OPAC'ITY, noun [Latin opacitas.]

1. Opakeness; the quality of a body which renders it impervious to the rays of light; want of transparency. opacity may exist in bodies of any color.

2. Darkness; obscurity.

OPA'COUS, adjective [Latin opacus.]

1. Not pervious to the rays of light; not transparent.

2. Dark; obscure. [See Opake.]

OPA'COUSNESS, noun Imperviousness to light.

O'PAH, noun A fish of a large kind with a smooth skin found on the coast of Guinea.

OPA'KE, adjective [Latin opacus.]

1. Impervious to the rays of light; not transparent. [This is the word now generally used.] Chalk is an opake substance.

2.Dark; obscure.

OPA'KENESS, noun The quality of being impervious to light; want of transparency; opacity.

O'PAL, noun [Latin opalus or opalum.] A stone of the silicious genus, and of several varieties. It is one of the most beautiful of this genus, by reason of its changeableness of color by reflection and refraction. Kirwan distributes opals into four families, opal semi-opal, pitch stone [pechstein, ] and ligniform. Jameson divides opal into seven kinds.

Opal is a subspecies of indivisible quartz.

OPALES'CENCE, noun A colored shining luster reflected from a single spot in a mineral. It is sometimes simple and sometimes stellar.

OPALES'CENT, adjective Resembling opal; reflecting a colored luster from a single spot.

O'PALINE, adjective Pertaining to or like opal.

O'PALIZE, verb transitive To make to resemble opal; as opalized wood.

OPAQUE. [See Opake.]

OPAQUENESS. [See Opakeness.]

OPE, adjective Open. obsolete

OPE, verb transitive To open; used only in poetry, and probably a contracted word.

OPEN, a o'pn.

1. Unclosed; not shut; as, the gate is open; an open door or window; an open book; open eyes.

2. Spread; expanded. He received his son with open arms.

3. Unsealed; as an open letter.

4. Not shut or fast; as an open hand.

5. Not covered; as the open air; an open vessel.

6. Not covered with trees; clear; as an open country or field.

7. Not stopped; as an open bottle.

8. Not fenced or obstructed; as an open road.

9. Not frosty; warmer than usual; not freezing severely; as an open winter.

An open and warm winter portendeth a hot and dry summer.

Johnson interprets open in this passage, by not cloudy, not gloomy. I think the definition wrong. In America, an open winter is one in which the earth is not bound with frost and covered with snow.

10. Public; before a court and its suitors. His testimony was given in open court.

11. Admitting all persons without restraint; free to all comers. He keeps open house at the election.

12. Clear of ice; as, the river or the harbor is open

13. Plain; apparent; evident; public; not secret or concealed; as an open declaration; open avowal; open shame; open defiance. The nations contend to open war or in open arms.

14. Not wearing disguise; frank; sincere; unreserved; candid; artless.

He was held a man open and of good faith.

His generous, open undesigning heart.

15. Not clouded; not contracted or frowning; having an air of frankness and sincerity; as an open look.

With aspect open shall erect his head.

16. Not hidden; exposed to view.

We are to exercise our thoughts and lay open the treasures of divine truth.

17. Ready to hear or receive what is offered.

His ears are open to their cry. Psalms 34:15.

18. Free to be employed for redress; not restrained or denied; not precluding any person.

The law is open Acts 19:38.

19. Exposed; not protected; without defense. The country is open to the invaders.

- Hath left me open to all injuries.

20. Attentive; employed in inspection.

Thine eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of men - Jeremiah 32:11.

21. Clear; unobstructed; as an open view.

22. Unsettled; not balanced or closed; as an open account.

OPEN accounts between merchants.

23. Not closed; free to be debated; as a question open for discussion.

24. In music, an open note is that which a string is tuned to produce.

OPEN, verb transitive o'pn.

1. To unclose; to unbar; to unlock; to remove any fastening or cover and set open; as, to open a door or gate; to open a desk.

2. To break the seal of a letter and unfold it.

3. To separate parts that are close; as, to open the lips; to open the mouth or eyes or eyelids; to open a book.

4. To remove a covering from; as, to open a pit.

5. To cut through; to perforate; to lance; as, to open the skin; to open an abscess.

6. To break; to divide; to split or rend; as, the earth was opened in many places by an earthquake; a rock is opened by blasting.

