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the acid of oenanthylic ether, but now known to be a mixture of higher acids, especially capric acid. [Obs.]

Fretful; peevish; moody; capricious; inclined to ill temper. "A pettish kind of humor." Sterne. -- Pet"tish*ly, adv. -- Pet"tish*ness, n.

The quality or state of being petulant; temporary peevishness; pettishness; capricious ill humor. "The petulancy of our words." B. Jonson. Like pride in some, and like petulance in others. Clarendon. The lowering eye, the petulance, the frown. Cowper.

Capriciously fretful; characterized by ill-natured freakishness; irritable. "Petulant moods." Macaulay.

A fit or turn; a short paroxysm; a caprice. [Obs.] "Quirks of joy and grief." Shak.

pertaining to, or obtained from, rue (Ruta); as, rutic acid, now commonly called capric acid.

Undisturbed by passion or caprice; calm; tranquil; serene; not passionate or giddy; composed; staid; as, a sedate soul, mind, or temper. Disputation carries away the mind from that calm and sedate temper which is so necessary to contemplate truth. I. Watts. Whatsoever we feel and know Too sedate for outward show. Words…

orth or south, namely, the first point of the sign Cancer and the first point of the sign Capricorn, the former being the summer solstice, latter the winter solstice, in northern latitudes; - - so called because the sun then apparently stands still in its northward or southward motion.

A sudden, unexpected movement; a sudden and capricious impulse; a sally; as, starts of fancy. To check the starts and sallies of the soul. Addison.

gan or harpsichord, somewhat in the free and brilliant style of the prelude, fantasia, or capriccio.

Oblique; -- applied to the six signs of the zodiac (from Capricorn to Gemini) which ascend most rapidly and obliquely. [Obs.] Skeat. Infortunate ascendent tortuous. Chaucer. --Tor"tu*ous*ly, adv. -- Tor"tu*ous*ness, n.

of the transitive or derivative applications of words depend on casual and unaccountable caprices of the feelings or the fancy. Stewart.

or, the northern circle being called the Tropic of Cancer, and the southern the Tropic of Capricorn, from the names of the two signs at which they touch the ecliptic.

Given to, or characterized by, vagaries; capricious; whimsical; crochety.

A sudden turn or start of the mind; a temporary eccentricity; a freak; a fancy; a capricious notion; a humor; a caprice. Let every man enjoy his whim. Churchill.

A whim; a freak; a capricious notion, a fanciful or odd conceit. "The whimsies of poets and painters." Ray. Men's folly, whimsies, and inconstancy. Swift. Mistaking the whimseys of a feverish brain for the calm revelation of truth. Bancroft.