Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary
ABYSM — ACCOMMODATOR
ABYSM, n. abyzm’. [See Abyss.] A gulf.
ABYSS, n. [Gr. bottomless, from a priv. and bottom, Ion. See Bottom.]
1. A bottomless gulf; used also for a deep mass of waters, supposed by some to have encompassed the earth before the flood.
Darkness was upon the face of the deep, or abyss, as it is in the Septuagint. Genesis 1:2.
The word is also used for an immense cavern in the earth, in which God is supposed to have collected all the waters on the third day of the creation. It is used also for hell, Erebus.
2. That which is immeasurable; that in which any thing is lost.
Thy throne is darkness, in the abyss of light.
The abyss of time.
3. In antiquity, the temple of Proserpine, so called from the immense treasures it was supposed to contain.
4. In heraldry, the center of an escutcheon.
He bears azure, a fleur de lis, in abyss.
ABYSSINIAN, a. A name denoting a mixed multitude or a black race.
ABYSSINIANS, n. A sect of christians in Abyssinia, who admit but one nature in Jesus Christ, and reject the council of Chalcedon. They are governed by a bishop, or metropolitan, call Abuna, who is appointed by the Coptic patriarch of Cairo.
AC, in Saxon, oak, the initial syllable of names, as acton, oaktown.
ACACALOT, ACALOT, n. A Mexican fowl, the Tantalus Mexicanus, or Corvusaquaticus, water raven.
ACACIA, n. [L. acacia, a thorn, from Gr., a point.]
Egyptian thorn, a species of plant ranked by Linne under the genus mimosa, and by others, made a distinct genus. Of the flowers of one species, the Chinese make a yellow dye which bears washing in silks, and appears with elegance on paper.
ACACIA, in medicine, is a name given to the inspissated juice of the unripe fruit of the Mimosa Nilotica, which is brought from Egypt in roundish masses, in bladders.
Externally, it is of a deep brown color; internally, of a reddish or yellowish brown; of a firm consistence, but not very dry. It is a mild astringent. But most of the drug which passes under this name, is the inspissated juice of sloes.
ACACIA, among antiquaries, is a name given to something like a roll or bag, seen on medals, as in the hands of emperors and consuls. Some take it to represent a handkerchief rolled up, with which signals were given at the games; others, a roll of petitions; and some, a purple bag of earth, to remind them of their mortality.
ACACIANS, in Church History, were certain sects, so denominated from their leaders, Acacius, bishop of Cesarea, and Acacius, patriarch of Constantinople. Some of these maintained that the Son was only a similar, not the same, substance with the Father; others, that he was not only a distinct but a dissimilar substance.
ACADEME, n. An academy; a society of persons. [Not used.]
ACADEMIAL, a. Pertaining to an academy.
ACADEMIAN, n. A member of an academy; a student in a university or college.
ACADEMIC, ACADEMICAL, a. Belonging to an academy, or to a college or university - as academic studies; also noting what belongs to the school or philosophy of Plato - as the academic sect.
ACADEMIC, n. One who belonged to the school or adhered to the philosophy of Socrates and Plato. The latter is considered as the founder of the academic philosophy in Greece.
He taught, that matter is eternal and infinite, but without form, refractory, and tending to disorder; and that there is an intelligent cause, the author of spiritual being and of the material world.
ACADEMICALLY, adv. In an academical manner.
ACADEMICIAN, n. A member of an academy, or society for promoting arts and sciences; particularly, a member of the French academies.
ACADEMISM, n. The doctrine of the academic philosophy.
ACADEMIST, n. A member of an Academy for promoting arts and sciences; also an academic philosopher.
ACADEMY, n. [L. academia.] Originally, it is said, a garden, grove, or villa, near Athens, where Plato and his followers held their philosophical conferences.
1. A school, or seminary of learning, holding a rank between a university or college, and a common school; also a school for teaching a particular art, or particular sciences, as a military academy.
