{ } a. Pertaining to, or formed by, the letters of the alphabet; alphabetic; hence, rudimentary. [ 1913 Webster ]

Abecedarian psalms,
hymns, etc., compositions in which (like the 119th psalm in Hebrew) distinct portions or verses commence with successive letters of the alphabet. Hook. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A primer; the first principle or rudiment of anything. [ R. ] Fuller. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Pertaining to ablution. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. relating to or favoring abolition, especially the abolition of slavery. WordNet 1.5 ]

2. of or pertaining to abolition [ PJC ]

a. Accompanying, as a subordinate; additional; accessory; esp., uniting in, or contributing to, a crime, but not as chief actor. See Accessory. [ 1913 Webster ]

To both their deaths thou shalt be accessary. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Amongst many secondary and accessary causes that support monarchy, these are not of least reckoning. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Accessaries [ Cf. Accessory and LL. accessarius. ] (Law) One who, not being present, contributes as an assistant or instigator to the commission of an offense. [ 1913 Webster ]

Accessary before the fact (Law), one who commands or counsels an offense, not being present at its commission. --
Accessary after the fact, one who, after an offense, assists or shelters the offender, not being present at the commission of the offense. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ This word, as used in law, is spelt accessory by Blackstone and many others; but in this sense is spelt accessary by Bouvier, Burrill, Burns, Whishaw, Dane, and the Penny Cyclopedia; while in other senses it is spelt accessory. In recent text-books on criminal law the distinction is not preserved, the spelling being either accessary or accessory. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. Marked or produced by accretion. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. Usual; customary. [ Archaic ] Featley. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. acetaria salad plants. ] An acid pulp in certain fruits, as the pear. Grew. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. [ Cf. F. actionnaire. ] (Com.) A shareholder in joint-stock company. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Actuaries [ L. actuarius copyist, clerk, fr. actus, p. p. of agere to do, act. ] 1. (Law) A registrar or clerk; -- used originally in courts of civil law jurisdiction, but in Europe used for a clerk or registrar generally. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The computing official of an insurance company; one whose profession it is to calculate for insurance companies the risks and premiums for life, fire, and other insurances. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Additional. [ R. ] Herbert. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Pref. ad- + maxillary. ] (Anat.) Near to the maxilla or jawbone. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Adminicular. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Opposed; opposite; adverse; antagonistic. [ Archaic ] Bp. King. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Law) Having an opposing party; not unopposed; as, an adversary suit. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Adversaries [ OE. adversarie, direct fr. the Latin, and adversaire, fr. OF. adversier, aversier, fr. L. adversarius (a.) turned toward, (n.) an adversary. See Adverse. ] One who is turned against another or others with a design to oppose or resist them; a member of an opposing or hostile party; an opponent; an antagonist; an enemy; a foe. [ 1913 Webster ]

His ancient knot of dangerous adversaries. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Agree with thine adversary quickly. Matt. v. 25. [ 1913 Webster ]

It may be thought that to vindicate the permanency of truth is to dispute without an adversary. Beattie. [ 1913 Webster ]

The Adversary, The Satan, or the Devil. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Adversary, Enemy, Opponent, Antagonist. Enemy is the only one of these words which necessarily implies a state of personal hostility. Men may be adversaries, antagonists, or opponents to each other in certain respects, and yet have no feelings of general animosity. An adversary may be simply one who is placed for a time in a hostile position, as in a lawsuit, an argument, in chess playing, or at fence. An opponent is one who is ranged against another (perhaps passively) on the opposing side; as a political opponent, an opponent in debate. An antagonist is one who struggles against another with active effort, either in a literal fight or in verbal debate. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. & a. See Estuary. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. alarius, fr. ala wing. ] Of or pertaining to wings; also, wing-shaped. [ 1913 Webster ]

The alary system of insects. Wollaston. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. alimentarius, fr. alimentum: cf. F. alimentaire. ] Pertaining to aliment or food, or to the function of nutrition; nutritious; alimental; as, alimentary substances. [ 1913 Webster ]

Alimentary canal, the entire channel, extending from the mouth to the anus, by which aliments are conveyed through the body, and the useless parts ejected. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who holds an allodium. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Alvearies [ L. alvearium, alveare, beehive, fr. alveus a hollow vessel, beehive, from alvus belly, beehive. ] 1. A beehive, or something resembling a beehive. Barret. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Anat.) The hollow of the external ear. Quincy. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Alveolar. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. 1 a family of flowering plants including the snowdrop, narcissus, and daffodil; in some classification systems considered a subfamily of the Liliaceae.
Syn. -- family Amaryllidaceae, amaryllis family [ WordNet 1.5 ]

{ } a. (Bot.) Of, pertaining to, or resembling, an order of plants differing from the lily family chiefly in having the ovary below the petals. The narcissus and daffodil are members of this family. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ L. Amaryllis, Gr. &unr_;, &unr_;, the name of a country girl in Theocritus and Virgil. ] 1. A pastoral sweetheart. [ 1913 Webster ]

To sport with Amaryllis in the shade. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (bot.) (a) A family of plants much esteemed for their beauty, including the narcissus, jonquil, daffodil, agave, and others. (b) A genus of the same family, including the Belladonna lily. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ n., or }. [ Hind. ambārā, ambārī. ] A valuable East Indian fiber plant (Hibiscus cannabinus), or its fiber, which is used throughout India for making ropes, cordage, and a coarse canvas and sackcloth; -- called also brown Indian hemp. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

{ } a. Resembling an ampulla. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. ancillaris, fr. ancilla a female servant. ] Subservient or subordinate, like a handmaid; auxiliary. [ 1913 Webster ]

