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A mean proportion, medial sum or quantity, made out of unequal sums or quantities; an arithmetical mean. Thus, if A loses 5 dollars, B 9, and C 16, the sum is 30, and the average 10.

Greediness; strong appetite; eagerness; intenseness of desire; as, to eat with avidity. His books were received and read with avidity. Milward.

of a superior breed of cattle from Ayrshire, Scotland. Ayrshires are notable for the quantity and quality of their milk.

Destitute of any vestige of organic life, or at least of animal life; anterior to the existence of animal life; formed when there was no animal life on the globe; as, the azoic. rocks. Azoic age (Geol.), the age preceding the existence of animal life, or anterior to the paleozoic tome. Azoic is also used as a noun, age…

Lit., gate; -- a title given to the founder of Babism, and taken from that of Bab-ud-Din, assumed by him.

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, and frees women from many of the degradations imposed upon th…

A Hindoo gentleman; native clerk who writes English; also, a Hindoo title answering to Mr. or Esquire. Whitworth.

Any one of several species of Acacia, esp. A. Arabica, which yelds a gum used as a substitute for true gum arabic.

e or lie on one's back, to be helpless. -- To put, or get, one's back up, to assume an attitude of obstinate resistance (from the action of a cat when attacked.). [Colloq.] -- To see the back of, to get rid of. -- To turn the back, to go away; to flee. -- To turn the back on one, to forsake or neglect him.…

An instrument which, in conjunction with another making an absolute disposition, constitutes a trust.

An instrument formerly used for taking the altitude of the heavenly bodies, but now superseded by the quadrant and sextant; -- so called because the observer turned his back to the body observed.

of a jointed rodlike filament, and found in putrefying organic infusions. Bacteria are destitute of chlorophyll, and are the smallest of microscopic organisms. They are very widely diffused in nature, and multiply with marvelous rapidity, both by fission and by spores. Certain species are active agents in fermentation,…

Measurement of distance or altitude by a staff or staffs.

The quantity of game bagged.

A woman of loose morals; a prostitute. A disreputable, daring, laughing, painted French baggage. Thackeray.

A brothel; a stew; a house of prostitution.

A title of respect or honor given to European officers in East Indian state papers, and colloquially, and among the natives, to distinguished officials and other important personages.

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 reco…

The quantity baked at once; a batch; as, a baking of bread. Baking powder, a substitute for yeast, usually consisting of an acid, a carbonate, and a little farinaceous matter.

e bully tree (Minusops globosa); also, its milky juice (balata gum), which when dried constitutes an elastic gum called chicle, or chicle gum.