Search the Dictionary

Automorphic characterization. H. Spenser.

Apprised; informed; cognizant; conscious; as, he was aware of the enemy's designs. Aware of nothing arduous in a task They never undertook. Cowper.

r about which it vibrates, and perpendicular to the plane of vibration. -- Axis of polarization, the central line around which the prismatic rings or curves are arranged. Brewster. -- Axis of revolution (Descriptive Geom.), a straight line about which some line or plane is revolved, so that the several points of the…

of a modern religious pantheistical sect in Persia, which was founded, about 1844, by Mirza Ali Mohammed ibn Rabhik (1820 -- 1850), who assumed the title of Bab-ed-Din (Per., Gate of the Faith). Babism is a mixture of Mohammedan, Christian, Jewish, and Parsi elements. This doctrine forbids concubinage and polygamy, an…

Stand back! give place! -- a cant word of the Elizabethan writers, probably in ridicule of some person who pretended to a knowledge of Latin which he did not possess. Baccare! you are marvelous forward. Shak.

Not advanced in civilization; undeveloped; as, the country or region is in a backward state.

A distinctive mark, token, sign, or cognizance, worn on the person; as, the badge of a society; the badge of a policeman. "Tax gatherers, recognized by their official badges. " Prescott.

A member of the sect of the Babis consisting of the adherents of Baha (Mirza Husain Ali, entitled "Baha 'u 'llah," or, "the Splendor of God"), the elder half brother of Mirza Yahya of Nur, who succeeded the Bab as the head of the Babists. Baha in 1863 declared himself the supreme prophet of the sect, and became its rec…

A piece of parchment, or paper, containing a recognizance or bail bond.

Marked with a white spot on the head; bald-faced. Bald buzzard (Zoöl.), the fishhawk or osprey. -- Bald coot (Zoöl.), a name of the European coot (Fulica atra), alluding to the bare patch on the front of the head.

singing; as, the ballad of Chevy Chase; esp., a sentimental or romantic poem in short stanzas.

ion, sometimes imitated in English, in which three or four rhymes recur through three stanzas of eight or ten lines each, the stanzas concluding with a refrain, and the whole poem with an envoy.

A light part song, or madrigal, with a fa la burden or chorus, -- most common with the Elizabethan madrigal composers.

An international, interdenominational organization of Bible classes of young men; -- so named in allusion to the Hebrew word Berachah (Meaning blessing) occurring in 2 Chron. xx. 26 and 1 Chron. xii.

The state or manner of a barbarian; lack of civilization.

A lizard of the genus Basiliscus, belonging to the family Iguanidæ.

ttery; formerly, one who paid for nothing but what he called for, answering nearly to a sizar at Cambridge. Wright.

To make progress against the wind, by sailing in a zigzag line or traverse.

or has attained the second degree of sanctity, -- usually a stage in the process of canonization. "The beatification of his spirit." Jer. Taylor.

The process of sailing against the wind by tacks in zigzag direction.