7. To clear; to make by removing obstructions; as, to open a road; to open a passage; the heat of spring opens rivers bound with ice.

8. To spread; to expand; as, to open the hand.

9. To unstop; as, to open a bottle.

10. To begin; to make the first exhibition. The attorney general opens the cause on the part of the king or the state. Homer opens his poem with the utmost simplicity and modesty.

11. To show; to bring to view or knowledge.

The English did adventure far to open the north parts of America.

12. To interpret; to explain.

- While he opened to us the Scriptures. Luke 24:31.

13. To reveal; to disclose. He opened his mind very freely.

14. To make liberal; as, to open the heart.

15. To make the first discharge of artillery; as, to open a heavy fire on the enemy.

16. To enter on or begin; as to open a negotiation or correspondence; to open a trade with the Indies.

17. To begin to see by the removal of something intercepted the view; as, we sailed round the point and opened the harbor.

OPEN, verb intransitive o'pn.

1. To unclose itself; to be unclosed; to be parted.

The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, and covered the company of Abiram. Psalms 106:17.

2. To begin to appear. As we sailed round the point, the harbor opened to our view.

3. To commence; to begin. sales of stock open at par.

4. To bark; a term in hunting.

OPENED, participle passive o'pned. Unclosed; unbarred; unsealed; uncovered; revealed; disclosed; made plain; freed from obstruction.

OPENER, noun o'pner.

1. One that opens or removed any fastening or covering.

2. One that explains; an interpreter.

3. That which separates; that which rends.

4. An aperient in medicine.

OPENEYED, adjective o'pneyed. Watchful; vigilant.

OPENHANDED, adjective o'pnhanded. Generous; liberal; munificent.

OPENHE'ARTED, adjective o'pnharted. Candid; frank; generous.

OPENHE'ARTEDLY, adverb With frankness; without reserve.

OPENHE'ARTEDNESS, noun Frankness; candor; sincerity; munificence; generosity.

OPENING, participle present tense o'pning. Unclosing; unsealing; uncovering; revealing; interpreting.

OPENING, noun o'pning.

1. A breach; an aperture; a hole or perforation.

2. A place admitting entrance; as a bay or creek.

3. Dawn; first appearance or visibleness; beginning of exhibition or discovery.

The opening of your glory was like that of light.

OPENLY, adverb o'pnly.

1. Publicly; not in private; without secrecy; as, to avow our sins and follies openly

How grossly and openly do many of us contradict the precepts of the gospel by our ungodliness and worldly lusts!

2. Plainly; evidently; without reserve or disguise.

OPENMOUTHED, adjective o'pnmouthed. Greedy; ravenous; clamorous; as an open-mouthed lion.

OPENNESS, noun o'pnness.

1. Freedom from covering or obstruction; as the openness of a country.

2. Plainness; clearness; freedom from obscurity or ambiguity; as, deliver your answers with more openness

3. Freedom from disguise; unreservedness; plainness.

4. Expression of frankness or candor; as openness of countenance.

5. Unusual mildness; freedom from snow and frost; as the openness of a winter.

OP'ERA, noun [Latin opera work, labor.]

A dramatic composition set to music and sung on the stage, accompanied with musical instruments and enriched with magnificent dresses, machines, dancing, etc.

OP'ERABLE, adjective Practicable. [Not used.]

OP'ERANT, adjective [See Operate.] Having power to produce an effect. [Not used. We now use operative.]

OP'ERATE, verb intransitive [Latin operor; Heb. signifies to be strong, to prevail.]

1. To act; to exert power or strength, physical or mechanical. External bodies operate on animals by means of perception. Sound operates upon the auditory nerves through the medium of air. Medicines operate on the body by increasing or diminishing organic action.

2. To act or produce effect on the mind; to exert moral power or influence. Motives operate on the mind in determining the judgment. Examples operate in producing imitation.

The virtues of private persons operate but on a few -

A plain convincing reason operates on the mind both of a learned and an ignorant hearer as long as he lives.

3. In surgery, to perform some manual act in a methodical manner upon a human body, and usually with instruments, with a view to restore soundness or health; as in amputation, lithotomy and the like.

4. To act; to have agency; to produce any effect.

OP'ERATE, verb transitive To effect; to produce by agency.

The same cause would operate a diminution of the value of stock -

[This use is not frequent, and can hardly be said to be well authorized.]

OPERAT'ICAL, adjective Pertaining to the opera; a word used by musicians.

