A'MA, or HA'MA, n.

AMABIL'ITY, noun [Latin amabilis, from to love.]

Loveliness; the power of pleasing, or rather the combination of agreeable qualities which win the affections.

AMAD'AVAD, noun A small curious bird of the size of the crested wren; the upper part of the body is brown, the prime feathers of the wings black.

AMADET'TO, noun a sort of pear, so called, it is said, from a person who cultivated it.

AMAD'OGADE, noun a small beautiful bird in Peru; the upper part of its body and wings are of a lively green, its breast red, and its belly white.

AM'ADOT, noun A sort of pear.

AM'ADOU, noun A variety of the boletus igniarius, found on old ash and other trees.

This is written also amadow, and called black match, and pyrotechnical spunge, on account of its inflammability.

AMA'IN, adverb

With force, strength or violence; violently; furiously; suddenly; at once.

What, when we fled amain

Let go amain in seamen's language or strike amain is to let fall or lower at once.

AMAL'GAM, noun [Gr. to soften. Its usual derivation is certainly erroneous.]

1. A mixture of mercury or quicksilver with another metal; any metallic alloy, of which mercury forms an essential constituent part.

2. A mixture or compound of different things.

AMAL'GAMATE, verb transitive

1. To mix quicksilver with another metal. Gregory uses amalgamize.

2. To mix different things, to make a compound; to unite.

AMAL'GAMATE, verb intransitive To mix or unite in an amalgam; to blend.

AMAL'GAMATED, participle passive Mixed with quicksilver; blended.

AMAL'GAMATING, participle present tense Mixing quicksilver with another metal; compounding.

AMALGAMA'TION, noun

1. The act or operation of mixing mercury with another metal.

2. The mixing or blending of different things.

AM'ALOZK, noun A large aquatic fowl of Mexico.

AMAN'DOLA, noun A green marble, having the appearance of honey comb, and containing white spots; of 100 parts 76 are mild calcarious earth, 20 shist and 2 iron. The cellular appearance proceeds from the shist.

AMANUEN'SIS, noun [Latin from manus, hand.]

A person whose employment is to write what another dictates.

AM'ARANTH,

AMARANTH'INE, adjective Belonging to amaranth; consisting of, containing, or resembling amaranth

AMARANTH'INE, a. Belonging to amaranth; consisting of, containing, or resembling amaranth.

AMARANTH'US, noun [Gr.of a neg. and to decay; so called, it is said, because, when cropped, it does not soon wither.]

Flower-gentle; a genus of plants, of many species. Of these the tricolored has long been cultivated in gardens, on account of the beauty of its variegated leaves.

AM'ARANTH, noun A color inclining to purple.

AMAR'ITUDE, noun [Latin amaritudo, from amarus, bitter; from Heb. bitter.] Bitterness. [Not much used.]

AMARYL'LIS, noun [The name of a country girl in Theocritus and Virgil.]

In botany, lily-daffodil, a genus of liliaceous plants of several species, which are cultivated in gardens for the beauty of their flowers.

AM'ASS, verb transitive [Latin massa, a heap or lump; Gr. See mass.]

1. To collect into a heap; to gather a great quantity; to accumulate; as, to amass a treasure.

2. To collect in great numbers; to add many things together; as, to amass words or phrases.

AM'ASS, noun An assemblage, heap or accumulation. [This is superseded by Mass.]

AM'ASSED, participle passive Collected in a heap, or in a great quantity or number; accumulated.

AM'ASSING, participle present tense Collecting in a heap, or in a large quantity or number.

AM'ASSMENT, noun A heap collected; a large quantity or number brought together; an accumulation.

AMA'TE, verb intransitive [See Mate.] To accompany; also to terrify, to perplex. [Not used.]

AMATEU'R, noun [Latin anator, a lover, from amo, to love.]

A person attached to a particular pursuit, study or science, as to music or painting; one who has a taste for the arts.

AMATO'RIAL,

AMATO'RIALLY, adverb In an amatorial manner; by way of love.

AMATO'RIALLY, adv. In an amatorial manner; by way of love.

AMATORIOUS, adjective Pertaining to love.

AM'ATORY, adjective [Latin amatorius, from amo, to love.]

1. Relating to love; as, amatorial verses; causing love; as, amatory potions; produced by sexual intercourse; as, amatorial progeny.

2. In anatomy, a term applied to the oblique muscles of the eye, from their use in ogling.

AMAURO'SIS, noun [Gr. obscure.]

A loss or decay of sight, without any visible defect in the eye, except an immovable pupil; called also gutta serena. Sometimes the disease is periodical, coming on suddenly, continuing for hours or days, and then disappearing. It has sometimes been cured by electricity.

AMA'ZE, verb transitive

To confound with fear, sudden surprise, or wonder; to astonish.

They shall be afraid; they shall be amazed at one another. Isaiah 13:8.

They were all amazed and glorified God. Mark 2:12. Luke 5:26.

This word implies astonishment or perplexity, arising from something extraordinary, unexpected, unaccountable, or frightful.

AMA'ZE, noun Astonishment; confusion; perplexity, arising from fear, surprise or wonder. It is chiefly used in poetry, and is nearly synonymous with amazement.

AMA'ZED, participle passive Astonished; confounded with fear, surprise or wonder.

AMA'ZEDLY, adverb With amazement; in a manner to confound. [Little used.]

AMA'ZEDNESS, noun The state of being confounded with fear, surprise or wonder; astonishment; great wonder.

AMA'ZEMENT, noun Astonishment; confusion or perplexity, from a sudden impression of fear, surprise or wonder. It is sometimes accompanied with fear or terror; sometimes merely extreme wonder or admiration at some great, sudden or unexpected event, at an unusual sight, or at the narration of extraordinary event.

AMA'ZING, participle present tense

1. Confounding with fear, surprise or wonder.

2. adjective Very wonderful; exciting astonishment, or perplexity.

AMA'ZINGLY, adverb In an astonishing degree; in a manner to excite astonishment, or to perplex, confound or terrify.

AM'AZON, noun [This is said to be formed of a neg and breast. History informs us, that the Amazons cut off their right breast, that it might not incommode them in shooting and hurling the javelin. This is doubtless a fable.]

1. The Amazons are said by historians, to have been a race of female warriors, who founded an empire on the river Thermodon, in Asia Minor, on the coast of the Euxine. They are said to have excluded men from their society; and by their warlike enterprises, to have conquered and alarmed surrounding nations. Some writers treat these accounts as fables.

2. By analogy, a warlike or masculine woman; a virago.

3. This name has been given to some American females, on the banks of the largest river in the world, who joined their husbands in attacking the Spaniards that first visited the country. This trivial occurrence gave the name amazon to that river, whose real name is Maranon.

