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, tan x, etc., are periodic functions. Exponential functions are also periodic, having an imaginary period, and the elliptic functions have not only a real but an imaginary period, and are hence called doubly periodic. -- Periodic law (Chem.), the generalization that the properties of the chemical elements are periodi…

they are generally presumed to be misinterpretations of ordinary phenomena, illusions or imaginary objects. Fraudulent photographs purporting to show flying saucers are published from time to time.

A fighting with a shadow; a mock contest; an imaginary or futile combat. [Written also scimachy.] Cowley.

Winding round a cylinder or imaginary axis, and at the same time rising or advancing forward; winding like the thread of a screw; helical.

Not seeming or imaginary; not illusive; real; solid; true; veritable. If happinessbe a substantial good. Denham. The substantial ornaments of virtue. L'Estrange.

An imaginary being inhabiting the air; a fairy.

to; to name; to call; to denominate. Men term what is beyond the limits of the universe "imaginary space." Locke.

An imaginary being supposed by the Christians to be a Mohammedan deity or false god. He is represented in the ancient moralities, farces, and puppet shows as extremely vociferous and tumultous. [Obs.] Chaucer. "And oftentimes by Termagant and Mahound [Mahomet] swore." Spenser. The lesser part on Christ believed well, O…

A ringing, whistling, or other imaginary noise perceived in the ears; -- called also tinnitus aurium.

Superstitious regard for a totem; the worship of any real or imaginary object; nature worship. Tylor.

; passion; ecstasy; rapture. With transport views the airy rule his own, And swells on an imaginary throne. Pope. Say not, in transports of despair, That all your hopes are fled. Doddridge.

lue; as 1 foot, 1 dollar, 1 pound, and the like. -- Complex unit (Theory of Numbers), an imaginary number of the form a + b-1, when a2 + b2 = 1. -- Duodecimal unit, a unit in the scale of numbers increasing or decreasing by twelves. -- Fractional unit, the unit of a fraction; the reciprocal of the denominator; thus,…

ce him that shall be their captain on a stone. Spenser. Fears use to be represented in an imaginary. Bacon. Thus we use to say, it is the room that smokes, when indeed it is the fire in the room. South. Now Moses used to take the tent and to pitch it without the camp. Ex. xxxiii. 7 (Rev. Ver.)

An imaginary island, represented by Sir Thomas More, in a work called Utopia, as enjoying the greatest perfection in politics, laws, and the like. See Utopia, in the Dictionary of Noted Names in Fiction.

topia; resembling Utopia; hence, ideal; chimerical; fanciful; founded upon, or involving, imaginary perfections; as, Utopian projects; Utopian happiness.

otherwise than by the ordinary sight, or the rational eye; a supernatural, prophetic, or imaginary sight; an apparition; a phantom; a specter; as, the visions of Isaiah. The baseless fabric of this vision. Shak. No dreams, but visions strange. Sir P. Sidney.

Existing in imagination only; not real; fanciful; imaginary; having no solid foundation; as, visionary prospect; a visionary scheme or project. Swift.

An imaginary tube within a rotating fluid, formed by drawing the vortex lines through all points of a closed curve.

An imaginary creature, of undefined character. [Slang]

empestuous; violent; ungoverned; licentious; inordinate; disorderly; irregular; fanciful; imaginary; visionary; crazy. "Valor grown wild by pride." Prior. "A wild, speculative project." Swift. What are these So withered and so wild in their attire Shak. With mountains, as with weapons, armed; which makes Wild work in h…