Chapter D: Valve (2)

Defn: A witness by means of his ears; one who is within hearing and does hear; a hearer. Fuller.

EASE Ease, n. Etym: [OE. ese, eise, F. aise; akin to Pr. ais, aise, OIt. asio, It. agio; of uncertain origin; cf. L. ansa handle, occasion, opportunity. Cf. Agio, Disease.]

1. Satisfaction; pleasure; hence, accommodation; entertainment. [Obs.] They him besought Of harbor and or ease as for hire penny. Chaucer.

2. Freedom from anything that pains or troubles; as: (a) Relief from labor or effort; rest; quiet; relaxation; as, ease of body. Usefulness comes by labor, wit by ease. Herbert. Give yourself ease from the fatigue of watching. Swift.

(b) Freedom from care, solicitude, or anything that annoys or disquiets; tranquillity; peace; comfort; security; as, ease of mind. Among these nations shalt thou find no ease. Deut. xxviii. 65. Take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. Luke xii. 19.

(c) Freedom from constraint, formality, difficulty, embarrassment, etc.; facility; liberty; naturalness; -- said of manner, style, etc.; as, ease of style, of behavior, of address. True ease in writing comes from art, not chance. Pope. Whate'er he did was done with so much ease, In him alone 't was natural to please. Dryden. At ease, free from pain, trouble, or anxiety. "His soul shall dwell at ease." Ps. xxv. 12. -- Chapel of ease. See under Chapel. -- Ill at ease, not at ease, disquieted; suffering; anxious. -- To stand at ease (Mil.), to stand in a comfortable attitude in one's place in the ranks. -- With ease, easily; without much effort.

Syn. -- Rest; quiet; repose; comfortableness; tranquility; facility; easiness; readiness.

EASE Ease, v. t. & i. [imp. & p. p. Eased; p. pr. & vb. n. Easing.] Etym: [OE. esen, eisen, OF. aisier. See Ease, n.]

1. To free from anything that pains, disquiets, or oppresses; to relieve from toil or care; to give rest, repose, or tranquility to; - - often with of; as, to ease of pain; ease the body or mind. Eased [from] the putting off These troublesome disguises which we wear. Milton. Sing, and I 'll ease thy shoulders of thy load. Dryden.

2. To render less painful or oppressive; to mitigate; to alleviate. My couch shall ease my complaint. Job vii. 13.

3. To release from pressure or restraint; to move gently; to lift slightly; to shift a little; as, to ease a bar or nut in machinery.

4. To entertain; to furnish with accommodations. [Obs.] Chaucer. To ease off, To ease away (Naut.), to slacken a rope gradually. -- To ease a ship (Naut.), to put the helm hard, or regulate the sail, to prevent pitching when closehauled. -- To ease the helm (Naut.), to put the helm more nearly amidships, to lessen the effect on the ship, or the strain on the wheel rope. Ham. Nav. Encyc.

Syn. -- To relieve; disburden; quiet; calm; tranquilize; assuage; alleviate; allay; mitigate; appease; pacify.

EASEFUL Ease"ful, a.

Defn: Full of ease; suitable for affording ease or rest; quiet; comfortable; restful. Shak. -- Ease"ful*ly, adv. -- Ease"ful*ness, n.

EASEL Ea"sel, n. Etym: [D. ezel ass, donkey, hence, easel, or G. esel; akin to E. ass. See Ass.]

Defn: A frame (commonly) of wood serving to hold a canvas upright, or nearly upright, for the painter's convenience or for exhibition. Easel picture, Easel piece, a painting of moderate size such as is made while resting on an easel, as distinguished from a painting on a wall or ceiling.

EASELESS Ease"less, a.

Defn: Without ease. Donne.

EASEMENT Ease"ment, n. Etym: [OF. aisement. See Ease, n.]

1. That which gives ease, relief, or assistance; convenience; accommodation. In need of every kind of relief and easement. Burke.

