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Webster’s Dictionary (1828)



246 words match “ETYM”

PITYRIASIS n.
egular patches of thin scales which are shed in branlike particles. Pityriasis versicolor Etym: [NL.] (Med.), a parasitic disease of the skin, characterized by the development of reddish or brownish patches.
PLASTER n.
obtained by pouring plaster of Paris mixed with water into a mold. -- Plaster of Paris. Etym: [So called because originally brought from a suburb of Paris.] (Chem.) Anhydrous calcium sulphate, or calcined gypsum, which forms with water a paste which soon sets or hardens, and is used for casts, moldings, etc. The term…
PLEDGE n.
timent to which assent is given by drinking one's health; a toast; a health. Dead pledge. Etym: [A translation of LL. mortuum vadium.] (Law) A mortgage. See Mortgage. -- Living pledge. Etym: [A translation of LL. vivum vadium.] (Law) The conveyance of an estate to another for money borrowed, to be held by him until th…
POCO adv.
or movement; as, poco più allegro, a little faster; poco largo, rather slow. Poco a poco Etym: [It.] (Mus.) Little by little; as, poco a poco crescendo, gradually increasing in loudness.
PONS n.
side with the hemispheres of the cerebellum; the mesocephalon. See Brain. Pons asinorum. Etym: [L., literally, bridge of asses.] See Asses' bridge, under Ass.
POUDRE n.
Dust; powder. [Obs.] Chaucer. Poudre marchant Etym: [see Merchant], a kind of flavoring powder used in the Middle Ages. [Obs.] Chaucer.
PRISM n.
cted or bent into a new position, but is free from color. -- Nicol's prism, Nicol prism. Etym: [So called from Wm. Nicol, of Edinburgh, who first proposed it.] (Opt.) An instrument for experiments in polarization, consisting of a rhomb of Iceland spar, which has been bisected obliquely at a certain angle, and the two…
PRO prep.
A Latin preposition signifying for, before, forth. Pro confesso Etym: [L.] (Law), taken as confessed. The action of a court of equity on that portion of the pleading in a particular case which the pleading on the other side does not deny. -- Pro rata. Etym: [L. See Prorate.] In proportion; proportion. -- Pro re nata…
PROCESS n.
to the action; -- a generic term for writs of the class called judicial. Deacon's process Etym: [from H. Deacon, who introduced it] (Chem.), a method of obtaining chlorine gas by passing hydrochloric acid gas over heated slag which has been previously saturated with a solution of some metallic salt, as sulphate of copp…
PUNCTUM n.
A point. Punctum cæcum. Etym: [L., blind point.] (Anat.) Same as Blind spot, under Blind. -- Punctum proximum, near point. See under Point. -- Punctum remotum, far point. See under Point. -- Punctum vegetationis Etym: [L., point of vegetation] (Bot.), the terminal cell of a stem, or of a leaf bud, from which new gro…
PUNTO n.
A point or hit. Punto diritto Etym: [It.], a direct stroke or hit. -- Punto reverso Etym: [It. riverso reverse], a backhanded stroke. Halliwell. "Ah, the immortal passado! the punto reverso!" Shak.
Q n.
ed it, through a Greek alphabet, from the Phoenician, the ultimate origin being Egyptian. Etymologically, q or qu is most nearly related to a (ch, tch), p, q, and wh; as in cud, quid, L. equus, ecus, horse, Gr. equine, hippic; L. quod which, E. what; L. aquila, E. eaqle; E. kitchen, OE. kichene, AS. cycene, L. coquina.…
QUANTUM n.
n of a manifoldness, limited by a mark or by a boundary. W. K. Clifford. Quantum meruit ( Etym: [L., as much as he merited] (Law), a count in an action grounded on a promise that the defendant would pay to the plaintiff for his service as much as he should deserve. -- Quantum sufficit (, or Quantum suff. Etym: [L., as…
QUEEN n.
one who is effeminate or dresses in women's clothing. Sometimes pejorative. Queen apple. Etym: [Cf. OE. quyne aple quince apple.] A kind of apple; a queening. "Queen apples and red cherries." Spenser. -- Queen bee (Zoöl.), a female bee, especially the female of the honeybee. See Honeybee. -- Queen conch (Zoöl.), a v…
RADICAL n.
A primitive word; a radix, root, or simple, underived, uncompounded word; an etymon.
RADIX n.
A primitive, from which spring other words; a radical; a root; an etymon.
RAFT n.
e rafts. (b) A bridge that consists of floating timbers fastened together. -- Raft duck. Etym: [The name alludes to its swimming in dense flocks.] (Zoöl.) (a) The bluebill, or greater scaup duck; -- called also flock duck. See Scaup. (b) The redhead. -- Raft port (Naut.), a large, square port in a vessel's side for l…
RAP v.
To exchange; to truck. [Obs. & Law] To rap and ren, To rap and rend. Etym: [Perhaps fr. Icel. hrapa to hurry and ræna plunder, fr. ran plunder, E. ran.] To seize and plunder; to snatch by violence. Dryden. "[Ye] waste all that ye may rape and renne." Chaucer. All they could rap and rend pilfer. Hudibras. -- To rap out,…
RAPPORT n.
is between the conceptions and languages in every country. Sir W. Temple. En` rap`port" ( Etym: [F.], in accord, harmony, or sympathy; having a mutual, especially a private, understanding; in mesmerism, in that relation of sympathy which permits influence or communication.
REGIME n.
flow is equal and uniform at all the cross sections. The ancient régime, or Ancien régime Etym: [F.], the former political and social system, as distinguished from the modern; especially, the political and social system existing in France before the Revolution of 1789.
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