OP'ERATING, participle present tense Acting; exerting agency or power; performing some manual act in surgery.

OPERA'TION, noun [Latin operatio.]

1. The act or process of operating; agency; the exertion of power, physical, mechanical or moral.

Speculative painting without the assistance of manual operation can never attain to perfection.

The pain and sickness caused by manna are the effects of its operation on the stomach.

So we speak of the operation of motives, reasons or arguments on the mind, the operation of causes, etc.

2. Action; effect.

Many medicinal drugs of rare operation

3. Process; manipulation; series of acts in experiments; as in chimistry or metallurgy.

4. In surgery, any methodical action of the hand, or of the hand with instruments, on the human body, with a view to heal a part diseased, fractured or dislocated, as in amputation, etc.

5. Action or movements of an army or fleet; as military or naval operations.

6. Movements of machinery.

7. Movements of any physical body.

OP'ERATIVE, adjective

1. Having the power of acting; exerting force, physical or moral; having or exerting agency; active in the production of effects.

In actions of religion we should be zealous, active and operative so far as prudence will permit.

It holds in all operative principles, especially in morality.

2. Efficacious; producing the effect.

OP'ERATOR, noun

1. He or that which operates; he or that which produces an effect.

2. In surgery, the person who performs some act upon the human body by means of the hand, or with instruments; as a skillful operator

OPER'CULATE,

OPER'CULATED, adjective [Latin operculatur, from operio, to cover.] In botany, having a lid or cover, as a capsule.

OPER'CULATED, a. [L. operculatur, from operio, to cover.] In botany, having a lid or cover, as a capsule.

OPER'CULIFORM, adjective [Latin operculum, a lid, and form.] Having the form of a lid or cover.

OPERO'SE, adjective [Latin operosus, from opera, operor.]

Laborious; attended with labor; tedious.

OPERO'SENESS, noun the state of being laborious.

O'PETIDE, noun [ope and tide.] The ancient time of marriage, from Epiphany to Ash Wednesday.

OPHID'IAN, adjective [Gr. a serpent.] Pertaining to serpents; designating an order of vertebral animals destitute of feet or fins.

OPHID'ION, noun [Gr. a serpent.] a fish of the anguilliform kind, resembling the common eel, but shorter, more depressed and of a paler color; found in the mediterranean.

OPHIOLOG'IC,

OPHIOLOG'ICAL, adjective Pertaining to ophiology.

OPHIOLOG'ICAL, a. Pertaining to ophiology.

OPHIOL'OGIST, noun One versed in the natural history of serpents.

OPHIOL'OGY, noun [Gr. serpent, and discourse.]

That part of natural history which treats of serpents, or which arranges and describes the several kinds.

OPHIOM'ANCY, noun [Gr. a serpent, and divination.]

In antiquity, the art of divining or predicting events by serpents, as by their manner of eating or by their coils.

OPHIOMORPH'OUS, adjective [Gr. form.] Having the form of a serpent.

OPHIOPH'AGOUS, adjective [Gr. a serpent, to eat.] Eating or feeding on serpents.

O'PHITE, noun [Gr. a serpent.] Pertaining to a serpent.

O'PHITE, adjective [Gr. a serpent, whence a stone spotted like a serpent.]

Green porphyry, or serpentine; a variety of greenstone of a dusky green color of different shades, sprinkled with spots of a lighter green; in other words, containing greenish white crystals of feldspar.

OPHITHAL'MIC, adjective [See Ophthalmy.] Pertaining to the eye.

OPHIU'CHUS, noun [Gr. a serpent, and to have.]

A constellation in the northern hemisphere.

OPHTHALMOS'COPY, noun [Gr. the eye, and to view.]

A branch of physiognomy which deduces the knowledge of a man's temper and manner from the appearance of the eyes.

OPH'THALMY, noun [Gr. from the eye.]

A disease of the eyes; an inflammation of the membranes which invest the eye.

Inflammation of the eye or its appendages.

O'PIATE, noun [from opium.]

1. Primarily, a medicine of a thicker consistence than syrup, prepared with opium.

A soft electuary.

Electuaries when soft are call opiata.

But in modern usage generally,

2. Any medicine that has the quality of inducing sleep or repose; a narcotic.

3. That which induces rest or inaction; that which quiets uneasiness.

They chose atheism as an opiate

O'PIATE, adjective

1. Inducing sleep; soporiferous; somniferous; narcotic.

2. Causing rest or inaction.

OPIFC'ICER, noun [Latin opifex; opus, work, and facio, to do.]

