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Anciently, one who recited or composed a rhapsody; especially, one whose profession was to recite the verses of Hormer and other epic poets.

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.

Anciently, a sackcloth coat worn by penitens on being reconciled to the church.

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.

course, without formal application being made to them in open court; -- so called because anciently moved for by the attorneys at side bar, that is, informally. Burril. -- Side box, a box or inclosed seat on the side of a theater. To insure a side-box station at half price. Cowper. -- Side chain, one of two safety cha…

An apartment freely exposed to the sun; anciently, an apartment or inclosure on the roof of a house; in modern times, an apartment in a hospital, used as a resort for convalescents.

Sortes Homericæ or Virgilianæ Etym: [L., Homeric or Virgilian lots], a form of divination anciently practiced, which consisted in taking the first passage on which the eye fell, upon opening a volume of Homer or Virgil, or a passage drawn from an urn which several were deposited, as indicating future events, or the pro…

Any fern of the genus Asplenium, some species of which were anciently used as remedies for disorders of the spleen.

s time; until and during the time now present; now no less than before; yet. It hath been anciently reported, and is still received. Bacon.

Of or pertaining to the region of lower Babylonia, which was anciently called Sumer, or its inhabitants or their language.

Orig., a rock composed of quartz, hornblende, and feldspar, anciently quarried at Syene, in Upper Egypt, and now called granite.

Proceeding by threes; consisting of three; as, the ternary number was anciently esteemed a symbol of perfection, and held in great veneration.

The district in which a thane anciently had jurisdiction; thanedom.

which dramatic performances or spectacles are exhibited for the amusement of spectators; anciently uncovered, except the stage, but in modern times roofed.

A name given to certain ascetics said to have anciently dwelt in the neighborhood of Alexandria. They are described in a work attributed to Philo, the genuineness and credibility of which are now much discredited.

The common mullein, the stalks of which, dipped in suet, anciently served for torches. Called also torch, and hig-taper.

Anciently, a bench or elevated place, from which speeches were delivered; in France, a kind of pulpit in the hall of the legislative assembly, where a member stands while making an address; any place occupied by a public orator.

g liquids, for ornamental uses, for preserving the ashes of the dead after cremation, and anciently for holding lots to be drawn. A rustic, digging in the ground by Padua, found an urn, or earthen pot, in which there was another urn. Bp. Wilkins. His scattered limbs with my dead body burn, And once more join us in the…

A very large, powerful, and savage extinct bovine animal (Bos urus or primigenius) anciently abundant in Europe. It appears to have still existed in the time of Julius Cæsar. It had very large horns, and was hardly capable of domestication. Called also, ur, ure, and tur.

A vessel adapted for various domestic purposes, and anciently for sacrificial used; especially, a vessel of antique or elegant pattern used for ornament; as, a porcelain vase; a gold vase; a Grecian vase. See Illust. of Portland vase, under Portland. No chargers then were wrought in burnished gold, Nor silver vases too…