2. (Law)

Defn: A liberty, privilege, or advantage, which one proprietor has in the estate of another proprietor, distinct from the ownership of the soil, as a way, water course, etc. It is a species of what the civil law calls servitude. Kent.

3. (Arch.)

Defn: A curved member instead of an abrupt change of direction, as in a baseboard, hand rail, etc.

EASILY Eas"i*ly, adv. Etym: [From Easy.]

1. With ease; without difficulty or much effort; as, this task may be easily performed; that event might have been easily foreseen.

2. Without pain, anxiety, or disturbance; as, to pass life well and easily. Sir W. Temple.

3. Readily; without reluctance; willingly. Not soon provoked, she easily forgives. Prior.

4. Smoothly; quietly; gently; gracefully; without

5. Without shaking or jolting; commodiously; as, a carriage moves easily.

EASINESS Eas"i*ness, n.

1. The state or condition of being easy; freedom from distress; rest.

2. Freedom from difficulty; ease; as the easiness of a task.

3. Freedom from emotion; compliance; disposition to yield without opposition; unconcernedness. Give to him, and he shall but laugh at your easiness. South.

4. Freedom from effort, constraint, or formality; -- said of style, manner, etc. With painful care, but seeming easiness. Roscommon.

5. Freedom from jolting, jerking, or straining.

EAST East, n. Etym: [OE. est, east, AS. eást; akin to D. oost, oosten, OHG. , G. ost, osten, Icel. austr, Sw. ost, Dan. öst, östen, Lith. auszra dawn, L. aurora (for ausosa), Gr. ushas; cf. Skr. ush to burn, L. urere. Aurora, Easter, Sterling.]

1. The point in the heavens where the sun is seen to rise at the equinox, or the corresponding point on the earth; that one of the four cardinal points of the compass which is in a direction at right angles to that of north and south, and which is toward the right hand of one who faces the north; the point directly opposite to the west. The east began kindle. E. Everett.

2. The eastern parts of the earth; the regions or countries which lie east of Europe; the orient. In this indefinite sense, the word is applied to Asia Minor, Syria, Chaldea, Persia, India, China, etc.; as, the riches of the East; the diamonds and pearls of the East; the kings of the East. The gorgeous East, with richest hand, Showers on her kings barbaric pearl and gold. Milton.

3. (U. S. Hist. and Geog.)

Defn: Formerly, the part of the United States east of the Alleghany Mountains, esp. the Eastern, or New England, States; now, commonly, the whole region east of the Mississippi River, esp. that which is north of Maryland and the Ohio River; -- usually with the definite article; as, the commerce of the East is not independent of the agriculture of the West. East by north, East by south, according to the notation of the mariner's compass, that point which lies 11 -- East-northeast, East-southeast, that which lie 22Illust. of Compass.

EAST East, a.

Defn: Toward the rising sun; or toward the point where the sun rises when in the equinoctial; as, the east gate; the east border; the east side; the east wind is a wind that blows from the east.

EAST East, adv.

Defn: Eastward.

EAST East, v. i.

Defn: To move toward the east; to veer from the north or south toward the east; to orientate.

EASTER Eas"ter, n. Etym: [AS. eáster, eástran, paschal feast, Easter; akin to G. ostern; fr. AS. Eástre, a goddess of light or spring, in honor of whom a festival was celebrated in April; whence this month was called in AS. Eásterm. From the root of E. east. See East.]

1. An annual church festival commemorating Christ's resurrection, and occurring on Sunday, the second day after Good Friday. It corresponds to the pasha or passover of the Jews, and most nations still give it this name under the various forms of pascha, pasque, pâque, or pask.

2. The day on which the festival is observed; Easter day.

Note: Easter is used either adjectively or as the first element of a compound; as, Easter day or Easter-day, Easter Sunday, Easter week, Easter gifts. Sundays by thee more glorious break, An Easter day in every week. Keble.