AMAZO'NIAN, adjective

1. Pertaining to or resembling an Amazon. Applied to females, bold; of masculine manners; warlike.

2. Belonging to the river Maranon in South America, or to Amazonia, the country lying on that river.

AMB, AM. About; around; used in composition. Gr., Lat. am or amb

AMBA'GES, noun [Latin amb and ago, to drive.]

1. A circumlocution; a circuit of words to express ideas which may be expressed in fewer words.

2. A winding or turning.

AMBAS'SADOR, noun [This is the more common orthography; but good authors write also embassador; and as the orthography of embassy is established, it would be better to write embassador. See Embassador.]

AM'BE or AM'BI, noun [Gr. a brim; from amb, about.]

AM'BER, noun [In 1 Kings 10:2-10, the Arabic is rendered spices. The Arabic word is rendered by Castle, amber a marine fish, a shield made of skins, crocus and fimus.]

A hard semi-pellucid substance, tasteless and without smell, except when pounded or heated, when it emits a fragrant odor. It is found in alluvial soils, or on the sea shore, in many places; particularly on the shores of the Baltic, in Europe, and at Cape Sable, in Maryland, in the United States. The ancient opinion of its vegetable origin seems now to be established, and it is believed or known to be a fossil resin. It yields by distillation an empyreumatic oil, and succinic acid, which sublimes in small white needles. Its color usually presents some tinge of yellow. it is highly electrical, and is the basis of a varnish.

AM'BER, adjective Consisting of, or resembling amber

AM'BER, verb transitive To scent with amber

AM'BERGRIS, noun

A solid, opake, ash-colored inflammable substance, variegated like marble, remarkably light, rugged on its surface, and when heated, it has a fragrant odor. It does not effervesce with acids; it melts easily into a kind of yellow resin, and is highly soluble in spirit of wine. Various opinions have been entertained respecting its origin; but it is well ascertained, that it is indurated fecal matter, discharged by the spermaceti whale, a species of physeter. It has been found in that species of whale, but usually is found floating on the surface of the ocean, in regions frequented by whales; sometimes in masses of from 60 to 225 pounds weight. In this substance are found the beaks of the cuttle fish, on which that whale is known to feed. It is highly valued as a material in perfumery.

AM'BE or AM'BI, noun [Gr. a brim; from amb, about.]

Literally, a brim; but in surgery, an instrument for reducing dislocated shoulders, so called from the jutting of its extremity. Also the mango tree.

AM'BIDEXTER, noun [Latin ambo, both, and dexter, the right hand.]

1. A person who uses both hands with equal facility.

2. A double dealer; one equally ready to act on either side in party disputes. [This sense is used in ludicrous language.]

3. In law, a juror who takes money of both parties, for giving his verdict; an embracer.

AMBIDEXTER'ITY,

AMBIDEX'TROUS, adjective Having the faculty of using both hands with equal ease; practicing on siding with both parties.

AMBIDEX'TROUS, a. Having the faculty of using both hands with equal ease; practicing on siding with both parties.

AMBIDEX'TROUSNESS, noun The faculty of using both hands with equal facility; double dealing; the taking of money from both parties for a verdict.

AM'BIENT, adjective [Latin ambiens, from ambio, to go round, from amb, about, and eo, to go.]

Surrounding; encompassing on all sides; investing; applied to fluids or diffusible substances; as, the ambient air.

AMBIG'ENAL, adjective [Latin ambo, both, and genu, a knee.]

An ambigenal hyperbola is one of the triple hyperbolas of the second order, having one of its infinite legs falling within an angle formed by the asymptotes, and the other without.

AM'BIGU, noun An entertainment or feast, consisting of a medley of dishes.

AMBIGU'ITY, noun [Latin ambiguitas, from ambigo.]

Doubtfulness or uncertainty of signification, from a word's being susceptible of different meanings; double meaning.

Words should be used which admit of no ambiguity

AMBIG'UOUS, adjective [Latin ambiguus.]

Having two or more meanings; doubtful; being of uncertain signification; susceptible of different interpretations; hence, obscure. It is applied to words and expressions; not to a dubious state of mind, though it may be to a person using words of doubtful signification.

The ancient oracles were ambiguous as were their answers.

AMBIG'UOUSLY, adverb In an ambiguous manner; with doubtful meaning.

AMBIG'UOUSNESS, noun The quality of being ambiguous; uncertainty of meaning; ambiguity; and hence, obscurity.

AMBILEVOUS, adjective [Latin , both, left.] Left handed on both sides. [Not in use.]

AMBIL'OGY, noun [ambo, both, and speech.]

Talk or language of doubtful meaning.

AMBIL'OQUOUS, adjective [ambo, both, and laquor, to speak.]

Using ambiguous expressions.

AM'BIT, noun [Latin ambitus, a circuit, from ambio, to go about. See Ambient.]

The line that encompasses a thing; in geometry, the perimeter of a figure, or the surface of a body. The periphery or circumference of a circular body.

AMBI'TION, noun [Latin ambitio, from ambio, to go about, or to seek by making interest, of amb, about, and eo, to go. See Ambages. This word had its origin in the practice of Roman candidates for office, who went about the city to solicit votes.]

A desire of preferment, or of honor; a desire of excellence or superiority. It is used in a good sense; as, emulation may spring from a laudable ambition It denotes also an inordinate desire of power, or eminence, often accompanied with illegal means to obtain the object. It is sometimes followed by of; as, a man has an ambition of wit. Milton has used the word in the Latin sense of going about, or attempting; but this sense is hardly legitimate.

AMBI'TION, verb transitive Ambitiously to seek after. [Little used.]

AMBI'TIOUS, adjective

1. Desirous of power, honor, office, superiority or excellence; aspiring; eager for fame; followed by of before a noun; as ambitious of glory.

2. Showy; adapted to command notice or praise; as, ambitious ornaments.

3. Figuratively, eager to swell or rise higher; as, the ambitious ocean.

AMBI'TIOUSLY, adverb In an ambitious manner; with an eager desire after preferment, or superiority.

AMBI'TIOUSNESS, noun The quality of being ambitious; ambition. Being nearly synonymous with ambition, it is not often used.

AM'BLE, verb intransitive [Latin ambulo, to walk.]

1. To move with a certain peculiar pace, as a horse, first lifting his two legs on one side, and then changing to the other

2. To move easy, without hard shocks.

Him time ambles withal.

3. In a ludicrous sense, to move with submission, or by direction, or to move affectedly.

AM'BLE, noun A peculiar pace of a horse.

AM'BLER, noun A horse which ambles; a pacer.

AM'BLIGON, or AM'BLYGON, noun [Gr. obtuse, and an angle.]

AMBLIG'ONAL, adjective Containing an obtuse angle.

