Amercement royal is a penalty imposed on an officer for a misdemeanor in his office. NWAD AMERCEMENT.2
One of the great continents, first discovered by Sebastian Cabot, June 11, O.S. 1498, and by Columbus, or Christoval Colon, Aug. 1, the same year. It extends from the eightieth degree of North, to the fifty-fourth degree of South Latitude; and from the thirty-fifth to the one hundred and fifty-sixth degree of Longitude West from Greenwich, being about nine thousand miles in length. Its breadth at Darien is narrowed to about forty-five miles, but at the northern extremity is nearly four thousand miles. From Darien to the North, the continent is called North America, and to the South, it is called South America. NWAD AMERICA.2
The name American must always exalt the pride of patriotism. NWAD AMERICAN.3
A sub-species of quartz, of a violet blue color, of different degrees of intensity. It generally occurs crystallized in hexahedral prisms or pyramids; also in rolled fragments, composed of imperfect prismatic crystals. Its fracture is conchoidal or splintery. It is wrought into various articles of jewelry. NWAD AMETHYST.2
1. Lovely; worth of love; deserving of affection; applied usually to persons. But in Psalm 84:1, there is an exception, “How amiable are the tabernacles, O Lord.” NWAD AMIABLE.2
2. Pretending or showing love. NWAD AMIABLE.3
Lay amiable siege to the honesty of this Ford’s wife. NWAD AMIABLE.4
But this use is not legitimate. NWAD AMIABLE.5
Earth-flax, or mountain flax; a mineral substance somewhat resembling flax; usually grayish, or of a greenish white; sometimes of a yellowish or silvery white, olive or mountain green, of a pale flesh red or ocher color. It is composed of delicate filaments, very flexible and somewhat elastic, often long and resembling threads of silk. It is incombustible, and has sometimes been wrought into cloth and paper. NWAD AMIANTH.2
Amianthiform arseniate of copper. NWAD AMIANTHIFORM.2
A mineral which occurs in tufts, composed of long capillary filaments, flexible and very elastic; more flexible than the fibers of asbestus, but stiffer and more elastic than those of amianth. The color is olive green, or greenish white. NWAD AMIANTHOID.2
1. Friendly; peaceable; harmonious in social or mutual transactions; usually applied to the dispositions of men who have business with each other, or to their intercourse and transactions; as, nations or men have come to an amicable adjustment of their differences. NWAD AMICABLE.2
2. Disposed to peace and friendship; as, an amicable temper. [But rarely applied to a single person.] NWAD AMICABLE.3
A square linen cloth that a Catholic priest ties about his neck, hanging down behind under the alb, when he officiates at mass. NWAD AMICE.2
1. In the midst or middle. NWAD AMID.2
2. Among; mingled with; as, a shepherd amidst his flock. NWAD AMID.3
3. Surrounded, encompassed, or enveloped with; as, amidst the shade; amid the waves. Amid is used mostly in poetry. NWAD AMID.4
1. Wrong; faulty; out of order; improper; as, it may not be amiss to ask advice. [This adjective always follows its noun.] NWAD AMISS.2
2. adv. In a faulty manner; contrary to propriety, truth, law or morality. NWAD AMISS.3
Ye ask and receive not, because ye ask amiss. James 4:3. NWAD AMISS.4
Applied to the body, it signifies indisposed; as, I am somewhat amiss to day. NWAD AMISS.5
Friendship, in a general sense, between individuals, societies or nations; harmony; good understanding; as, our nation is in amity with all the world; a treaty of amity and commerce. NWAD AMITY.2
1. An abbess or spiritual mother. NWAD AMMA.2
2. A girdle or truss used in ruptures. [Gr.] NWAD AMMA.3
In some European nations, a judge who has cognizance of civil causes. In France, a notary or officer who draws deeds and other writings. NWAD AMMAN.2
A sand-stone or free-stone, of a pale brown color, very heavy, of a lax texture, composed of small round granules, cemented by an earthy sparry matter. The grit or granules are small stalagmites, composed of crusts or coats including one another. It is the roe-stone or oolite of recent authors. NWAD AMMITE.2