2. A house in which the students or members of an academy meet; a place of education.
3. A society of men united for the promotion of arts and sciences in general, or of some particular art.
ACALOT, n. [Contracted from acacalotl.]
A Mexican fowl, called by some the aquatic crow. It is the ibis, or a fowl that very much resembles it.
ACAMACU, n. A bird, the Brazilian fly catcher, or Todus.
ACANACEOUS, a. acana’shus. [Gr. a prickly shrub.]
Armed with prickles. A class of plants are called acanaceae.
ACANTHA, n. [Gr. a spine or thorn.]
In botany, a prickle; in zoology, a spine or prickly fin; an acute process of the vertebers.
ACANTHACEOUS, a. Armed with prickles, as a plant.
ACANTHARIS, n. In entomology, a species of Cimex, with a spinous thorax, and a ciliated abdomen, with spines; found in Jamaica.
ACANTHINE, a. [See Acanthus.]
Pertaining to the plant, acanthus. The acanthine garments of the ancients were made of the down of thistles, or embroidered in imitation of the acanthus.
ACANTHOPTERYGIOUS, a. [Gr. a thorn, and a little feather, from a feather.]
In zoology, having back fins which are hard, bony and pricky, a term applied to certain fishes.
ACANTHUS, n. [G. and L. acanthus, from a prickle or thorn. See Acantha.]
1. The plant bear’s breech or brank ursine; a genus of several species, receiving their name from their prickles.
2. In architecture, an ornament resembling the foliage or leaves of the acanthus, used in capitals of the Corinthian and Composite orders.
ACANTICONE, n. See Pistacite.
ACARNAR, n. A bright star, of the first magnitude, in Eridanus.
ACATALECTIC, n. [Gr. not defective at the end, to cease.] A verse, which has the complete number of syllables without defect or superfluity.
ACATALEPSY, n. [Gr. to comprehend.]
Impossibility of complete discovery or comprehension; incomprehensibility. [Little used.]
ACATECHILL, n. A Mexican bird, a species of Fringilla, of the size of the siskin.
ACATER, ACATES. See Caterer and Cates.
ACAULINE, ACAULOUS, a. [L. a priv. and caulis, Gr. a stalk. See Colewort.]
In botany, without a stem, having flowers resting on the ground; as the Carline thistle.
ACCEDE, v.i. [L. accedo, of ad and cedo, to yield or give place, or rather to move.]
1. To agree or assent, as to a proposition, or to terms proposed by another. Hence in a negotiation.
2. To become a party, by agreeing to the terms of a treaty or convention.
ACCEDING, ppr. Agreeing; assenting: becoming a party to a treaty by agreeing to the terms proposed.
ACCELERATE, v.t. [L. accelero, of ad and celero, to hasten, from celer, quick.]
1. To cause to move faster; to hasten; to quicken motion; to add to the velocity of a moving body. It implies previous motion or progression.
2. To add to natural or ordinary progression; as to accelerate the growth of a plant, or the progress of knowledge.
3. To bring nearer in time; to shorten the time between the present time and a future event; as to accelerate the ruin of a government; to accelerate a battle.
ACCELERATED, pp. Quickened in motion; hastened in progress.
ACCELERATING, ppr. Hastening; increasing velocity or progression.
ACCELERATION, n. The act of increasing velocity or progress; the state of being quickened in motion or action. Accelerated motion in mechanics and physics, is that which continually receives accessions of velocity; as, a falling body moves towards the earth with an acceleration of velocity. It is the opposite of retardation.
Acceleration of the moon, is the increase of the moon’s mean motion from the sun, compared with the diurnal motion of the earth; the moon moving with more velocity now than in ancient times - a discovery made by Dr. Halley.
The diurnal acceleration of the fixed stars, is the time by which they anticipate the mean diurnal revolution of the sun, which is nearly three minutes, fifty-six seconds.
ACCELERATIVE, a. Adding to velocity; quickening progression.
ACCELERATORY, a. Accelerating; quickening motion.
