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An attitude assumed in lying down; as, the dorsal decubitus.

A course of reasoning showing that a certain result is a necessary consequence of assumed premises; -- these premises being definitions, axioms, and previously established propositions. Direct, or Positive, demonstration (Logic & Math.), one in which the correct conclusion is the immediate sequence of reasoning from ax…

Money lodged with a party as earnest or security for the performance of a duty assumed by the person depositing.

then was differentiated into the two forms then and than. Earle. Two or more of the forms assumed by the same original word become differentiated in signification. Dr. Murray.

hickness; a solid. -- Space of four dimensions, as imaginary kind of extension, which is assumed to have length, breadth, thickness, and also a fourth imaginary dimension. Space of five or six, or more dimensions is also sometimes assumed in mathematics.

Artificial language or manner assumed for deception; false appearance; counterfeit semblance or show. That eye which glances through all disguises. D. Webster.

Tending to dissipate. Dissipative system (Mech.), an assumed system of matter and motions in which forces of friction and resistances of other kinds are introduced without regard to the heat or other molecular actions which they generate; -- opposed to conservative system.

Lit., given; hence, in a literary work, as a drama or tale, that which is assumed as to characters, situation, etc., as a basis for the plot or story. W. E. Henley.

the whole church; as, an ecumenical council. [Written also .] Ecumenical Bishop, a title assumed by the popes. -- Ecumenical council. See under Council.

elastic rod fixed horizontally at one end and loaded at the other. (b) (Mech.) The figure assumed by the longitudinal axis of an originally straight bar under any system of bending forces. Rankine. -- Elastic fluids, those which have the property of expanding in all directions on the removal of external pressure, as t…

The hypothetical individual who is assumed as the person from whom any race, city, etc., took its name; as, Hellen is an eponym of the Hellenes.

etween the instant when an observer notes a phenomenon, as the transit of a star, and the assumed instant of its actual occurrence; or, relatively, the difference between these instants as noted by two observers. It is usually only a fraction of a second; -- sometimes applied loosely to differences of judgment or metho…

Outside appearance; surface show; look; external aspect, whether natural, assumed, or acquired. To set a face upon their own malignant design. Milton. This would produce a new face of things in Europe. Addison. We wear a face of joy, because We have been glad of yore. Wordsworth.

Not genuine or real; assumed or designed to deceive; counterfeit; hypocritical; as, false tears; false modesty; false colors; false jewelry. False face must hide what the false heart doth know. Shak.

assal was bound to be faithful to his lord; the special oath by which this obligation was assumed; fidelity to a superior power, or to a government; loyality. It is no longer the practice to exact the performance of fealty, as a feudal obligation. Wharton (Law Dict. ). Tomlins.

That which is feigned; an assumed or false appearance; a pretense; a stratagem; a fetch. Courtley's letter is but a feint to get off. Spectator.

s independently of the authority of revelation or of the church; an unbeliever; -- a term assumed by deists and skeptics in the eighteenth century. Atheist is an old-fashioned word: I'm a freethinker, child. Addison.

or enemy; also, one of the same nation, party, kin, etc., whose friendly feelings may be assumed. The word is some times used as a term of friendly address. Friend, how camest thou in hither Matt. xxii. 12.

een the fixed support and the pulley. -- Funicular polygon (Mech.), the polygonal figure assumed by a cord fastened at its extremities, and sustaining weights at different points.

eriod of time at which one rank follows another, or father is succeeded by child, usually assumed to be one third of a century; an age. This is the book of the generations of Adam. Gen. v. 1. Ye shall remain there [in Babylon] many years, and for a long season, namely, seven generations. Baruch vi. 3. All generations a…