A yellow soft stone, found in Germany, consisting of glossy yellow particles. When rubbed or ground, it is used to strew over writing, like black sand with us. NWAD AMMOCHRYSE.2
The sand eel, a genus of fish, of the apodal order, about a foot in length, with a compressed head, a long slender body, and scales hardly perceptible. There is but one species, the tobianus or lance. It buries itself in the sand, and is found also in the stomach of the porpess. which indicates that the latter fish roots up the sand like a hog. NWAD AMMODYTE.2
This name is also given to a serpent of the size of a viper, and of a yellowish color, found in Africa; also to a large serpent of Ceylon, of a whitish ash color, and very venomous. NWAD AMMODYTE.3
Volatile alkali; a substance, which, in its purest form, exists in a state of gas. It is composed of hydrogen and nitrogen. Combined with the muriatic acid, it forms the muriate of ammonia, called also sal ammoniac and hydro-chlorate of ammonia. Native muriate of ammony is found in Egypt, where it is said to be generated in large inns and caravanseras, from the excrements of camels and other beasts. It occurs also massive and crystallized in the vicinity of volcanoes. Ammony, popularly called hartshorn, is extremely pungent and acrid, but when diluted, is an agreeable stimulant. it extinguishes flame, and is fatal to animal life. It combines with acids, and produces a class of salts, which, with few exceptions, are soluble in water. NWAD AMMONIA.2
A gun resin, from Africa and the East, brought in large masses, composed of tears, internally white and externally yellow; supposed to be an exudation from an umbelliferous plant. it has a fetid smell, and a nauseous sweet taste, followed by a bitter one. It is inflammable, soluble in water and spirit of wine, and is used in medicine, as a deobstruent, and resolvent. NWAD AMMONIAC.3
Serpent-stone, or cornu ammonis, a fossil shell, curved into a spiral, like a ram’s horn; of various sizes, from the smallest grains to three feet in diameter. This fossil is found in stratums of limestone and clay, and in argillaceous iron ore. It is smooth or ridged; the ridges strait, crooked or undulated. NWAD AMMONITE.2
Military stores, or provisions for attack or defense. In modern usage, the signification is confined to the articles which are used in the discharge of fire-arms and ordnance of all kinds; as powder, balls, bombs, various kinds of shot, etc. NWAD AMMUNITION.2
Ammunition-bread, bread or other provisions to supply troops. NWAD AMMUNITION.3
An act of oblivion; a general pardon of the offenses of subjects against the government, or the proclamation of such pardon. NWAD AMNESTY.2
The innermost membrane surrounding the fetus in the womb. It is thin, transparent, soft and smooth on the inside, but rough on the outside. NWAD AMNIOS.2
A poem in which persona are represented as speaking alternately, as the third and seventh eclogues of Virgil. NWAD AMOBEUM.2
A genus of plants; all natives of warm climates, and remarkable for their pungency and aromatic properties. it includes the common ginger or zingiber, the zerumbet, zedoary, cardamom, and granum paradisi or grains of paradise. The roots of the three former, and the seeds of the two latter, are used in medicine as carminatives and stimulants, and in cookery as condiments. They are important articles of commerce. NWAD AMOMUM.2
True amomum is a round fruit, from the East, of the size of a grape, containing, under a membranous cover, a number of angular seeds of a dark brown color, in three cells. Of this fruit, ten or twelve grow in a cluster, adhering without a pedicle, to a woody stalk. It is of a pungent taste and aromatic smell, and was formerly much used in medicine, but is not a stranger to the shops. NWAD AMOMUM.3
1. In a general or primitive sense, mixed or mingled with; as tares among wheat. NWAD AMONG.2
2. Conjoined or associated with, or making part of the number. NWAD AMONG.3
Blessed art thou among women. Luke 1:28, 42. NWAD AMONG.4
3. Of the number; as, there is not one among a thousand, possessing the like qualities. NWAD AMONG.5
