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Any body that gives light, especially one of the heavenly bodies. " Radiant luminary." Skelton. Where the great luminary . . . Dispenses light from far. Milton.

The faculty or power of voluntarily producing light, as in the firefly and glowworm.

Shining with a light due to any of the various causes which produce luminescence.

Producing light; yielding light; transmitting light; as, the luminiferous ether.

Shining; emitting or reflecting light; brilliant; bright; as, the is a luminous body; a luminous color. Fire burneth wood, making it . . . luminous. Bacon. The mountains lift . . . their lofty and luminous heads. Longfellow.

h (Zoöl.), a very large and beautiful American moth (Actias luna). Its wings are delicate light green, with a stripe of purple along the front edge of the anterior wings, the other margins being edged with pale yellow. Each wing has a lunate spot surrounded by rings of light yellow, blue, and black. The caterpillar com…

A luncheon; specifically, a light repast between breakfast and dinner.

A portion of food taken at any time except at a regular meal; an informal or light repast, as between breakfast and dinner.

A spurious coin of light weight imported into England from Luxemburg, or Lussheburgh, as it was formerly called. [Obs.] God wot, no Lussheburghes payen ye. Chaucer.

d is sometimes used in the manufacture of fireworks, and the artificial representation of lightning.

A light earthy white substance, consisting of magnesium oxide, and obtained by heating magnesium hydrate or carbonate, or by burning magnesium. It has a slightly alkaline reaction, and is used in medicine as a mild antacid laxative. See Magnesium. Magnesia alba Etym: [L.] (Med. Chem.), a bulky white amorphous substance…

A light silver-white metallic element, malleable and ductile, quite permanent in dry air but tarnishing in moist air. It burns, forming (the oxide) magnesia, with the production of a blinding light (the so-called magnesium light) which is used in signaling, in pyrotechny, or in photography where a strong actinic illumi…

ke up a story. And Art, with her contending, doth aspire To excel the natural with made delights. Spenser.

n. An artificial variety is a derivative of succinic acid, but has no action on polarized light, and thus malic acid is a remarkable case of physical isomerism.

ul with a short handle, -- used esp. for driving a tool, as a chisel or the like; also, a light beetle with a long handle, -- used in playing croquet.

A kind of brick of a light brown or yellowish color, made of sand, clay, and chalk.

of saliva and pancreatic juice. It resembles dextrose, but rotates the plane of polarized light further to the right and possesses a lower cupric oxide reducing power.

e doctrines of Manes, a Persian of the third century A. D., who taught a dualism in which Light is regarded as the source of Good, and Darkness as the source of Evil. The Manichæans stand as representatives of dualism pushed to its utmost development. Tylor.

optical device for making an indicator diagram for high- speed engines. It consists of a light-tight box or camera having at one end a small convex mirror which reflects a beam of light on to the ground glass or photographic plate at the other end. The mirror is pivoted so that it can be moved in one direction by a sm…

A lady's light cloak of cape of silk, velvet, lace, or the like.