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cally applied to the times before the fall of the Roman empire; -- opposed to modern; as, ancient authors, literature, history; ancient days. Witness those ancient empires of the earth. Milton. Gildas Albanius . . . much ancienter than his namesake surnamed the Wise. Fuller.

In ancient times.

The quality of being ancient; antiquity; existence from old times.

Antiquity; what is ancient. They contain not word of ancientry. West.

Age; antiquity. [Obs.] Martin.

A table or tray strewn with sand, anciently used for drawing, calculating, etc. [Obs.]

A mystical word used as a charm and engraved on gems among the ancients; also, a gem stone thus engraved.

An epitome or compend, as of a book; a shortened or abridged form; an abbreviation. Ancient coins as abridgments of history. Addison.

Incomprehensibility of things; the doctrine held by the ancient Skeptic philosophers, that human knowledge never amounts to certainty, but only to probability.

ion in its orbit, in consequence of which its period of revolution is now shorter than in ancient times. -- Acceleration and retardation of the tides. See Priming of the tides, under Priming. -- Diurnal acceleration of the fixed stars, the amount by which their apparent diurnal motion exceeds that of the sun, in cons…

The act or posture of reclining on a couch, as practiced by the ancients at meals.

Leaning or reclining, as the ancients did at their meals. The Roman.. accumbent posture in eating. Arbuthnot.

A fabulous people reported by ancient writers to have heads.

accomplished by valor, boldness, or praiseworthy exertion; a feat. [The exploits] of the ancient saints . . . do far surpass the most famous achievements of pagan heroes. Barrow. The highest achievements of the human intellect. Macaulay.

Anciently, a snake, called dart snake; now, one of a genus of reptiles closely allied to the lizards.

; a telephone. -- Acoustic vessels, brazen tubes or vessels, shaped like a bell, used in ancient theaters to propel the voices of the actors, so as to render them audible to a great distance.

gal act subjecting them to penalties. Abbott. -- Act in pais, a thing done out of court (anciently, in the country), and not a matter of record.

A kind of adoption in ancient Rome. See Arrogation.

se in rank, office, or consequence; to be preferred or promoted. Advanced to a level with ancient peers. Prescott.

The innermost sanctuary or shrine in ancient temples, whence oracles were given. Hence: A private chamber; a sanctum.