The Convocation of York seems to have been always considered as inferior, and even ancillary, to the greater province. Hallam. [ 1913 Webster ]

. (Law) An administration subordinate to, and in aid of, the primary or principal administration of an estate. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

a. [ L. anniversarius; annus year + vertere, versum, to turn: cf. F. anniversaire. ] Returning with the year, at a stated time; annual; yearly; as, an anniversary feast. [ 1913 Webster ]

Anniversary day (R. C. Ch.). See Anniversary, n., 2. --
Anniversary week, that week in the year in which the annual meetings of religious and benevolent societies are held in Boston and New York. [ Eastern U. S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Anniversaries [ Cf. F. anniversaire. ] 1. The annual return of the day on which any notable event took place, or is wont to be celebrated; as, the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (R. C. Ch.) The day on which Mass is said yearly for the soul of a deceased person; the commemoration of some sacred event, as the dedication of a church or the consecration of a pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The celebration which takes place on an anniversary day. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. annuaire. ] Annual. [ Obs. ] -- n. A yearbook. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. annularis. See Annular. ] Having the form of a ring; annular. Ray. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. the antiparticle of a baryon; a hadron with a baryon number of -1. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. Antidotal. -- n. An antidote; also, a book of antidotes. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ LL. antiphonarium. See Antiphoner. ] A book containing a collection of antiphons; the book in which the antiphons of the breviary, with their musical notes, are contained. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. antiquarius, fr. antiquus ancient. See Antique. ] Pertaining to antiquity. [ R. ] “Instructed by the antiquary times.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Antiquaries One devoted to the study of ancient times through their relics, as inscriptions, monuments, remains of ancient habitations, statues, coins, manuscripts, etc.; one who searches for and studies the relics of antiquity. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. apiarium, fr. apis bee. ] A place where bees are kept; a stand or shed for bees; a beehouse. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ ‖ } n. [ L. apocrisiarius, apocrisarius, fr. Gr. &unr_; answer, fr. &unr_; to answer; &unr_; from + &unr_; to separate. ] (Eccl.) A delegate or deputy; especially, the pope's nuncio or legate at Constantinople. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Apothecaries. [ OE. apotecarie, fr. LL. apothecarius, fr. L. apotheca storehouse, Gr. apo, fr. &unr_; to put away; &unr_; from + &unr_; to put: cf. F. apothicaire, OF. apotecaire. See Thesis. ] 1. One who prepares and sells drugs or compounds for medicinal purposes; a druggist; a pharmacist. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ In England an apothecary is one of a privileged class of practitioners, licensed to prescribe medicine -- a kind of sub-physician. The surgeon apothecary is the ordinary family medical attendant. One who sells drugs and makes up prescriptions is now commonly called in England a druggist or a pharmaceutical chemist. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A drugstore; a store where medicines are sold. [ PJC ]

Apothecaries' weight, the system of weights by which medical prescriptions were formerly compounded. The pound and ounce are the same as in Troy weight; they differ only in the manner of subdivision. The ounce is divided into 8 drams, 24 scruples, 480 grains. See Troy weight. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. arbitrarius, fr. arbiter: cf. F. arbitraire. See Arbiter. ] 1. Depending on will or discretion; not governed by any fixed rules; as, an arbitrary decision; an arbitrary punishment. [ 1913 Webster ]

It was wholly arbitrary in them to do so. Jer. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

Rank pretends to fix the value of every one, and is the most arbitrary of all things. Landor. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Exercised according to one's own will or caprice, and therefore conveying a notion of a tendency to abuse the possession of power. [ 1913 Webster ]

Arbitrary power is most easily established on the ruins of liberty abused licentiousness. Washington. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Despotic; absolute in power; bound by no law; harsh and unforbearing; tyrannical; as, an arbitrary prince or government. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

Arbitrary constant,
Arbitrary function (Math.), a quantity of function that is introduced into the solution of a problem, and to which any value or form may at will be given, so that the solution may be made to meet special requirements. --
Arbitrary quantity (Math.), one to which any value can be assigned at pleasure. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. arborarius, fr. arbor tree. ] Of or pertaining to trees; arboreal. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. armamentarium, fr. armamentum: cf. F. armamentaire. ] An armory; a magazine or arsenal. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ LL. armillarius, fr. L. armilla arm ring, bracelet, fr. armus arm: cf. F. armillaire. See Arm, n. ] Pertaining to, or resembling, a bracelet or ring; consisting of rings or circles. [ 1913 Webster ]

Armillary sphere, an ancient astronomical machine composed of an assemblage of rings, all circles of the same sphere, designed to represent the positions of the important circles of the celestial sphere. Nichol. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. arrectarius, fr. arrigere o set up. ] An upright beam. [ Obs. ] Bp. Hall. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. (Anat.) A bone in the base of the lower jaw of many birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fishes. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Skr. ārya excellent, honorable; akin to the name of the country Iran, and perh. to Erin, Ireland, and the early name of this people, at least in Asia. ] 1. One of a primitive people supposed to have lived in prehistoric times, in Central Asia, east of the Caspian Sea, and north of the Hindu Kush and Paropamisan Mountains, and to have been the stock from which sprang the Hindu, Persian, Greek, Latin, Celtic, Teutonic, Slavonic, and other races; one of that ethnological division of mankind called also Indo-European or Indo-Germanic. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The language of the original Aryans. [ Written also Arian. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Nazism) a non-Jewish caucasian of Nordic stock; -- a classification used by Nazis, having no anthropological basis. [ Written also Arian. ] [ PJC ]

a. Of or pertaining to the people called Aryans; Indo-European; Indo-Germanic; as, the Aryan stock, the Aryan languages. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To make Aryan (a language, or in language). K. Johnston. [ 1913 Webster ]