Pertaining to Jupiter Amon, or to his temple and worship in upper Egypt. NWAD AMONIAN.2
A lover; an amorous woman; also a love knot or a trifling love affair. NWAD AMORET.2
1. Inclined to love; having a propensity to love, or to sexual enjoyment; loving; fond. NWAD AMOROUS.2
2. In love; enamored. NWAD AMOROUS.3
3. Pertaining or relating to love; produced by love; indicating love; as amorous delight; amorous airs. NWAD AMOROUS.4
False or bastard indigo. The plant is a native of Carolina, constituting a genus. It rises, with many irregular stems, to the height of twelve or fourteen feet; the leaves, beautifully pinnated, are of an admired green color, and its purple flowers grow in spikes of seven or eight inches long. Of this plant has been made a course kind of indigo. NWAD AMORPHA.2
Having no determinate form; of irregular shape; not of any regular figure. NWAD AMORPHOUS.2
In English law, to alienate in mortmain, that is, to sell to a corporation, sole or aggregate, ecclesiastical or temporal, and their successors. This was considered as selling to dead hands. This cannot be done without the kings license. [See Mortmain.] NWAD AMORTIZE.2
1. To rise to or reach, by an accumulation of particulars, into an aggregate whole; to compose in the whole; as, the interest on the several sums amounts to fifty dollars. NWAD AMOUNT.2
2. To rise, reach, or extend to, in effect, or substance; to result in, by consequence, when all things are considered; as, the testimony of these witnesses amounts to very little. NWAD AMOUNT.3
1. The sum total of two or more particular sums or quantities; as, the amount of 7 and 9 is 16. NWAD AMOUNT.5
2. The effect, substance or result; the sum; as, the amount of the testimony is this. NWAD AMOUNT.6
An unlawful connection in love; a love intrigue; an affair of gallantry. NWAD AMOUR.2
Cannel coal, or candle coal; an inflammable substance of a black color, compact texture, and resinous luster, and sufficiently hard to be cut and polished. It burns with a bright flame, of a short duration; and gives but a moderate heat. It is used like jet for making toys. It is found in France and England, where husbandmen smear vines with it to kill vermin. NWAD AMPELITE.2
In zoology, amphibials are a class of animals, so formed as to live on land, and for a long time under water. Their heart has but one ventricle; their blood is red and cold; and they have such command of the lungs, as for a considerable time, to suspend respiration. This class of animals is divided into two orders, the Reptiles and the Serpents. To the first belong the testudo, or tortoise, the draco or dragon, the lacerta or lizard, and the rana or frog; to the second, the crotalus, boa, coluber, anguis, amphisbena, and cecilia. NWAD AMPHIBIAL.2
The term has also been applied to such quadrupeds, as frequent the water, particularly the marine quadrupeds, such as the seal, walrus and lamantin. NWAD AMPHIBIAL.3
A fragment of a petrified amphibious animal. NWAD AMPHIBIOLITE.2
A discourse or treatise on amphibious animals, or the history and description of such animals. NWAD AMPHIBIOLOGY.2
1. Having the power of living in two elements, air and water, as frogs, crocodiles, beavers, and the like. NWAD AMPHIBIOUS.2
2. Of a mixed nature; partaking of two natures; as, an amphibious breed. NWAD AMPHIBIOUS.3
A name given by Hauy to a species of minerals, including the Tremolite, Hornblend, and Actinolite. Its primitive form is an oblique rhombic prism. NWAD AMPHIBOLE.2
A phrase or discourse, susceptible of two interpretations; and hence, a phrase of uncertain meaning. Amphibology arises from the order of the phrase, rather than from the ambiguous meaning of a word which is called equivocation. We have an example in the answer of the oracle to Pyrrhus. “Aio te Romanos vincere posse.” Here te and Romanos, may either of them precede or follow vincere posse, and the sense may be either, you may conquer the Romans, or the Romans may conquer you. The English language seldom admits of amphibology. NWAD AMPHIBOLOGY.2
Tossed from one to another; striking each way, with mutual blows. [Little used.] NWAD AMPHIBOLOUS.2
