‖n. [ From Adanson, a French botanist. ] (Bot.) A genus of great trees related to the Bombax. There are two species, Adansonia digitata, the baobab or monkey-bread of Africa and India, and Adansonia Gregorii, the sour gourd or cream-of-tartar tree of Australia. Both have a trunk of moderate height, but of enormous diameter, and a wide-spreading head. The fruit is oblong, and filled with pleasantly acid pulp. The wood is very soft, and the bark is used by the natives for making ropes and cloth. D. C. Eaton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. 1 a genus of herbs and subshrubs with milky juice and showy bluish flowers; native from Europe to Asia Minor to Japan and North America.
Syn. -- genus Amsonia. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. 1. 1 a criminal who illegaly sets fire to property.
Syn. -- incendiary, firebug. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

☞ The definition of this crime is varied by statues in different countries and states. The English law of arson has been considerably modified in the United States; in some of the States it has been materially enlarged, while in others, various degrees of arson have been established, with corresponding punishment. Burrill. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. Ausonia, poetic name for Italy. ] Italian. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Named after J. W. Dawson of Montreal. ] (Min.) A hydrous carbonate of alumina and soda, occuring in white, bladed crustals. [ 1913 Webster ]

prop. n. A genus of tree ferns of temperate Australasia having bipinnatifid or tripinnatifid fronds and usually marginal sori; in some classification systems it is placed in the family Cyatheaceae.
Syn. -- genus Dicksonia. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

prop. n. 1. A family of plants comprising the tree ferns; it includes the genera Dicksonia; Cibotium; Culcita; and Thyrsopteris.
Syn. -- family Dicksoniaceae. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ Named from Gr. &unr_; inferior, because not so hard as some minerals it resembles, e. g., hyacinth. ] (Min.) Cinnamon stone, a variety of garnet. See Garnet. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Min.) A mineral of a brownish black color, essentially a tantalo-niobate of yttrium, erbium, and cerium; -- so called after Robert Ferguson. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Pertaining to, or resembling, the institutions or the practices of freemasons; as, a freemasonic signal. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A genus of small evergreen subshrubs of North America.
Syn. -- genus Hudsonia. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. Of or pertaining to Hudson's Bay or to the Hudson River; as, the Hudsonian curlew. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A follower of John Hutchinson of Yorkshire, England, who believed that the Hebrew Scriptures contained a complete system of natural science and of theology. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Pref. hyper- + sonic. ] (Aeronautics) Pertaining to or moving at a speed greatly in excess of the speed of sound, usually meaning greater than mach 5. All speeds in excess of the speed of sound are supersonic, but to be hypersonic requires even higher speed. [ PJC ]

{ } n. The act of impersonating; personification; investment with personality; representation in a personal form. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Iso- + nicotine. ] (Chem.) A crystalline, nitrogenous base, C10H14N2, isomeric with nicotine. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Chem.) (a) Pertaining to, or derived from, isonicotine. (b) Pertaining to, or designating, an acid isomeric with nicotinic acid. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ Iso- + nitroso-. ] (Chem.) A combining form (also used adjectively), signifying: Pertaining to, or designating, the characteristic, nitrogenous radical, NOH, called the isonitroso group. [ 1913 Webster ]

prop. n. A genus of xerophytic ferns of South America.
Syn. -- genus Jamesonia. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ From Prof. Jameson, of Edinburgh. ] (Min.) A steel-gray mineral, of metallic luster, commonly fibrous massive. It is a sulphide of antimony and lead, with a little iron. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ NL. Named after Thomas Jefferson. ] (Bot.) An American herb with a pretty, white, solitary blossom, and deeply two-cleft leaves (Jeffersonia diphylla); twinleaf. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Pertaining to, or characteristic of, Thomas Jefferson (third President of the United States) or his political doctrines, which were those of the Republicanism of his time, as opposed to those of the Federalists. -- n. An adherent of Jefferson or his doctrines. -- Jef`fer*so"ni*an*ism n. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

. The absence of pomp or display which Jefferson aimed at in his administration as President (1801-1809), eschewing display or ceremony tending to distinguish the President from the people, as in going to the capital on horseback and with no escort, the abolition of court etiquette and the weekly levee, refusal to recognize titles of honor, etc. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. [ Named after Thomas Jefferson. ] (Min.) A variety of pyroxene of olive-green color passing into brown. It contains zinc. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Pertaining to or resembling Dr. Johnson or his style; pompous; inflated. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A manner of acting or of writing peculiar to, or characteristic of, Dr. Johnson. [ Written also Johnsonism. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Bot.) An Asiatic and North African shrub (Lawsonia inermis), with smooth oval leaves, and fragrant white flowers. Henna is prepared from the leaves and twigs. In England the shrub is called Egyptian privet, and in the West Indies, Jamaica mignonette. [ 1913 Webster ]

prop. a. Of or pertaining to Freemasons or to their craft or mysteries. [ 1913 Webster ]

prop. n. [ trademark. ] A type of fiberboard. [ trademark ] [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. Of or pertaining to a meson. [ PJC ]

prop. n. A small genus of spiny shrubs or small trees.
Syn. -- genus Parkinsonia. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. A degenerative nervous disorder occurring mostly in persons older than 60 years, characterized in advanced stages by rhythmic muscular tremors, especially in the hands, and by rigidity of movement, a drooping posture, slow speech, and a masklike facial expression; the term designates a set of symptoms, and the underlying disease causing these symptoms is most commonly Parkinson's disease. Parkinsonism results from a deficiency in the neurotransmitter dopamine caused by degeneration of the cells producing that agent. It can be mitigated by chemotherapy with agents such as levodopa (3-hydroxy-L-tyrosine).
Syn. -- paralysis agitans, Parkinson's disease, Parkinson's syndrome, Parkinson's, shaking palsy. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