ACCEND, v.t. [L. accendo, to kindle; ad and candeo, caneo, to be white, canus, white; W. can, white, bright; also a song. Whence, canto, to sing, to chant; cantus, a song; Eng. cant; W. canu, to bleach or whiten, and to sing; cymnud, fuel. Hence, kindle, L. candidus, candid, white. The primary sense is, to throw, dart, or thrust; to shoot, as the rays of light. Hence, to cant, to throw. See Chant and Cant.] To kindle; to set on fire. [The verb is not used.]
ACCENDIBILITY, n. Capacity of being kindled, or of becoming inflamed.
ACCENDIBLE, a. Capable OF being inflamed or kindled.
ACCENSION, n. The act of kindling or setting on fire; or the state of being kindled; inflammation.
ACCENT, n. [L. accentus, from ad and cano, cantum, to sing; See Accend.]
1. The modulation of the voice in reading or speaking, as practiced by the ancient Greeks, which rendered their rehearsal musical. More strictly, in English,
2. A particular stress or force of voice upon certain syllables of words, which distinguishes them from the others. Accent is of two kinds, primary and secondary; as in as’pira’tion. In uttering this word, we observe the first and third syllables are distinguished; the third by a full sound, which constitutes the primary accent; the first by a degree of force in the voice which is less than that of the primary accent, but evidently greater than that which falls on the second and fourth syllables.
When the full accent falls on a vowel, that vowel has its long sound, as in vo’cal; but when it falls on an articulation or consonant, the preceding vowel is short, as in hab’it. Accent alone regulates English verse.
3. A mark or character used in writing to direct the stress of the voice in pronunciation. Our ancestors borrowed from the Greek language three of these characters, the acute, the grave and circumflex. In the Greek, the first shows when the voice is to be raised; the second, when it is to be depressed; and the third, when the vowel is to be uttered with an undulating sound.
4. A modulation of the voice expressive of passions or sentiments.
The tender accents of a woman’s cry.
5. Manner of speaking.
A man of plain accent. Obs.
6. Poetically, words, language, or expressions in general.
Words, on your wings, to heaven her accents bear,
Such words as heaven alone is fit to hear.
7. In music, a swelling of sounds, for the purpose of variety or expression. the principal accent falls on the first note in the bar, but the third place in common time requires also an accent.
8. A peculiar tone or inflection of voice.
ACCENT, v.t. To express accent; to utter a syllable with a particular stress or modulation of the voice. In poetry, to utter or pronounce in general. Also to note accents by marks in writing.
ACCENTED, pp. Uttered with accent; marked with accent.
ACCENTING, ppr. Pronouncing or marking with accent.
ACCENTUAL, a. Pertaining to accent.
ACCENTUATE, v.t. To mark or pronounce with an accent or with accents.
ACCENTUATION, n. The act of placing accents in writing, or of pronouncing them in speaking.
ACCEPT, v.t. [L. accepto, from accipio, ad and capio, to take.]
1. To take or receive what is offered, with a consenting mind; to receive with approbation or favor.
Bless, Lord, his substance, and accept the work of his hands. Deuteronomy 33:11.
He made an offer which was accepted.
Observe the difference between receive and accept.
He received an appointment or the offer of a commission, but he did not accept it.
2. To regard with partiality; to value or esteem.
It is not good to accept the person of the wicked. Proverbs 18:5; 2 Corinthians 8:12.
In theology, acceptance with God implies forgiveness of sins and reception into his favor.
3. To consent or agree to; to receive as terms of a contract; as, to accept a treaty; often followed by of.
Accept of the terms.
4. To understand; to have a particular idea of; to receive in a particular sense.
How is this phrase to be accepted?
5. In commerce, to agree or promise to pay, as a bill of exchange. [See Acceptance.]
ACCEPTABLE, a.
