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A long cannon of the 16th century, usually an 18-pounder with serpent-shaped handles. Trump, and drum, and roaring culverin. Mac

ant copies of the first or earliest printed books, or of such as were printed in the 15th century.

er. In the Gregorian calendar the solar cycle is in general interrupted at the end of the century.

o a human mother. Our sire and dam, now confined to horses, are a relic of this age (13th century) . . . .Dame is used of a hen; we now make a great difference between dame and dam. T. L. K. Oliphant. The dam runs lowing up end down, Looking the way her harmless young one went. Shak.

A follower of Damian, patriarch of Alexandria in the 6th century, who held heretical opinions on the doctrine of the Holy Trinity.

o check; to make dull; to lessen. In a way that considerably dampened our enthusiasm. The Century.

ery thing and do anything Bagehot. To wrest it from barbarism, to dare its solitudes. The Century.

ved was dark, but he Cobld not want light who taught the world oto see. Denhan. The tenth century used to be reckoned by mediæval historians as the darkest part of this intellectual night. Hallam.

That may be dated; having a known or ascertainable date. "Datable almost to a year." The Century.

dlock. London Times. The Board is much more likely to be at a deadlock of two to two. The Century.

hence, a market for goods. The débouchés were ordered widened to afford easy egress. The Century.

elebrated collection of tales, supposed to be related in ten days; -- written in the 14th century, by Boccaccio, an Italian.

e in the chain of relationship; as, a relation in the third or fourth degree. In the 11th century an opinion began to gain ground in Italy, that third cousins might marry, being in the seventh degree according to the civil law. Hallam.

ened form of Academia della Crusca, an academy in Florescence, Italy, founded in the 16th century, especially for conversing the purity of the Italian language.

A soldier of light cavalry of the 16th century, who carried a demilance.

One imbued with a denominational spirit. The Century.

he 20th was spent in strengthening our position and developing the line of the enemy. The Century.

Relating to Dionysius, a monk of the 6th century; as, the Dionysian, or Christian, era. Dionysian period, a period of 532 years, depending on the cycle of the sun, or 28 years, and the cycle of the moon, or 19 years; -- sometimes called the Greek paschal cycle, or Victorian period.

truction by means of misfortune, suffering, punishment, etc. A sharp discipline of half a century had sufficed to educate Macaulay.

nt of reputation; ill character; disesteem; discredit. At the beginning of the eighteenth century astrology fell into general disrepute. Sir W. Scott.