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A curve described by the moving extremity of a line the other end of which is fixed, this line being constantly parallel to the direction of motion of, and having its length constantly proportional to the velocity of, a point moving in any path; -used in investigations respecting central forces.

One of the race of horses described by Swift in his imaginary travels of Lemuel Gulliver. The Houyhnhnms were endowed with reason and noble qualities; subject to them were Yahoos, a race of brutes having the form and all the worst vices of men.

Discovered or described by John Hunter, an English surgeon; as, the Hunterian chancre. See Chancre.

the solid, bounded in part by such a surface. Hyperboloid of revolution, an hyperboloid described by an hyperbola revolving about one of its axes. The surface has two separate sheets when the axis of revolution is the transverse axis, but only one when the axis of revolution is the conjugate axis of the hyperbola.…

To establish the identity of; to prove to be the same with something described, claimed, or asserted; as, to identify stolen property.

The condition of being the same with something described or asserted, or of possessing a character claimed; as, to establish the identity of stolen goods.

Incapable of being defined or described; inexplicable. Bp. Reynolds.

Incapable of being described. -- In`de*scrib"a*bly, adv.

interest; self- interest; selfishness. The selfishness of the small proprietor has been described by the best writers as individualism. Ed. Rev.

ot in the regular, usual, or established form; not according to official, conventional, prescribed, or customary forms or rules; irregular; hence, without ceremony; as, an informal writting, proceeding, or visit.

The state of being informal; want of regular, prescribed, or customary form; as, the informality of legal proceedings.

Not limited to rules prescribed, or to usual bounds; irregular; excessive; immoderate; as, an inordinate love of the world. "Inordinate desires." Milton. "Inordinate vanity." Burke. -- In*or"di*nate*ly, adv. -- In*or"di*nate*ness, n.

foundation; enactment; as, the institution of a school. The institution of God's law is described as being established by solemn injunction. Hooker.

The property of remaining invariable under prescribed or implied conditions. J. J. Sylvester.

standard adopted by the Emperor Constantine after his conversion to Christianity. It is described as a pike bearing a silk banner hanging from a crosspiece, and surmounted by a golden crown. It bore a monogram of the first two letters (CHR) of the name of Christ in its Greek form. Later, the name was given to various…

epresenting the priest Laocoön, with his sons, infolded in the coils of two serpents, as described by Virgil.

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.

; laxity; independence. In human actions there are no degrees and precise natural limits described, but a latitude is indulged. Jer. Taylor.

saic, or Ceremonial, law. (Script.) See Law, 3. -- Municipal, or Positive, law, a rule prescribed by the supreme power of a state, declaring some right, enforcing some duty, or prohibiting some act; -- distinguished from international and constitutional law. See Law, 1. -- Periodic law. (Chem.) See under Periodic. -…

to cathode rays. So called from the German physicist Philipp Lenard (b. 1862), who first described them.