1. That may be received with pleasure; hence pleasing to a receiver; gratifying; as an acceptable present.
2. Agreeable or pleasing in person; as, a man makes himself acceptable by his services or civilities.
ACCEPTABLENESS, ACCEPTABILITY, n. The quality of being agreeable to a receiver, or to a person with whom one has intercourse. [The latter word is little used, or not at all.]
ACCEPTABLY, adv. In a manner to please, or give satisfaction.
Let us have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably. Hebrews 12:28.
ACCEPTANCE, n.
1. A receiving with approbation or satisfaction; favorable reception; as work done to acceptance.
They shall come up with acceptance on my altar. Isaiah 60:7.
2. the receiving of a bill of exchange or order, in such a manner, as to bind the acceptor to make payment. This must be by express words; and to charge the drawer with costs, in case of non payment, the acceptance must be in writing, under across, or on the back of the bill.
3. An agreeing to terms or proposals in commerce, by which a bargain is concluded and the parties bound.
4. An agreeing to the act or contact of another, by some act which binds the person in law; as, a bishop’s taking rent reserved on a lease made by his predecessor, is an acceptance of the terms of the lease and binds the party.
5. In mercantile language, a bill of exchange accepted; as a merchant receives another’s acceptance in payment.
6. Formerly, the sense is which a word is understood. Obs.
[See Acceptation.]
ACCEPTATION, n.
1. Kind reception; a receiving with favor or approbation.
This is a saying worthy of all acceptation. 1 Timothy 1:15.
2. A state of being acceptable; favorable regard.
Some things are of great dignity and acceptation with God
But in this sense acceptableness is more generally used.
3. the meaning or sense in which a word or expression is understood, or generally received; as a term is to be used according to its usual acceptation.
4. Reception in general. Obs.
ACCEPTED, pp. Kindly received; regarded; agreed to; understood; received as a bill of exchange.
ACCEPTER, ACCEPTOR, n. A person who accepts; the person who receives a bill of exchange so as to bind himself to pay it. [See Acceptance.]
ACCEPTING, ppr. Receiving favorably; agreeing to; understanding.
ACCEPTION, n. The received sense of a word. [Not now used.]
ACCEPTIVE, a. Ready to accept. [Not used.]
ACCESS, n. [L. accessus, from accedo. See Accede.]
1. A coming to; near approach; admittance; admission, as to gain access to a prince.
2. Approach, or the way by which a thing may be approached; as, the access is by a neck of land.
3. Means of approach; liberty to approach; implying previous obstacles.
By whom also we have access by faith. Romans 5:2
4. Admission to sexual intercourse.
During coverture, access of the husband shall be presumed, unless the contrary be shown.
5. Addition; increase by something added; as an access of territory; but in this sense accession is more generally used.
6. The return of a fit or paroxysm of disease, or fever. In this sense accession is generally used.
ACCESSARILY, See Accessorily.
ACCESSARINESS, See Accessoriness.
ACCESSARY, See Accessory.
ACCESSIBILITY, n. The quality of being approachable; or of admitting access.
ACCESSIBLE, a.
1. That may be approached or reached; approachable; applied to things; as an accessible town or mountain.
2. Easy of approach, affable, used of persons.
ACCESSION, n. [L. accessio.]
1. A coming to; an acceding to and joining; as a king’s accession to a confederacy.
2. Increase by something added; that which is added; augmentation; as an accession of wealth or territory.
3. In law, a mode of acquiring property, by which the owner of a corporeal substance, which receives an addition by growth, or by labor, has a right to the thing added or the improvement; provided the thing is not changed into a different species. Thus the owner of a cow becomes the owner of her calf.
4. The act of arriving at a throne, an office, or dignity.
5. That which is added.
The only accession which the Roman Empire received, was the province of Britain.
6. The invasion of a fit of a periodical disease, or fever. It differs from exacerbation. Accession implies a total previous intermission, as of a fever; exacerbation implies only a previous remission or abatement of violence.
ACCESSIONAL, a. Additional
ACCESSORIAL, a. Pertaining to an accessory; as accessorial agency, accessorial guilt.
