APage 2
- English Word A cappella Definition In church or chapel style; -- said of compositions sung in the old church style, without instrumental accompaniment; as, a mass a capella, i. e., a mass purely vocal.
- English Word A fortiori Definition With stronger reason.
- English Word A mensa et thoro Definition A kind of divorce which does not dissolve the marriage bond, but merely authorizes a separate life of the husband and wife.
- English Word A posteriori Definition Applied to knowledge which is based upon or derived from facts through induction or experiment; inductive or empirical.
- English Word A posteriori Definition Characterizing that kind of reasoning which derives propositions from the observation of facts, or by generalizations from facts arrives at principles and definitions, or infers causes from effects. This is the reverse of a priori reasoning.
- English Word A priori Definition Applied to knowledge and conceptions assumed, or presupposed, as prior to experience, in order to make experience rational or possible.
- English Word A priori Definition Characterizing that kind of reasoning which deduces consequences from definitions formed, or principles assumed, or which infers effects from causes previously known; deductive or deductively. The reverse of a posteriori.
- English Word A- Definition A, as a prefix to English words, is derived from various sources. (1) It frequently signifies on or in (from an, a forms of AS. on), denoting a state, as in afoot, on foot, abed, amiss, asleep, aground, aloft, away (AS. onweg), and analogically, ablaze, atremble, etc. (2) AS. of off, from, as in adown (AS. ofd/ne off the dun or hill). (3) AS. a- (Goth. us-, ur-, Ger. er-), usually giving an intensive force, and sometimes the sense of away, on, back, as in arise, abide, ago. (4) Old English y- or i- (corrupted from the AS. inseparable particle ge-, cognate with OHG. ga-, gi-, Goth. ga-), which, as a prefix, made no essential addition to the meaning, as in aware. (5) French a (L. ad to), as in abase, achieve. (6) L. a, ab, abs, from, as in avert. (7) Greek insep. prefix / without, or privative, not, as in abyss, atheist; akin to E. un-.
- English Word A-mornings Definition In the morning; every morning.
- English Word A-sea Definition On the sea; at sea; toward the sea.
- English Word A-tiptoe Definition On tiptoe; eagerly expecting.
- English Word Aam Definition A Dutch and German measure of liquids, varying in different cities, being at Amsterdam about 41 wine gallons, at Antwerp 36 1/2, at Hamburg 38 1/4.
- English Word Aard-vark Definition An edentate mammal, of the genus Orycteropus, somewhat resembling a pig, common in some parts of Southern Africa. It burrows in the ground, and feeds entirely on ants, which it catches with its long, slimy tongue.
- English Word Aard-wolf Definition A carnivorous quadruped (Proteles Lalandii), of South Africa, resembling the fox and hyena. See Proteles.
- English Word Aaron's rod Definition A plant with a tall flowering stem; esp. the great mullein, or hag-taper, and the golden-rod.
- English Word Aaron's rod Definition A rod with one serpent twined around it, thus differing from the caduceus of Mercury, which has two.
- English Word Aaronic Definition Alt. of Aaronical
- English Word Aaronical Definition Pertaining to Aaron, the first high priest of the Jews.
- English Word Ab Definition The fifth month of the Jewish year according to the ecclesiastical reckoning, the eleventh by the civil computation, coinciding nearly with August.
- English Word Ab- Definition A prefix in many words of Latin origin. It signifies from, away , separating, or departure, as in abduct, abstract, abscond. See A-(6).
- English Word Abaca Definition The Manila-hemp plant (Musa textilis); also, its fiber. See Manila hemp under Manila.
- English Word Abaci Definition of Abacus
- English Word Abacinate Definition To blind by a red-hot metal plate held before the eyes.
- English Word Abacination Definition The act of abacinating.
- English Word Abaciscus Definition One of the tiles or squares of a tessellated pavement; an abaculus.
- English Word Abacist Definition One who uses an abacus in casting accounts; a calculator.
- English Word Aback Definition An abacus.
- English Word Aback Definition Backward against the mast; -- said of the sails when pressed by the wind.
- English Word Aback Definition Behind; in the rear.
- English Word Aback Definition Toward the back or rear; backward.