One who performs any work. [Not used.]

OPI'NABLE, adjective [Latin opinor.] That may be thought. [Not used.]

OPINA'TION, noun Act of thinking; opinion. [Not used.]

OPIN'ATIVE, adjective Stiff in opinion. [Not used.]

OPINA'TOR, noun One fond of his own opinions; one who holds an opinion. [Not in use.]

OPI'NE, verb intransitive [Latin opinor.] To think; to suppose. obsolete

OPI'NED, participle passive Thought; conceived. obsolete

OPI'NER, noun One who thinks or holds an opinion. obsolete

OPINIAS'TER,

OPINIAS'TROUS,

OPIN'IATE, verb transitive To maintain one's opinion with obstinacy. obsolete

OPINIAS'TROUS,

OPIN'IATE, v.t. To maintain one's opinion with obstinacy. Obs.

OPIN'IATED, adjective Unduly attached to one's own opinions.

OPINIA'TER, adjective Stiff in opinion; obstinate. obsolete

OPIN'IATIVE, adjective

1. Very stiff in adherence to preconceived notions.

2. Imagined; not proved.

OPIN'IATIVENESS, noun Undue stiffness in opinion.

OPINIA'TOR, noun One unduly attached to his own opinion. obsolete

OPINIA'TRE, adjective Unduly attached to one's own opinion, or stiff in adhering to it. obsolete

OPIN'IATRY, noun Unreasonable attachment to one's own notions; obstinacy in opinions. obsolete

OPI'NING, participle present tense Thinking. obsolete

OPI'NING, noun Opinion; notion. obsolete

OPINION, noun opin'yon. [Latin opinio, from opinor, to thing, Gr., Latin suppono.]

1. The judgment which the mind forms of any proposition, statement, theory or event, the truth or falsehood of which is supported by a degree of evidence that renders it probably, but does not produce absolute knowledge or certainty. It has been a received opinion that all matter is comprised in four elements. This opinion is proved by many discoveries to be false. From circumstances we form opinions respecting future events.

OPINION is when the assent of the understanding is so far gained by evidence of probability, that it rather inclines to one persuasion than to another, yet not without a mixture of uncertainty or doubting.

2. The judgment or sentiments which the mind forms of persons or their qualities. We speak of a good opinion a favorable opinion a bad opinion a private opinion and public or general opinion etc.

Friendship gives a man a peculiar right and claim to the good opinion of his friend.

3. Settled judgment or persuasion; as religious opinions; political opinion

4. Favorable judgment; estimation.

In actions of arms, small matters are of great moment, especially when they serve to raise an opinion of commanders.

However, I have no opinion of these things -

OPIN'ION, verb transitive To think. [Not used.]

OPIN'IONATE,

OPIN'IONATED, adjective Stiff in opinion; firmly or unduly adhering to one's own opinion; obstinate in opinion.

OPIN'IONATED, a. Stiff in opinion; firmly or unduly adhering to one's own opinion; obstinate in opinion.

OPIN'IONATELY, adverb Obstinately; conceitedly.

OPIN'IONATIVE, adjective Fond of preconceived notions; unduly attached to one's own opinions.

OPIN'IONATIVELY, adverb With undue fondness for one's own opinions; stubbornly.

OPIN'IONATIVENESS, noun Excessive attachment to one's own opinions; obstinacy in opinion.

OPIN'IONED, adjective Attached to particular opinions; conceited.

OPIN'IONIST, noun One fond of his own notions, or one unduly attached to his own opinions.

OPIS'THODOME, noun [Gr. that is behind, and house.]

In Greece, a part or place in the back part of a house.

O'PIUM, noun [Latin opium; Gr. from juice.]

Opium is the inspissated juice of the capsules of the papaver somniferum, or somniferous white poppy with which the fields in Asia Minor are sown, as ours are with wheat and rye. It flows from incisions made in the heads of the plant, and the best flows from the first incision. It is imported into Europe and America from the Levant and the East Indies. It is brought in cakes or masses weighing from eight ounces to a pound. It is heavy, of a dense texture, of a brownish yellow color, not perfectly dry, but easily receiving an impression from the finger; it has a dead and faint smell, and its taste is bitter and acrid. opium is of great use as a medicine.

