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Webster’s Dictionary (1828)



1,494 words match “PROPER”

ALL adv.
wholly in the word all (as it does in "all forlorn," and similar expressions), and the to properly belongs to the following word, being a kind of intensive prefix (orig. meaning asunder and answering to the LG. ter-, HG. zer- ). It is frequently to be met with in old books, used without the all. Thus Wyclif says, "The…
ALLEGORY n.
urse, in which the principal subject is described by another subject resembling it in its properties and circumstances. The real subject is thus kept out of view, and we are left to collect the intentions of the writer or speaker by the resemblance of the secondary to the primary subject.
ALLODIUM n.
Freehold estate; land which is the absolute property of the owner; real estate held in absolute independence, without being subject to any rent, service, or acknowledgment to a superior. It is thus opposed to feud. Blackstone. Bouvier.
ALLOMORPHISM n.
The property which constitutes an allomorph; the change involved in becoming an allomorph.
ALLOTRIOPHAGY n.
A depraved appetite; a desire for improper food.
ALLOTROPICITY n.
Allotropic property or nature.
ALLOTROPISM; ALLOTROPY n.
The property of existing in two or more conditions which are distinct in their physical or chemical relations.
ALLOTROPIZE v.
To change in physical properties but not in substance. [R.]
ALLOWABLE a.
Proper to be, or capable of being, allowed; permissible; admissible; not forbidden; not unlawful or improper; as, a certain degree of freedom is allowable among friends.
ALTARWISE adv.
In the proper position of an altar, that is, at the east of a church with its ends towards the north and south. Shipley.
ALUM ROOT n.
rth American herb (Heuchera Americana) of the Saxifrage family, whose root has astringent properties.
AMBRY n.
Almonry. [Improperly so used]
AMENDE n.
se now denotes a public apology or recantation, and reparation to an injured party, for improper language or treatment.
AMISS adv. 2 definitions
Astray; faultily; improperly; wrongly; ill. What error drives our eyes and ears amiss Shak. Ye ask and receive not, because ye ask amiss. James iv. 3. To take (an act, thing) amiss, to impute a wrong motive to (an act or thing); to take offense at' to take unkindly; as, you must not take these questions amiss.…
AMIT v.
To lose. [Obs.] A lodestone fired doth presently amit its proper virtue. Sir T. Browne.
AMMONIAC; AMMONIACAL a.
Of or pertaining to ammonia, or possessing its properties; as, an ammoniac salt; ammoniacal gas. Ammoniacal engine, an engine in which the vapor of ammonia is used as the motive force. -- Sal ammoniac Etym: [L. sal ammoniacus], the salt usually called chloride of ammonium, and formerly muriate of ammonia.…
AN n.
This word is properly an adjective, but is commonly called the indefinite article. It is used before nouns of the singular number only, and signifies one, or any, but somewhat less emphatically. In such expressions as "twice an hour," "once an age," a shilling an ounce (see 2d A, 2), it has a distributive force, and is…
ANABRANCH n.
A branch of a river that reënters, or anastomoses with, the main stream; also, less properly, a branch which loses itself in sandy soil. [Australia]
ANACRUSIS n.
A prefix of one or two unaccented syllables to a verse properly beginning with an accented syllable.
ANALYZER n.
The part of a polariscope which receives the light after polarization, and exhibits its properties.
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