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Webster’s Dictionary (1828)



401 words match “PRINCIPAL”

IRON n.
a hydrous oxide (as limonite, turgite, etc.). It is reduced on an enormous scale in three principal forms; viz., cast iron, steel, and wrought iron. Iron usually appears dark brown, from oxidation or impurity, but when pure, or an fresh surface, is a gray or white metal. It is easily oxidized (rusted) by moisture, and…
IROQUOIAN a.
Of, pertaining to, or designating, one of the principal linguistic stocks of the North American Indians. The territory of the northern Iroquoian tribes, of whom the Five Nations, or Iroquois proper, were the chief, extended from the shores of the St. Lawrence and of Lakes Huron, Ontario, and Erie south, through eastern…
ISCHION; ISCHIUM n.
The ventral and posterior of the three principal bones composing either half of the pelvis; seat bone; the huckle bone.
ISIS n.
The principal goddess worshiped by the Egyptians. She was regarded as the mother of Horus, and the sister and wife of Osiris. The Egyptians adored her as the goddess of fecundity, and as the great benefactress of their country, who instructed their ancestors in the art of agriculture.
ISOMETRIC; ISOMETRICAL a.
pectively to three rectangular axes, are equal to one another. This kind of projection is principally used in delineating buildings or machinery, in which the principal lines are parallel to three rectangular axes, and the principal planes are parallel to three rectangular planes passing through the three axes.…
ISONANDRA n.
A genus of sapotaceous trees of India. Isonandra Gutta is the principal source of gutta-percha.
IVORY-BILL n.
A large, handsome, North American woodpecker (Campephilus principalis), having a large, sharp, ivory-colored beak. Its general color is glossy black, with white secondaries, and a white dorsal stripe. The male has a large, scarlet crest. It is now rare, and found only in the Gulf States.
JAGANNATH; JAGANNATHA; JUGGERNAUT n.
Orissa. The idol is considered to contain the bones of Krishna and to possess a soul. The principal festivals are the Snanayatra, when the idol is bathed, and the Rathayatra, when the image is drawn upon a car adorned with obscene paintings. Formerly it was erroneously supposed that devotees allowed themselves to be cr…
JAGGERY PALM n.
ens) having leaves pinnate with wedge-shaped divisions, the petiole very stout. It is the principal source of jaggery, and is often cultivated for ornament.
KEEL n.
rs scarfed together, extending from stem to stern along the bottom of a vessel. It is the principal timber of the vessel, and, by means of the ribs attached on each side, supports the vessel's frame. In an iron vessel, a combination of plates supplies the place of the keel of a wooden ship. See Illust. of Keelson.…
KEEP n.
aid. Dryden. The lower chambers of those gloomy keeps. Hallam. I think . . . the keep, or principal part of a castle, was so called because the lord and his domestic circle kept, abode, or lived there. M. A. Lower.
KEEPER n.
set is a good keeper. Downing. Keeper of the forest (O. Eng. Law), an officer who had the principal government of all things relating to the forest. -- Keeper of the great seal, a high officer of state, who has custody of the great seal. The office is now united with that of lord chancellor. [Eng.] -- Keeper of the Ki…
KERITE n.
r vegetable oils is vulcanized by sulphur, the product closely resembling rubber; -- used principally as an insulating material in telegraphy. Knight.
KINGDOM n.
An extensive scientific division distinguished by leading or ruling characteristics; a principal division; a department; as, the mineral kingdom. "The animal and vegetable kingdoms." Locke. Animal kingdom. See under Animal. -- Kingdom of God. (a) The universe. (b) That spiritual realm of which God is the acknowledged…
LARAMIE GROUP n.
An extensive series of strata, principally developed in the Rocky Mountain region, as in the Laramie Mountains, and formerly supposed to be of the Tertiary age, but now generally regarded as Cretaceous, or of intermediate and transitional character. It contains beds of lignite, often valuable for coal, and is hence als…
LATIN a.
ely given to certain nations, esp. the French, Spanish, and Italians, who speak languages principally derived from Latin. Latin Union, an association of states, originally comprising France, Belgium, Switzerland, and Italy, which, in 1865, entered into a monetary agreement, providing for an identity in the weight and f…
LATTICING n.
A system of bars crossing in the middle to form braces between principal longitudinal members, as of a strut.
LATUS RECTUM n.
rallel to the directrix and terminated both ways by the curve. It is the parameter of the principal axis. See Focus, and Parameter.
LEADER n.
The first, or the principal, editorial article in a newspaper; a leading or main editorial article.
LEAN n.
That part of flesh which consist principally of muscle without the fat. The fat was so white and the lean was so ruddy. Goldsmith.
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