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Dependent on that which is undetermined or unknown; as, the success of his undertaking is contingent upon events which he can not control. "Uncertain and contingent causes." Tillotson.

low). Rule of Coss, an old name for Algebra. Etym: [It. regola di cosa rule of thing, the unknown quantity being called the cosa, or the thing.]

rginia and some others of the Southern States. Providence, the county town of Fairfax, is unknown by that name, and passes as Fairfax Court House. Barlett.

den noises, rapidly or frequently repeated; to crepitate; as, burning thorns crackle. The unknown ice that crackles underneath them. Dryden.

avage. See Crystallization. Cubic equation, an equation in which the highest power of the unknown quantity is a cube. -- Cubic foot, a volume equivalent to a cubical solid which measures a foot in each of its dimensions. -- Cubic number, a number produced by multiplying a number into itself, and that product again by…

the dire nation in its early times Pope. Reasoning is nothing but the faculty of deducing unknown truths from principles already known. Locke. See what regard will be paid to the pedigree which deduces your descent from kings and conquerors. Sir W. Scott.

is denoted by its index, that of an equation by the greatest sum of the exponents of the unknown quantities in any term; thus, ax4 + bx2 = c, and mx2y2 + nyx = p, are both equations of the fourth degree.

ecific character or name of; to assign to its true place in a system; as, to determine an unknown or a newly discovered plant or its name.

The act of developing or disclosing that which is unknown; a gradual unfolding process by which anything is developed, as a plan or method, or an image upon a photographic plate; gradual advancement or growth through a series of progressive changes; also, the result of developing, or a developed state. A new developmen…

s, the direction o. I do commit his youth To your direction. Shak. All nature is but art, unknown to thee;direction, which thou canst not see. Pope.

ers success, or causes loss or injury. I was brought here under the disadvantage of being unknown by sight to any of you. Burke. Abandoned by their great patron, the faction henceforward acted at disadvantage. Palfrey.

iew; to make visible; to reveal; to make known; to show (what has been secret, unseen, or unknown). Go, draw aside the curtains, and discover The several caskets to this noble prince. Shak. Prosperity doth best discover vice; but adversity doth best discover virtue. Bacon. We will discover ourselves unto them. 1 Sam. x…

ne who discovers; one who first comes to the knowledge of something; one who discovers an unknown country, or a new principle, truth, or fact. The discoverers and searchers of the land. Sir W. Raleigh.

Finding out or ascertaining something previously unknown or unrecognized; as, Harvey's discovery of the circulation of the blood. A brilliant career of discovery and conquest. Prescott. We speak of the "invention" of printing, the discovery of America. Trench.

own; to disclose; -- said of that which had been confided as a secret, or had been before unknown; as, to divulge a secret. Divulge not such a love as mine. Cowper.

ff in accordance with the periodic law, and by prediction, to a hypothetical element then unknown, but since discovered and named scandium; -- so called because it was a missing analogue of the boron group. See Scandium.

To cause to disappear from an equation; as, to eliminate an unknown quantity.

ation; especially, in the operation of deducing from several equations containing several unknown quantities a less number of equations containing a less number of unknown quantities.

ities sought, and the number of equations that may be found is greater than the number of unknown quantities. -- Equation of a curve (Math.), an equation which expresses the relation between the coördinates of every point in the curve. -- Equation of equinoxes (Astron.), the difference between the mean and apparent p…

, liveried servants, etc., a showy turn-out. The rumbling equipages of fashion . . . were unknown in the settlement of New Amsterdam. W. Irving.