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Want of clearness or perspicuity; obscurity; as, the darkness of a subject, or of a discussion.

educe; as, to debauch one's self by intemperance; to debauch a woman; to debauch an army. Learning not debauched by ambition. Burke. A man must have got his conscience thoroughly debauched and hardened before he can arrive to the height of sin. South. Her pride debauched her judgment and her eyes. Cowley.…

Profoundly book-learned. "Great writers and deep-read men." L'Estrange.

a note, deed, or bond; to deface a record. "This high face defaced." Emerson. So by false learning is good sense defaced. Pope.

Distinctness or clearness, as of an image formed by an optical instrument; precision in detail.

One of an ancient sect of philosophers, who cultivated learned conversation at meals.

A name given to an elementary book for learners of Latin or Greek. G. Eliot.

s, the Ionic and Attic were dialects of Greece; the Yorkshire dialect; the dialect of the learned. In the midst of this Babel of dialects there suddenly appeared a standard English language. Earle. [Charles V.] could address his subjects from every quarter in their native dialect. Prescott.

as; the construction, disposition, and application of words in discourse, with regard to clearness, accuracy, variety, etc.; mode of expression; language; as, the diction of Chaucer's poems. His diction blazes up into a sudden explosion of prophetic grandeur. De Quincey.

ening and comfort. Grant that we may in such wise hear them [the Scriptures], read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them. Book of Common Prayer.

Not bright or distinct; wanting luminousness or clearness; obscure in luster or sound; dusky; darkish; obscure; indistinct; overcast; tarnished. The dim magnificence of poetry. Whewell. How is the gold become dim! Lam. iv. 1. I never saw The heavens so dim by day. Shak. Three sleepless nights I passed in sounding on, T…

Dullness, or want of clearness, of vision or of intellectual perception. Dr. H. More.

One who receives instruction from another; a scholar; a learner; especially, a follower who has learned to believe in the truth of the doctrine of his teacher; an adherent in doctrine; as, the disciples of Plato; the disciples of our Savior. The disciples, or The twelve disciples, the twelve selected companions of Jesu…

The treatment suited to a disciple or learner; education; development of the faculties by instruction and exercise; training, whether physical, mental, or moral. Wife and children are a kind of discipline of humanity. Bacon. Discipline aims at the removal of bad habits and the substitution of good ones, especially thos…

judicious; not rash or heedless; cautious. It is the discreet man, not the witty, nor the learned, nor the brave, who guides the conversation, and gives measures to society. Addison. Satire 's my weapon, but I 'm too discreet To run amuck, and tilt at all I meet. Pope. The sea is silent, the sea is discreet. Longfellow…

To distill or infuse the spirit of. [Obs. or R.] This makes a man master of his learning, and dispirits the book into the scholar. Fuller.

Nice discrimination; hence, clearness; precision; as, he stated his arguments with great distinctness.

Relating to divinity or theology. Church history and other divine learning. South.

A teacher; one skilled in a profession, or branch of knowledge learned man. [Obs.] One of the doctors of Italy, Nicholas Macciavel. Bacon.

Like a doctor or learned man. [Obs.] "Doctorly prelates." Foxe.