n. The faculty of perceiving; a percipient. [ Obs. ] Dr. H. More. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. animadversio, fr. animadvertere: cf. F. animadversion. See Animadvert. ] 1. The act or power of perceiving or taking notice; direct or simple perception. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

The soul is the sole percipient which hath animadversion and sense, properly so called. Glanvill. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Monition; warning. [ Obs. ] Clarendon. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Remarks by way of criticism and usually of censure; adverse criticism; reproof; blame. [ 1913 Webster ]

He dismissed their commissioners with severe and sharp animadversions. Clarendon. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Judicial cognizance of an offense; chastisement; punishment. [ Archaic ] “Divine animadversions.” Wesley. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Stricture; criticism; censure; reproof; blame; comment. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Having the power of perceiving; percipient. [ Archaic ] Glanvill. [ 1913 Webster ]

I do not mean there is a certain number of ideas glaring and shining to the animadversive faculty. Coleridge. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Animadverted; p. pr. & vb. n. Animadverting. ] [ L. animadvertere; animus mind + advertere to turn to; ad to + vertere to turn. ] 1. To take notice; to observe; -- commonly followed by that. Dr. H. More. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To consider or remark by way of criticism or censure; to express censure; -- with on or upon. [ 1913 Webster ]

I should not animadvert on him . . . if he had not used extreme severity in his judgment of the incomparable Shakespeare. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To take cognizance judicially; to inflict punishment. [ Archaic ] Grew. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- To remark; comment; criticise; censure. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who animadverts; a censurer; also [ Obs. ], a chastiser. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. animal. ] 1. Of or relating to animals; as, animal functions. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Pertaining to the merely sentient part of a creature, as distinguished from the intellectual, rational, or spiritual part; as, the animal passions or appetites. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Consisting of the flesh of animals; as, animal food. [ 1913 Webster ]

Animal magnetism. See Magnetism and Mesmerism. --
Animal electricity, the electricity developed in some animals, as the electric eel, torpedo, etc. --
Animal flower (Zool.), a name given to certain marine animals resembling a flower, as any species of actinia or sea anemone, and other Anthozoa, hydroids, starfishes, etc. --
Animal heat (Physiol.), the heat generated in the body of a living animal, by means of which the animal is kept at nearly a uniform temperature. --
Animal spirits. See under Spirit. --
Animal kingdom, the whole class of beings endowed with animal life. It embraces several subkingdoms, and under these there are Classes, Orders, Families, Genera, Species, and sometimes intermediate groupings, all in regular subordination, but variously arranged by different writers. The following are the grand divisions, or subkingdoms, and the principal classes under them, generally recognized at the present time: --
Vertebrata, including Mammalia or Mammals, Aves or Birds, Reptilia, Amphibia, Pisces or Fishes, Marsipobranchiata (Craniota); and Leptocardia (Acrania). Tunicata, including the Thaliacea, and Ascidioidea or Ascidians. Articulata or Annulosa, including Insecta, Myriapoda, Malacapoda, Arachnida, Pycnogonida, Merostomata, Crustacea (Arthropoda); and Annelida, Gehyrea (Anarthropoda).
Helminthes or Vermes, including Rotifera, Chætognatha, Nematoidea, Acanthocephala, Nemertina, Turbellaria, Trematoda, Cestoidea, Mesozea. Molluscoidea, including Brachiopoda and Bryozoa. Mollusca, including Cephalopoda, Gastropoda, Pteropoda, Scaphopoda, Lamellibranchiata or Acephala. Echinodermata, including Holothurioidea, Echinoidea, Asterioidea, Ophiuroidea, and Crinoidea. Cœlenterata, including Anthozoa or Polyps, Ctenophora, and Hydrozoa or Acalephs. Spongiozoa or Porifera, including the sponges.
Protozoa, including Infusoria and Rhizopoda. For definitions, see these names in the Vocabulary. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L., fr. anima breath, soul: cf. F. animal. See Animate. ] 1. An organized living being endowed with sensation and the power of voluntary motion, and also characterized by taking its food into an internal cavity or stomach for digestion; by giving carbonic acid to the air and taking oxygen in the process of respiration; and by increasing in motive power or active aggressive force with progress to maturity. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. One of the lower animals; a brute or beast, as distinguished from man; as, men and animals. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ As if fr. a L. animalculum, dim. of animal. ] 1. A small animal, as a fly, spider, etc. [ Obs. ] Ray. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Zool.) An animal, invisible, or nearly so, to the naked eye. See Infusoria. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Many of the so-called animalcules have been shown to be plants, having locomotive powers something like those of animals. Among these are Volvox, the Desmidiacæ, and the siliceous Diatomaceæ. [ 1913 Webster ]

Spermatic animalcules. See Spermatozoa. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } a. Of, pertaining to, or resembling, animalcules. “Animalcular life.” Tyndall. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. animalculisme. ] 1. (Biol.) The theory which seeks to explain certain physiological and pathological phenomena by means of animalcules. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Biol.) The theory that the spermatozoön and not the ovum contains the whole of the embryo; spermatism; -- opposed to ovism. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]