ACCESSORILY, adv. [See Accessory.] In the manner of an accessory; by subordinate means, or in a secondary character; not as principal, but as a subordinate agent.
ACCESSORINESS, n. The state of being accessory, or of being or acting in a secondary character.
ACCESSORY, a. [L. Accessorius, from accessus, accedo. See Accede. This word is accented on the first syllable on account of the derivatives, which require a secondary accent on the third; but the natural accent of accessory is on the second syllable, and thus it is often pronounced by good speakers.]
1. Acceding; contributing; aiding in producing some effect, or acting in subordination to the principal agent. Usually, in a bad sense, as John was accessory to the felony.
2. Aiding in certain acts or effects in a secondary manner, as accessory sounds in music.
ACCESSORY, n.
1. In law, one who is guilty of a felony, not by committing the offense in person or as principal, but by advising or commanding another to commit the crime, or by concealing the offender. There may be accessories in all felonies, but not in treason. An accessory before the fact, is one who counsels or commands another to commit a felony, and is not present when the act is executed; after the fact, when one receives and conceals the offender.
2. That which accedes or belongs to something else, as its principal.
Accessory nerves, in anatomy, a pair of nerves, which arising from the medulla in the vertebers of the neck, ascend and enter the skull; then passing out with the par vagum, are distributed into the muscles of the neck and shoulders.
Accessory, among painters, an epithet given to parts of a history-piece which are merely ornamental, as vases, armor, etc.
ACCIDENCE, n. [See Accident.] A small book containing the rudiments of grammar.
ACCIDENT, n. [L. accidens, falling, from ad and cado, to fall. See Case and Cadence. Class Gd.]
1. A coming or falling; an event that takes place without one’s foresight or expectation; an event which proceeds from an unknown cause, or is an unusual effect of a known cause, and therefore not expected; chance; casualty; contingency.
2. That which takes place or begins to exist without an efficient intelligent cause and without design.
All of them, in his opinion, owe their being, to fate, accident, or the blind action of stupid matter.
3. In logic, a property, or quality of a being which is not essential to it, as whiteness in paper. Also all qualities are called accidents, in opposition to substance, as sweetness, softness, and things not essential to a body, as clothes.
4. In grammar, something belonging to a word, but not essential to it, as gender, number, inflection.
5. In heraldry, a point or mark, not essential to a coat of arms.
ACCIDENTAL, a.
1. Happening by chance, or rather unexpectedly; casual; fortuitous, taking place not according to the usual course of things; opposed to that which is constant, regular, or intended, as an accidental visit.
2. Non-essential; not necessarily belonging to; as songs are accidental to a play.
Accidental colors, are those which depend upon the affections of the eye, in distinction from those which belong to the light itself.
Accidental point, in perspective, is that point in the horizontal line, where the projections of two lines parallel to each other, meet the perspective plane.
ACCIDENTALLY, adv. By chance; casually; fortuitously; not essentially.
ACCIDENTALNESS, n. The quality of being casual. [Little used.]
ACCIDENTIARY, a. Pertaining to the accidence. [Not used.]
ACCIPITER, n. [L. ad and capio, to seize.]
1. A name given to a fish, the milvus or lucerna, a species of Trigla.
2. In ornithology, the name of the order of rapacious fowls.
The accipiters have a hooked bill, the superior mandible, near the base, being extended on each side beyond the inferior. The genera are the vultur, the falco, or hawk, and the strix, or owl.
ACCIPITRINE, a. Seizing; rapacious; as the accipitrine order of fowls.
ACCITE, v.t. [L. adand cito, to cite.] To call; to cite; to summon. [Not used.]
ACCLAIM, v.t. [L acclamo, ad and clamo, to cry out. See Claim, Clamor.] To applaud. [Little used.]
ACCLAIM, n. A shout of joy; acclamation.
ACCLAMATION, n. [L. acclamatio. See Acclaim.]