AM'BLIGONITE, noun [Gr. having an obtuse angle.]

A greenish colored mineral, of different pale shades, marked on the surface with reddish and yellowish brown spots. It occurs massive or crystallized in oblique foursided prisms, in granite, with topaz and tourmalin, in Saxony.

AM'BLING, participle present tense or adjective Lifting the two legs on the same side at first going off, and then changing.

AM'BLINGLY, adverb With an ambling gait.

AM'BLIGON, or AM'BLYGON, noun [Gr. obtuse, and an angle.]

An obtuse angled triangle; a triangle with one angle of more than ninety degrees.

AM'BLYOPY, noun [Gr. dull, and eye.]

Incipient amaurosis; dulness or obscurity of sight, without any apparent defect of the organs; sight so depraved that objects can be seen only in a certain light, distance, or position.

AM'BO, noun [Gr. a pulpit; Latin umbo, a boss.]

A reading desk, or pulpit.

AMBREA'DA, noun [from amber.] A kind of factitious amber, which the Europeans sell to the Africans.

AMBRO'SIA, noun ambro'zha, [Gr. a neg. and mortal, because it was supposed to confer immortality on them that fed on it.]

1. In heathen antiquity, the imaginary food of the gods. Hence,

2. Whatever is very pleasing to the taste or smell. The name has also been given to certain alexipharmic compositions.

AMBRO'SIAL, adjective ambro'zhal. Partaking of the nature or qualities of ambrosia; fragrant; delighting the taste or smell; as, ambrosial dews. Ben Jonson uses ambrosiac in a like sense, and Bailey has ambrosian, but these seem not to be warranted by usage.

AMBRO'SIAN, adjective Pertaining to St Ambrose. The ambrosian office, or ritual, is a formula of worship in the church of Milan, instituted by St. Ambrose, in the fourth century.

AM'BROSIN, noun In the middle ages, a coin struck by the dukes of Milan, on which St. Ambrose was represented on horseback, with a whip in his right hand.

AM'BRY, noun

1. An almonry; a place where alms are deposited for distribution to the poor. In ancient abbeys and priories there was an office of this name, in which the almoner lived.

2. A place in which are deposited the utensils for house keeping; also a cupboard; a place for cold victuals.

AMBS'ACE, noun [Latin ambo, both, and ace.]

A double ace, as when two dice turn up the ace.

AM'BULANT, adjective [Latin ambulans, from ambulo.]

Walking; moving from place to place.

Ambulant brokers, in Amsterdam, are exchange-brokers, or agents, who are not sworn, and whose testimony is not received in courts of justice.

AMBULA'TION, noun [Latin ambulatio.] a walking about; the act of walking.

AM'BULATOR, noun In entomology, a species of Lamia, whose thorax is armed on each side with two spines; a Cerambyx of Linne.

AM'BULATORY, adjective

1. That has the power of faculty of walking; as, an animal is ambulatory

2. Pertaining to a walk; as, an ambulatory view.

3. Moving from place to place; not stationary; as, an ambulatory court, which exercises its jurisdiction in different places.

AM'BULATORY, noun a species of ichneumon, with a yellowish scutellum and spotted thorax.

AM'BURY, OR AN'BURY, noun [Latin umbo, the navel; Gr.]

Among farriers, a tumor, wart or swelling on a horse, full of blood and soft to the touch.

AM'BUSCADE, noun [Eng. bush.]

1. Literally, a lying in a wood, concealed, for the purpose of attacking an enemy by surprise: hence, a lying in wait, and concealed in any situation, for a like purpose.

2. A private station in which troops lie concealed with a view to attack their enemy by surprise; ambush.

AM'BUSCADE, verb transitive To lie in wait for, or to attack from a concealed position.

AM'BUSCADED, participle passive Having an ambush laid against, or attacked from a private station; as, his troops were ambuscaded

AM'BUSCADING, participle present tense Lying in wait for; attacking from a secret station.

AM'BUSH, noun

1. A private or concealed station, where troops lie in wait to attack their enemy by surprise.

2. The state of lying concealed, for the purpose of attacking by surprise; a lying in wait.

3. The troops posted in a concealed place for attacking by surprise.

Lay thee an ambush for the city. Joshua 8:2.

AM'BUSH, verb transitive To lie in wait for; to surprise, by assailing unexpectedly from a concealed place.

AM'BUSH, verb intransitive To lie in wait, for the purpose of attacking by surprise.

Nor saw the snake, that ambushed for his prey.

AM'BUSHED, participle passive Lain in wait for; suddenly attacked from a concealed station.

AM'BUSHING, participle present tense Lying in wait for; attacking from a concealed station.

AM'BUSHMENT, noun An ambush; which see.

AMBUS'TION, noun [Latin ambustio, from amburo, to burn or scorch, of amb, about, and uro, to burn.]

Among physicians, a burning; a burn or scald.

AMEI'VA, noun A species of lizard, found in Brazil.

AM'EL, noun The matter with which metallic bodies are overlaid; but its use is superseded by enamel; which see.

AME'LIORATE, verb transitive [Latin melior, better.]

To make better; to improve; to meliorate.

AME'LIORATE, v.il To grow better; to meliorate.

AMELIORA'TION, noun A making or becoming better; improvement; melioration.

AMEN'. This word, with slight differences or orthography, is in all the dialects of the Assyrian stock. As a verb, it signifies to confirm, establish, verify; to trust, or give confidence; as a noun, truth, firmness, trust, confidence; as an adjective, firm, stable. In English, after the oriental manner, it is used at the beginning, but more generally at the end of declarations and prayers, in the sense of, be it firm, be it established.

And let all the people say amen Psalms 104:1.

The word is used also as a noun.

'All the promises of God are amen in Christ; ' that is, firmness, stability, constancy.

AME'NABLE, adjective

1. In old law, easy to be led; governable, as a woman by her husband. [This sense is obsolete.]

2. Liable to answer; responsible; answerable; liable to be called to account; as, every man is amenable to the laws.

We retain this idiom in the popular phrase, to bring in, to make answerable; as a man is brought in to pay the debt of another.

AM'ENAGE, verb transitive To manage. obsolete

AM'ENANCE, noun Conduct, behavior. obsolete

AMEND', verb transitive [Latin emendo, of e neg, and menda, mendum, a fault. See mend.]

1. To correct; to rectify by expunging a mistake; as, to amend a law.

2. To reform, by quitting bad habits; to make better in a moral sense; as, to amend our ways or our conduct.

3. To correct; to supply a defect; to improve or make better, by some addition of what is wanted, as well as by expunging what is wrong, as to amend a bill before a legislature. Hence it is applied to the correction of authors, by restoring passages which had been omitted, or restoring the true reading.