Note: Easter day, on which the rest of the movable feasts depend, is always the first Sunday after the fourteenth day of the calendar moon which (fourteenth day) falls on, or next after, the 21st of March, according to the rules laid down for the construction of the calendar; so that if the fourteenth day happen on a Sunday, Easter day is the Sunday after. Eng. Cyc. Easter dues (Ch. of Eng.), money due to the clergy at Easter, formerly paid in communication of the tithe for personal labor and subject to exaction. For Easter dues, Easter offerings, voluntary gifts, have been substituted. -- Easter egg. (a) A painted or colored egg used as a present at Easter. (b) An imitation of an egg, in sugar or some fine material, sometimes made to serve as a box for jewelry or the like, used as an Easter present.

EASTER East"er, v. i. (Naut.)

Defn: To veer to the east; -- said of the wind. Russell.

EASTER LILY Eas"ter lil`y. (Bot.) Any one of various lilies or lilylike flowers which bloom about Easter; specif.: (a) The common white lily (Lilium candidum), called also Annunciation lily. (b) The larger white lily (Lilium longiflorum eximium, syn. L. Harrisii) called also Bermuda lily. (c) The daffodil (Narcissus Pseudo-Narcissus). (d) The Atamasco lily.

EASTERLING East"er*ling, n. Etym: [Cf. Sterling.]

1. A native of a country eastward of another; -- used, by the English, of traders or others from the coasts of the Baltic. Merchants of Norway, Denmark, . . . called . . . Easterlings because they lie east in respect of us. Holinshed.

2. A piece of money coined in the east by Richard II. of England. Crabb.

3. (Zoöl.)

Defn: The smew.

EASTERLING East"er*ling, a.

Defn: Relating to the money of the Easterlings, or Baltic traders. See Sterling.

EASTERLY East"er*ly, a.

1. Coming from the east; as, it was easterly wind.

2. Situated, directed, or moving toward the east; as, the easterly side of a lake; an easterly course or voyage.

EASTERLY East"er*ly, adv.

Defn: Toward, or in the direction of, the east.

EASTERN East"ern, a. Etym: [AS. eástern.]

1. Situated or dwelling in the east; oriental; as, an eastern gate; Eastern countries. Eastern churches first did Christ embrace. Stirling.

2. Going toward the east, or in the direction of east; as, an eastern voyage. Eastern Church. See Greek Church, under Greek.

EASTERN CHURCH Eastern Church.

Defn: That portion of the Christian church which prevails in the countries once comprised in the Eastern Roman Empire and the countries converted to Christianity by missionaries from them. Its full official title is The Orthodox Catholic Apostolic Eastern Church. It became estranged from the Western, or Roman, Church over the question of papal supremacy and the doctrine of the filioque, and a separation, begun in the latter part of the 9th century, became final in 1054. The Eastern Church consists of twelve (thirteen if the Bulgarian Church be included) mutually independent churches (including among these the Hellenic Church, or Church of Greece, and the Russian Church), using the vernacular (or some ancient form of it) in divine service and varying in many points of detail, but standing in full communion with each other and united as equals in a great federation. The highest five authorities are the patriarch of Constantinople, or ecumenical patriarch (whose position is not one of supremacy, but of precedence), the patriarch of Alexandria, the patriarch of Jerusalem, the patriarch of Antioch, and the Holy Synod of Russia. The Eastern Church accepts the first seven ecumenical councils (and is hence styled only schismatic, not heretical, by the Roman Catholic Church), has as its creed the Niceno- Constantinopolitan (without the later addition of the filioque, which, with the doctrine it represents, the church decisively rejects), baptizes infants with trine immersion, makes confirmation follow immediately upon baptism, administers the Communion in both kinds (using leavened bread) and to infants as well as adults, permits its secular clergy to marry before ordination and to keep their wives afterward, but not to marry a second time, selects its bishops from the monastic clergy only, recognizes the offices of bishop, priest, and deacon as the three necessary degrees of orders, venerates relics and icons, and has an elaborate ritual.

EASTERNMOST East"ern*most`, a.

Defn: Most eastern.

EAST INDIAN East" In"di*an (; see Indian).

Defn: Belonging to, or relating to, the East Indies. -- n.

