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A servant; a subordinate; an officer or assistant of inferior rank; hence, an agent, an instrument. Moses rose up, and his minister Joshua. Ex. xxiv. 13. I chose Camillo for the minister, to poison My friend Polixenes. Shak.

Inferior in bulk, degree, importance, etc.; less; smaller; of little account; as, minor divisions of a body.

A marriage with a person of inferior rank or social station; an improper alliance; a mesalliance. A Leigh had made a misalliance, and blushed A Howard should know it. Mrs. Browning.

bird. Mocker nut (Bot.), a kind of hickory (Carya tomentosa) and its fruit, which is far inferior to the true shagbark hickory nut.

marriage, called also left-handed marriage, between a man of superior rank and a woman of inferior, in which it is stipulated that neither the latter nor her children shall enjoy the rank or inherit the possessions of her husband. Brande & C. -- Mor`ga*nat"ic*al*ly, adv.

A fine kind of leather, prepared commonly from goatskin (though an inferior kind is made of sheepskin), and tanned with sumac and dyed of various colors; -- said to have been first made by the Moors.

An inferior olive size having a woody pulp and a large clingstone pit, growing in the mountainous and high-valley districts around the city of Moron, in Spain.

An inferior kind of madder prepared from the smaller roots or the peelings and refuse of the larger.

That point of the heavens, or lower hemisphere, directly opposite the zenith; the inferior pole of the horizon; the point of the celestial sphere directly under the place where we stand.

An inferior commercial variety of India rubber made up into round masses.

Possessing inferior hardness, brilliancy, or beauty; -- used of inferior precious stones and gems, because those found in the Orient are generally superior.

Second-rate; inferior; small. [Slang, U.S.]

A mineral consisting, like quartz, of silica, but inferior to quartz in hardness and specific gravity.

The inferior and posterior of the three elements forming the periotic bone.

ished by superior excellence or beauty; hence, not distinguished in any way; commonplace; inferior; of little merit; as, men of ordinary judgment; an ordinary book. An ordinary lad would have acquired little or no useful knowledge in such a way. Macaulay. Ordinary seaman (Naut.), one not expert or fully skilled, and he…

A metallic substance, resembling gold in color, but inferior in value; a mixed metal of the ancients, resembling brass; -- called also aurichalcum, orichalcum, etc.

To surpass in bragging; hence, to make appear inferior. Whose bare outbragg'd the web it seemed to wear. Shak.

A king who has sovereignty over inferior kings or ruling princes. J. R. Green.

Material of inferior value, serving to extend a book, essay, etc. London Sat. Rev.

An inferior tenant; one who rents a pendicle or croft. [Scot.] Jamieson.