Search the Dictionary

A short and simple melody, divided into two parts by double bars, to which unmetrical psalms, etc., are sung or recited. It is the most ancient form of choral music.

usite; -- called also macle. The tesselated apperance of a cross section is due to the symmetrical arrangement of impurities in the crystal.

problems of the higher geometry; viz., to trisect a plane angle, and to construct two geometrical means between two given straight lines.

Well-propotioned; symmetrical. [Poetic] Shak.

That which is required to supply a deficiency, or to complete a symmetrical whole. History is the complement of poetry. Sir J. Stephen.

Having the form of, or resembling, a geometrical cone; round and tapering to a point, or gradually lessening in circumference; as, a conic or conical figure; a conical vessel.

uction of an equation (Math.), the drawing of such lines and figures as will represent geometrically the quantities in the equation, and their relations to each other. -- Construction train (Railroad), a train for transporting men and materials for construction or repairs.

matter contained within certain limits; as, solid contents; superficial contents. The geometrical content, figure, and situation of all the lands of a kingdom. Graunt. Table of contents, or Contents, a table or list of topics in a book, showing their order and the place where they may be found: a summary.…

g, through the inherent power of cohesive attraction. It is bounded by plane surfaces, symmetrically arranged, and each species of crystal has fixed axial ratios. See Crystallization.

vored, tonic fruit. -- Cherry currant, a variety of the red currant, having a strong, symmetrical bush and a very large berry. -- Currant borer (Zoöl.), the larva of an insect that bores into the pith and kills currant bushes; specif., the larvae of a small clearwing moth (Ægeria tipuliformis) and a longicorn beetle…

fossils of the Paleozoic rocks. They were usually roundish or egg-shaped, and often unsymmetrical; some were sessile, others had short stems.

t an acute angle; to cut or divide in the form of X; to intersect; -- said of lines in geometrical figures, rays of light, nerves, etc.

Diagonal; diametrical; hence; diametrically opposed. [Obs.] Sin can have no tenure by law at all, but is rather an eternal outlaw, and in hostility with law past all atonement; both diagonal contraries, as much allowing one another as day and night together in one hemisphere. Milton.

Pertaining to a diameter; diametrical. Diametral curve, Diametral surface (Geom.), any line or surface which bisects a system of parallel chords drawn in a curve or surface. -- Diametral planes (Crystal.), planes in which two of the axes lie.

Diametrically.

A geometrical figure, consisting of four equal straight lines, and having two of the interior angles acute and two obtuse; a rhombus; a lozenge.

The science of the refraction of light; that part of geometrical optics which treats of the laws of the refraction of light in passing from one medium into another, or through different mediums, as air, water, or glass, and esp. through different lenses; -- distinguished from catoptrics, which refers to reflected light…

Two metrical feet taken together, or included in one measure. Hadley. Trochaic, iambic, and anapestic verses . . . are measured by dipodies. W. W. Goodwin.

Not proportioned; unsymmetrical; unsuitable to something else in bulk, form, value, or extent; out of proportion; inadequate; as, in a perfect body none of the limbs are disproportionate; it is wisdom not to undertake a work disproportionate means. -- Dis`pro*por"tion*ate*ly, adv. -- Dis`pro*por"tion*ate*ness, n.…

d. Duplicate proportion or ratio (Math.), the proportion or ratio of squares. Thus, in geometrical proportion, the first term to the third is said to be in a duplicate ratio of the first to the second, or as its square is to the square of the second. Thus, in 2, 4, 8, 16, the ratio of 2 to 8 is a duplicate of that of 2…