Defn: A native of, or a dweller in, the East Indies.

EASTING East"ing, n. (Naut. & Surv.)

Defn: The distance measured toward the east between two meridians drawn through the extremities of a course; distance of departure eastward made by a vessel.

EAST-INSULAR East`-in"su*lar, a.

Defn: Relating to the Eastern Islands; East Indian. [R.] Ogilvie.

EASTWARD; EASTWARDS East"ward, East"wards, adv.

Defn: Toward the east; in the direction of east from some point or place; as, New Haven lies eastward from New York.

EASY Eas"y, a. [Compar. Easier; superl. Easiest.] Etym: [OF. aisié, F. aisé, prop. p. p. of OF. aisier. See Ease, v. t.]

1. At ease; free from pain, trouble, or constraint; as: (a) Free from pain, distress, toil, exertion, and the like; quiet; as, the patient is easy. (b) Free from care, responsibility, discontent, and the like; not anxious; tranquil; as, an easy mind. (c) Free from constraint, harshness, or formality; unconstrained; smooth; as, easy manners; an easy style. "The easy vigor of a line." Pope.

2. Not causing, or attended with, pain or disquiet, or much exertion; affording ease or rest; as, an easy carriage; a ship having an easy motion; easy movements, as in dancing. "Easy ways to die." Shak.

3. Not difficult; requiring little labor or effort; slight; inconsiderable; as, an easy task; an easy victory. It were an easy leap. Shak.

4. Causing ease; giving freedom from care or labor; furnishing comfort; commodious; as, easy circumstances; an easy chair or cushion.

5. Not making resistance or showing unwillingness; tractable; yielding; complying; ready. He gained their easy hearts. Dryden. He is too tyrannical to be an easy monarch. Sir W. Scott.

6. Moderate; sparing; frugal. [Obs.] Chaucer.

7. (Com.)

Defn: Not straitened as to money matters; as, the market is easy; -- opposed to tight. Honors are easy (Card Playing), said when each side has an equal number of honors, in which case they are not counted as points.

Syn. -- Quiet; comfortable; manageable; tranquil; calm; facile; unconcerned.

EASY-CHAIR Eas"y-chair`, n.

Defn: An armichair for ease or repose. "Laugh . . . in Rabelais' easy-chair." Pope.

EASY-GOING Eas"y-go`ing, a.

Defn: Moving easily; hence, mild-tempered; ease-loving; inactive.

EAT Eat, v. t. [imp. Ate, Obsolescent & Colloq. Eat (; p. p. Eaten, Obs. or Colloq. Eat (p. pr. & vb. n. Eating.] Etym: [OE. eten, AS. etan; akin to OS. etan, OFries. eta, D. eten, OHG. ezzan, G. essen, Icel. eta, Sw. äta, Dan. æde, Goth. itan, Ir. & Gael. ith, W. ysu, L. edere, Gr. ad. Etch, Fret to rub, Edible.]

1. To chew and swallow as food; to devour; -- said especially of food not liquid; as, to eat bread. "To eat grass as oxen." Dan. iv. 25. They . . . ate the sacrifices of the dead. Ps. cvi. 28. The lean . . . did eat up the first seven fat kine. Gen. xli. 20. The lion had not eaten the carcass. 1 Kings xiii. 28. With stories told of many a feat, How fairy Mab junkets eat. Milton. The island princes overbold Have eat our substance. Tennyson. His wretched estate is eaten up with mortgages. Thackeray.

2. To corrode, as metal, by rust; to consume the flesh, as a cancer; to waste or wear away; to destroy gradually; to cause to disappear. To eat humble pie. See under Humble. -- To eat of (partitive use). "Eat of the bread that can not waste." Keble. -- To eat one's words, to retract what one has said. (See the Citation under Blurt.) -- To eat out, to consume completely. "Eat out the heart and comfort of it." Tillotson. -- To eat the wind out of a vessel (Naut.), to gain slowly to windward of her.

Syn. -- To consume; devour; gnaw; corrode.

EAT Eat, v. i.

