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e essence; the best part. It takes from our achievements . . . The pith and marrow of our attribute. Shak.

e. -- May dew, the morning dew of the first day of May, to which magical properties were attributed. -- May flower (Bot.), a plant that flowers in May; also, its blossom. See Mayflower, in the vocabulary. -- May fly (Zoöl.), any species of Ephemera, and allied genera; -- so called because the mature flies of many sp…

The art of increasing gold or silver by magic, -- attributed formerly to the alchemists. [Obs.] Chaucer. Multiplication table, a table giving the product of a set of numbers multiplied in some regular way; commonly, a table giving the products of the first ten or twelve numbers multiplied successively by 1, 2, 3, etc.,…

on, that part of theological science which treats of those evidences of the existence and attributes of the Supreme Being which are exhibited in nature; -- distinguished from revealed religion. See Quotation under Natural, a., 3. -- Natural vowel, the vowel sound heard in urn, furl, sir, her, etc.; -- so called as bei…

The sum of qualities and attributes which make a person or thing what it is, as distinct from others; native character; inherent or essential qualities or attributes; peculiar constitution or quality of being. Thou, therefore, whom thou only canst redeem, Their nature also to thy nature join, And be thyself man among m…

The belief or doctrine that attributes everything to nature as a sanative agent.

An epic poem attributed to Homer, which describes the return of Ulysses to Ithaca after the siege of Troy.

Denoting possession or ownership, or the relation of subject to attribute; as, the apartment of the consul: the power of the king; a man of courage; the gate of heaven. "Poor of spirit." Macaulay.

The quality or state of being omniscient; -- an attribute peculiar to God. Dryden.

ment, or acquirement completely excellent; an ideal faultlessness; especially, the divine attribute of complete excellence. Shak. What tongue can her perfections tell Sir P. Sidney. To perfection, in the highest degree of excellence; perfectly; as, to imitate a model to perfection.

To belong; to have connection with, or dependence on, something, as an appurtenance, attribute, etc.; to appertain; as, saltness pertains to the ocean; flowers pertain to plant life. Men hate those who affect that honor by ambition which pertaineth not to them. Hayward.

To attribute; to ascribe; to set down. Place it for her chief virtue. Shak. To place (a person), to identify him. [Colloq. U.S.]

asis, so as not only to signify the individual thing denoted by it, but also its peculiar attribute or quality; as, "His wife's a wife indeed." Bailey.

To make plural by using the plural termination; to attribute plurality to; to express in the plural form.

a movement in both painting and sculpture which lays stress upon volume as the important attribute of objects and attempts its expression by the use of geometrical figures or solids only; and futurism, a theory or practice which attempts to place the observer within the picture and to represent simultaneously a number…

The quality or state of being predicable, or affirmable of something, or attributed to something. Reid.

Anything affirmable of another; especially, a general attribute or notion as affirmable of, or applicable to, many individuals.

ticular; as, every animal has his proper instincts and appetites. Those high and peculiar attributes . . . which constitute our proper humanity. Coleridge.

quality of a thing; that which is inherent in a subject, or naturally essential to it; an attribute; as, sweetness is a property of sugar. Property is correctly a synonym for peculiar quality; but it is frequently used as coextensive with quality in general. Sir W. Hamilton.

To attach or attribute; to assign; as, to put a wrong construction on an act or expression.