions; to examine. [See Post.]
2. To apply.
APPOSER, n. An examiner; one whose business is to put questions. In the English Court of Exchequer there is an officer called the foreign apposer. This is ordinarily pronounced poser.
APPOSITE, a. s as z. [L. appositus, set or put to, from appono, of ad and pono, to put or place.]
Suitable; fit; very applicable; well adapted; followed by to; as, this argument is very opposite to the case.
APPOSITELY, adv. Suitably; fitly; properly.
APPOSITENESS, n. Fitness; propriety; suitableness.
APPOSITION, n.
1. The act of adding to; addition; a setting to.
By the opposition of new matter.
2. In Grammar, the placing of two nouns, in the same case, without a connecting word between them, as, I admire Cicero, the orator. In this case, the second noun explains or characterizes the first.
APPRAISE, v.t. [L. ad and pretium, price. See Price and Appreciate.]
This word is written and often pronounced after the French and Italian manner. But generally it is pronounced more correctly apprize, directly from the Eng. price or prize. [See Apprize.]
To set a value; to estimate the worth, particularly by persons appointed for the purpose.
APPRAISEMENT, n. The act of setting the value; a valuation. [See Appreciate.]
APPRAISER, n. One who values; appropriately a person appointed and sworn to estimate and fix the value of goods and estate. [See Apprizer.]
APPRECIABLE, a. apprishable. [See Appreciate.]
1. That may be appreciated; valuable.
2. That may be estimated; capable of being duly estimated.
APPRECIATE, v.t. apprishate. [L. ad and pretium, value, price. See Price.]
1. To value; to set a price or value on; to estimate; as, we seldom sufficiently appreciate the advantages we enjoy.
2. To raise the value of.
Lest a sudden peace should appreciate the money.
APPRECIATE, v.i. To rise in value; to become of more value; as, the coin of the country appreciates; public securities appreciated, when the debt was funded.
APPRECIATED, pp. Valued; prized; estimated; advanced in value.
APPRECIATING, ppr. Setting a value on; estimating; rising in value.
APPRECIATION, n.
1. A setting a value on; a just valuation or estimate of merit, weight, or any moral consideration.
2. A rising in value; increase of worth or value.
APPREHEND, v.t. [L. apprehendo, of ad and prehendo, to take or seize.]
1. To take or seize; to take hold of. In this literal sense, it is applied chiefly to taking or arresting persons by legal process, or with a view to trial; as to apprehend a thief.
2. To take with the understanding, that is, to conceive in the mine; to understand, without passing a judgment, or making an inference.
I apprehend not why so many and various laws are given.
3. To think; to believe or be of opinion, but without positive certainty; as, all this is true, but we apprehend it is not to the purpose.
Notwithstanding this declaration, we do not apprehend that we are guilty of presumption.
4. To fear; to entertain suspicion or fear of future evil; as, we apprehend calamities from a feeble or wicked administration.
APPREHENDED, pp. Taken; seized; arrested; conceived; understood; feared.
APPREHENDER, n. One who takes; one who conceives in his mind; one who fears.
APPREHENDING, ppr. Seizing; taking; conceiving; understanding; fearing.
APPREHENSIBLE, a. That may be apprehended or conceived.
APPREHENSION, n.
1. The act of taking or arresting; as, the felon, after his apprehension escaped.
2. The mere contemplation of things without affirming, denying, or passing any judgment; the operation of the mind in contemplating ideas, without comparing them with others, or referring them to external objects; simple intellection.
3. An inadequate or imperfect idea, as when the word is applied to our knowledge of God.
4. Opinion; conception; sentiments. In this sense, the word often denotes a belief, founded on sufficient evidence to give preponderation to the mind, but insufficient to induce certainty.
To be false, and to be thought false, is all one, in respect of men, who act not according to truth, but apprehension.
In our apprehension, the facts prove the issue.
5. The faculty by which new ideas are conceived; as, a man of dull apprehension.
6. Fear; suspicion; the prospect of future evil, accompanied with uneasiness of mind.
Claudius was in no small apprehension for his own life.