A Mayo Clinic study finds parkinsonism, a group of ailments that includes Parkinson's disease, is three times more common than previously thought and men are more likely to develop it than women.
The study, published Tuesday in the journal Neurology, found the lifetime risk of developing parkinsonism is 7.5 percent, three times higher than previously thought. UPI (Jan. 2, 1999) [ PJC ]

{ } a. Of or pertaining to a parson; clerical. [ 1913 Webster ]

Vainglory glowed in his parsonic heart. Colman. [ 1913 Webster ]

-- Par*son"ic*al*ly, adv. [1913 Webster]

a. Appropriate to, or like, a parson; -- used in disparagement. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. personnification. ] 1. The act of personifying; impersonation; embodiment. C. Knight. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Rhet.) A figure of speech in which an inanimate object or abstract idea is represented as animated, or endowed with personality; prosopopœia; as, the floods clap their hands. “Confusion heards his voice.” Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who personifies. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Personified p. pr. & vb. n. Personifying ] [ Person + -fy: cf. F. personnifier. ] 1. To regard, treat, or represent as a person; to represent as a rational being. [ 1913 Webster ]

The poets take the liberty of personifying inanimate things. Chesterfield. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To be the embodiment or personification of; to impersonate; as, he personifies the law. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To personify. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Milton has personized them. J. Richardson. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The act or process of adducing a reason or reasons; manner of presenting one's reasons. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. That which is offered in argument; proofs or reasons when arranged and developed; course of argument. [ 1913 Webster ]

His reasoning was sufficiently profound. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Argumentation; argument. -- Reasoning, Argumentation. Few words are more interchanged than these; and yet, technically, there is a difference between them. Reasoning is the broader term, including both deduction and induction. Argumentation denotes simply the former, and descends from the whole to some included part; while reasoning embraces also the latter, and ascends from the parts to a whole. See Induction. Reasoning is occupied with ideas and their relations; argumentation has to do with the forms of logic. A thesis is set down: you attack, I defend it; you insist, I reply; you deny, I prove; you distinguish, I destroy your distinctions; my replies balance or overturn your objections. Such is argumentation. It supposes that there are two sides, and that both agree to the same rules. Reasoning, on the other hand, is often a natural process, by which we form, from the general analogy of nature, or special presumptions in the case, conclusions which have greater or less degrees of force, and which may be strengthened or weakened by subsequent experience. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A rationalist. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Such persons are now commonly called “reasonists” and “rationalists, ” to distinguish them from true reasoners and rational inquirers. Waterland. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The act or process by which anything is seasoned. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. That which is added to any species of food, to give it a higher relish, as salt, spices, etc.; a condiment. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Hence, something added to enhance enjoyment or relieve dullness; as, wit is the seasoning of conversation. [ 1913 Webster ]

Political speculations are of so dry and austere a nature, that they will not go down with the public without frequent seasonings. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

Seasoning tub (Bakery), a trough in which dough is set to rise. Knight. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of or pertaining to the Englishman J. L. M. Smithson, or to the national institution of learning which he endowed at Washington, D. C.; as, the Smithsonian Institution; Smithsonian Reports. -- n. The Smithsonian Institution. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ See Smithsonian. ] (Min.) Native zinc carbonate. It generally occurs in stalactitic, reniform, or botryoidal shapes, of a white to gray, green, or brown color. See Note under Calamine. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ NL. See Soniferous. ] A kind of ear trumpet for the deaf, or the partially deaf. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. sonus sound + -ferous. ] Sounding; producing sound; conveying sound. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. sonus sound + -ficare (in comp.) to make. See -fy. ] The act of producing sound, as the stridulation of insects. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Moving at a speed greater than the speed of sound in air; -- this speed varies with altitude, since the speed of sound varies with altitude, as well as with temperature and humidity, being approximately 1129 feet per second at sea level and 984 feet per second at 16 miles altitude. [ PJC ]

2. Capable of moving at speeds higher than the speed of sound; -- of aircraft. [ PJC ]

a. Of or pertaining to Alfred (Lord) Tennyson, the English poet (1809-92); resembling, or having some of the characteristics of, his poetry, as simplicity, pictorial quality, sensuousness, etc. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

a. (Med.) Of or pertaining to Thomsonianism. -- n. A believer in Thomsonianism; one who practices Thomsonianism. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Med.) An empirical system which assumes that the human body is composed of four elements, earth, air, fire, and water, and that vegetable medicines alone should be used; -- from the founder, Dr. Samuel Thomson, of Massachusetts. [ 1913 Webster ]