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Renown; splendor; distinction; glory. His ancestors continued about four hundred years, rather without obscurity than with any great luster. Sir H. Wotton.

A stringed instrument formerly much in use. It consists of four parts, namely, the table or front, the body, having nine or ten ribs or "sides," arranged like the divisions of a melon, the neck, which has nine or ten frets or divisions, and the head, or cross, in which the screws for tuning are inserted. The strings ar…

[Hind.] In Oriental countries, a respectful form of address given to a woman; mother. Balfour (Cyc. of India).

is used in taking impressions of coins, medallions, etc., and sometimes as a medicine. Balfour (Cyc. of India).

ne of a certain religious sect, followers of Macedonius, Bishop of Constantinople, in the fourth century, who held that the Holy Ghost was a creature, like the angels, and a servant of the Father and the Son.

A large motile spore having four vibratile cilia; -- found in certain green algæ.

An unaccompanied polyphonic song, in four, five, or more parts, set to secular words, but full of counterpoint and imitation, and adhering to the old church modes. Unlike the freer glee, it is best sung with several voices on a part. See Glee.

axis. See Focus, n., 2. -- Major key (Mus.), a key in which one and two, two and three, four and five, five and six and seven, make major seconds, and three and four, and seven and eight, make minor seconds. -- Major offense (Law), an offense of a greater degree which contains a lesser offense, as murder and robbery…

A kind of four-stringed lute.

A coin formerly current in England and Scotland, equal to thirteen shillings and four pence.

One of the planets of the solar system, the fourth in order from the sun, or the next beyond the earth, having a diameter of about 4,200 miles, a period of 687 days, and a mean distance of 141,000,000 miles. It is conspicuous for the redness of its light.

or feet; -- generally assumed to represent a martin. As a mark of cadency it denotes the fourth son.

Wonder. [R.] "Use lessens marvel." Sir W. Scott. Marvel of Peru. (Bot.) See Four-o'clock.

The pharynx of a rotifer. It usually contains four horny pieces. The two central ones form the incus, against which the mallei, or lateral ones, work so as to crush the food.

d being the deuce of a black trump or the seven of a red one. When Lady Tricksey played a four, You took it with a matadore. Swift.

mewater and saltpeter or washed in a lye of water and wood ashes. It burns at the rate of four or five inches an hour, and is used for firing cannon, fireworks, etc.

e matter, considering the whole; taking all things into view. Waller, with Sir William Balfour, exceeded in horse, but were, upon the whole matter, equal in foot. Clarendon.

A native house servant in India. Balfour (Cyc. of India).

The longest note formerly used, equal to two longs, or four breves; a large.

which coalesce in a crescentic form, are slightly raised above the surface, and after the fourth day of the eruption gradually decline; rubeola. Measles commences with the ordinary symptoms of fever. Am. Cyc.