AMEND', verb intransitive To grow or become better, by reformation, or rectifying something wrong in manners or morals. It differs from improve, in this, that to amend implies something previously wrong; to improve, does not.

AMEND', A pecuniary punishment, or fine. The amende honorable, in France, is an infamous punishment inflicted on traitors, parricides and sacrilegious persons. The offender, being led into court with a rope about his neck, begs pardon of his God, the court, etc. These words denote also a recantation in open court, or in presence of the injured person.

AMEND'ABLE, adjective That may be amended; capable of correction; as, an amendable writ or error.

AMEND'ATORY, adjective That amends; supplying amendment; corrective.

AMEND'ED, participle passive Corrected; rectified; reformed; improved, or altered for the better.

AMEND'ER, noun The person that amends.

AMEND'ING, participle present tense Correcting; reforming; altering for the better.

AMEND'MENT, noun

1. An alteration or change for the better; correction of a fault or faults; reformation of life, by quitting vices.

2. A word, clause or paragraph, added or proposed to be added to a bill before a legislature.

3. In law, the correction of an error in a writ or process.

Shakespeare uses it for the recovery of health, but this sense is unusual.

AMENDS', noun plural

Compensation for an injury; recompense; satisfaction; equivalent; as, the happiness of a future life will more than make amends for the miseries of this.

AME'NITY, noun [Latin amanitas; amanus.] Pleasantness; agreeableness of situation; that which delights the eye; used of places and prospects.

AM'ENT, noun [Latin amentum, a thong, or strap.]

A botany, a species of inflorescence, from a common, chaffy receptacle; or consisting of many scales, ranged along a stalk or slender axis, which is the common receptacle; as in birch, oak, chestnut.

AMENTA'CEOUS, adjective Growing in an ament; resembling; a thong; as, the chestnut has an amentaceous inflorescence.

AMERCE, verb transitive amers'. [A verb formed from a for on or at, from Latin merces, reward.]

1. To inflict a penalty at mercy; to punish by a pecuniary penalty, the amount of which is not fixed by law, but left to the discretion or mercy of the court; as, the court amerced the criminal in the sum of one hundred dollars.

2. To inflict a pecuniary penalty; to punish in general. Milton uses of after amerce; 'Millions of spirits amerced of heaven; ' but this use seems to be a poetic license.

AMER'CED, participle passive Fined at the discretion of a court.

AMERCEMENT, noun amers'ment. A pecuniary penalty inflicted on an offender at the discretion of the court. It differs from a fine, in that the latter is, or was originally, a fixed and certain sum prescribed by statute for an offense; but an amercement is arbitrary. Hence the practice of affeering. [See Affeer.] But in America, the word fine is now used for a pecuniary penalty which is uncertain; and it is common in statutes, to enact that an offender shall be fined, at the discretion of the court. In England also, fines are now usually discretionary. Thus the word fine has, in a measure, superseded the use of amercement This word, in old books, is written amerciament.

AMERCEMENT royal is a penalty imposed on an officer for a misdemeanor in his office.

AMER'CER, noun One who set a fine at discretion, upon an offender.

AMER'ICA, noun [from Amerigo Vespucci, a Florentine, who pretended to have first discovered the western continent.]

One of the great continents, first discovered by Sebastian Cabot, June 11, O.S. 1498, and by Columbus, or Christoval Colon, Aug. 1, the same year. It extends from the eightieth degree of North, to the fifty-fourth degree of South Latitude; and from the thirty-fifth to the one hundred and fifty-sixth degree of Longitude West from Greenwich, being about nine thousand miles in length. Its breadth at Darien is narrowed to about forty-five miles, but at the northern extremity is nearly four thousand miles. From Darien to the North, the continent is called North america and to the South, it is called South america

AMER'ICAN, adjective Pertaining to America.

AMER'ICAN, noun A native of America; originally applied to the aboriginals, or copper-colored races, found here by the Europeans; but now applied to the descendants of Europeans born in America.

The name American must always exalt the pride of patriotism. - Washington

AMER'ICANISM, noun The love which American citizens have to their own country, or the preference of its interests. Analogically, an American idiom.

AMER'ICANIZE, verb transitive To render American; to naturalize in America.

AMER'ICIM, noun A species of lizard in South America, not more than two inches in length, and the third of an inch in diameter. Its legs are of the size of a hog's bristle.

AMETH'ODIST, noun A quack. [Not used.]

AM'ETHYST, noun [Latin amethystus; Gr. which the Greeks supposed to be formed from a neg. and to inebriate, from some supposed quality in the stone of resisting intoxication. Plin. 37.9, mentions an opinion that it takes its name from its color approaching that of wine, but not reaching it.]

A sub-species of quartz, of a violet blue color, of different degrees of intensity. It generally occurs crystallized in hexahedral prisms or pyramids; also in rolled fragments, composed of imperfect prismatic crystals. Its fracture is conchoidal or splintery. It is wrought into various articles of jewelry.

AM'ETHYST, in heraldry, signifies a purple color. It is the same, in a nobelman's escutcheon, as purpure, in a gentleman's and mercury, in that of a prince.

AMETHYST'INE, adjective Pertaining to or resembling amethyst; anciently applied to a garment of the color of amethyst, as distinguished from the Tyrian and hyacinthine purple.

AM'IA, noun A genus of fish, of the abdominal order, found in the rivers of Carolina.

A'MIABLE, adjective [Latin amabilis; from amo, to love.]

1. Lovely; worth of love; deserving of affection; applied usually to persons. But in Psalms 84:1, there is an exception, 'How amiable are the tabernacles, O Lord.'

2. Pretending or showing love.

Lay amiable siege to the honesty of this Ford's wife.

But this use is not legitimate.

A'MIABLENESS, noun The quality of deserving love; loveliness.

A'MIABLY, adverb In an amiable manner; in a manner to excite or attract love.

AM'IANTH,

AMIANTH'IFORM , adjective [Amianth and form.] Having the form or likeness of amianth

Amianthiform arseniate of copper.

AMIANTH'INITE, noun A species of amorphous mineral, a variety of actinolite; its color ash, greenish or yellowish gray, often mixed with yellow or red; its fracture confusedly foliated and fibrous.

AMIANTH'OID, noun [Amianth and Gr. form.]

A mineral which occurs in tufts, composed of long capillary filaments, flexible and very elastic; more flexible than the fibers of asbestus, but stiffer and more elastic than those of amianth. The color is olive green, or greenish white.

AMIANTH'OID, adjective Resembling amianth in form.

AMIANTH'US, noun [Gr. of a neg. and to pollute, or vitiate; so called from its incombustibility. Plin. 36. 19.]