OPOBAL'SAM, noun [Latin Gr. juice, and balsamum.]

The balm or balsam of Gilead. It has a yellowish or greenish yellow color, a warm bitterish aromatic taste, and an acidulous fragrant smell. It is held in esteem as a medicine and as an odoriferous unguent and cosmetic. The shrub or tree producing this balsam is of the genus Amyris, and grows spontaneously in Arabia Felix.

OPODEL'DOC, noun

1. The name of a plaster, said to have been invented by Mindererus; but in modern usage.

2. A saponaceous camphorated liniment; a solution of soap in ardent spirits, with the addition of camphor and essential oils.

OPO'PANAX, noun [Latin ; Gr. juice, and a plant.]

A gum-resin of a tolerably firm texture, brought in loose granules or drops, sometimes in larger masses. This substance on the outside is of a brownish red color, with specks of white, and within of a dusky yellow or whitish color. It has a strong smell and an acrid taste. It is obtained from the roots of an umbelliferous plant of the genus Pastinaca or parsnep, and is brought from Turkey and the East Indies.

OPOS'SUM, noun A quadruped of the genus Didelphis. It has a prehensile tail, like some of the monkeys, and is distinguished by a pouch or false belly, in which it protects and carries its young. The name is also given to other species of the genus, some of which want the pouch.

OP'PIDAN, noun [Latin oppidanus, from oppidum a city or town.]

1. An inhabitant of a town. [Not used.]

2. An appellation given to the students of Eton school in England.

OP'PIDAN, adjective Pertaining to a town. [Not used.]

OPPIG'NERATE, verb transitive [Latin oppignero; ob and pignero, to pledge, from pignus, pledge.] To pledge; to pawn. [Not in use.]

OP'PILATE, verb transitive [Latin oppilo; ob and pilo, to drive.]

To crown together; to fill with obstructions.

OPPILA'TION, noun The act of filling or crowding together; a stopping by redundant matter; obstructions, particularly in the lower intestines.

OP'PILATIVE, adjective Obstructive.

OPPLE'TED, adjective [Latin oppletus.] Filled; crowded. [Not in use.]

OPPO'NE, verb transitive [Latin oppono; ob and pono, to put.] To oppose. [Not used.]

OPPO'NENCY, noun [See Opponent.] The opening of an academical disputation; the proposition of objections to a tenet; an exercise for a degree. [I believe not used in America.]

OPPO'NENT, adjective [Latin opponens, oppono; ob and pono, to set, put or lay, that is, to thrust against; Heb. to build, that is, to set, to found, Latin fundo.] That opposes; opposite; adverse.

OPPO'NENT, noun One that opposes; particularly, one that opposes in controversy, disputation or argument. It is sometimes applied to the person that begins a dispute by raising objections to a tenet or doctrine, and is correlative to defendant or respondent. In common usage, however, it is applicable to either party in a controversy, denoting any person who opposes another or his cause. opponent may sometimes be used for adversary, and for antagonist, but not with strict propriety, as the word does not necessarily imply enmity nor bodily strife. Nor is it well used in the sense of rival or competitor.

OPPORTU'NE, adjective [Latin opportunus; ob and porto, to bear or bring; probably from the root of fero or porto, to bear. The sense of the verb opporto, would be to bring to or upon. See Impart, Importune. In this and all words of like signification, the primary sense is to fall, come or bring to. See Luck, Fortune, Season.]

Properly, having come or being present at a proper time; hence, seasonable; timely; well timed. It agrees with seasonable rather than with convenient, though the sense of the latter may be included in it.

Perhaps in view of those bright confines, whence with neighboring arms, and opportune excursion, we may chance re-enter heaven.

OPPORTU'NELY, adverb Seasonably; at a time favorable for the purpose. It has been applied to place, as well as to time, but its proper application is to time, and hence it accords with seasonably, rather than with conveniently.

OPPORTU'NITY, noun [Latin opportunitas.]

1. Fit or convenient time; a time favorable for the purpose; suitable time combined with other favorable circumstances. Suitableness of time is the predominant signification, but it includes generally circumstances of place and other conveniences adapted to the end desired.

A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds.

I had an opportunity to see the cloud descent.

Neglect no opportunity of doing good.

2. Convenient means. I had an opportunity of sending the letter, or no opportunity to send it. Opportunities rarely occur on frequently offer.