1. To take food; to feed; especially, to take solid, in distinction from liquid, food; to board. He did eat continually at the king's table. 2 Sam. ix. 13.

2. To taste or relish; as, it eats like tender beef.

3. To make one's way slowly. To eat, To eat in or into, to make way by corrosion; to gnaw; to consume. "A sword laid by, which eats into itself." Byron. -- To eat to windward (Naut.), to keep the course when closehauled with but little steering; -- said of a vessel.

EATABLE Eat"a*ble, a.

Defn: Capable of being eaten; fit to be eaten; proper for food; esculent; edible. -- n.

Defn: Something fit to be eaten.

EATAGE Eat"age (; 48), n.

Defn: Eatable growth of grass for horses and cattle, esp. that of aftermath.

EATER Eat"er, n.

Defn: One who, or that which, eats.

EATH Eath, a. & adv. Etym: [AS. eá.]

Defn: Easy or easily. [Obs.] "Eath to move with plaints." Fairfax.

EATING Eat"ing, n.

1. The act of tasking food; the act of consuming or corroding.

2. Something fit to be eaten; food; as, a peach is good eating. [Colloq.] Eating house, a house where cooked provisions are sold, to be eaten on the premises.

EAU DE COLOGNE Eau` de Co*logne". Etym: [F. eau water (L. aqua) + de of + Cologne.]

Defn: Same as Cologne.

EAU DE VIE Eau` de vie". Etym: [F., water of life; eau (L. aqua) water + de of + vie (L. vita) life.]

Defn: French name for brandy. Cf. Aqua vitæ, under Aqua. Bescherelle.

EAU FORTE Eau` forte" (o` fort"). [F., strong water, nitric acid (which is used in etching plates).] (Art)

Defn: An etching or a print from an etched plate.

EAVEDROP Eave"drop`, n.

Defn: A drop from the eaves; eavesdrop. [R.] Tennyson.

EAVES Eaves, n. pl. Etym: [OE. evese, pl. eveses, AS. efese eaves, brim, brink; akin to OHG. obisa, opasa, porch, hall, MHG. obse eaves, Icel. ups, Goth. ubizwa porch; cf. Icel. upsar-dropi, OSw. opsä-drup water dropping from the eaves. Probably from the root of E. over. The s of eaves is in English regarded as a plural ending, though not so in Saxon. See Over, and cf. Eavesdrop.]

1. (Arch.)

Defn: The edges or lower borders of the roof of a building, which overhang the walls, and cast off the water that falls on the roof.

2. Brow; ridge. [Obs.] "Eaves of the hill." Wyclif.

3. Eyelids or eyelashes. And closing eaves of wearied eyes. Tennyson. Eaves board (Arch.), an arris fillet, or a thick board with a feather edge, nailed across the rafters at the eaves of a building, to raise the lower course of slates a little, or to receive the lowest course of tiles; -- called also eaves catch and eaves lath. -- Eaves channel, Eaves gutter, Eaves trough. Same as Gutter,

1. -- Eaves molding (Arch.), a molding immediately below the eaves, acting as a cornice or part of a cornice. -- Eaves swallow (Zoöl.). (a) The cliff swallow; -- so called from its habit of building retort-shaped nests of mud under the eaves of buildings. See Cliff swallow, under Cliff. (b) The European swallow.

EAVESDROP Eaves"drop`, v. i. Etym: [Eaves + drop.]

Defn: To stand under the eaves, near a window or at the door, of a house, to listen and learn what is said within doors; hence, to listen secretly to what is said in private. To eavesdrop in disguises. Milton.

EAVESDROP Eaves"drop`, n.

Defn: The water which falls in drops from the eaves of a house.

EAVESDROPPER Eaves"drop`per, n.

Defn: One who stands under the eaves, or near the window or door of a house, to listen; hence, a secret listener.

EAVESDROPPING Eaves"drop`ping, n. (Law)

Defn: The habit of lurking about dwelling houses, and other places where persons meet fro private intercourse, secretly listening to what is said, and then tattling it abroad. The offense is indictable at common law. Wharton.