Earth-flax, or mountain flax; a mineral substance somewhat resembling flax; usually grayish, or of a greenish white; sometimes of a yellowish or silvery white, olive or mountain green, of a pale flesh red or ocher color. It is composed of delicate filaments, very flexible and somewhat elastic, often long and resembling threads of silk. It is incombustible, and has sometimes been wrought into cloth and paper.

AM'ICABLE, adjective [Latin amicabilis, from amicus, a friend, from amo, to love.]

1. Friendly; peaceable; harmonious in social or mutual transactions; usually applied to the dispositions of men who have business with each other, or to their intercourse and transactions; as, nations or men have come to an amicable adjustment of their differences.

2. Disposed to peace and friendship; as, an amicable temper. [But rarely applied to a single person.]

AM'ICABLENESS, noun The quality of being peaceable, friendly, or disposed to peace; friendliness; a disposition to preserve peace and friendship.

AM'ICABLY, adverb In a friendly manner; with harmony or good will; without controversy; as, the dispute was amicably adjusted.

AM'ICE, noun [Latin amictus from amicior, to clothe.]

A square linen cloth that a Catholic priest ties about his neck, hanging down behind under the alb, when he officiates at mass.

AMID'

AMIDST', preposition [Latin medius. See Middle and Midst.]

1. In the midst or middle.

2. Among; mingled with; as, a shepherd amidst his flock.

3. Surrounded, encompassed, or enveloped with; as, amidst the shade; amid the waves. amid is used mostly in poetry.

AMID'-SHIPS, in marine language, the middle of a ship, with regard to her length and breadth.

AM'ILOT, noun A white fish in the Mexican lakes, more than a foot in length, and much esteemed at the table.

AMISS', adjective [a and miss. See Miss.]

1. Wrong; faulty; out of order; improper; as, it may not be amiss to ask advice. [This adjective always follows its noun.]

2. adverb In a faulty manner; contrary to propriety, truth, law or morality.

Ye ask and receive not, because ye ask amiss James 4:3.

Applied to the body, it signifies indisposed; as, I am somewhat amiss to day.

AM'ITY, noun [Latin amo, amicitia.]

Friendship, in a general sense, between individuals, societies or nations; harmony; good understanding; as, our nation is in amity with all the world; a treaty of amity and commerce.

AM'MA, noun [Heb. mother.]

1. An abbess or spiritual mother.

2. A girdle or truss used in ruptures. [Gr.]

AM'MAN, noun [See embassador.]

In some European nations, a judge who has cognizance of civil causes. In France, a notary or officer who draws deeds and other writings.

AM'MITE, or HAM'MITE, noun [Gr. sand.]

A sand-stone or free-stone, of a pale brown color, very heavy, of a lax texture, composed of small round granules, cemented by an earthy sparry matter. The grit or granules are small stalagmites, composed of crusts or coats including one another. It is the roe-stone or oolite of recent authors.

AM'MOCETE, noun An obsolete name of the ammodyte. In Cuvier, the name of a genus of fish, including the lampern.

AM'MOCHRYSE, noun am'mokris. [Gr. sand and gold.]

A yellow soft stone, found in Germany, consisting of glossy yellow particles. When rubbed or ground, it is used to strew over writing, like black sand with us.

AM'MODYTE, noun [Gr. and, and to enter.]

The sand eel, a genus of fish, of the apodal order, about a foot in length, with a compressed head, a long slender body, and scales hardly perceptible. There is but one species, the tobianus or lance. It buries itself in the sand, and is found also in the stomach of the porpess. which indicates that the latter fish roots up the sand like a hog.

This name is also given to a serpent of the size of a viper, and of a yellowish color, found in Africa; also to a large serpent of Ceylon, of a whitish ash color, and very venomous.

AMMO'NIA,

AMMO'NIAC,

AMMONI'ACAL, adjective Pertaining to ammonia or possessing its properties.

AMMO'NIAC, or AMMONIAC GUM, noun [See ammonia ]

A gun resin, from Africa and the East, brought in large masses, composed of tears, internally white and externally yellow; supposed to be an exudation from an umbelliferous plant. it has a fetid smell, and a nauseous sweet taste, followed by a bitter one. It is inflammable, soluble in water and spirit of wine, and is used in medicine, as a deobstruent, and resolvent.

AMMO'NIAC, adjective Pertaining to ammonia or possessing its properties.

AMMO'NIAN, adjective Relating to Ammonius, surnamed Saccas, of Alexandria, who flourished at the end of the second century, and was the founder of the eclectic system of Philosophy; or rather, he completed the establishment of the sect, which originated with Potamo.

AM'MONITE, noun [Cornu ammonis, from Jupiter Ammon, whose statues were represented with ram's horns.]

Serpent-stone, or cornu ammonis, a fossil shell, curved into a spiral, like a ram's horn; of various sizes, from the smallest grains to three feet in diameter. This fossil is found in stratums of limestone and clay, and in argillaceous iron ore. It is smooth or ridged; the ridges strait, crooked or undulated.

AMMO'NIUM, noun A name given to the supposed metallic basis of ammonia. If mercury, at the negative pole of a galvanic battery, is placed in contact with a solution of ammonia, and the circuit is completed, an amalgam is formed, which, at the temperature of 70 degrees or 80 degrees of Fahrenheit, is of the consistence of butter, but at the freezing point is a firm and crystallized mass. This amalgam is supposed to be formed by the metallic basis, ammonium

AMMONI'URET, noun The solution of a substance in ammonia.

AM'MONY, noun [The real origin of this word is not ascertained. Some authors suppose it to be from Ammon, a title of Jupiter, near whose temple in upper Egypt, it was generated. Others suppose it to be from Ammonia, a Cyrenaic territory; and others deduce it from sand, as it was found in sandy ground. anglicized, this forms an elegant word, ammony ]

Volatile alkali; a substance, which, in its purest form, exists in a state of gas. It is composed of hydrogen and nitrogen. Combined with the muriatic acid, it forms the muriate of ammonia, called also sal ammoniac and hydro-chlorate of ammonia. Native muriate of ammony is found in Egypt, where it is said to be generated in large inns and caravanseras, from the excrements of camels and other beasts. It occurs also massive and crystallized in the vicinity of volcanoes. ammony popularly called hartshorn, is extremely pungent and acrid, but when diluted, is an agreeable stimulant. it extinguishes flame, and is fatal to animal life. It combines with acids, and produces a class of salts, which, with few exceptions, are soluble in water.

AMMUNI'TION, noun [Latin ad and munitio, from munio, to fortify.]

Military stores, or provisions for attack or defense. In modern usage, the signification is confined to the articles which are used in the discharge of fire-arms and ordnance of all kinds; as powder, balls, bombs, various kinds of shot, etc.

Ammunition-bread, bread or other provisions to supply troops.

AM'NESTY, noun [Gr. of a neg and memory, from the root of mens, mind. See Mind.]