Ambiguity of meaning. [Rarely used.] NWAD AMPHIBOLY.2
In poetry, a foot of three syllables, the middle one long, the first and last short; as habere, in Latin. In English verse, it is used as the last foot, when a syllable is added to the usual number forming a double rhyme; as, NWAD AMPHIBRACH.2
The piece, you think, is incorrect, why take it? NWAD AMPHIBRACH.3
A kind of figured stone, of a round shape, but rugged and beset with eminences; called Erotylos, on account of its supposed power of exciting love. Anciently, it was used in divination; but it is little known to the moderns. NWAD AMPHICOME.2
In mineralogy, another name of the leucite or Vesuvian. NWAD AMPHIGENE.2
In crystallography, when the faces of the crystal, counted in two different directions, give two hexahedral outlines, or are found to be six in number. NWAD AMPHIHEXAHEDRAL.2
In ancient poetry, a foot of three syllables, the middle one short and the others long, as in castitas. NWAD AMPHIMACER.2
A genus of serpents, with the head small, smooth and blunt; the nostrils small, the eyes minute and blackish, and the mouth furnished with small teeth. The body is cylindrical, destitute of scales, and divided into numerous annular segments; the tail obtuse, and scarcely to be distinguished from the head, whence the belief that it moved equally well with either end foremost. There are two species; the fuliginosa, black with white spots, found in Africa and America; and the alba, or white species, found in both the Indies and generally in ant-hillocks. They feed on ants and earth-worms, and were formerly deemed poisonous; but this opinion is exploded. NWAD AMPHISBEN.2
The aquatic amphisben, Gordius aquaticus, Linne, is an animal resembling a horse hair, found in water, and moving with either end foremost. The vulgar opinion that this is an animated horse-hair is found to be an error. This hair worm is generated in the common black beetle, in which the parent worm lays its eggs; and is sometimes found in the earth and on the leaves of trees. NWAD AMPHISBEN.3
In geography, the inhabitants of the tropics, whose shadows, in one part of the year, are cast to the north, and in the other, to the south, according as the sun is in the southern or northern signs. NWAD AMPHISCIL.2
1. An edifice in an oval or circular form, having its area encompassed with rows of seats, rising higher as they recede from the area, on which people used to sit to view the combats of gladiators and of wild beasts, and other sports. The ancient theater was a semicircle, but exceeding it by a fourth part of its diameter; the amphitheater was a double theater, and its longest diameter was to its shortest as 1 1/2 to 1. It was at first of wood, but in the reign of Augustus one was erected of stone. The area or cavea being covered with sand was called arena. NWAD AMPHITHEATER.2
2. In gardening, a disposition of shrubs and trees in the form of an amphitheater, on a slope, or forming a slope, by placing the lowest in front. An amphitheater may also be formed of turf only. NWAD AMPHITHEATER.3
A genus of marine animals, of the Linnean order. NWAD AMPHITRITE.2
Among the Greeks and Romans, a liquid measure. The amphora of the Romans contained about forty-eight sextaries, equal to seven gallons and a pint, English wine measure. The Grecian or Attic amphor contained about a third more. This was also, among the Romans, a dry measure of about three bushels. Among the Venetians, it is a liquid measure of sixteen quarts. NWAD AMPHOR.2
This name was formerly used in England; but the capacity of the Sax. ambra is not certainly known. NWAD AMPHOR.3
1. Large; wide; spacious; extended; as ample room. This word carries with it the sense of room or space fully sufficient for the use intended. NWAD AMPLE.2
2. Great in bulk, or size; as an ample tear. NWAD AMPLE.3
3. Liberal; unrestrained; without parsimony; fully sufficient; as, ample provision for the table; ample justice. NWAD AMPLE.4
4. Liberal; magnificent; as ample promises. NWAD AMPLE.5
5. Diffusive; not brief or contracted; as an ample narrative. NWAD AMPLE.6