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Burning; ardent. [R.] Lo! further on, Where flames the arduous Spirit of Isidore. Cary.

The independent variable upon whose value that of a function depends. Brande & C.

Any edentate animal if the family Dasypidæ, peculiar to America. The body and head are incased in an armor composed of small bony plates. The armadillos burrow in the earth, seldom going abroad except at night. When attacked, they curl up into a ball, presenting the armor on all sides. Their flesh is good food. There a…

A name in the East Indies and the Indian islands for all ardent spirits. Arrack is often distilled from a fermented mixture of rice, molasses, and palm wine of the cocoanut tree or the date palm, etc.

Notoriously, in an ill sense; infamously; impudently; shamefully. L'Estrange.

Arrest. [R.] The arrestation of the English resident in France was decreed by the National Convention. H. M. Williams.

in the sense of behind, rear, subordinate. Arriere fee, Arriere fief, a fee or fief dependent on a superior fee, or a fee held of a feudatory. -- Arriere vassal, the vassal of a vassal.

A shrub (Viburnum dentatum) growing in damp woods and thickets; -- so called from the long, straight, slender shoots.

nwood, and wormwood. Of these A. absinthium, or common wormwood, is well known, and A. tridentata is the sage brush of the Rocky Mountain region.

An affection characterized by pain in or about a joint, not dependent upon structural disease.

A literary composition, forming an independent portion of a magazine, newspaper, or cyclopedia.

To render (a person) certain; to cause to feel certain; to make confident; to assure; to apprise. [Obs.] When the blessed Virgin was so ascertained. Jer. Taylor. Muncer assured them that the design was approved of by Heaven, and that the Almighty had in a dream ascertained him of its effects. Robertson.…

The act of aspiring of a ardently desiring; strong wish; high desire. "Aspirations after virtue." Johnson. Vague aspiration after military renown. Prescott.

Positive; affirming confidently; affirmative; peremptory. In a confident and assertive form. Glanvill. As*sert"ive*ly, adv. -- As*sert"ive*ness, n.

The act or process of assimilating or bringing to a resemblance, likeness, or identity; also, the state of being so assimilated; as, the assimilation of one sound to another. To aspire to an assimilation with God. Dr. H. More. The assimilation of gases and vapors. Sir J. Herschel.

To make sure or certain; to render confident by a promise, declaration, or other evidence. His promise that thy seed shall bruise our foe . . . Assures me that the bitterness of death Is past, and we shall live. Milton.

One versed in Assyriology; a student of Assyrian archæology.

t Athens, in which scholars and poets were accustomed to read their works and instruct students.

Dependent on the atmosphere. [R.] In am so atmospherical a creature. Pope. Atmospheric engine, a steam engine whose piston descends by the pressure of the atmosphere, when the steam which raised it is condensed within the cylinder. Tomlinson. -- Atmospheric line (Steam Engin.), the equilibrium line of an indicator car…

A conventional symbol of office, character, or identity, added to any particular figure; as, a club is the attribute of Hercules.