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tricks, often without speaking, to divert the bystanders or an audience; a merry-andrew; originally, a droll rogue of Italian comedy. Percy Smith. As dumb harlequin is exhibited in our theaters. Johnson. Harlequin bat (Zoöl.), an Indian bat (Scotophilus ornatus), curiously variegated with white spots. -- Harlequin be…

Originally, the complete dress, especially in a military sense, of a man or a horse; hence, in general, armor. At least we 'll die witch harness on our back. Shak.

plantain (Plantago Coronopus); -- called also duck's-horn. Booth. -- Hartshorn shavings, originally taken from the horns of harts, are now obtained chiefly by planing down the bones of calves. They afford a kind of jelly. Hebert. -- Salt of hartshorn (Chem.), an impure solid carbonate of ammonia, obtained by the dest…

To restore to original purity or integrity. Thus saith the Lord, I have healed these waters. 2 Kings ii. 21.

An instrument devised originally for measuring the diameter of the sun; now employed for delicate measurements of the distance and relative direction of two stars too far apart to be easily measured in the field of view of an ordinary telescope.

Originally, a boundary stone dedicated to Hermes as the god of boundaries, and therefore bearing in some cases a head, or head and shoulders, placed upon a quadrangular pillar whose height is that of the body belonging to the head, sometimes having feet or other parts of the body sculptured upon it. These figures, thou…

the parent organism producing offspring different in habit and structure from itself, the original form, however, reappearing after one or more generations; -- opposed to homogenesis, or gamogenesis.

A strong, active horse, of a middle size, said to have been originally from Ireland; an ambling nag. Johnson.

Expressing a phrase or sentence in a single word, -- as is the case in the aboriginal languages of America.

One of a breed of cattle, originally from Schleswig-Holstein, valued for the large amount of milk produced by the cows. The color is usually black and white in irregular patches.

d priests, in France and the United States, engaged chiefly in teaching and manual Labor. Originally called Brethren of St. Joseph. The Sisters of the Holy Cross engage in similar work. Addis & Arnold. -- Holy-cross day, the fourteenth of September, observed as a church festival, in memory of the exaltation of our Sav…

Originally, sounding alike; of the same pitch; unisonous; monodic.

A quart pot; -- so called because originally bound with hoops, like a barrel. Also, a portion of the contents measured by the distance between the hoops. [Obs.]

A wind instrument of music; originally, one made of a horn (of an ox or a ram); now applied to various elaborately wrought instruments of brass or other metal, resembling a horn in shape. "Wind his horn under the castle wall." Spenser. See French horn, under French.

A succulent plant of the genus Sempervivum (S. tectorum), originally a native of subalpine Europe, but now found very generally on old walls and roofs. It is very tenacious of life under drought and heat; -- called also ayegreen.

To become or be made more humane; to become civilized; to be ameliorated. By the original law of nations, war and extirpation were the punishment of injury. Humanizing by degrees, it admitted slavery instead of death; a further step was the exchange of prisoners instead of slavery. Franklin.

A division of a country in England, supposed to have originally contained a hundred families, or freemen. Hundred court, a court held for all the inhabitants of a hundred. [Eng.] Blackstone.

Originally, a nickname for a member of the conservative section of the Democratic party in New York; hence, one opposed to progress in general; a fogy. [Political Cant, U.S.]

Originally, one of the national cavalry of Hungary and Croatia; now, one of the light cavalry of European armies.

A theory which regards matter as the original principle of evil.