APPREHENSIVE, a.
1. Quick to understand; as, an apprehensive scholar.
2. Fearful; in expectation of evil; as, we were apprehensive of fatal consequences.
[This is the usual sense of the word.]
3. Suspicious; inclined to believe; as, I am apprehensive he does not understand me.
4. Sensible; feeling; perceptive. [Rarely used.]
APPREHENSIVELY, adv. In an apprehensive manner.
APPREHENSIVENESS, n. The quality of being apprehensive; readiness to understand; fearfulness.
APPRENTICE, n. [L. apprehendo. See Apprehend.]
1. One who is bound by covenant to serve a mechanic, or other person, for a certain time, with a view to learn his art, mystery, or occupation, in which his master is bound to instruct him. Apprentices are regularly bound by indentures.
2. In old law books, a barrister; a learner of law.
APPRENTICE, v.t. To bind to, or put under the care of a master, for the purpose of instruction in the knowledge of a trade or business.
APPRENTICEHOOD, n. Apprenticeship. [Not used.]
APPRENTICESHIP, n.
1. The term for which an apprentice is bound to serve his master. This term in England is by statute seven years. In Paris, the term is five years; after which, the person, before he is qualified to exercise the trade as a master, must serve five years as a journeyman; during which term, he is called the companion of his master, and the term is called his companionship.
2. The service, state or condition of an apprentice; a state in which a person is gaining instruction under a master.
APPRENTISAGE, n. Apprenticeship. [Not used.]
APPREST, [ad and pressed.]
In botany, pressed close; lying near the stem; or applying its upper surface to the stem.
APPRISE, v.t. s as z. [See Apprehend.]
To inform; to give notice, verbal or written; followed by of; as, we will apprise the general of an intended attack; he apprised the commander of what he had done.
APPRISED, pp. Informed; having notice or knowledge communicated.
APPRISING, ppr. Informing; communicating notice to.
APPRIZE, v.t.
To value; to set a value, in pursuance of authority. It is generally used for the act of valuing by men appointed for the purpose, under direction of law, or by agreement of parties; as, to apprize the goods and estate of a deceased person. The private act of valuing is ordinarily expressed by prize.
APPRIZED, pp. Valued; having the worth fixed by authorized persons.
APPRIZEMENT, n.
1. The act of setting a value under some authority or appointment; a valuation.
2. The rate at which a thing is valued; the value fixed, or valuation; as, he purchased the article at the apprizement.
APPRIZER, n. a person appoointed to rate, or set a value on articles. When apprizers act under the authority of law, they must be sworn.
APPRIZING, ppr. Rating; setting a value under authority.
APPRIZING, n. The act of valuing under authority.
APPROACH, v.i. [The Latin proximus contains the root, but the word, in the positive degree, is not found in the Latin. It is from a root in class Brg, signifying to drive, move, or press toward.]
1. To come or go near, in place; to draw near; to advance nearer.
Wherefore approached ye so nigh the city? 2 Samuel 11:20.
2. To draw near in time.
And so much the more as ye see the day approaching. Hebrews 10:25.
3. To draw near, in a figurative sense; to advance near to a point aimed at, in science, literature, government, morals, etc.; to approximate; as, he approaches to the character of the ablest statesman.
4. To draw near in duty, as in prayer or worship.
They take delight in approaching to God. Isaiah 58:2.
APPROACH, v.t.
1. To come near to; as, Pope approaches Virgil in smoothness of versification. This use of the word is elliptical, to being omitted, so that the verb can hardly be said to be transitive. The old use of the word, as “approach the hand to the handle,” is not legitimate.
2. To have access carnally. Leviticus 18:6, 14, 19.
3. In gardening, to ingraft a sprig or shoot of one tree into another, without cutting it from the parent stock.
APPROACH, n.
1. The act of drawing near; a coming or advancing near; as, he was aprised of the enemy’s approach.
2. Access; as, the approach to kings.
3. In fortification, not only the advances of an army are called approaches, but the works thrown up by the beseigers, to protect them in their advances towards a fortress.