OPPO'SAL, noun s as z. Opposition. [Not used.]

OPPO'SE, verb transitive s as z. [Latin oppono, opposui. The change of n into s is unusual. Two different verbs may be used, as in Latin fero, tuli. See Pose.]

1. To set; against; to put in opposition, with a view to counterbalance or countervail, and thus to hinder defeat, destroy or prevent effect; as, to oppose one argument to another.

I may without presumption oppose my single opinion to his.

2. To act against; to resist, either by physical means, by arguments or other means. The army opposed the progress of the enemy, but without success. Several members of the house strenuously opposed the bill, but it passed.

3. To check; to resist effectually. The army was not able to oppose the progress of the enemy.

4. To place in front; to set opposite.

5. To act against, as a competitor.

OPPO'SED, participle passive s as z.

1. To act adversely; with against; as, a servant opposed against the act. [Not used.]

2. To object or act against in controversy.

OPPO'SED, participle passive

1. Set in opposition; resisted.

2. adjective Being in opposition in principle or in act; adverse.

Certain characters were formerly opposed to it.

OPPO'SELESS, adjective Not to be opposed; irresistible. [Not in use.]

OPPO'SER, noun

1. One that opposes; an opponent in party, in principle, in controversy or argument. We speak of the opposers of public measures; the opposers of ecclesiastical discipline; an opposer of christianity or of orthodoxy.

2. One who acts in opposition; one who resists; as an opposer of law or of the execution of law.

3. An antagonist; an adversary; an enemy; a rival.

OP'POSITE, adjective [Latin oppositus.]

1. Standing or situated in front; facing; as an edifice opposite to the Exchange. Brooklyn lies opposite to New York, or on the opposite side of the river.

2. Adverse; repugnant.

- Novels, by which the reader is misled into another sort of pleasure opposite to that designed in an epic poem.

3. Contrary; as words of opposite significations; opposite terms. The medicine had an effect opposite to what was expected.

4. In botany, growing in pairs, each pair decussated or crossing that above and below it; as opposite leaves or branches.

OP'POSITE, noun

1. An opponent; an adversary; an enemy; an antagonist.

2. That which is opposed or contrary.

OP'POSITELY, adverb

1. In front; in a situation to face each other.

2. Adversely; against each other.

Winds from all quarters oppositely blow.

OP'POSITENESS, noun The state of being opposite or contrary.

OPPOSITIFO'LIOUS, adjective [Latin oppositus and folium, a leaf.]

In botany, opposite to the leaf; as an oppositifolious peduncle.

OPPOSI'TION, noun [Latin oppositio.]

1. Situation so as to front something else; a standing over against; as the opposition of two mountains or buildings.

2. The act of opposing; attempt to check, restrain or defeat. he makes opposition to the measure; the bill passed without opposition Will any opposition be made to the suit, to the claim or demand?

3. Obstacle. the river meets with no opposition in its course to the ocean.

4. Resistance; as the opposition of enemies. Virtue will break through all opposition

5. Contrariety; repugnance in principle; as the opposition of the heart to the laws of God.

6. Contrariety of interests, measures on designs. The two parties are in opposition to each other.

7. Contrariety or diversity of meaning; as one term used in opposition to another.

8. Contradiction; inconsistency.

9. The collective body of opposers; in England, the party in Parliament which opposed the ministry; in America, the party that opposed the existing administration.

10. In astronomy, the situation of two heavenly bodies, when distant from each other 180 degrees.

OPPOSI'TIONIST, noun One that belongs to the party opposing the administration.

OPPOS'ITIVE, adjective that may be put in opposition.

OPPRESS', verb transitive [Latin appressus, from opprimo; ob and premo, to press.]

1. To load or burden with unreasonable impositions; to treat with unjust severity, rigor or hardship; as, to oppress a nation with taxes or contributions; to oppress one by compelling him to perform unreasonable service.

2. To overpower; to overburden; as, to be oppressed with grief.

3. to sit or lie heavy on; as, excess of good oppresses the stomach.

OPPRESS'ED, participle passive burdened with unreasonable impositions; overpowered; overburdened; depressed.

OPPRESS'ING, participle present tense Overburdening.

OPPRES'SION, noun

1. The act of oppressing; the imposition of unreasonable burdens, either in taxes or services; cruelty; severity.

2. The state of being oppressed or overburdened; misery.

the Lord - saw the oppression of Israel. 2 Kings 8:1.

