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Webster’s Dictionary (1828)



348 words match “CENTURY”

ATHANASIAN a.
Of or pertaining to Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria in the 4th century. Athanasian creed, a formulary, confession, or exposition of faith, formerly supposed to have been drawn up by Athanasius; but this opinion is now rejected, and the composition is ascribed by some to Hilary, bishop of Arles (5th century). It is a s…
ATTIC n.
in order or orders of a facade, in the classical styles; -- a term introduced in the 17th century. Hence:
AUFKLARUNG n.
A philosophic movement of the 18th century characterized by a lively questioning of authority, keen interest in matters of politics and general culture, and an emphasis on empirical method in science. It received its impetus from the unsystematic but vigorous skepticism of Pierre Bayle, the physical doctrines of Newton…
AULD LICHT; AULD LIGHT n.
member of the conservative party in the Church of Scotland in the latter part of the 18th century.
BAGWIG n.
A wig, in use in the 18th century, with the hair at the back of the head in a bag.
BANDBOX n.
of pasteboard or thin wood, usually cylindrical, for holding ruffs (the bands of the 17th century), collars, caps, bonnets, etc.
BANG v.
forelock of human beings; to cut (the hair). His hair banged even with his eyebrows. The Century Mag.
BARBIZON SCHOOL; BARBISON SCHOOL n.
A French school of the middle of the 19th century centering in the village of Barbizon near the forest of Fontainebleau. Its members went straight to nature in disregard of academic tradition, treating their subjects faithfully and with poetic feeling for color, light, and atmosphere. It is exemplified, esp. in landsca…
BARKER'S MILL n.
A machine, invented in the 17th century, worked by a form of reaction wheel. The water flows into a vertical tube and gushes from apertures in hollow horizontal arms, causing the machine to revolve on its axis.
BARNBURNER n.
of the radical section of the Democratic party in New York, about the middle of the 19th century, which was hostile to extension of slavery, public debts, corporate privileges, etc., and supported Van Buren against Cass for president in 1848; --opposed to Hunker. [Political Cant, U. S.]
BASELARD n.
A short sword or dagger, worn in the fifteenth century. [Written also baslard.] Fairholt.
BASILICA n.
tinian, translated from the original Latin into Greek, by order of Basil I., in the ninth century. P. Cyc.
BAYEUX TAPESTRY n.
o England, preserved in the town museum of Bayeux in Normandy. It is probably of the 11th century, and is attributed by tradition to Matilda, the Conqueror's wife.
BEGHARD; BEGUARD n.
ion of religious laymen living in imitation of the Beguines. They arose in the thirteenth century, were afterward subjected to much persecution, and were suppressed by Innocent X. in
BELLARMINE n.
toneware jug of a pattern originated in the neighborhood of Cologne, Germany, in the 16th century. It has a bearded face or mask supposed to represent Cardinal Bellarmine, a leader in the Roman Catholic Counter Reformation, following the Reformation; -- called also graybeard, longbeard.
BELLY n.
r bent timber, the convex part of which is the back. Belly doublet, a doublet of the 16th century, hanging down so as to cover the belly. Shak. -- Belly fretting, the chafing of a horse's belly with a girth. Johnson. -- Belly timber, food. [Ludicrous] Prior. -- Belly worm, a worm that breeds or lives in the belly (s…
BENEDICTINE n.
One of a famous order of monks, established by St. Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century. This order was introduced into the United States in 1846.
BERLIN n.
riage, having a sheltered seat behind the body and separate from it, invented in the 17th century, at Berlin.
BIDARKEE; BIDARKA n.
A portable boat made of skins stretched on a frame. [Alaska] The Century.
BISSEXTILE n.
the real year. Hence, it is necessary to suppress the bissextile day at the end of every century which is not divisible by 400, while it is retained at the end of those which are divisible by 400.
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