APPROACHABLE, a. That may be approached; accessible.
APPROACHER, n. One who approaches or draws near.
APPROACHING, ppr. Drawing nearer; advancing nearer.
APPROACHMENT, n. The act of coming near. [Little used.]
APPROBATE, a. [L. approbatus.] Approved.
APPROBATE, v.t. [L. approbo, to approve, of ad and probo, to prove or approve. Approbate is a modern word, but in common use in America. it differs from approve, denoting not only the act of the mind, but an expression of the act. See Proof, Approve and Prove.]
To express approbation of; to manifest a liking, or degree of satisfaction; to express approbation officially, as of one’s fitness for a public trust.
Mr. Hutchison approbated the choice.
APPROBATED, pp. Approved; commended.
APPROBATING, ppr. Expressing approbation of.
APPROBATION, n. [L. approbatio. See Proof and Prove.]
1. The act of approving; a liking; that state or disposition of the mind, in which we assent to the propriety of a thing, with some degree of pleasure or satisfaction; as, the laws of God require our approbation.
2. Attestation; support; that is, active approbation, or action in favor of what is approved.
3. The commendation of a book licensed or permitted to be published by authority, as was formerly the case in England.
APPROBATIVE, a. Approving; implying approbation.
APPROBATORY, a. Comtaining approbation; expressing approbation.
APPROMPT, Prompt. [Not used.]
APPROFF, n. Approval. [Not used.]
APPROPERATE, v.t. [L. appropero.] To hasten. [Not used.]
APPROPINQUATE, v.i. [L. appropinquo.] To draw near. [Not used.]
APPROPINQUATION, n. A drawing night. [Not used.]
APPROPINQUE, v.i. To approach. [Not used.]
APPROPRIABLE, a. [From appropriate.]
That may be appropriated; that may be set apart, sequestered, or assigned exclusively to a particular use.
APPROPRIATE, v.t. [L. ad and proprius, private, peculiar. See Proper.]
1. To set apart for, or assign to a particular use, in exclusion of all other uses; as, a spot of ground is appropriated for a garden.
2. To take to one’s self in exclusion of others; to claim or use as by an exclusive right.
Let no man appropriate the use of a common benefit.
3. To make peculiar; as, to appropriate names to ideas.
4. To sever an ecclesiastical benefice, and annex it to a spiritual corporation, sole or aggregate, being the patron of the living.
APPROPRIATE, a.
1. Belonging peculiarly; peculiar; set apart for a particular use or person; as, religious worship is an appropriate duty to the Creator.
2. Most suitable, fit or proper; as, to use appropriate words in pleading.
APPROPRIATED, pp. Assigned to a particular use; claimed or used exclusively; annexed to an ecclesiastical corporation.
APPROPRIATENESS, n. Peculiar fitness; the quality of being appropriate, or peculiarly suitable.
APPROPRIATING, ppr. Assigning to a particular person or use; claiming or using exclusively; severing to the perpetual use of an ecclesiastical corporation.
APPROPRIATION, n.
1. The act of sequestering, or assigning to a particular use or person, in exclusion of all others; application to a special use or purpose; as, of a piece of ground for a park; of a right, to one’s self; or of words, to ideas.
2. In law, the severing or sequestering of a benefice to the perpetual use of a spiritual corporation, sole or aggregate, being the patron of the living. For this purpose must be obtained the king’s license, the consent of the bishop and of the patron. When the appropriation is thus made, the appropriator and his successors become perpetual parsons of the church, and must sue and be sued in that name.
APPROPRIATOR, n.
1. One who appropriates.
2. One who is possessed of an appropriated benefice.
APPROPRIETARY, n. A lay possessor of the profits of a benefice.
APPROVABLE, a. [See Approve.]
That may be approved; that merits approbation.
APPROVAL, n. Approbation. [See Approve.]
APPROVANCE, n. Approbation. [See Approve.]
