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Having no weight or effect; answering no purpose; unimportant; valueless; futile. Laws must be insignificant without the sanction of rewards and punishments. Bp. Wilkins.

See differential Differential, and Integration. Cf. Fluent. Elliptic integral, one of an important class of integrals, occurring in the higher mathematics; -- so called because one of the integrals expresses the length of an arc of an ellipse.

of indigo blue. It is also produced from certain derivatives of benzoic acid, and is one important source of artificial indigo. [Written also, less properly, isatine.]

A point of time; esp., one made critical or important by a concurrence of circumstances; hence, a crisis; an exigency. "Extraordinary junctures." Addison. In such a juncture, what can the most plausible and refined philosophy offer Berkeley.

hat serves as a guide; some prominent object, as a hill or steeple. Landmarks of history, important events by which eras or conditions are determined.

dha to put, Gr. ti-qe`-nai, E. do, OHG, tuon, G. thun. -- Kepler's laws (Astron.), three important laws or expressions of the order of the planetary motions, discovered by John Kepler. They are these: (1) The orbit of a planet with respect to the sun is an ellipse, the sun being in one of the foci. (2) The areas swept…

er. At the time I speak of, and having a momentary lead, . . . I am sure I did my country important service. Burke.

Smallest, either in size or degree; shortest; lowest; most unimportant; as, the least insect; the least mercy; the least space.

Slight; not important; as, a light error. Shak.

ther building with a powerful light at top, erected at the entrance of a port, or at some important point on a coast, to serve as a guide to mariners at night; a pharos.

That part of the stage upon which the limelight as cast, usually where the most important action is progressing or where the leading player or players are placed and upon which the attention of the spectators is therefore concentrated. Hence, consspicuous position before the public; as, politicians who are never happy…

Hydrous sesquixoide of iron, an important ore of iron, occurring in stalactitic, mammillary, or earthy forms, of a dark brown color, yellowish brown powder. It includes bog iron. Also called brown hematite.

versities), a public examination about the middle of the course, which as less strict and important than the final one; -- called also smalls. Cf. Great go, under Great. Thackeray. -- Little hours (R. C. Ch.), the offices of prime, tierce, sext, and nones. Vespers and compline are sometimes included. -- Little ones,…

acted by a magnet and sometimes possesses polarity, being then called loadstone. It is an important iron ore. Called also magnetic iron.

The chief or principal part; the main or most important thing. [Obs., except in special uses.] Resolved to rest upon the title of Lancaster as the main, and to use the other two . . . but as supporters. Bacon.

The principal or most important spring in a piece of mechanism, especially the moving spring of a watch or clock or the spring in a gunlock which impels the hammer. Hence: The chief or most powerful motive; the efficient cause of action.

Of greater dignity; more important. Shak.

ermatodectes, equi), and that of cattle (Symbiotes, or Dermatophagys, bovis) are the most important species. See Acarina.

fur-bearing carnivores of the genus Mustela, closely allied to the sable. Among the more important species are the European beech, or stone, marten (Mustela foina); the pine marten (M. martes); and the American marten, or sable (M. Americana), which some zoölogists consider only a variety of the Russian sable.…

Of solid or weighty character; not insubstantial; of cinsequence; not be dispensed with; important. Discourse, which was always material, never trifling. Evelyn. I shall, in the account of simple ideas, set down only such as are most material to our present purpose. Locke.