Search the Dictionary

a source of nourishment or support; that from which anything proceeds as if by growth or development; as, the root of a tooth, a nail, a cancer, and the like. Specifically:

That which is unformed or undeveloped; the principle which lies at the bottom of any development; an unfinished beginning. but I will bring thee where thou soon shalt quit Those rudiments, and see before thine eyes The monarchies of the earth. Milton. the single leaf is the rudiment of beauty in landscape. I. Taylor.…

Very imperfectly developed; in an early stage of development; embryonic.

To have growth or development; as, boys and girls run up rapidly. if the richness of the ground cause turnips to run to leaves. Mortimer.

ow restricted to a variety of malignant growth made up of cells resembling those of fetal development without any proper intercellular substance.

of the lymphatic glands, particularly those of the neck, and marked by a tendency to the development of chronic intractable inflammations of the skin, mucous membrane, bones, joints, and other parts, and by a diminution in the power of resistance to disease or injury and the capacity for recovery. Scrofula is now gene…

lities of bodies which are not inseparable from them as such, but are dependent for their development and intensity on the organism of the percipient, such as color, taste, odor, etc. -- Secondary quills or remiges (Zoöl.), the quill feathers arising from the forearm of a bird and forming a row continuous with the pri…

to a mass of cells (mulberry mass, or morula), all equal and similar, from the growth and development of which the future animal is to be formed. This constitutes regular segmentation. Quite frequently, however, the equality and regularity of cleavage is interfered with by the presence of food yolk, from which results…

Evolution of one's self; development by inherent quality or power.

The science of meanings or sense development (of words); the explanation of the development and changes of the meanings of words. --Se*ma`si*o*log"ic*al (#), a.

Having or observing logical sequence; logically consistent and rigorous; consecutive in development or transition of thought. The scheme of pantheistic omniscience so prevalent among the sequacious thinkers of the day. Sir W. Hamilton. Milton was not an extensive or discursive thinker, as Shakespeare was; for the motio…

ce of scabious. -- Sheep pox (Med.), a contagious disease of sheep, characterixed by the development of vesicles or pocks upon the skin. -- Sheep scabious. (Bot.) Same as Sheep's bit. -- Sheep shears, shears in which the blades form the two ends of a steel bow, by the elasticity of which they open as often as presse…

One, not being a Slav, who is interested in the development and prosperity of that race.

That branch of philosophy which treats of the constitution, phenomena, and development of human society; social science. H. Spencer.

The development of the spermatozoids.

oup, including over 120,000 species. In general, the group is characterized by the marked development of the sporophyte, with great differentiation of its parts (root, stem, leaves, flowers, etc.); by the extreme reduction of the gametophyte; and by the development of seeds. All the Spermatophyta are heterosporous; fer…

The growth or development of an animal or a zooid from a nonsexual germ.

One of several marked phases or periods in the development and growth of many animals and plants; as, the larval stage; pupa stage; zoea stage. Stage box, a box close to the stage in a theater. -- Stage carriage, a stagecoach. -- Stage door, the actor's and workmen's entrance to a theater. -- Stage lights, the light…

oy all spores or germs in (an organic fluid or mixture), as by heat, so as to prevent the development of bacterial or other organisms.

A form of the larva of certain Discophora in a state of development succeeding the scyphistoma. The body of the strobila becomes elongated, and subdivides transversely into a series of lobate segments which eventually become ephyræ, or young medusæ.