APPROVE, v.t. [L. approbo; of ad and probo, to prove or approve. See Approbate, Prove and Proof.]
1. To like; to be pleased with; to admit the propriety of; as, we approve the measures of administration. This word may include, with the assent of the mind to the propriety, a commendation to others.
2. To prove; to show to be true; to justify.
Would’st thou approve thy constancy? Approve first thy wisdom.
[This sense, though common a century or two ago, is now rare.]
3. To experience; to prove by trial. [Not used. See Prove.]
4. To make or show to be worthy of approbation; to commend.
Jesus, a man approved of God. Acts 2:22.
This word seems to include the idea of Christ’s real office as the Messiah, and of God’s love and approbation of him in that character.
5. To like and sustain as right; to commend.
Yet their posterity approve their sayings. Psalm 49:13.
This word, when it signifies to be pleased, is often followed by of, in which use, it is intransitive; as, I approve of the measure. But the tendency of modern usage is to omit of. “I approve the measure.”
6. To improve.
APPROVED, pp. Liked; commended; shown or proved to be worthy of approbation; having the approbation and support of.
Study to show thyself approved to God. 2 Timothy 2:15.
Not he that commendeth himself is approved. 2 Corinthians 10:18.
APPROVEMENT, n.
1. Approbation; liking.
2. In law, when a person indicated for felony or treason, and arraigned, confesses the fact before plea pleaded, and appeals or accuses his accomplices of the same crime, to obtain his pardon, this confession and accusation are called approvement, and the person an approver.
3. Improvement of common lands, by inclosing and converting them to the uses of husbandry.
APPROVER, n.
1. One who approves. Formerly one who proves or makes trial.
2. In law, one who confesses a crime and accuses another. [See Approvement.] Also, formerly, one who had the letting of the king’s domains in small manors. In Stat. 1. Edw. 3. C. 8, sheriffs are called approvers. A bailiff or steward of a manor.
APPROVING, ppr. Liking; commending; giving or expressing approbation.
APPROVING, a. Yielding approbation; as an approving conscience.
APPROXIMANT, a. Approaching. [Not used.]
APPROXIMATE, a. [L. ad and proximus, next. See Approach.]
Nearest to; next; near to. [This word is superseded by proximate.]
APPROXIMATE, v.t. To carry or advance near; to cause to approach.
To approximate the inequality of riches to the level of nature.
APPROXIMATE, v.i. To come near; to approach.
APPROXIMATION, n.
1. Approach; a drawing, moving or advancing near.
2. In arithmetic and algebra, a continual approach or coming nearer and nearer to a root or other quantity, without being able perhaps ever to arrive at it.
3. In medicine, communication of disease by contact.
4. A mode of cure by transplanting a disease into an animal or vegetable by immediate contact.
APPROXIMATIVE, a. Approaching; that approaches.
APPULSE, n. appuls;. [L. appulsus, of ad and pello, to drive.]
1. The act of striking against; as in all consonants there is an appulse of he organs.
2. In astronomy, the approach of any planet to a conjunction with the sun, or a star.
3. Arrival; landing.
APPULSION, n. The act of striking against by a moving body.
APPULSIVE, a. Striking against; driving towards; as, the appulsive influence of the planets.
APPURTENANCE, n. so written for appertenance. [See Appertain.]
That which belongs to something else; an adjunct; an appendage. Appropriately, such buildings, rights and improvements, as belong to land, are called the appurtenances; as small buildings are the appurtenances of a mansion.
APPURTENANT, a.
1. Belonging to; pertaining to of right.
2. In law, common appurtenant is that which is annexed to land, and can be claimed only by prescription or immemorial usage, or a legal presumption of a special grant.
APRICATE, v.i. [L. apricor.] To bask in the sun. [Little used.]
APRICITY, n. Sunshine. [Little used.]
APRICOT, n.
A fruit belonging to the genus Prunus, of the plum kind, of an oval figure, and delicious taste.
APRIL, n. [L. aprilis.] The fourth month of the year.
APRON, n.
