HALF a.
vessel, divided lengthwise, showing the lines. -- Half cadence (Mus.), a cadence on the dominant. -- Half cap, a slight salute with the cap. [Obs.] Shak. -- A half cock, the position of the cock of a gun when retained by the first notch. -- Half hitch, a sailor's knot in a rope; half of a clove hitch. -- Half hos…
HOME a.
people within the country itself, in contradistinction to a government established by the dominant country; as, home rule in Ireland. Also used adjectively; as, home- rule members of Parliament. -- Home ruler, one who favors or advocates home rule. -- Home run (Baseball), a complete circuit of the bases made before t…
IDEO-MOTOR a.
Applied to those actions, or muscular movements, which are automatic expressions of dominant ideas, rather than the result of distinct volitional efforts, as the act of expressing the thoughts in speech, or in writing, while the mind is occupied in the composition of the sentence. Carpenter.
KEY n.
called diatonic tones, and named key tone (or tonic) or one (or eight), mediant or three, dominant or five, subdominant or four, submediant or six, supertonic or two, and subtonic or seven. Chromatic tones are temporary members of a key, under such names as " sharp four," "flat seven," etc. Scales and tunes of every va…
PERFECT a.
e (Mus.), a complete and satisfactory close in harmony, as upon the tonic preceded by the dominant. -- Perfect chord (Mus.), a concord or union of sounds which is perfectly coalescent and agreeable to the ear, as the unison, octave, fifth, and fourth; a perfect consonance; a common chord in its original position of ke…