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To divest of a sacred character or office; to divert from a sacred purpose; to violate the sanctity of; to profane; to put to an unworthy use; -- the opposite of consecrate. The [Russian] clergy can not suffer corporal punishment without being previously desecrated. W. Tooke. The founders of monasteries imprecated evil…

Resembling, or having the characteristics of, a ligament; ligamentous.

Having the character of, or pertaining to, a despot; absolute in power; possessing and abusing unlimited power; evincing despotism; tyrannical; arbitrary. -- Des*pot"ic*al*ly, adv. -- Des*pot"ic*al*ness, n.

To deprive of synonymous character; to discriminate in use; -- applied to words which have been employed as synonyms. Coleridge. Trench.

The quality of mind reaches definite conclusions; decision of character; resoluteness. He only is a well-made man who has a good determination. Emerson.

heir course. I. Taylor. Determinative tables (Nat. Hist.), tables presenting the specific character of minerals, plants, etc., to assist in determining the species to which a specimen belongs.

To fix the form or character of; to shape; to prescribe imperatively; to regulate; to settle. The character of the soul is determined by the character of its God. J. Edwards. Something divinely beautiful . . . that at some time or other might influence or even determine her course of life. W. Black.…

; -- often with from. It has been the fashion to detract both from the moral and literary character of Cicero. V. Knox.

The character in which Sanskrit is written.

Pertaining to, or characteristic of, the process of development; as, the developmental power of a germ. Carpenter.

To make like a devil; to invest with the character of a devil.

Resembling, characteristic of, or pertaining to, the devil; diabolical; wicked in the extreme. "Devilish wickedness." Sir P. Sidney. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. James iii. 15.

The character or person of a devil or the devil. Cowley.

To deprive of glasslike character; to take away vitreous luster and transparency from.

Character, action, or principles appropriate to the devil.

of recognizing the presence of disease from its signs or symptoms, and deciding as to its character; also, the decision arrived at.

hed from ether forms nearly related to it; a variety or subdivision of a language; speech characterized by local peculiarities or specific circumstances; as, the Ionic and Attic were dialects of Greece; the Yorkshire dialect; the dialect of the learned. In the midst of this Babel of dialects there suddenly appeared a s…

That form or condition of magnetic action which characterizes diamagnetics.

Characteristic of a dictator; imperious; dogmatical; overbearing; as, a dictatorial tone or manner. -- Dic`ta*to"ri*al*ly, adv. -- Dic`ta*to"ri*al*ness, n.

A cheat. [Colloq.] Jeremy Diddler, a character in a play by James Kenney, entitled "Raising the wind." The name is applied to any needy, tricky, constant borrower; a confidence man.