EBB Ebb, n. (Zoöl.)

Defn: The European bunting.

EBB Ebb, n. Etym: [AS. ebba; akin to Fries. ebba, D. eb, ebbe, Dan. & G. ebbe, Sw. ebb, cf. Goth. ibuks backward; prob. akin to E. even.]

1. The reflux or flowing back of the tide; the return of the tidal wave toward the sea; -- opposed to flood; as, the boats will go out on the ebb. Thou shoreless flood which in thy ebb and flow Claspest the limits of morality! Shelley.

2. The state or time of passing away; a falling from a better to a worse state; low state or condition; decline; decay. "Our ebb of life." Roscommon. Painting was then at its lowest ebb. Dryden. Ebb and flow, the alternate ebb and flood of the tide; often used figuratively. This alternation between unhealthy activity and depression, this ebb and flow of the industrial. A. T. Hadley.

EBB Ebb, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Ebbed; p. pr. & vb. n. Ebbing.] Etym: [AS. ebbian; akin to D. & G. ebben, Dan. ebbe. See 2d Ebb.]

1. To flow back; to return, as the water of a tide toward the ocean; -- opposed to flow. That Power who bids the ocean ebb and flow. Pope.

2. To return or fall back from a better to a worse state; to decline; to decay; to recede. The hours of life ebb fast. Blackmore.

Syn. -- To recede; retire; withdraw; decay; decrease; wane; sink; lower.

EBB Ebb, v. t.

Defn: To cause to flow back. [Obs.] Ford.

EBB Ebb, a.

Defn: Receding; going out; falling; shallow; low. The water there is otherwise very low and ebb. Holland.

EBB TIDE Ebb" tide`.

Defn: The reflux of tide water; the retiring tide; -- opposed to flood tide.

EBIONITE E"bi*o*nite, n. Etym: [Heb. ebyonim poor people.] (Eccl. Hist.)

Defn: One of a sect of heretics, in the first centuries of the church, whose doctrine was a mixture of Judaism and Christianity. They denied the divinity of Christ, regarding him as an inspired messenger, and rejected much of the New Testament.

EBIONITISM E"bi*o*ni`tism, n. (Eccl. Hist.)

Defn: The system or doctrine of the Ebionites.

EBLANIN Eb"la*nin, n. (Chem.)

Defn: See Pyroxanthin.

EBLIS Eb"lis, n. Etym: [Ar. iblis.] (Moham. Myth.)

Defn: The prince of the evil spirits; Satan. [Written also Eblees.]

EBON Eb"on, a.

1. Consisting of ebony.

2. Like ebony, especially in color; black; dark. Night, sable goddess! from her ebon throne. Young.

EBON Eb"on, n.

Defn: Ebony. [Poetic] "Framed of ebon and ivory." Sir W. Scott.

EBONIST Eb"on*ist, n.

Defn: One who works in ebony.

EBONITE Eb"on*ite, n. (Chem.)

Defn: A hard, black variety of vulcanite. It may be cut and polished, and is used for many small articles, as combs and buttons, and for insulating material in electric apparatus.

EBONIZE Eb"on*ize, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Ebonized; p. pr. & vb. n. Ebonizing.]

Defn: To make black, or stain black, in imitation of ebony; as, to ebonize wood.

EBONY Eb"on*y, n.; pl. Ebonies. Etym: [F. ébène, L. ebenus, fr. Gr. hobnim, pl. Cf. Ebon.]

Defn: A hard, heavy, and durable wood, which admits of a fine polish or gloss. The usual color is black, but it also occurs red or green.

Note: The finest black ebony is the heartwood of Diospyros reticulata, of the Mauritius. Other species of the same genus (D. Ebenum, Melanoxylon, etc.), furnish the ebony of the East Indies and Ceylon. The West Indian green ebony is from a leguminous tree (Brya Ebenus), and from the Excæcaria glandulosa.

EBONY Eb"on*y, a.

