An aplanatic telescope is one which entirely corrects the aberration of the rays of light. It is thus distinguished from the achromatic, which only partially corrects the aberration. NWAD APLANATIC.2
A mineral closely allied to garnet. It is considered by Jameson, as crystallized common garnet. It is a rare mineral, found in dodecahedrons, with rhombic faces, supposed to be derived from the cube, by one of the most simple laws of decrement, that of a single range of particles, parallel to all the edges of a cube. NWAD APLOME.2
An ensign, or ornament carried by ancient ships. It was shaped like a plume of feathers, fastened on the neck of a goose or swan, and to this was attached a party-colored ribbon, to indicate the course of the wind. NWAD APLUSTER.2
Revelation; discovery; disclosure. The name of a book of the New Testament, containing many discoveries or predictions respecting the future state of Christianity, written by St. John, in Patmos, near the close of the first century. NWAD APOCALYPSE.2
To cut off, or drop the last letter or syllable of a word. NWAD APOCOPATE.2
The cutting off, or omission of the last letter or syllable of a word; as di for dii. NWAD APOCOPE.2
Anciently a resident in an imperial city, in the name of a foreign church or bishop, answering to the modern nuncio. He was a proctor, in the emperor’s court, to negotiate, and transact business for his constituent. NWAD APOCRISARY.2
Astringent; repelling. NWAD APOCRUSTIC.2
Literally such things as are not published; but in an appropriate sense, books whose authors are not known; whose authenticity, as inspired writings, is not admitted, and which are therefore not considered a part of the sacred canon of the scripture. When the Jews published their sacred books, they called them canonical and divine; such as they did not publish, were called apocryphal. The apocryphal books are received by the Romish Church as canonical, but not by Protestants. NWAD APOCRYPHA.2
Without feet; in zoology, destitute of ventral fins. NWAD APODAL.2
An animal that has no feet, applied to certain fabulous fowls, which are said to have no legs, and also to some birds that have very short legs. NWAD APODE.2
In zoology, the apodes are an order of fishes which have no ventral fins; the first order in Linne’s system. NWAD APODE.3
Demonstrative; evident beyond contradiction; clearly proving. [Little used.] NWAD APODICTIC.2
That point in the orbit of a a planet, which is at the greatest distance from the earth. The ancients regarded the earth as fixed in the center of the system, and therefore assigned to the sun, with the planets, an apogee; but the moderns, considering the sun as the center, use the terms perihelion and aphelion, to denote the least and greatest distance of the planets from that orb. The sun’s apogee therefore is in strictness, the earth’s aphelion. Apogee is properly applicable to the moon. NWAD APOGEE.2
The Apollinarian games, in Roman antiquity, were celebrated in honor of Apollo; instituted A.R. 542 after the battle of Cannae. They were merely scenical, with exhibitions of music, dances and various mountebank tricks. NWAD APOLLINARIAN.2
Apollo-Belvidere, an ancient statue of the first class in excellence. NWAD APOLLINARIANS.2
The destroyer; a name used Revelation 9:11, for the angel of the bottomless pit, answering to the Hebrew Abaddon. NWAD APOLLYON.2
Defending by words or arguments; excusing; said or written in defense, or by way of apology; as an apologetic essay. NWAD APOLOGETIC.2
One who makes an apology; one who speaks or writes in defense of another. NWAD APOLOGIST.2
A moral fable; a story or relation of fictitious events, intended to convey useful truths. An apologue differs from a parable in this; the parable is drawn from events which pass among mankind, and is therefore supported by probability; an apologue may be founded on supposed actions of brutes or inanimate things, and therefore does not require to be supported by probability. Esop’s fables are good examples of apologues. NWAD APOLOGUE.2
An excuse; something said or written in defense or extenuation of what appears to others wrong, or unjustifiable; or of what may be liable to disapprobation. It may be an extenuation of what is not perfectly justifiable, or a vindication of what is or may be disapproved, but which the apologist deems to be right. A man makes an apology for not fulfilling an engagement, or for publishing a pamphlet. An apology then is a reason or reasons assigned for what is wrong or may appear to be wrong, and it may be either an extenuation or a justification of something that is or may be censured, by those who are not acquainted with the reasons. NWAD APOLOGY.2
An expansion of a tendon in the manner of a membrane; the tendinous expansion or fascia of muscles; the tendon or tail of a muscle. NWAD APONEUROSIS.2
Denoting a song or hymn among the ancients, sung or addressed to a stranger, on his departure from a place to his own country. It may be used as a noun for the hymn. NWAD APOPEMPTIC.2
In rhetoric, a waving or omission of what one, speaking ironically, would plainly insinuate; as, “I will not mention another argument, which, however, if I should, you could not refute.” NWAD APOPHASIS.2
Masticatory; having the quality of exciting discharges of phlegm from the mouth or nostrils. NWAD APOPHLEGMATIC.2