3. Hardship; calamity.

4. Depression; dullness of spirits; lassitude of body.

5. A sense of heaviness or weight in the breast, etc.

OPPRESS'IVE, adjective

1. Unreasonably burdensome; unjustly severe; as oppressive taxes; oppressive exactions of service.

2. Tyrannical; as an oppressive government.

3. Heavy; overpowering; overwhelming; as oppressive grief or woe.

OPPRESS'IVELY, adverb In a manner to oppress; with unreasonable severity.

OPPRESS'IVENESS, noun The quality of being oppressive.

OPPRESS'OR, noun One that oppresses; one that imposes unjust burdens on others; one that harasses others with unjust laws or unreasonable severity.

Power when employed to relieve the oppressed and to punish the oppressor becomes a great blessing.

OPPRO'BRIOUS, adjective [See Opprobrium.]

1. Reproachful and contemptuous; scurrilous; as opprobrious language; opprobrious words or terms.

2. Blasted with infamy; despised; rendered hateful; as an opprobrious name.

OPPRO'BRIOUSLY, adverb With reproach mingled with contempt; scurrilously.

OPPRO'BRIOUSNESS, noun Reproachfulness mingled with contempt; scurrility.

OPPRO'BRIUM, noun [Latin ob and probrum, disgrace.]

Reproach mingled with contempt or disdain.

OPPUGN, verb intransitive oppu'ne. [Latin oppugno; ob and pugno, to fight, from pugnus, the fist.]

To attack; to oppose; to resist.

They said the manner of their impeachment they could not but conceive did oppugn the rights of parliament.

[It is never used in the literal sense, to fight.]

OPPUG'NANCY, noun Opposition; resistance.

OPPUGNA'TION, noun Opposition; resistance.

OPPUGNED, participle passive oppu'ned. Opposed; resisted.

OPPUGNER, noun oppu'ner. One who opposes or attacks; that which opposes.

OPPUGNING, participle present tense oppu'ning. Attacking; opposing.

OPSIM'ATHY, noun [Gr. late and to learn.] Late education; education late in life. [Little used.]

OPSONA'TION, noun [Latin obsono, to cater.] A catering; a buying of provisions. [Not used.]

OP'TABLE, adjective [Latin optabilis, from opto, to desire.] Desirable. [Not used.]

OPTA'TION, noun [Latin optatio.] A desiring; the expression of a wish.

OP'TATIVE, adjective [Latin optativus, from opto, to desire or wish.]

Expressing desire or wish. The optative mode, in grammar, is that form of the verb in which wish or desire is expressed.

OP'TATIVE, noun Something to be desired. [Little used.]

OP'TIC, 'TICAL, adjective [Gr. from to see, the eye.]

OPTI'CIAN, noun

1. A person skilled in the science of optics.

2. One who makes or sells optic glasses and instruments.

OP'TICS, noun The science which treats of light and the phenomena of vision.

OP'TIMACY, noun [Latin optimates, grandees, from optimus, best.] The body of nobles; the nobility.

OP'TIMISM, noun [Latin optimus, best.] The opinion or doctrine that every thing in nature is ordered for the best; or the order of things in the universe that is adapted to produce the most good.

The true and amiable philosophy of optimism

A system of strict optimism may be the real system in both cases.

OPTIM'ITY, noun The state of being best.

OP'TION, noun [Latin optio, from opto, to wish or desire.]

1. The power of choosing; the right of choice or election; as the archbishop's option in collating to a vacant benefice.

There is an option left to the United States of America, whether they will be respectable and prosperous, or contemptible and miserable, as a nation.

2. The power of wishing; wish.

3. Choice; election; preference. He ought not to complain of his lot; it was his own option We leave this to your own option

OP'TIONAL, adjective

1. Left to one's wish or choice; depending on choice or preference. It is optional with you to go or stay.

2. Leaving something to choice.

Original writs are either optional or peremptory.

OP'ULENCE, noun [Latin opulentia, from opes, wealth.] Wealth; riches; affluence. [Opulency is little used.]

OP'ULENT, adjective [Latin opulentus.] Wealthy; rich; affluent; having a large estate or property.

OP'ULENTLY, adverb Richly; with abundance or splendor.

OPUS'CULE, noun [Latin opusculum.] A small work.