Defn: Made of ebony, or resembling ebony; black; as, an ebony countenance. This ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling. Poe.

EBRACTEATE E*brac"te*ate, a. Etym: [Pref. e- + bracteate.] (Bot.)

Defn: Without bracts.

EBRACTEOLATE E*brac"te*o*late, a. Etym: [Pref. e- + bracteolate.] (Bot.)

Defn: Without bracteoles, or little bracts; -- said of a pedicel or flower stalk.

EBRAUKE E*brau"ke, a. Etym: [L. Hebraicus: cf. F. Hébraïque.]

Defn: Hebrew. [Obs.] Chaucer.

EBRIETY E*bri"e*ty, n.; pl. Ebrieties. Etym: [L. ebrietas, from. ebrius intoxicated: cf. F. ébriéte. Cf. So.]

Defn: Drunkenness; intoxication by spirituous liquors; inebriety. "Ruinous ebriety." Cowper.

EBRILLADE E*bril"lade, n. Etym: [F.] (Man.)

Defn: A bridle check; a jerk of one rein, given to a horse when he refuses to turn.

EBRIOSITY E`bri*os"i*ty, n. Etym: [L. ebriositas, from ebriousus given to drinking, fr. ebrius. See Ebriety.]

Defn: Addiction to drink; habitual drunkenness.

EBRIOUS E"bri*ous, a. Etym: [L. ebrius.]

Defn: Inclined to drink to excess; intoxicated; tipsy. [R.] M. Collins.

EBULLIATE E*bul"li*ate, v. i.

Defn: To boil or bubble up. [Obs.] Prynne.

EBULLIENCE; EBULLIENCY E*bul"lience, E*bul"lien*cy, n.

Defn: A boiling up or over; effervescence. Cudworth.

EBULLIENT E*bul"lient, a. Etym: [L. ebulliens, -entis, p. pr. of ebullire to boil up, bubble up; e out, from + bullire to boil. See 1st Boil.]

Defn: Boiling up or over; hence, manifesting exhilaration or excitement, as of feeling; effervescing. "Ebullient with subtlety." De Quincey. The ebullient enthusiasm of the French. Carlyle.

EBULLIOSCOPE E*bul"li*o*scope, n. Etym: [L. ebullire to boil up + -scope.] (Phys. Chem.)

Defn: An instrument for observing the boiling point of liquids, especially for determining the alcoholic strength of a mixture by the temperature at which it boils.

EBULLITION Eb`ul*li"tion, n. Etym: [F. ébullition, L. ebullitio, fr. ebullire. See Ebullient.]

1. A boiling or bubbling up of a liquid; the motion produced in a liquid by its rapid conversion into vapor.

2. Effervescence occasioned by fermentation or by any other process which causes the liberation of a gas or an aëriform fluid, as in the mixture of an acid with a carbonated alkali. [Formerly written bullition.]

3. A sudden burst or violent display; an outburst; as, an ebullition of anger or ill temper.

EBURIN Eb"ur*in, n.

Defn: A composition of dust of ivory or of bone with a cement; -- used for imitations of valuable stones and in making moldings, seals, etc. Knight.

EBURNATION E`bur*na"tion, n. Etym: [L. eburnus of ivory, fr. ebur ivory: cf. F. éburnation. See Ivory.] (Med.)

Defn: A condition of bone cartilage occurring in certain diseases of these tissues, in which they acquire an unnatural density, and come to resemble ivory.

EBURNEAN E*bur"ne*an, a. Etym: [L. eburneus, fr. ebur ivory. See Ivory.]

Defn: Made of or relating to ivory.

EBURNIFICATION E*bur`ni*fi*ca"tion, n. Etym: [L. eburnus of ivory (fr. ebur ivory) + facere to make.]

Defn: The conversion of certain substances into others which have the appearance or characteristics of ivory.

EBURNINE Eb"ur*nine, a.

Defn: Of or pertaining to ivory. "[She] read from tablet eburnine." Sir W. Scott.