A remarkable saying; a short, sententious, instructive remark, uttered on a particular occasion, or by a distinguished character; as that of Cyrus, “He is unworthy to be a magistrate, who is not better than his subjects;” or that of Cato, men by doing nothing, soon learn to do mischief. NWAD APOPHTHEGM.2
1. In architecture, the part of a column, where it springs out of its base; originally a ring or ferrel to bind the extremities of columns, and keep them from splitting; afterwards imitated in stone pillars. It is sometimes called the spring of the column. NWAD APOPHYGE.2
2. A concave part or ring of a column, lying above or below the flat member. NWAD APOPHYGE.3
A mineral occurring in laminated masses or in regular prismatic crystals, having a strong and peculiar pearly luster. Its structure is foliated, and when a fragment is forcibly rubbed against a hard body, it separates into thin lamens, like selenite. It exfoliates also before the flame of a lamp. From its peculiar luster, it is sometimes called by the harsh name, ichthyophthalmite, fish-eye stone. NWAD APOPHYLLITE.2
The projecting soft end or protuberance of a bone; a process of a bone. NWAD APOPHYSIS.2
A sudden deprivation of all sense and voluntary motion, occasioned by repletion or whatever interrupts the action of the nerves upon the muscles. NWAD APOPLEXY.2
Dryden, for the sake of measure, uses apoplex, for apoplexy. NWAD APOPLEXY.3
1. In rhetoric, a doubting or being at a loss where to begin, or what to say, on account of the variety of matter. NWAD APORY.2
2. In the medical art, febrile anxiety; uneasiness; restlessness, from obstructed perspiration, or the stoppage of any natural secretion. NWAD APORY.3
Reticence or suppression; as when a speaker for some cause, as fear, sorrow, or anger, suddenly breaks off his discourse, before it is ended; or speaks of a thing, when he makes a show as if he would say nothing on the subject; or aggravates what he pretends to conceal, by uttering a part and leaving the remainder to be understood. NWAD APOSIOPESIS.2
1. An abandonment of what one has professed; a total desertion, or departure from one’s faith or religion. NWAD APOSTASY.2
2. The desertion from a party to which one has adhered. NWAD APOSTASY.3
3. Among physicians, the throwing off of exfoliated or fractured bone, or the various solution of disease. NWAD APOSTASY.4
4. An abscess. NWAD APOSTASY.5
One who has forsaken the church, sect or profession to which he before adhered. In its original sense, applied to one who has abandoned his religion; but correctly applied also to one who abandons a political or other party. NWAD APOSTATE.2
An abscess; a swelling filled with purulent matter; written also corruptly imposthume. NWAD APOSTEME.2
Arguments a posteriori, are drawn from effect, consequences or facts; in opposition to reasoning a priori, or from causes previously known. NWAD A-POSTERIORI.2
A person deputed to execute some important business; but appropriately, a disciple of Christ commissioned to preach the gospel. Twelve persons were selected by Christ for this purpose; and Judas, one of the number, proving an apostate, his place was supplied by Matthias. Acts 1:15-26. NWAD APOSTLE.2
The title of apostle is applied to Christ himself, Hebrews 3:1. In the primitive ages of the church, other ministers were called apostles, Romans 16:7; as were persons sent to carry alms from one church to another, Philippians 2:19-30. This title was also given to persons who first planted the Christian faith. Thus Dionysius of Corinth is called the apostle of France; and the Jesuit Missionaries are called apostles. NWAD APOSTLE.3
Among the Jews, the title was given to officers who were sent into distant provinces, as visitors or commissioners, to see the laws observed. NWAD APOSTLE.4
Apostle, in the Greek liturgy, is a book contained the epistles of St. Paul, printed in the order in which they are to be read in churches, through the year. NWAD APOSTLE.5
1. Pertaining or relating to the apostles, as the apostolic age. NWAD APOSTOLIC.2
2. According to the doctrines of the apostles; delivered or taught by the apostles; as apostolic faith or practice. NWAD APOSTOLIC.3
Apostolic constitutions, a collection of regulations attributed to the apostles, but generally supposed to be spurious. They appeared in the 4th century; are divided into eight books, and consist of rules and precepts relating to the duties of christians, and particularly, the ceremonies and discipline of the church. NWAD APOSTOLIC.4
Apostolic Fathers, an appellation given to the christian writers of the first century. NWAD APOSTOLIC.5
1. In rhetoric, a diversion of speech; a digressive address; a changing the course of a speech, and addressing a person who is dead or absent, as if present; or a short address introduced into a discourse, directed to some person, different from the party to which the main discourse is directed; as when an advocate, in an argument to the jury, turns and addresses a few remarks to the court. NWAD APOSTROPHE.2
2. In grammar, the contraction of a word by the omission of a letter or letters, which omission is marked by a comma, as call’d for called. The comma used for this purpose may also be called an apostrophe. NWAD APOSTROPHE.3
1. To make an apostrophe, or short detached address in speaking; to address by apostrophy. NWAD APOSTROPHIZE.2
