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Webster’s Dictionary (1828)



751 words match “ANCIENT”

BIREME n.
An ancient galley or vessel with two banks or tiers of oars.
BLACKMAIL n.
A certain rate of money, corn, cattle, or other thing, anciently paid, in the north of England and south of Scotland, to certain men who were allied to robbers, or moss troopers, to be by them protected from pillage. Sir W. Scott.
BO TREE n.
The peepul tree; esp., the very ancient tree standing at Anurajahpoora in Ceylon, grown from a slip of the tree under which Gautama is said to have received the heavenly light and so to have become Buddha. The sacred bo tree of the Buddhists (Ficus religiosa), which is planted close to every temple, and attracts almost…
BOHEMIAN a. 2 definitions
Of or pertaining to Bohemia, or to the language of its ancient inhabitants or their descendants. See Bohemian, n., 2.
BOROUGH-ENGLISH n.
A custom, as in some ancient boroughs, by which lands and tenements descend to the youngest son, instead of the eldest; or, if the owner have no issue, to the youngest brother. Blackstone.
BORROW v.
o adopt; as, to borrow the style, manner, or opinions of another. Rites borrowed from the ancients. Macaulay. It is not hard for any man, who hath a Bible in his hands, to borrow good words and holy sayings in abundance; but to make them his own is a work of grace only from above. Milton.
BOTANOMANCY n.
An ancient species of divination by means of plants, esp. sage and fig leaves.
BOUSTROPHEDON n.
An ancient mode of writing, in alternate directions, one line from left to right, and the next from right to left (as fields are plowed), as in early Greek and Hittite.
BOVATE n.
An oxgang, or as much land as an ox can plow in a year; an ancient measure of land, of indefinite quantity, but usually estimated at fifteen acres.
BOWER n.
Anciently, a chamber; a lodging room; esp., a lady's private apartment. Give me my lute in bed now as I lie, And lock the doors of mine unlucky bower. Gascoigne.
BOWL n.
An ancient game, popular in Great Britain, played with biased balls on a level plat of greensward. Like an uninstructed bowler, . . . who thinks to attain the jack by delivering his bowl straightforward upon it. Sir W. Scott.
BRABANTINE a.
Pertaining to Brabant, an ancient province of the Netherlands.
BRAKE n. 2 definitions
An ancient engine of war analogous to the crossbow and ballista.
BRANCH n.
t in such a line; as, the English branch of a family. His father, a younger branch of the ancient stock. Carew.
BREHON n.
An ancient Irish or Scotch judge. Brehon laws, the ancient Irish laws, -- unwritten, like the common law of England. They were abolished by statute of Edward III.
BRETON a.
A native or inhabitant of Brittany, or Bretagne, in France; also, the ancient language of Brittany; Armorican.
BROADAX; BROADAXE n.
An ancient military weapon; a battle-ax.
BUFFALO n.
ffalo clover (Bot.), a kind of clover (Trifolium reflexum and T.soloniferum) found in the ancient grazing grounds of the American bison. -- Buffalo cod (Zoöl.), a large, edible, marine fish (Ophiodon elongatus) of the northern Pacific coast; -- called also blue cod, and cultus cod. -- Buffalo fish (Zoöl.), one of sev…
BUSKIN n.
ick soles, to give an appearance of elevation to the stature; -- worn by tragic actors in ancient Greece and Rome. Used as a symbol of tragedy, or the tragic drama, as distinguished from comedy. Great Fletcher never treads in buskins here, No greater Jonson dares in socks appear. Dryden.
BYSSUS n.
A cloth of exceedingly fine texture, used by the ancients. It is disputed whether it was of cotton, linen, or silk. [Written also byss and byssin.]
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