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; to put forth strenuous efforts to attain an object; -- a phrase derived from the Middle English phrase "to do one's dever" (duty). "Mr. Prynne proceeded to show he had done endeavor to prepare his answer." Fuller.

n French usage, a dish served at the beginning of dinner to give zest to the appetite; in English usage, a side dish, served with a joint, or between the courses, as a cutlet, scalloped oysters, etc.

One who writes in an affectedly pointed style. Epigrammatizers of our English prose style. Coleridge.

*ly, adv. Such a figure as Jacob Brattle, purely episodical though it be, is an excellent English portrait. H. James.

To commemorate by an epitaph. [R.] Let me be epitaphed the inventor of English hexameters. G. Harvey.

A compact or condensed representation of anything. An epitome of English fashionable life. Carlyle. A man so various that he seemed to be Not one, but all mankind's epitome. Dryden.

not equal to the task. The Scots trusted not their own numbers as equal to fight with the English. Clarendon. It is not permitted to me to make my commendations equal to your merit. Dryden. Whose voice an equal messenger Conveyed thy meaning mild. Emerson.

The termination of many English words, denoting the agent; -- applied either to men or things; as in hater, farmer, heater, grater. At the end of names of places, -er signifies a man of the place; as, Londoner, i. e., London man.

k of certain bivalves; the ligamental area. Escutcheon of pretense, an escutcheon used in English heraldry to display the arms of the bearer's wife; -- not commonly used unless she an heiress. Cf. Impalement.

Spirit. Esprit de corps (, a French phrase much used by English writers to denote the common spirit pervading the members of a body or association of persons. It implies sympathy, enthusiasm, devotion, and jealous regard for the honor of the body as a whole.

The pronunciation of the Greek ê (eta) like the Italian e long, that is like a in the English word ate. See Itacism.

ow; as, ex-president, ex-governor, ex-mayor, ex-convict. The Greek form 'ex becomes ex in English, as in exarch; 'ek becomes ec, as in eccentric.

honor given to certain high dignitaries, esp. to viceroys, ministers, and ambassadors, to English colonial governors, etc. It was formerly sometimes given to kings and princes.

in the excise. Often used adjectively; as, excise duties; excise law; excise system. The English excise system corresponds to the internal revenue system in the United States. Abbot. An excise . . . is a fixed, absolute, and direct charge laid on merchandise, products, or commodities. 11 Allen's (Mass. ) Rpts.…

ed to view, as in an industrial exhibition; a display; as, this exhibit was marked A; the English exhibit.

F is the sixth letter of the English alphabet, and a nonvocal consonant. Its form and sound are from the Latin. The Latin borrowed the form from the Greek digamma w consonant. The form and value of Greek letter came from the Phoenician, the ultimate source being probably Egyptian. Etymologically fis most closely relate…

To act as a fag, or perform menial services or drudgery, for another, as in some English schools. To fag out, to become untwisted or frayed, as the end of a rope, or the edge of canvas.

Laborious drudgery; esp., the acting as a drudge for another at an English school.

like the rays of a fan, as in Henry VII.'s chapel in Westminster Abbey. It is peculiar to English Gothic. -- Fan wheel, the wheel of a fan blower. -- Fan window. Same as Fan light (above).

on to, or a paraphrase of, some part of the Latin service in the vernacular; -- common in English before the Reformation.