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Webster’s Dictionary (1828)



644 words match “ERME”

MESNE a.
or superior to the second grantee, and hence is called the mesne lord. Mesne process, intermediate process; process intervening between the beginning and end of a suit, sometimes understood to be the whole process preceding the execution. Blackstone. Burrill. -- Mesne profits, profits of premises during the time the…
MESO-; MES- n.
A combining form denoting in the middle, intermediate; specif. (Chem.), denoting a type of hydrocarbons which are regarded as methenyl derivatives. Also used adjectively.
MESOTHORIUM n.
A radioactive product intermediate between thorium and radiothorium, with a period of 5.5 years.
METABOLISM n.
either for excretion or for some special purpose, as in the manufacture of the digestive ferments. Hence, metabolism may be either constructive (anabolism), or destructive (katabolism).
METAMORPHOSIS n.
anges of external form, as the chrysalis stage, pupa stage, etc., in insects. In these intermediate stages sexual reproduction is usually impossible, but they ultimately pass into final and sexually developed forms, from the union of which organisms are produced which pass through the same cycle of changes. See Transfo…
METAPEPTONE n.
An intermediate product formed in the gastric digestion of albuminous matter.
METHANE n.
paraffin (little affinity) series. The lightest members are gases, as methane, ethane; intermediate members are liquids, as hexane, heptane, etc. (found in benzine, kerosene, etc.); while the highest members are white, waxy, or fatty solids, as paraffin proper.
METHEGLIN n.
A fermented beverage made of honey and water; mead. Gay.
METROPOLITAN n.
A bishop whose see is civil metropolis. His rank is intermediate between that of an archbishop and a patriarch. Hook.
MICROZYME n.
A microörganism which is supposed to act like a ferment in causing or propagating certain infectious or contagious diseases; a pathogenic bacterial organism.
MIDDLE a.
Intermediate; intervening. Will, seeking good, finds many middle ends. Sir J. Davies.
MIDDLEMAN n.
A person of intermediate rank; a commoner.
MIDDLER n.
One of a middle or intermediate class in some schools and seminaries.
MOLY n.
ccult power, having a black root and white blossoms, said by Homer to have been given by Hermes to Ulysses to counteract the spells of Circe. Milton.
MORALITY n.
A kind of allegorical play, so termed because it consisted of discourses in praise of morality between actors representing such characters as Charity, Faith, Death, Vice, etc. Such plays were occasionally exhibited as late as the reign of Henry VIII. Strutt.
MOSS n.
ng by an apical lid, and so discharging the spores. There are many species, collectively termed Musci, growing on the earth, on rocks, and trunks of trees, etc., and a few in running water.
MOTH n.
y woolen and fur goods, etc., esp. the larvæ of several species of beetles of the genera Dermestes and Anthrenus. Carpet moths are often the larvæ of Anthrenus. See Carpet beetle, under Carpet, Dermestes, Anthrenus.
MOTHER n.
A film or membrane which is developed on the surface of fermented alcoholic liquids, such as vinegar, wine, etc., and acts as a means of conveying the oxygen of the air to the alcohol and other combustible principles of the liquid, thus leading to their oxidation.
MOWBURN v.
To heat and ferment in the mow, as hay when housed too green.
MUMMY n.
One whose affections and energies are withered. Mummy brown, a brown color, nearly intermediate in tint between burnt umber and raw umber. A pigment of this color is prepared from bitumen, etc., obtained from Egyptian tombs. -- Mummy wheat (Bot.), wheat found in the ancient mummy cases of Egypt. No botanist now believ…
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