n.; pl. Acrimonies [ L. acrimonia, fr. acer, sharp: cf. F. acrimonie. ] 1. A quality of bodies which corrodes or destroys others; also, a harsh or biting sharpness; as, the acrimony of the juices of certain plants. [ Archaic ] Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Sharpness or severity, as of language or temper; irritating bitterness of disposition or manners. [ 1913 Webster ]

John the Baptist set himself with much acrimony and indignation to baffle this senseless arrogant conceit of theirs. South. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Acrimony, Asperity, Harshness, Tartness. These words express different degrees of angry feeling or language. Asperity and harshness arise from angry feelings, connected with a disregard for the feelings of others. Harshness usually denotes needless severity or an undue measure of severity. Acrimony is a biting sharpness produced by an imbittered spirit. Tartness denotes slight asperity and implies some degree of intellectual readiness. Tartness of reply; harshness of accusation; acrimony of invective. [ 1913 Webster ]

In his official letters he expressed, with great acrimony, his contempt for the king's character. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

It is no very cynical asperity not to confess obligations where no benefit has been received. Johnson. [ 1913 Webster ]

A just reverence of mankind prevents the growth of harshness and brutality. Shaftesbury. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. agremoyne, OF. aigremoine, L. agrimonia for argemonia, fr. Gr. &unr_;. ] (Bot.) (a) A genus of plants of the Rose family. (b) The name is also given to various other plants; as, hemp agrimony (Eupatorium cannabinum); water agrimony (Bidens). [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The Agrimonia eupatoria, or common agrimony, a perennial herb with a spike of yellow flowers, was once esteemed as a medical remedy, but is now seldom used. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. alimonia, alimonium, nourishment, sustenance, fr. alere to nourish. ] 1. Maintenance; means of living. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Law) An allowance made to a wife out of her husband's estate or income for her support, upon her divorce or legal separation from him, or during a suit for the same. Wharton. Burrill. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Anemone. Sandys. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ LL. antimonium, of unknown origin. ] (Chem.) An elementary substance, resembling a metal in its appearance and physical properties, but in its chemical relations belonging to the class of nonmetallic substances. Atomic weight, 120. Symbol, Sb. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ It is of tin-white color, brittle, laminated or crystalline, fusible, and vaporizable at a rather low temperature. It is used in some metallic alloys, as type metal and bell metal, and also for medical preparations, which are in general emetics or cathartics. By ancient writers, and some moderns, the term is applied to native gray ore of antimony, or stibnite (the stibium of the Romans, and the sti`mmi of the Greeks, a sulphide of antimony, from which most of the antimony of commerce is obtained. Cervantite, senarmontite, and valentinite are native oxides of antimony. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Ceremonies [ F. cérémonie, L. caerimonia; perh. akin to E. create and from a root signifying to do or make. ] 1. Ar act or series of acts, often of a symbolical character, prescribed by law, custom, or authority, in the conduct of important matters, as in the performance of religious duties, the transaction of affairs of state, and the celebration of notable events; as, the ceremony of crowning a sovereign; the ceremonies observed in consecrating a church; marriage and baptismal ceremonies. [ 1913 Webster ]

According to all the rites of it, and according to all the ceremonies thereof shall ye keep it [ the Passover ]. Numb. ix. 3 [ 1913 Webster ]

Bring her up the high altar, that she may
The sacred ceremonies there partake. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ The heralds ] with awful ceremony
And trumpet's sound, throughout the host proclaim
A solemn council. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Behavior regulated by strict etiquette; a formal method of performing acts of civility; forms of civility prescribed by custom or authority. [ 1913 Webster ]

Ceremony was but devised at first
To set a gloss on . . . hollow welcomes . . .
But where there is true friendship there needs none. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Al ceremonies are in themselves very silly things; but yet a man of the world should know them. Chesterfield. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A ceremonial symbols; an emblem, as a crown, scepter, garland, etc. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Disrobe the images,
If you find them decked with ceremonies.
. . . Let no images
Be hung with Cæsar's trophies. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A sign or prodigy; a portent. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Cæsar, I never stood on ceremonies,
Yet, now they fright me. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Master of ceremonies, an officer who determines the forms to be observed, or superintends their observance, on a public occasion. --
Not to stand on ceremony, not to be ceremonious; to be familiar, outspoken, or bold. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Bot.) The condition of being diplostemonous. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Want of harmony; discord; incongruity. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