2. v.t. To contract a word by omitting a letter or letters. NWAD APOSTROPHIZE.3
3. To mark with a comma, indicating the omission of a letter. NWAD APOSTROPHIZE.4
One of a sect of ancient christians, who, in imitation of the first believers, renounced all their effects and possessions. NWAD APOTACTITE.2
1. One who practices pharmacy; one who prepares drugs for medicinal uses, and keeps them for sale. In England, apothecaries are obliged to prepare medicines according to the formulas prescribed by the college of physicians, and are liable to have their shops visited by the censors of the college, who have power to destroy medicines which are not good. NWAD APOTHECARY.2
2. In the middle ages, an apothecary was the keeper of any shop or warehouse; and an officer appointed to take charge of a magazine. NWAD APOTHECARY.3
A remarkable saying; a short, instructive remark. NWAD APOTHEGM.2
In Russia, an apothecary’s shop, or a shop for the preparation and sale of medicines. NWAD APOTHEME.2
Deification; consecration; the act of placing a prince or other distinguished person among the heathen deities. This honor was often bestowed on illustrious men in Rome, and followed by the erection of temples, and the institution of sacrifices to the new deity. NWAD APOTHEOSIS.2
1. The reduction of a dislocated bone. NWAD APOTHESIS.2
2. A place on the south side of the chancel in the primitive churches, furnished with shelves, for books, vestments, etc. NWAD APOTHESIS.3
1. In mathematics, the difference between two incommensurable quantities. NWAD APOTOME.2
2. In music, that portion of a tone major which remains after deducting from it an interval, less by a comma, than a semitone major. NWAD APOTOME.3
The difference between a greater and lesser semitone, expressed by the ratio 128; 125. The Greeks supposing the greater tone could not be divided into two equal parts, called the difference, or smaller part, apotome; the other, limma. NWAD APOTOME.4
In ancient poetry, a verse or hymn composed for averting the wrath of incensed deities. The deities invoked were called apotropeans. NWAD APOTROPY.2
A decoction, in which the medicinal substances of plants are extracted by boiling. NWAD APOZEM.2
1. To depress or discourage with fear; to impress with fear, in such a manner that the mind shrinks, or loses its firmness; as, the sight appalled the stoutest heart. NWAD APPALL.2
2. To reduce, allay or destroy; as, to appall thirst. [Unusual.] NWAD APPALL.3
1. Lands appropriated by a prince to the maintenance of his younger sons, as their patrimony; but on condition of the failure of male offspring, they were to revert to the donor or his heir. From the appanage it was customary for the sons to take their surnames. NWAD APPANAGE.2
2. Sustenance; means of nourishing. NWAD APPANAGE.3
Wealth - the appanage of wit. NWAD APPANAGE.4
1. Things provided as means to some end; as the tools of an artisan; the furniture of a house; instruments of war. In more technical language, a complete set of instruments or utensils, for performing any operation. NWAD APPARATUS.2
2. In surgery, the operation of cutting for the stone, of three kinds, the small, the great, and the high. NWAD APPARATUS.3
Apparatus is also used as the title of several books, in the form of catalogues, bibliothecas, glossaries, dictionaries, etc. NWAD APPARATUS.4
1. Clothing; vesture; garments; dress. NWAD APPAREL.2
2. External habiliments or decorations; appearance; as, religion appears in the natural apparel of simplicity. NWAD APPAREL.3
Glorious in apparel. Isaiah 63:1. NWAD APPAREL.4
3. The furniture of a ship, as sails, rigging, anchors, etc. NWAD APPAREL.5
1. To dress or clothe. NWAD APPAREL.7
They who are gorgeously appareled are in kings court. Luke 7:25. NWAD APPAREL.8
2. To adorn with dress. NWAD APPAREL.9
She did apparel her apparel. NWAD APPAREL.10
3. To dress with external ornaments; to cover with something ornamental; to cover, as with garments; as, trees appareled with flowers; or a garden with verdure. NWAD APPAREL.11
4. To furnish with external apparatus; as ships appareled for sea. NWAD APPAREL.12
1. That may be seen, or easily seen; visible to the eye; within sight or view. NWAD APPARENT.2
2. Obvious; plain; evident; indubitable; as, the wisdom of the creator is apparent in his works. NWAD APPARENT.3
3. Visible, in opposition to hid or secret; as, a man’s apparent conduct is good. NWAD APPARENT.4
4. Visible; appearing to the eye; seeming, in distinction from true or real, as the apparent motion or diameter of the sun. NWAD APPARENT.5
Heirs apparent are those whose right to an estate is indefeasible, if they survive the ancestor; in distinction from presumptive heirs, who, if the ancestor should die immediately, would inherit, but whose right is liable to be defeated by the birth of their children. NWAD APPARENT.6
1. Openly; evidently; as, the goodness of God is apparently manifest in his works of providence. NWAD APPARENTLY.2
2. Seemingly; in appearance; as, a man may be apparently friendly, yet malicious in heart. NWAD APPARENTLY.3
1. In a general sense, an appearance; visibility. [Little used.] NWAD APPARITION.2
2. The thing appearing; a visible object; a form. NWAD APPARITION.3
3. A ghost; a specter; a visible spirit. [This is now the usual sense of the word.] NWAD APPARITION.4
4. Mere appearance, opposed to reality. NWAD APPARITION.5