An act of oblivion; a general pardon of the offenses of subjects against the government, or the proclamation of such pardon.

AM'NIOS or AM'NION, noun [Gr. a vessel or membrane.]

AM'NIOS or AM'NION, noun [Gr. a vessel or membrane.]

The innermost membrane surrounding the fetus in the womb. It is thin, transparent, soft and smooth on the inside, but rough on the outside.

AMNIOT'IC, adjective Obtained from the liquor of the amnios, as the amniotic acid.

AMOBE'AN, adjective Alternately answering.

AMOBE'UM, noun [Gr. alternate; change.]

A poem in which persona are represented as speaking alternately, as the third and seventh eclogues of Virgil.

AMO'MUM noun [Gr.]

A genus of plants; all natives of warm climates, and remarkable for their pungency and aromatic properties. it includes the common ginger or zingiber, the zerumbet, zedoary, cardamom, and granum paradisi or grains of paradise. The roots of the three former, and the seeds of the two latter, are used in medicine as carminatives and stimulants, and in cookery as condiments. They are important articles of commerce.

True amomum is a round fruit, from the East, of the size of a grape, containing, under a membranous cover, a number of angular seeds of a dark brown color, in three cells. Of this fruit, ten or twelve grow in a cluster, adhering without a pedicle, to a woody stalk. It is of a pungent taste and aromatic smell, and was formerly much used in medicine, but is not a stranger to the shops.

AMONG',

AMONGST', preposition [Gr. See Mingle.]

1. In a general or primitive sense, mixed or mingled with; as tares among wheat.

2. Conjoined or associated with, or making part of the number.

Blessed art thou among women. Luke 1:1.

3. Of the number; as, there is not one among a thousand, possessing the like qualities.

AMO'NIAN, adjective [from Amon or Hamon, a title of Jupiter, or rather of the sun. Heb.]

Pertaining to Jupiter Amon, or to his temple and worship in upper Egypt.

AMORA'DO, noun [Latin amor, love, amo, to love. but the word is ill formed.] A lover. See Inamorato, which is chiefly used.

AMO'RE, noun A name given by Marcgrave, to a tribe of fish, of three species, the pixuma, guacu, and tinga. They are found about the shores of South America, and are used for food.

AMORE'ANS, noun A sect of Gemaric doctors or commentators on the Jerusalem Talmud. The amoreans were followed by the Mishnic doctors, and these by the Sebureans.

AMORET', noun [Latin amor, love.]

A lover; an amorous woman; also a love knot or a trifling love affair.

AM'ORIST, noun [Latin amor, love.] A lover, a gallant; an inamorato.

AMORO'SO, noun A lover; a man enamored.

AM'OROUS, adjective [Latin amor, love.]

1. Inclined to love; having a propensity to love, or to sexual enjoyment; loving; fond.

2. In love; enamored.

3. Pertaining or relating to love; produced by love; indicating love; as amorous delight; amorous airs.

AM'OROUSLY, adverb In an amorous manner; fondly; lovingly.

AM'OROUSNESS, noun The quality of being inclined to love, or to sexual pleasure; fondness; lovingness.

AMORPH'A, noun [Gr. a neg and form.]

False or bastard indigo. The plant is a native of Carolina, constituting a genus. It rises, with many irregular stems, to the height of twelve or fourteen feet; the leaves, beautifully pinnated, are of an admired green color, and its purple flowers grow in spikes of seven or eight inches long. Of this plant has been made a course kind of indigo.

AMORPH'OUS, adjective [Gr. a neg and form.]

Having no determinate form; of irregular shape; not of any regular figure.

AMORPH'Y, noun Irregularity of form; deviation from a determinate shape.

AMORT', adverb [Latin mors, mortuus.] In the state of the dead.

AMORTIZA'TION or AMORT'IZEMENT, noun The act or right of alienating lands or tenements to a corporation, which was considered formerly as transferring them to dead hands, as such alienations were mostly made to religious houses for superstitious uses.

AMORT'IZE, verb transitive [Latin mors, death. See Mortmain.]

In English law, to alienate in mortmain, that is, to sell to a corporation, sole or aggregate, ecclesiastical or temporal, and their successors. This was considered as selling to dead hands. This cannot be done without the kings license. [See Mortmain.]

AMORTIZA'TION or AMORT'IZEMENT, noun The act or right of alienating lands or tenements to a corporation, which was considered formerly as transferring them to dead hands, as such alienations were mostly made to religious houses for superstitious uses.

AMO'TION, noun [Latin amotio; amoveo.] Removal.

AMOUNT', verb intransitive [Latin mons, a mountain, or its root.]

1. To rise to or reach, by an accumulation of particulars, into an aggregate whole; to compose in the whole; as, the interest on the several sums amounts to fifty dollars.

2. To rise, reach, or extend to, in effect, or substance; to result in, by consequence, when all things are considered; as, the testimony of these witnesses amounts to very little.

AMOUNT', noun

1. The sum total of two or more particular sums or quantities; as, the amount of 7 and 9 is 16.

2. The effect, substance or result; the sum; as, the amount of the testimony is this.

AMOUNT'ING, participle present tense Rising to, by accumulation or addition; coming or increasing to; resulting in effect or substance.

AMOUR', noun [Latin amor, love.]

An unlawful connection in love; a love intrigue; an affair of gallantry.

AMOV'AL, noun [Latin amoveo.] Total removal. [Not used.]

AMOVE', verb transitive [Latin amoveo, a and moveo, to move.] To remove. [Not used.]

AM'PELITE, noun [Gr. a vine. The name of an earth used to kill worms on vines. Pliny says it is like bitumen.

Cannel coal, or candle coal; an inflammable substance of a black color, compact texture, and resinous luster, and sufficiently hard to be cut and polished. It burns with a bright flame, of a short duration; and gives but a moderate heat. It is used like jet for making toys. It is found in France and England, where husbandmen smear vines with it to kill vermin.

AMPHIB'IAL, AMPHIB'IA, noun [Gr. both or about and life.]

AMPHIB'IAL, AMPHIB'IA, noun [Gr. both or about and life.]

In zoology, amphibials are a class of animals, so formed as to live on land, and for a long time under water. Their heart has but one ventricle; their blood is red and cold; and they have such command of the lungs, as for a considerable time, to suspend respiration. This class of animals is divided into two orders, the Reptiles and the Serpents. To the first belong the testudo, or tortoise, the draco or dragon, the lacerta or lizard, and the rana or frog; to the second, the crotalus, boa, coluber, anguis, amphisbena, and cecilia.

The term has also been applied to such quadrupeds, as frequent the water, particularly the marine quadrupeds, such as the seal, walrus and lamantin.

AMPHIB'IOLITE, noun [Gr. amphibious and stone.]

