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A morbid state or condition not preceded or occasioned by any other disease; a primary disease.

Situated between vowels; immediately preceded and followed by vowel sounds, as, p in occupy, d in idea, etc.

Sexual intercourse; -- usually preceded by carnal; as, carnal knowledge.

The rank or position of a lady; -- given as a title (preceded by her or your.) Your ladyship shall observe their gravity. B. Jonson.

To go or to be in advance of; to precede; hence, to be foremost or chief among; as, the big sloop led the fleet of yachts; the Guards led the attack; Demosthenes leads the orators of all ages. As Hesperus, that leads the sun his way. Fairfax. And lo ! Ben Adhem's name led all the rest. Leigh Hunt.

sons or in a society similarly organized. -- The old masters, distinguished painters who preceded modern painters; especially, the celebrated painters of the 16th and 17th centuries. -- To be master of one's self, to have entire self-control; not to be governed by passion. -- To be one's own master, to be at liberty…

p of nursing infants. See Eczema. -- Milk fever. (a) (Med.) A fever which accompanies or precedes the first lactation. It is usually transitory. (b) (Vet. Surg.) A form puerperal peritonitis in cattle; also, a variety of meningitis occurring in cows after calving. -- Milk glass, glass having a milky appearance. -- M…

ion in which the lower classes of a nation control public affairs without respect to law, precedents, or vested rights. It is good name that Dr. Stevens has given to our present situation (for one can not call it a government), a mobocracy. Walpole.

replace the deciduous or milk teeth are designated as premolars, and those which are not preceded by deciduous teeth are sometimes called true molars. See Tooth.

of development in which its form is simply that of a non-nucleated mass of protoplasm. It precedes the one- celled germ. So called from its likeness to a moner. Haeckel.

y. -- Morning star. (a) Any one of the planets (Venus, Jupiter, Mars, or Saturn) when it precedes the sun in rising, esp. Venus. Cf. Evening star, Evening. (b) Satan. See Lucifer. Since he miscalled the morning star, Nor man nor fiend hath fallen so far. Byron.

p. in the valleys of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers. Formerly they were supposed to have preceded the Indians, but later investigations go to show that they were, in general, identical with the tribes that occupied the country when discovered by Europeans. -- Mound maker (Zoöl.), any one of the megapodes. -- Shell m…

A character [] used to contradict, or to remove the effect of, a sharp or flat which has preceded it, and to restore the unaltered note.

That which precedes all others of its class; archetype; first copy; hence, an original work of art, manuscript, text, and the like, as distinguished from a copy, translation, etc. The Scriptures may be now read in their own original. Milton.

To exceed in rank; hence, to take precedence of.

Containing a part only; limited; as, a particular estate, or one precedent to an estate in remainder.

Right of going foremost; precedence. Arbuthnot.

. Perfect cadence (Mus.), a complete and satisfactory close in harmony, as upon the tonic preceded by the dominant. -- Perfect chord (Mus.), a concord or union of sounds which is perfectly coalescent and agreeable to the ear, as the unison, octave, fifth, and fourth; a perfect consonance; a common chord in its origina…

e place. (a) To come to pass; to occur; as, the ceremony will not take place. (b) To take precedence or priority. Addison. (c) To take effect; to prevail. "If your doctrine takes place." Berkeley. "But none of these excuses would take place." Spenser. -- To take the place of, to be substituted for.

e tonic to its octave. Plagal cadence, a cadence in which the final chord on the tonic is preceded by the chord on the subdominant.