A shout of applause uttered by a multitude. Anciently, acclamation was a form of words, uttered with vehemence, somewhat resembling a song, sometimes accompanied with applauses which were given by the hands. Acclamations were ecclesiastical, military, nuptial, senatorial, synodical, theatrical, etc.; They were musical and rythmical; and bestowed for joy, respect, and even reproach, and often accompanied with words, repeated, five, twenty, and even sixty and eighty times. In the later ages of Rome, acclamations were performed by a chorus of music instructed for the purpose.
In modern times, acclamations are expressed by huzzas; by clapping of hands; and often by repeating vivat rex, vivat respublica, long live the king or republish, or other words expressive of joy and good wishes.
ACCLAMATORY, a. Expressing joy or applause by shouts, or clapping of hands.
ACCLIMATED, a. Habituated to a foreign climate, or a climate not native; so far accustomed to a foreign climate as not to be peculiarly liable to its endemical diseases.
ACCLIVITY, n. [L. acclivus, acclivis, ascending, from ad and clivus, an ascent.]
A slope or inclination of the earth as the side of a hill, considered as ascending, in opposition to declivity, or a side descending. Rising ground; ascent; the talus of a rampart.
ACCLIVOUS, a. Rising, as a hill with a slope.
ACCLOY, To fill; to stuff; to fill to satiety. [Not used.] [See Clay.]
ACCOIL, [See Coil.]
ACCOLA, n. A delicate fish eaten at Malta.
ACCOLADE, n. [L. ad and collum, neck.]
A ceremony formerly used in conferring knighthood; but whether an embrace or a blow, seems not to be settled.
ACCOMMODABLE, a. [See Accommodate.]
That may be fitted, made suitable, or made to agree. [Little used.]
ACCOMMODATE, v.t. [L. accommodo, to apply or suit, from ad and commodo, to profit or help; of con, with, and modus, measure, proportion, limit, or manner. See Mode.]
1. To fit, adapt, or make suitable; as, to accommodate ourselves to circumstances; to accommodate the choice of subjects to the occasions.
2. To supply with or furnish; followed by with; as, to accommodate a man with apartments.
3. To supply with conveniences, as to accommodate a friend.
4. To reconcile things which are at variance; to adjust; as to accommodate differences.
5. To show fitness or agreement; to apply; as, to accommodate prophecy to events.
6. To lend - a commercial sense.
In an intransitive sense, to agree, to be conformable to, as used by Boyle.
ACCOMMODATE, a. suitable; fit; adapted; as means accommodate to the end.
ACCOMMODATED, pp. fitted; adjusted; adapted; applied; also furnished with conveniences.
We are well accommodated with lodgings.
ACCOMMODATELY, adv. Suitable; fitly. [Little used.]
ACCOMMODATENESS, n. Fitness. [Little used.]
ACCOMMODATING, ppr. Adapting; making suitable; reconciling; furnishing with conveniences; applying.
ACCOMMODATING, a. Adapting one’s self to; obliging; yielding to the desires of others; disposed to comply, and to oblige another; as an accommodating man.
ACCOMMODATION, n.
1. Fitness; adaptation; followed by to.
The organization of the body with accommodation to its functions.
2. Adjustment of differences; reconciliation; as of parties in dispute.
3. Provision of conveniences.
4. In plural; conveniences; things furnished for use; chiefly applied to lodgings.
5. In mercantile language, accommodation is used for a loan of money; which is often a great convenience. An accommodation note, in the language of bank directors, is one drawn and offered for discount, for the purpose of borrowing its amount, in opposition to a note, which the owner has received in payment for goods.
In England, accommodation bill, is one given instead of a loan of money.
6. It is also used of a note lent merely to accommodate the borrower.
7. In theology, accommodation is the application of one thing to another by analogy, as of the words of a prophecy to a future event.
Many of those quotations were probably intended as nothing more than accommodations.
8. In marine language, an accommodation ladder is a light ladder hung over the side of a ship at the gangway.