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Webster’s Dictionary (1828)



101 words match “IMAGINARY”

KELPIE; KELPY n.
An imaginary spirit of the waters, horselike in form, vulgarly believed to warn, by preternatural noises and lights, those who are to be drowned. Jamieson.
LAPUTAN a.
Of or pertaining to Laputa, an imaginary flying island described in Gulliver's Travels as the home of chimerical philosophers. Hence, fanciful; preposterous; absurd in science or philosophy. "Laputan ideas." G. Eliot.
LEVEL n.
traight bar of wood, in which is imbedded a small spirit level. -- Level of the sea, the imaginary level from which heights and depths are calculated, taken at a mean distance between high and low water. -- Line of levels, a connected series of measurements, by means of a level, along a given line, as of a railroad,…
LILLIPUTIAN a.
Of or having to the imaginary island of Lilliput described by Swift, or to its inhabitants.
LIMBO; LIMBUS n.
Hence: Any real or imaginary place of restraint or confinement; a prison; as, to put a man in limbo.
MYTHIC; MYTHICAL a.
Of or relating to myths; described in a myth; of the nature of a myth; fabulous; imaginary; fanciful. -- Myth"ic*al*ly, adv. The mythic turf where danced the nymphs. Mrs. Browning. Hengist and Horsa, Vortigern and Rowena, Arthur and Mordred, are mythical persons, whose very existence may be questioned. Macaulay.…
NUMERIC n.
number, proper or improper fraction, or incommensurable ratio. The term also includes any imaginary expression like m + nsq. root-1, where m and n are real numerics.
OGRE n.
An imaginary monster, or hideous giant of fairy tales, who lived on human beings; hence, any frightful giant; a cruel monster. His schoolroom must have resembled an ogre's den. Maccaulay.
OPINICUS n.
An imaginary animal borne as a charge, having wings, an eagle's head, and a short tail; -- sometimes represented without wings.
PARALLEL n.
One of the imaginary circles on the surface of the earth, parallel to the equator, marking the latitude; also, the corresponding line on a globe or map.
PERI n.
An imaginary being, male or female, like an elf or fairy, represented as a descendant of fallen angels, excluded from paradise till penance is accomplished. Moore.
PHILOSOPHER n.
An alchemist. [Obs.] Chaucer. Philosopher's stone, an imaginary stone which the alchemists formerly sought as instrument of converting the baser metals into gold.
PHYSICAL a.
ial things, or to the bodily structure, as opposed to things mental, moral, spiritual, or imaginary; material; natural; as, armies and navies are the physical force of a nation; the body is the physical part of man. Labor, in the physical world, is . . . employed in putting objects in motion. J. S. Mill. A society sunk…
PLANE n.
A surface, real or imaginary, in which, if any two points are taken, the straight line which joins them lies wholly in that surface; or a surface, any section of which by a like surface is a straight line; a surface without curvature.
POLAR n.
ole of the line. If the given point lies within the curve so that the two tangents become imaginary, there is still a real polar line which does not meet the curve, but which possesses other properties of the polar. Thus the focus and directrix are pole and polar. There are also poles and polar curves to curves of high…
PSEUDAESTHESIA n.
False or imaginary feeling or sense perception such as occurs in hypochondriasis, or such as is referred to an organ that has been removed, as an amputated foot.
PSEUDOBLEPSIS n.
False or depraved sight; imaginary vision of objects. Forsyth.
REAL a. 2 definitions
Actually being or existing; not fictitious or imaginary; as, a description of real life. Whereat I waked, and found Before mine eyes all real, as the dream Had lively shadowed. Milton.
REALIZE v.
To make real; to convert from the imaginary or fictitious into the actual; to bring into concrete existence; to accomplish; as, to realize a scheme or project. We realize what Archimedes had only in hypothesis, weighting a single grain against the globe of earth. Glanvill.
RECEPTIVE a.
ined to take in, absorb, hold, or contain; receiving or containing; as, a receptive mind. Imaginary space is receptive of all bodies. Glanvill.
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