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A west Indian plant of the genus Maranta, esp. M. arundinacea, now cultivated in many hot countries. It said that the Indians used the roots to neutralize the venom in wounds made by poisoned arrows.

called also Holy Thursday. -- Right ascension (Astron.), that degree of the equinoctial, counted from the beginning of Aries, which rises with a star, or other celestial body, in a right sphere; or the arc of the equator intercepted between the first point of Aries and that point of the equator that comes to the merid…

A small, hooded, poisonous serpent of Egypt and adjacent countries, whose bite is often fatal. It is the Naja haje. The name is also applied to other poisonous serpents, esp. to Vipera aspis of southern Europe. See Haje.

Look, or particular appearance of the face; countenance; mien; air. "Serious in aspect." Dryden. [Craggs] with aspect open shall erect his head. Pope.

A Turkish money of account (formerly a coin), of little value; the 120th part of a piaster.

To encounter or meet purposely with the view of mastering, as an obstacle, difficulty, or the like. The thorny wilds the woodmen fierce assail. Pope.

an asserter. The assertors of liberty said not a word. Macaulay. Faithful assertor of thy country's cause. Prior.

To feign; to counterfeit; to simulate; to resemble. [Obs.] Blount.

The periodical sessions of the judges of the superior courts in every county of England for the purpose of administering justice in the trial and determination of civil and criminal cases; -- usually in the plural. Brande. Wharton. Craig. Burrill.

with sudden fear, terror, or wonder; to amaze; to surprise greatly, as with something unaccountable; to confound with some sudden emotion or passion. Musidorus . . . had his wits astonished with sorrow. Sidney. I, Daniel . . . was astonished at the vision. Dan. viii. 27.

The overpowering emotion excited when something unaccountable, wonderful, or dreadful is presented to the mind; an intense degree of surprise; amazement. Lest the place And my quaint habits breed astonishment. Milton.

f degree, rate, or value; as, with the thermometer at 80º; goods sold at a cheap price; a country estimated at 10,000 square miles; life is short at the longest.

octrine of atoms, a system which assuming that atoms are endued with gravity and motion accounted thus for the origin and formation of all things. This philosophy was first broached by Leucippus, was developed by Democritus, and afterward improved by Epicurus, and hence is sometimes denominated the Epicurean philosophy…

hose articles [clothes and blankets] in Philadelphia, and they were not attainable in the country. Marshall.

eserve a firm attitude; one's mental attitude in respect to religion. The attitude of the country was rapidly changing. J. R. Green. To strike an attitude, to take an attitude for mere effect.

The result of such an examination, or an account as adjusted by auditors; final account. Yet I can make my audit up. Shak.

A person appointed and authorized to audit or examine an account or accounts, compare the charges with the vouchers, examine the parties and witnesses, allow or reject charges, and state the balance.

In counterpoint and fugue, a repetition of the subject in tones of twice the original length. Augmentation court (Eng. Hist.), a court erected by Stat. 27 Hen. VIII., to augment to revenues of the crown by the suppression of monasteries. It was long ago dissolved. Encyc. Brit.

A French cloth measure, of different parts of the country (at Paris, 0.95 of an English ell); -- now superseded by the meter.

Having a genuine original or authority, in opposition to that which is false, fictitious, counterfeit, or apocryphal; being what it purports to be; genuine; not of doubtful origin; real; as, an authentic paper or register. To be avenged On him who had stole Jove's authentic fire. Milton.