CYCLE n.
onomical period, but having reference to certain judicial acts which took place at stated epochs under the Greek emperors. -- Cycle of the moon, or Metonic cycle, a period of 19 years, after the lapse of which the new and full moon returns to the same day of the year; -- so called from Meton, who first proposed it. -…
DATE n.
a transaction or event takes place, or is appointed to take place; a given point of time; epoch; as, the date of a battle. He at once, Down the long series of eventful time, So fixed the dates of being, so disposed To every living soul of every kind The field of motion, and the hour of rest. Akenside.…
DRIFT a.
ift mud. Kane. Drift anchor. See Sea anchor, and also Drag sail, under Drag, n. -- Drift epoch (Geol.), the glacial epoch. -- Drift net, a kind of fishing net. -- Drift sail. Same as Drag sail. See under Drag, n.
ELEPHANTINE a.
immense; heavy; as, of elephantine proportions; an elephantine step or tread. Elephantine epoch (Geol.), the epoch distinguished by the existence of large pachyderms. Mantell. -- Elephantine tortoise (Zoöl.), a huge land tortoise; esp., Testudo elephantina, from islands in the Indian Ocean; and T. elephantopus, from t…
EPI- n.
ng upon, beside, among, on the outside, above, over. It becomes ep- before a vowel, as in epoch, and eph- before a Greek aspirate, as in ephemeral.
GREGORIAN a.
e solar, and also the regulation of the time of Easter and the movable feasts by means of epochs. See Gregorian year (below). -- Gregorian chant (Mus.), plain song, or canto fermo, a kind of unisonous music, according to the eight celebrated church modes, as arranged and prescribed by Pope Gregory I. (called "the Grea…
ICE n.
elds which drift out to sea. -- Ground ice, anchor ice. -- Ice age (Geol.), the glacial epoch or period. See under Glacial. -- Ice anchor (Naut.), a grapnel for mooring a vessel to a field of ice. Kane. -- Ice blink Etym: [Dan. iisblink], a streak of whiteness of the horizon, caused by the reflection of light from…
JULIAN a.
ch the year was made to consist of 365 days, each fourth year having 366 days. -- Julian epoch, the epoch of the commencement of the Julian calendar, or 46 b. c. -- Julian period, a chronological period of 7,980 years, combining the solar, lunar, and indiction cycles (28 x 19 x 15 = 7,980), being reckoned from the ye…
NIAGARA PERIOD n.
ivision or the American Upper Silurian system, embracing the Medina, Clinton, and Niagara epoch. The rocks of the Niagara epoch, mostly limestones, are extensively distributed, and at Niagara Falls consist of about eighty feet of shale supporting a greater thickness of limestone, which is gradually undermined by the re…