A fragment of a petrified amphibious animal.

AMPHIBIOLOG'ICAL, adjective [Infra.] Pertaining to amphibiology.

AMPHIBIOL'OGY, noun [Gr. on both sides, life, and discourse.]

A discourse or treatise on amphibious animals, or the history and description of such animals.

AMPHIB'IOUS, adjective [See Amphibial.]

1. Having the power of living in two elements, air and water, as frogs, crocodiles, beavers, and the like.

2. Of a mixed nature; partaking of two natures; as, an amphibious breed.

AMPHIB'IOUSNESS, noun The quality of being able to live in two elements, or of partaking of two natures.

AMPHIB'IUM, noun That which lives in two elements, as in air and water.

AM'PHIBOLE, noun [Gr. equivocal.]

A name given by Hauy to a species of minerals, including the Tremolite, Hornblend, and Actinolite. Its primitive form is an oblique rhombic prism.

AMPHIBOL'IC, adjective Pertaining to amphibole; resembling amphibole, or partaking of its nature and characters.

AMPHIBOLOG'ICAL, adjective Doubtful; of doubtful meaning.

AMPHIBOLOG'ICALLY, adverb With a doubtful meaning.

AMPHIBOL'OGY, noun [Gr. speech.]

A phrase or discourse, susceptible of two interpretations; and hence, a phrase of uncertain meaning. amphibology arises from the order of the phrase, rather than from the ambiguous meaning of a word which is called equivocation. We have an example in the answer of the oracle to Pyrrhus. 'Aio te Romanos vincere posse.' Here te and Romanos, may either of them precede or follow vincere posse, and the sense may be either, you may conquer the Romans, or the Romans may conquer you. The English language seldom admits of amphibology

AMPHIB'OLOUS, adjective [Gr. to strike.]

Tossed from one to another; striking each way, with mutual blows. [Little used.]

AMPHIB'OLY, noun [Gr. both ways and to strike.]

Ambiguity of meaning. [Rarely used.]

AM'PHIBRACH, noun [Gr. short.]

In poetry, a foot of three syllables, the middle one long, the first and last short; as habere, in Latin. In English verse, it is used as the last foot, when a syllable is added to the usual number forming a double rhyme; as,

The piece, you think, is incorrect, why take it?

AM'PHICOME, noun [Gr. hair.]

A kind of figured stone, of a round shape, but rugged and beset with eminences; called Erotylos, on account of its supposed power of exciting love. Anciently, it was used in divination; but it is little known to the moderns.

AMPHICTYON'IC, adjective Pertaining to the august council of Amphictyons.

AMPHIC'TYONS, noun In Grecian history, an assembly or council of deputies from the different states of Greece, supposed to be so called from Amphictyon, the son of Deucalion, but this opinion is probably a fable. Ten or twelve states were represented in this assembly, which sat at Thermophlae, but ordinarily at Delphi. Each city sent two deputies, one called Hieromnemon and the other Pylagoras. The former inspected the sacrifices and ceremonies of religion; the latter, had the charge of deciding causes and differences between private persons. The former was elected by lot; the latter by a plurality of voices. They had an equal right to deliberate and vote in all matters relating to the common interests of Greece.

AM'PHIGENE, noun [Gr.]

In mineralogy, another name of the leucite or Vesuvian.

AMPHIHEXAHE'DRAL, adjective [Gr. and hexahedral.]

In crystallography, when the faces of the crystal, counted in two different directions, give two hexahedral outlines, or are found to be six in number.

AMPHIM'ACER, noun [Gr. long on both sides.]

In ancient poetry, a foot of three syllables, the middle one short and the others long, as in castitas.

AMPHIS'BEN,

AMPHISBE'NA, noun [Gr. to go; indicating that the animal moves with either end foremost.]

A genus of serpents, with the head small, smooth and blunt; the nostrils small, the eyes minute and blackish, and the mouth furnished with small teeth. The body is cylindrical, destitute of scales, and divided into numerous annular segments; the tail obtuse, and scarcely to be distinguished from the head, whence the belief that it moved equally well with either end foremost. There are two species; the fuliginosa, black with white spots, found in Africa and America; and the alba, or white species, found in both the Indies and generally in ant-hillocks. They feed on ants and earth-worms, and were formerly deemed poisonous; but this opinion is exploded.

The aquatic amphisben Gordius aquaticus, Linne, is an animal resembling a horse hair, found in water, and moving with either end foremost. The vulgar opinion that this is an animated horse-hair is found to be an error. This hair worm is generated in the common black beetle, in which the parent worm lays its eggs; and is sometimes found in the earth and on the leaves of trees.

AMPHISBE'NA, n. [Gr. to go; indicating that the animal moves with either end foremost.]

AMPHIS'CIANS, noun [Gr. on both sides and shadow.]

In geography, the inhabitants of the tropics, whose shadows, in one part of the year, are cast to the north, and in the other, to the south, according as the sun is in the southern or northern signs.

AMPHIS'CIL,

AM'PHITANE, noun A name given by ancient naturalists to a fossil, called by Dr. Hill pyricubium. Pliny describes it as of a square figure and a gold color.

AMPHITHE'ATER, noun [Gr. about and to see or look.]

1. An edifice in an oval or circular form, having its area encompassed with rows of seats, rising higher as they recede from the area, on which people used to sit to view the combats of gladiators and of wild beasts, and other sports. The ancient theater was a semicircle, but exceeding it by a fourth part of its diameter; the amphitheater was a double theater, and its longest diameter was to its shortest as 1 1/2 to 1. It was at first of wood, but in the reign of Augustus one was erected of stone. The area or cavea being covered with sand was called arena.

2. In gardening, a disposition of shrubs and trees in the form of an amphitheater on a slope, or forming a slope, by placing the lowest in front. An amphitheater may also be formed of turf only.

AMPHITHE'ATRAL, adjective Resembling an amphitheater.

AMPHITHEAT'RICAL, adjective Pertaining to or exhibited in an amphitheater.

AM'PHITRITE, noun [Gr. a goddess of the sea.]

A genus of marine animals, of the Linnean order.

AM'PHOR, or AM'PHORA, noun [Latin amphora; Gr.]

AM'PHOR, or AM'PHORA, noun [Latin amphora; Gr.]

Among the Greeks and Romans, a liquid measure. The AMPHORA of the Romans contained about forty-eight sextaries, equal to seven gallons and a pint, English wine measure. The Grecian or Attic amphor contained about a third more. This was also, among the Romans, a dry measure of about three bushels. Among the Venetians, it is a liquid measure of sixteen quarts.

This name was formerly used in England; but the capacity of the Sax. ambra is not certainly known.

AM'PLE, adjective [Latin amplus.]

