GRACE n.
Graceful and beautiful females, sister goddesses, represented by ancient writers as the attendants sometimes of Apollo but oftener of Venus. They were commonly mentioned as three in number; namely, Aglaia, Euphrosyne, and Thalia, and were regarded as the inspirers of the qualities which give attractiveness to wisdom, l…
GRADIENT n.
The rate of increase or decrease of a variable magnitude, or the curve which represents it; as, a thermometric gradient. Gradient post, a post or stake indicating by its height or by marks on it the grade of a railroad, highway, or embankment, etc., at that spot.
H n.
tion as that of the succeeding vowel. It is used with certain consonants to form digraphs representing sounds which are not found in the alphabet, as sh, th, th, as in shall, thing, thine (for zh see §274); also, to modify the sounds of some other letters, as when placed after c and p, with the former of which it repre…
HERMES n.
es having feet or other parts of the body sculptured upon it. These figures, though often representing Hermes, were used for other divinities, and even, in later times, for portraits of human beings. Called also herma. See Terminal statue, under Terminal.
HEROIC a.
Larger than life size, but smaller than colossal; -- said of the representation of a human figure. Heroic Age, the age when the heroes, or those called the children of the gods, are supposed to have lived. -- Heroic poetry, that which celebrates the deeds of a hero; epic poetry. -- Heroic treatment or remedies (Med.)…
HIEROGLYPH; HIEROGLYPHIC n.
, four classes of characters: first, the hieroglyphic proper, or figurative, in which the representation of the object conveys the idea of the object itself; second, the ideographic, consisting of symbols representing ideas, not sounds, as an ostrich feather is a symbol of truth; third, the phonetic, consisting of symb…
HISTORIC; HISTORICAL a.
iors frowning in historic brass. Pope. Historical painting, that branch of painting which represents the events of history. -- Historical sense, that meaning of a passage which is deduced from the circumstances of time, place, etc., under which it was written. -- The historic sense, the capacity to conceive and repre…
HISTORY n.
by tale or history. Shak. What histories of toil could I declare! Pope. History piece, a representation in painting, drawing, etc., of any real event, including the actors and the action. -- Natural history, a description and classification of objects in nature, as minerals, plants, animals, etc., and the phenomena w…