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Webster’s Dictionary (1828)



302 words match “GERMAN”

VALHALLA n.
cally, the Pantheon near Ratisbon, in Bavaria, consecrated to the illustrious dead of all Germany.
VEGETABLE a.
he seeds of cocoa (Theobroma). -- Vegetable flannel, a textile material, manufactured in Germany from pine-needle wool, a down or fiber obtained from the leaves of the Pinus sylvestris. -- Vegetable ivory. See Ivory nut, under Ivory. -- Vegetable jelly. See Pectin. -- Vegetable kingdom. (Nat. Hist.) See the last Ph…
VEHMIC a.
Of, pertaining to, or designating, certain secret tribunals flourished in Germany from the end of the 12th century to the middle of the 16th, usurping many of the functions of the government which were too weak to maintain law and order, and inspiring dread in all who came within their jurisdiction. Encyc. Brit.…
VEREIN n.
A union, association, or society; -- used in names of German organizations.
VICARIATE n.
ce or power; vicarship; the office or oversight of a vicar. The vicariate of that part of Germany which is governed by the Saxon laws devolved on the elector of Saxony. Robertson.
VOLUNTEER NAVY n.
flag of the regular navy and subject to naval discipline. Prussia in 1870, in the Franco-German war, organized such a navy, which was commanded by merchant seamen with temporary commissions, with the claim (in which England acquiesced) that it did not come within the meaning of the term privateer.
WAGNERIAN a.
Of, pertaining to, or resembling the style of, Richard Wagner, the German musical composer.
WALDGRAVE n.
In the old German empire, the head forest keeper.
WATCHET a.
Pale or light blue. [Obs.] "Watchet mantles." Spenser. Who stares in Germany at watchet eyes Dryden.
WEISMANNISM n.
The theories and teachings in regard to heredity propounded by the German biologist August Weismann, esp. in regard to germ plasm as the basis of heredity and the impossibility of transmitting acquired characteristics; -- often called neo-Darwinism.
WELSH a.
aves, but scarcely any bulb, a native of Siberia. It is said to have been introduced from Germany, and is supposed to have derived its name from the German term wälsch foreign. -- Welsh parsley, hemp, or halters made from hemp. [Obs. & Jocular] J. Fletcher. -- Welsh rabbit. See under Rabbit.
WENDS n.
A Slavic tribe which once occupied the northern and eastern parts of Germany, of which a small remnant exists.
WERNERIAN a.
Of or pertaining to A. G. Werner, The German mineralogist and geologist, who classified minerals according to their external characters, and advocated the theory that the strata of the earth's crust were formed by depositions from water; designating, or according to, Werner's system.
WOOD n. 2 definitions
on. It is drab or yellowish brown, with a black stripe on each side of the head. -- Wood germander. (Bot.) See under Germander. -- Wood god, a fabled sylvan deity. -- Wood grass. (Bot.) See under Grass. -- Wood grouse. (Zoöl.) (a) The capercailzie. (b) The spruce partridge. See under Spruce. -- Wood guest (Zoöl.),…
WOODENNESS n.
stupidity; blockishness. We set our faces against the woodenness which then characterized German philology. Sweet.
XYLOPHONE n.
he musical scale, resting on belts of straw, and struck with two small hammers. Called in Germany strohfiedel, or straw fiddle.
YAGER n.
In the German army, one belonging to a body of light infantry armed with rifles, resembling the chasseur of the French army. [Written also jager.]
YIDDISH n.
A language used by German and other Jews, being a Middle German dialect developed under Hebrew and Slavic influence. It is written in Hebrew characters.
ZEALOTRY n.
zeal; fanatical devotion to a cause. Enthusiasm, visionariness, seems the tendency of the German; zeal, zealotry, of the English; fanaticism, of the French. Coleridge.
ZITHER n.
An instrument of music used in Austria and Germany. It has from thirty to forty wires strung across a shallow sounding-board, which lies horizontally on a table before the performer, who uses both hands in playing on it.
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