1. Large; wide; spacious; extended; as ample room. This word carries with it the sense of room or space fully sufficient for the use intended.

2. Great in bulk, or size; as an ample tear.

3. Liberal; unrestrained; without parsimony; fully sufficient; as, ample provision for the table; ample justice.

4. Liberal; magnificent; as ample promises.

5. Diffusive; not brief or contracted; as an ample narrative.

AM'PLENESS, noun Largeness; spaciousness; sufficiency; abundance.

AMPLEX'ICAUL, adjective [Latin amplexor, to embrace, of amb about, and plico, plexus, to fold, and caulis a stem.]

In botany, surrounding or embracing the stem, as the base of a leaf.

AM'PLIATE, verb transitive [Latin amplio. See ample.]

To enlarge; to make greater; to extend. [Little used.]

AMPLIA'TION, noun

1. Enlargement; amplification; diffuseness. [Little used.]

2. In Roman antiquity, a deferring to pass sentence; a postponement of a decision, to obtain further evidence.

AMPLIFICA'TION, noun [Latin amplificatio.]

1. Enlargement; extension.

2. In rhetoric, diffusive description or discussion; exaggerated representation; copious argument, intended to present the subject in every view or in the strongest light; diffuse narrative, or a dilating upon all the particulars of a subject; a description given in more words than are necessary, or an illustration by various examples and proofs.

AM'PLIFIED, participle passive Enlarged; extended; diffusively treated.

AM'PLIFIER, noun One who amplifies or enlarges; one who treats a subject diffusively, to exhibit it in the strongest light.

AM'PLIFY, verb transitive [Latin amplifico; of amplus and facio, to make large.]

1. To enlarge; to augment; to increase or extend, in a general sense; applied to material or immaterial things.

2. In rhetoric, to enlarge in discussion or by representation; to treat copiously, so as to present the subject in every view and in the strongest lights.

3. To enlarge by addition; to improve or extend; as, to amplify the sense of an author by a paraphrase.

AM'PLIFY, verb intransitive

1. To speak largely or copiously; to be diffuse in argument or description; to dilate upon; often followed by on; as, to amplify on the several topics of discourse.

2. To exaggerate; to enlarge by representation or description; as,

Homer amplifies - not invents.

AM'PLIFYING, participle present tense Enlarging; exaggerating; diffusively treating.

AM'PLITUDE, noun [Latin amplitudo, from amplus, large.]

1. Largeness; extent, applied to bodies; as, the amplitude of the earth.

2. Largeness; extent of capacity or intellectual powers; as, amplitude of mind.

3. Extent of means or power; abundance; sufficiency.

Amplitude, in astronomy, is an arch of the horizon intercepted between the east and west point, and the center of the sun or star at its rising or setting. At the rising of a star, the amplitude is eastern or ortive; at the setting, it is western, occiduous, or occasive. It is also northern or southern, when north or south of the equator.

Amplitude of the range, in projectiles, is the horizontal line subtending the path of a body thrown, or the line which measures the distance it has moved.

Magnetical amplitude is the arch of the horizon between the sun or a star, at rising or setting, and the east or west point of the horizon, by the compass. The difference between this and the true amplitude is the variation of the compass.

AM'PLY, adverb Largely; liberally; fully; sufficiently; copiously; in a diffusive manner.

AM'PUTATE, verb transitive [Latin amputo, of amb, about, and puto, to prune.]

1. To prune branches of trees or vines; to cut off.

2. To cut off a limb or other part of an animal body; a term of surgery.

AM'PUTATED, participle passive Cut off; separated from the body.

AM'PUTATING, participle present tense Cutting off a limb or part of the body.

AMPUTA'TION, noun [Latin amputatio.]

The act of operation of cutting off a limb or some part of the body.

AM'ULET, noun [Latin amuletum; amolior, amolitus to remove.]

Something worn as a remedy or preservative against evils or mischief, such as diseases and witchcraft. Amulets, in days of ignorance, were common. They consisted of certain stones, metals or plants; sometimes of words, characters or sentences, arranged in a particular order. They were appended to the neck or body. Among some nations, they are still in use.

AMU'SE, verb transitive s as z. [Gr. and Latin musso.]

1. To entertain the mind agreeably; to occupy or detain attention with agreeable objects, whether by singing, conversation, or a show of curiosities. Dr.Johnson remarks, that amuse implies something less lively than divert, and less important than please. Hence it is often said, we are amused with trifles.

2. To detain; to engage the attention by hope or expectation; as, to amuse one by flattering promises.

AMU'SED, participle passive s as z. Agreeably entertained; having the mind engaged by something pleasing.

AMU'SEMENT, noun s as z. That which amuses, detains or engages the mind; entertainment of the mind; pastime; a pleasurable occupation of the senses, or that which furnishes it, as dancing, sports or music.

AMU'SER, noun s as z. One who amuses, or affords an agreeable entertainment to the mind.

AMU'SING, participle present tense or adjective s as z. Entertaining; giving moderate pleasure to the mind, so as to engage it; pleasing.

AMU'SINGLY, adverb s as z. In an amusing manner.

AMU'SIVE, adjective That has the power to amuse or entertain the mind.

AMYG'DALATE, adjective [Latin amygdalus, an almond.] Made of almonds.

AMYG'DALATE, noun An emulsion made of almonds; milk of almonds.

AMYG'DALINE, adjective Pertaining to or resembling the almond.

AMYG'DALITE, noun A plant; a species of spurge, with leaves resembling those of the almond.

AMYG'DALOID, noun [Gr. an almond, and form; ]

Toad-stone; a compound rock, consisting of a basis of basalt, greenstone or some other variety of trap, imbedding nodules of various minerals, particularly calcarious spar, quartz, agate, zeolite, chlorite, etc. When the imbedded minerals are detached, it is porous, like lava.

AMYG'DALOIDAL, adjective Pertaining to amygdaloid.

AMYLA'CEOUS, adjective [Latin amylum, starch, of a priv. and a mill, being formerly made without grinding.]

Pertaining to starch, or the farinaceous part of grain; resembling starch.

AM'YLINE, noun [Latin amylum; Gr. unground, a mill.]

A farinaceous substance between gum and starch.

AM'YRALDISM, noun In church history, the doctrine of universal grace, as explained by Amyraldus, or Amyrault, of France, in the seventeenth century. He taught that God desires the happiness of all men, and that none are excluded by a divine decree, but that none can obtain salvation without faith in Christ; that God refuses to none the power of believing, though he does not grant to all his assistance to improve this power.

AMYZ'TLI, noun A Mexican name of the sealion, an amphibious quadruped, inhabiting the shores and rivers of America, on the Pacific ocean. Its body is three feet in length, and its tail, two feet. It has a long snout, short legs and crooked nails. Its skin is valued for the length and softness of its hair.