1. A cloth or piece of leather worn on the forepart of the body, to keep the clothes clean, or defend them from injury.
2. The fat skin covering the belly of a goose.
3. In gunnery, a flat piece of lead that covers the vent of a cannon.
4. In ships, a piece of curved timber, just above the foremost end of the keel.
5. A platform, or flooring of plank, at the entrance of a dock, on which the dock gates are shut.
6. A piece of lether or other thing to be spread before a person riding in a gig, chaise or sulky, to defend him from rain, snow or dust.
APRONED, a. Wearing an apron.
APRON-MAN, n. A man who wears an apron; a laboring man; a mechanic.
APROPOS, adv. ap’ropo.
1. Opportunely; seasonably.
2. By the way; to the purpose; a word used to introduce an incidental observation, suited to the occasion, though not strictly belonging to the narration.
APSIS, n. plu apsides. [Gr. connection, from to connect.]
1. In astronomy, the apsides are the two points of a planet’s orbit, which are at the greatest and least distance from the sun or earth; the most distant point is the aphelion, or apogee; the least distant, the perihelion or perigee. The line connecting these is called the line of the apsides.
2. Apsis or absis is the arched roof of a house, room or oven; also the ring or compass of a wheel.
3. In ecclesiastical writers, an inner part of a church, where the altar was placed, and where the clergy sat, answering to the choir and standing opposite to the nave. Also, the bishop’s seat or throne in ancient churches; called also exedra and tribune. This same name was given to a reliquary or case in which the relics of saints were kept.
APT, a. [L. aptus, from apto, to fit. Gr. to tie.]
1. Fit; suitable; as, he used very apt metaphors.
2. Having a tendency; liable; used of things; as, wheat on moist land is apt to blast or be winter-killed.
3. Inclined; disposed customarily; used of persons; as, men are too apt to slander others.
4. Ready; quick; used of the mental powers; as, a pupil apt to learn; an opt wit.
5. Qualified; fit.
All the men of might, strong and apt for war. 2 Kings 24:16.
APT, v.t. To fit; to suit or adapt. Obs.
APTABLE, a. That may be adapted. [Not used.]
APTATE, v.t. To make fit. [Not used.]
APTER, APTERA, n. [Gr. priv. and a wing.]
An insect without wings. The aptera, constituting the seventh order of insects in Linne’s system, comprehend many genera. But later zoologists have made a very different distribution of these animals.
APTERAL, a. [Supra.] Destitute of wings.
APTITUDE, n. [of aptus, apt.]
1. A natural or acquired disposition for a particular purpose, or tendency to a particular action or effect; as, oil has an aptitude to burn; men acquire an aptitude to particular vices.
2. Fitness; suitableness.
3. Aptness; readiness in learning; docility.
APTLY, adv. In an apt or suitable manner; with just correspondence of parts; fitly; properly; justly; pertinently.
APTNESS, n.
1. Fitness; suitableness; as, the aptness of things to their end.
2. Disposition of the mind; propensity; as, the aptness of men to follow example.
3. Quickness of apprehension; readiness in learning; docility; as, an aptness to learn is more observable in some children than in others.
4. Tendency, in things; as, the aptness of iron to rust.
APTOTE, n. [Gr. priv, and case.]
In grammar, a noun which has no variation of termination, or distinction of cases; an indeclinable noun.
APYREXY, n. [Gr. a priv., to be feverish, from fire.]
The absence or intermission of fever.
APYROUS, a. [Gr. priv. and fire.]
Incombustible, or that sustains a strong heat without alteration of form or properties.
Apyrous bodies differ from those simply refractory. Refractory bodies cannot be fused by heat, but may be altered.
AQUA, n. [L. aqua.]
Water; a word much used in pharmacy, and the old chimistry.
Aqua fortis, in the old chimistry, is now called nitric acid.
Aqua marina, a name which jewelers give to the beryl, on account of its color.
Aqua regia, in the old chimistry, is now called nitro-muriatic acid.
Aqua vitae, brandy, or spirit of wine.