A disharmony in the different impulses that constitute it [ our nature ]. Coleridge. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ Corrupted fr. agrimony. ] (Bot.) The herb agrimony. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. aegrimonia. ] Sorrow. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. Haemonia a name of Thessaly, the land of magic. ] A plant described by Milton as “of sovereign use against all enchantments.” [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Harmonies [ F. harmonie, L. harmonia, Gr. "armoni`a joint, proportion, concord, fr. "armo`s a fitting or joining. See Article. ] 1. The just adaptation of parts to each other, in any system or combination of things, or in things intended to form a connected whole; such an agreement between the different parts of a design or composition as to produce unity of effect; as, the harmony of the universe. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Concord or agreement in facts, opinions, manners, interests, etc.; good correspondence; peace and friendship; as, good citizens live in harmony. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A literary work which brings together or arranges systematically parallel passages of historians respecting the same events, and shows their agreement or consistency; as, a harmony of the Gospels. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Mus.) (a) A succession of chords according to the rules of progression and modulation. (b) The science which treats of their construction and progression. [ 1913 Webster ]

Ten thousand harps, that tuned
Angelic harmonies. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Anat.) See Harmonic suture, under Harmonic. [ 1913 Webster ]

Close harmony,
Dispersed harmony, etc. See under Close, Dispersed, etc. --
Harmony of the spheres. See Music of the spheres, under Music.

Syn. -- Harmony, Melody. Harmony results from the concord of two or more strains or sounds which differ in pitch and quality. Melody denotes the pleasing alternation and variety of musical and measured sounds, as they succeed each other in a single verse or strain. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Gr. &unr_;, fr. &unr_; guide, leader, fr. &unr_; to go before. ] Leadership; preponderant influence or authority; -- usually applied to the relation of a government or state to its neighbors or confederates. Lieber. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. homonyme. See Homonymous. ] A word having the same sound as another, but differing from it in meaning; as the noun bear and the verb bear. [ Written also homonyme. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. homonymus, Gr. &unr_;; &unr_; the same + &unr_;, for &unr_; name; akin to E. name. ] 1. Having the same name or designation; standing in the same relation; -- opposed to heteronymous. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Having the same name or designation, but different meaning or relation; hence, equivocal; ambiguous. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. 1. In an homonymous manner; so as to have the same name or relation. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Equivocally; ambiguously. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Gr. &unr_;: cf. F. homonymie. ] 1. Sameness of name or designation; identity in relations. Holland. [ 1913 Webster ]

Homonymy may be as well in place as in persons. Fuller. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Sameness of name or designation of things or persons which are different; ambiguity. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Lack of harmony.

n. (Bot.) The quality or state of being isostemonous. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. tasting like lemons.
Syn. -- sourish, tangy, tart. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ OE. matrimoine, through Old French, fr. L. matrimonium, fr. mater mother. See Mother. ] 1. The union of man and woman as husband and wife; the nuptial state; marriage; wedlock. [ 1913 Webster ]

If either of you know any impediment, why ye may not be lawfully joined together in matrimony, ye do now confess it. Book of Com. Prayer (Eng. Ed.) [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A kind of game at cards played by several persons. [ 1913 Webster ]

Matrimony vine (Bot.), a climbing thorny vine (Lycium barbarum) of the Potato family. Gray. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Marriage; wedlock. See Marriage. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Bot.) The condition of being obdiplostemonous. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ pal + alimony. (ca. 1975) ] a form of alimony paid to a former partner in a romantic relationship after a period of living together, even though the two persons involved were not married to each other. The absence of a formal marriage distinguishes it from alimony. [ PJC ]

n. [ L. parsimonia, parcimonia; cf. parcere to spare, parsus sparing: cf. F. parcimonie. ] Closeness or sparingness in the expenditure of money; -- generally in a bad sense; excessive frugality; niggardliness. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

Awful parsimony presided generally at the table. Thackeray. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Economy; frugality; illiberality; covetousness; closeness; stinginess. See Economy. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Patrimonies [ L. patrimonium, fr. pater father: cf. F. patrimoine. See Paternal. ] 1. A right or estate inherited from one's father; or, in a larger sense, from any ancestor. “'Reave the orphan of his patrimony.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Formerly, a church estate or endowment. Shipley. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ ‖ } n. [ L. peripneumonia, Gr. &unr_;: cf. F. péripneumonie. See Peri-, Pneumonia. ] (Med.) Pneumonia. [ Obsoles. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

