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A believer in the theory that the fundamental phenomena of life are to be explained upon purely chemical and physical principles; -- opposed to vitalist.

he numerous varieties of plum, of our gardens, although growing into thornless trees, are believed to be varieties of the blackthorn, produced by long cultivation. G. Bentham. are in bold format, like collocations.

A genus of marine annelids, believed to be an ancient or ancestral type. It is remarkable for its simplicity of structure and want of parapodia. It is the type of the order Archiannelida, or Gymnotoma. See Loeven's larva.

One who believes in, or maintains the doctrine of, a plurality of gods.

a portent; containing portents; foreschadowing, esp. foreschadowing ill; ominous. For, I believe, they are portentous things. Shak. Victories of strange and almost portentous splendor. Macaulay.

ment; share; fate. The lord of that servant . . . will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. Luke xii. 46. Man's portion is to die and rise again. Keble.

A believer in positivism. -- a.

One who believes in or supports the doctrine of predestination. Dr. H. More.

omething to be, or to be true, on grounds deemed valid, though not amounting to proof; to believe by anticipation; to infer; as, we may presume too far.

That which is presumed or assumed; that which is supposed or believed to be real or true, on evidence that is probable but not conclusive. "In contradiction to these very plausible presumptions." De Quincey.

To hold out the appearance of being, possessing, or performing; to profess; to make believe; to feign; to sham; as, to pretend to be asleep. "[He] pretended to drink the waters." Macaulay.

One who believes the prophecies of the Apocalypse to have been already fulfilled. Farrar.

Having more evidence for than against; supported by evidence which inclines the mind to believe, but leaves some room for doubt; likely. That is accounted probable which has better arguments producible for it than can be brought against it. South. I do not say that the principles of religion are merely probable; I have…

proven in his mind." Thackeray. Of this which was the principal charge, and was generally believed to beproven, he was acquitted. Jowett (Thucyd. ). Not proven (Scots Law), a verdict of a jury that the guilt of the accused is not made out, though not disproved. Mozley & W.

One who believes that Christ was a mere man. Smart.

tter objected against him, and bring his honest neighbors with him to make oath that they believes he swore truly; or vulgar, which was by fire or water ordeal, or by combat. See Ordeal. Wharton. Let him put me to my purgation. Shak.

e of purification after death; according to the Roman Catholic creed, a place, or a state believed to exist after death, in which the souls of persons are purified by expiating such offenses committed in this life as do not merit eternal damnation, or in which they fully satisfy the justice of God for sins that have be…

The descendants of a common ancestor; a family, tribe, people, or nation, believed or presumed to belong to the same stock; a lineage; a breed. The whole race of mankind. Shak. Whence the long race of Alban fathers come. Dryden.

effect mentioned above is ascribed to the impacts of these particles. Radium, in turn, is believed to be formed indirectly by an immeasurably slow disintegration of uranium.

One who believes in realism; esp., one who maintains that generals, or the terms used to denote the genera and species of things, represent real existences, and are not mere names, as maintained by the nominalists.