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; to rarefy. Specifically: To subtilize, as the humors of the body, or to break them into finer parts.

ipal city; marked by such qualities as were characteristic of the Athenians; classical; refined. Attic base (Arch.), a peculiar form of molded base for a column or pilaster, described by Vitruvius, applied under the Roman Empire to the Ionic and Corinthian and "Roman Doric" orders, and imitated by the architects of the…

To dress; to array; to adorn; esp., to clothe with elegant or splendid garments. Finely attired in a robe of white. Shak. With the linen miter shall he be attired. Lev. xvi. 4.

auditory; an assembly of hearers. Also applied by authors to their readers. Fit audience find, though few. Milton. He drew his audience upward to the sky. Dryden. Court of audience, or Audience court (Eng.), a court long since disused, belonging to the Archbishop of Canterbury; also, one belonging to the Archbishop of…

The result of such an examination, or an account as adjusted by auditors; final account. Yet I can make my audit up. Shak.

Augustan age of any national literature, the period of its highest state of purity and refinement; -- so called because the reign of Augustus Cæsar was the golden age of Roman literature. Thus the reign of Louis XIV. (b. 1638) has been called the Augustan age of French literature, and that of Queen Anne (b. 1664) the…

auk, now extinct, is Alca (or Plautus) impennis. The razor-billed auk is A. torda. See Puffin, Guillemot, and Murre.

Pertaining to the auricles of the heart. Auricular finger, the little finger; so called because it can be readily introduced into the ear passage.

the morning. The poets represented her a rising out of the ocean, in a chariot, with rosy fingers dropping gentle dew.

To find the mean of, when sums or quantities are unequal; to reduce to a mean.

A house, inclosure, large cage, or other place, for keeping birds confined; a bird house. Lincolnshire may be termed the aviary of England. Fuller.

A judgment, sentence, or final decision. Specifically: The decision of arbitrators in a case submitted."Impatient for the award." Cowper. An award had been given against. Gilpin.

The emotion inspired by something dreadful and sublime; an undefined sense of the dreadful and the sublime; reverential fear, or solemn wonder; profound reverence. There is an awe in mortals' joy, A deep mysterious fear. Keble. To tame the pride of that power which held the Continent in awe. Macaulay. The solitude of t…

abola, which has one such axis, the ellipse, which has two, or the circle, which has an infinite number. The two axes of the ellipse are the major axis and the minor axis, and the two axes of the hyperbola are the transverse axis and the conjugate axis. -- Axis of a lens, the straight line passing through its center a…

of worsted chenille so colored as to produce a pattern on a stout jute backing. It has a fine soft pile. So called from Axminster, England, where it was formerly (1755 -- 1835) made.

to the lemurs, found in Madagascar (Cheiromys Madagascariensis), remarkable for its long fingers, sharp nails, and rodent-like incisor teeth.

Always; ever; continually; for an indefinite time. For his mercies aye endure. Milton. For aye, always; forever; eternally.

Confined to no zone or region; not local.

Of a fine blue color; azure.

lly related to p , v , f , w and m , letters representing sounds having a close organic affinity to its own sound; as in Eng. bursar and purser; Eng. bear and Lat. pear; Eng. silver and Ger. silber; Lat. cubitum and It. gomito; Eng. seven, Anglo-Saxon seofon, Ger. sieben, Lat. septem, Gr.ptan. The form of letter B is R…