{ ‖ } n. [ NL. See Phthisis, Pneumonia. ] (Med.) Pulmonary consumption; tuberculosis of the lungs. [ obs. ] [ 1913 Webster + PJC ]

n. [ Pleuro- + peripneumony. ] (Med.) Pleuropneumonia. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. pneumonie. ] See Pneumonia. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ LL. praestimonium, fr. L. praestare to furnish, supply: cf. F. prestimonie. See Prest, n. ] (Canon Law) A fund for the support of a priest, without the title of a benefice. The patron in the collator. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. querimonia. ] A complaint or complaining. [ Obs. ] E. Hall. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. sanctimonia, fr. sanctus holy: cf. OF. sanctimonie. See Saint. ] Holiness; devoutness; scrupulous austerity; sanctity; especially, outward or artificial saintliness; assumed or pretended holiness; hypocritical devoutness. [ 1913 Webster ]

Her pretense is a pilgrimage; . . . which holy undertaking with most austere sanctimony she accomplished. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. scammonée, L. scammonia, scammonea, Gr. skammwni`a. ] 1. (Bot.) A species of bindweed or Convolvulus (Convolvulus Scammonia). [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An inspissated sap obtained from the root of the Convolvulus Scammonia, of a blackish gray color, a nauseous smell like that of old cheese, and a somewhat acrid taste. It is used in medicine as a cathartic. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. simonie, LL. simonia, fr. Simon Magus, who wished to purchase the power of conferring the Holy Spirit. Acts viii. ] The crime of buying or selling ecclesiastical preferment; the corrupt presentation of any one to an ecclesiastical benefice for money or reward. Piers Plowman. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Bot.) Stramonium. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Gr. th^le far + harmolium. ] An instrument for producing music ([ ), at a distant point or points by means of alternating currents of electricity controlled by an operator who plays on a keyboard. The music is produced by a receiving instrument similar or analogous to the telephone, but not held to the ear. The pitch corresponds with frequency of alternation of current. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

v. t. To witness; to attest; to prove by testimony. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Testimonies [ L. testimonium, from testis a witness: cf. OF. testimoine, testemoine, testimonie. See Testify. ] 1. A solemn declaration or affirmation made for the purpose of establishing or proving some fact. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Such declaration, in judicial proceedings, may be verbal or written, but must be under oath or affirmation. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Affirmation; declaration; as, these doctrines are supported by the uniform testimony of the fathers; the belief of past facts must depend on the evidence of human testimony, or the testimony of historians. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Open attestation; profession. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ Thou ] for the testimony of truth, hast borne
Universal reproach. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Witness; evidence; proof of some fact. [ 1913 Webster ]

When ye depart thence, shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony against them. Mark vi. 11. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Jewish Antiq.) The two tables of the law. [ 1913 Webster ]

Thou shalt put into the ark the testimony which I shall give thee. Ex. xxv. 16. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. Hence, the whole divine revelation; the sacre&unr_; Scriptures. [ 1913 Webster ]

The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. Ps. xix. 7. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Proof; evidence; attestation; witness; affirmation; confirmation; averment. -- Testimony, Proof, Evidence. Proof is the most familiar, and is used more frequently (though not exclusively) of facts and things which occur in the ordinary concerns of life. Evidence is a word of more dignity, and is more generally applied to that which is moral or intellectual; as, the evidences of Christianity, etc. Testimony is what is deposed to by a witness on oath or affirmation. When used figuratively or in a wider sense, the word testimony has still a reference to some living agent as its author, as when we speak of the testimony of conscience, or of doing a thing in testimony of our affection, etc. Testimony refers rather to the thing declared, evidence to its value or effect. “To conform our language more to common use, we ought to divide arguments into demonstrations, proofs, and probabilities; ba proofs, meaning such arguments from experience as leave no room for doubt or opposition.” Hume. “The evidence of sense is the first and highest kind of evidence of which human nature is capable.” Bp. Wilkins. “The proof of everything must be by the testimony of such as the parties produce.” Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. vadimonium. ] (Law) A bond or pledge for appearance before a judge on a certain day. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

(Bot.) A kind of bur marigold (Bidens tripartita) found in wet places in Europe. [ 1913 Webster ]