Search the Dictionary

A present or bonus; -- originally applied to that paid on ships which entered the port of Canton. S. Wells Williams.

mass; agregated. "As for knowledge which man receiveth by teaching, it is cumulative, njt original." Bacon

The earliest abode; original dwelling place; originals; as, the cunabula of the human race.

One who has the cure souls; originally, any clergyman, but now usually limited to one who assist a rector or vicar Hook. All this the good old man performed alone, He spared no pains, for curate he had none. Dryden.

The ringing of an evening bell, originally a signal to the inhabitants to cover fires, extinguish lights, and retire to rest, -- instituted by William the Conqueror; also, the bell itself. He begins at curfew, and walks till the first cock. Shak. The village curfew, as it tolled profound. Campbell.

s after things that were elegant and beatiful should not have been as curious as to their origin, their uses, and their natural history. Woodward.

An officer in the Court of Chancery, whose business is to make out original writs.

The circle or compass of the arts and sciences (originally, of the seven so-called liberal arts and sciences); circle of human knowledge. Hence, a work containing, in alphabetical order, information in all departments of knowledge, or on a particular department or branch; as, a cyclopedia of the physical sciences, or o…

is from Latin, which is from Greek, which took it from Phoenician, the probable ultimate origin being Egyptian. It is related most nearly to t and th; as, Eng. deep, G. tief; Eng. daughter, G. tochter, Gr. duhitr. See Guide to Pronunciation, sq. root178, 179, 229.

pes, worn at Mass by deacons, and by bishops at pontifical Mass; -- imitated from a dress originally worn in Dalmatia.

Pertaining to, or originating at, the city of Damascus; resembling the products or manufactures of Damascus.

One of a breed of terriers with short legs, long body, and rough coat, originating in the country about the English and Scotch border.

theory of the manner and cause of the supposed development of living things from certain original forms or elements.

The Ten Commandments or precepts given by God to Moses on Mount Sinai, and originally written on two tables of stone.

To separate the constituent parts of; to resolve into original elements; to set free from previously existing forms of chemical combination; to bring to dissolution; to rot or decay.

The state of being reduced into original elements.

To be or grow worse than one's kind, or than one was originally; hence, to be inferior; to grow poorer, meaner, or more vicious; to decline in good qualities; to deteriorate. When wit transgresseth decency, it degenerates into insolence and impiety. Tillotson.

of about fourteen cents; the "penny" of the New Testament; -- so called from being worth originally ten of the pieces called as.

One who, or that which, gives a name; origin or source of a name. This opinion that Aram . . . was the father and denomination of the Syrians in general. Sir W. Raleigh.

edness of mind or heart; absence of religious feeling and principle. Total depravity. See Original sin, and Calvinism.