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Webster’s Dictionary (1828)



751 words match “ANCIENT”

REREDOS n.
pen hearth, upon which fires were lighted, immediately under the louver, in the center of ancient halls. [Also spelt reredosse.] Fairholt.
RESTITUTION n.
f giving an equivalent for any loss, damage, or injury; indemnification. A restitution of ancient rights unto the crown. Spenser. He restitution to the value makes. Sandys.
RHAPSODIST n.
Anciently, one who recited or composed a rhapsody; especially, one whose profession was to recite the verses of Hormer and other epic poets.
RHETIAN a.
Pertaining to the ancient Rhæti, or Rhætians, or to Rhætia, their country; as, the Rhetian Alps, now the country of Tyrol and the Grisons.
RHETORICIAN n.
A teacher of rhetoric. The ancient sophists and rhetoricians, which ever had young auditors, lived till they were an hundred years old. Bacon.
RHYPAROGRAPHY n.
In ancient art, the painting of genre or still-life pictures.
RISE v.
To come; to offer itself. There chanced to the prince's hand to rise An ancient book. Spenser.
ROMAN CALENDAR n.
The calendar of the ancient Romans, from which our modern calendars are derived. It is said to have consisted originally of ten months, Martius, Aprilis, Maius, Junius, Quintilis, Sextilis, September, October, November, and December, having a total of 304 days. Numa added two months, Januarius at the beginning of the y…
ROSETTA STONE n.
ion, by aid of which, with other inscriptions, a key was obtained to the hieroglyphics of ancient Egypt. Brande & C.
RUNE n.
A letter, or character, belonging to the written language of the ancient Norsemen, or Scandinavians; in a wider sense, applied to the letters of the ancient nations of Northern Europe in general.
RUNER n.
A bard, or learned man, among the ancient Goths. Sir W. Temple.
SABINE a.
Of or pertaining to the ancient Sabines, a people of Italy. -- n.
SACKCLOTH n.
Linen or cotton cloth such a sacks are made of; coarse cloth; anciently, a cloth or garment worn in mourning, distress, mortification, or penitence. Gird you with sackcloth, and mourn before Abner. 2 Sam. iii. 31. Thus with sackcloth I invest my woe. Sandys.
SACRAMENTARY n.
An ancient book of the Roman Catholic Church, written by Pope Gelasius, and revised, corrected, and abridged by St. Gregory, in which were contained the rites for Mass, the sacraments, the dedication of churches, and other ceremonies. There are several ancient books of the same kind in France and Germany.…
SADDUCEE n.
One of a sect among the ancient Jews, who denied the resurrection, a future state, and the existence of angels. -- Sad`du*ce"an, a.
SAMBUKE n.
An ancient stringed instrument used by the Greeks, the particular construction of which is unknown.
SANBENITO n.
Anciently, a sackcloth coat worn by penitens on being reconciled to the church.
SANSKRIT n.
The ancient language of the Hindoos, long since obsolete in vernacular use, but preserved to the present day as the literary and sacred dialect of India. It is nearly allied to the Persian, and to the principal languages of Europe, classical and modern, and by its more perfect preservation of the roots and forms of the…
SARACEN n.
Anciently, an Arab; later, a Mussulman; in the Middle Ages, the common term among Christians in Europe for a Mohammedan hostile to the crusaders. Saracen's consound (Bot.), a kind of ragewort (Senecio Saracenicus), anciently used to heal wounds.
SATRAP n.
The governor of a province in ancient Persia; hence, a petty autocrat despot.
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