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ural and moral; devotion to the interests of others; brotherly kindness; -- opposed to egoism or selfishness. [Recent] J. S. Mill.

One imbued with altruism; -- opposed to egoist.

Regardful of others; beneficent; unselfish; -- opposed to Ant: egoistic or Ant: selfish. Bain. -- Al`tru*is"tic*al*ly, adv.

A variety of shale or clay slate, containing iron pyrites, the decomposition of which leads to the formation of alum, which often effloresces on the rock.

Somewhat like alum.

A person whose employment is to write what another dictates, or to copy what another has written.

A pastoral sweetheart. To sport with Amaryllis in the shade. Milton.

style of an amateur; superficial or defective like the work of an amateur. -- Am`a*teur"ish*ly, adv. -- Am`a*teur"ish*ness, n.

The practice, habit, or work of an amateur.

A loss or decay of sight, from loss of power in the optic nerve, without any perceptible external change in the eye; -- called also gutta serena, the "drop serene" of Milton.

A fish of the southern Atlantic coast (Seriola Carolinensis.)

A substance of the consistence of wax, found floating in the Indian Ocean and other parts of the tropics, and also as a morbid secretion in the intestines of the sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus), which is believed to be in all cases its true origin. In color it is white, ash-gray, yellow, or black, and often varieg…

One excessively ambitious. [R.]

A custom peculiar to the United States or to America; an American characteristic or idea.

One without method; a quack. [Obs.]

The Amish Mennonites.

Astray; faultily; improperly; wrongly; ill. What error drives our eyes and ears amiss Shak. Ye ask and receive not, because ye ask amiss. James iv. 3. To take (an act, thing) amiss, to impute a wrong motive to (an act or thing); to take offense at' to take unkindly; as, you must not take these questions amiss.…

The quality of being amissible; possibility of being lost. [R.] Notions of popular rights and the amissibility of sovereign power for misconduct were alternately broached by the two great religious parties of Europe. Hallam.

Liable to be lost. [R.]

Deprivation; loss. [Obs.] Sir T. Browne.