ECARDINES E*car"di*nes, n. pl. Etym: [NL., fr. L. e out, without + cardo a hinge.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: An order of Brachiopoda; the Lyopomata. See Brachiopoda.

ECARTE É`car`té", n. Etym: [F., prop. fr. écarter to reject, discard.]

Defn: A game at cards, played usually by two persons, in which the players may discard any or all of the cards dealt and receive others from the pack.

ECAUDATE E*cau"date, a. Etym: [Pref. e- + caudate.]

1. (Bot.)

Defn: Without a tail or spur.

2. (Zoöl.)

Defn: Tailless.

ECBALLIUM Ec*bal"li*um, n. Etym: [NL., fr. Gr. Ecbole.] (Bot.)

Defn: A genus of cucurbitaceous plants consisting of the single species Ecballium agreste (or Elaterium), the squirting cucumber. Its fruit, when ripe, bursts and violently ejects its seeds, together with a mucilaginous juice, from which elaterium, a powerful cathartic medicine, is prepared.

ECBASIS Ec"ba*sis, n. Etym: [L., fr. Gr. (Rhet.)

Defn: A figure in which the orator treats of things according to their events consequences.

ECBATIC Ec*bat"ic, a. Etym: [See Ecbasis.] (Gram.)

Defn: Denoting a mere result or consequence, as distinguished from telic, which denotes intention or purpose; thus the phrase so that it was fulfilled," is ecbatic; if rendered "in order that it might be." etc., is telic.

ECBOLE Ec"bo*le, n. Etym: [NL., fr. Gr. (Rhet.)

Defn: A digression in which a person is introduced speaking his own words.

ECBOLIC Ec*bol"ic, n. Etym: [See Ecbole.] (Med.)

Defn: A drug, as ergot, which by exciting uterine contractions promotes the expulsion of the contents of the uterus.

ECBOLINE Ec"bo*line (; 104), n. Etym: [Gr. (Chem.)

Defn: An alkaloid constituting the active principle of ergot; -- so named from its power of producing abortion.

ECCALEOBION Ec`ca*le*o"bi*on, n. Etym: [Gr.

Defn: A contrivance for hatching eggs by artificial heat.

ECCE HOMO Ec"ce ho"mo. Etym: [L., behold the man. See John xix. 5.] (Paint.)

Defn: A picture which represents the Savior as given up to the people by Pilate, and wearing a crown of thorns.

ECCENTRIC Ec*cen"tric, a. Etym: [F. excentrique, formerly also spelled eccentrique, fr. LL. eccentros out of the center, eccentric, Gr. Ex-, and Center, and cf. Excentral.]

1. Deviating or departing from the center, or from the line of a circle; as, an eccentric or elliptical orbit; pertaining to deviation from the center or from true circular motion.

2. Not having the same center; -- said of circles, ellipses, spheres, etc., which, though coinciding, either in whole or in part, as to area or volume, have not the same center; -- opposed to concentric.

3. (Mach.)

Defn: Pertaining to an eccentric; as, the eccentric rod in a steam engine.

4. Not coincident as to motive or end. His own ends, which must needs be often eccentric to those of his master. Bacon.

5. Deviating from stated methods, usual practice, or established forms or laws; deviating from an appointed sphere or way; departing from the usual course; irregular; anomalous; odd; as, eccentric conduct. "This brave and eccentric young man." Macaulay. He shines eccentric, like a comet's blaze. Savage. Eccentric anomaly. (Astron.) See Anomaly. -- Eccentric chuck (Mach.), a lathe chuck so constructed that the work held by it may be altered as to its center of motion, so as to produce combinations of eccentric combinations of eccentric circles. -- Eccentric gear. (Mach.) (a) The whole apparatus, strap, and other parts, by which the motion of an eccentric is transmitted, as in the steam engine. (b) A cogwheel set to turn about an eccentric axis used to give variable rotation. -- Eccentric hook or gab, a hook-shaped journal box on the end of an eccentric rod, opposite the strap. -- Eccentric rod, the rod that connects as eccentric strap with any part to be acted upon by the eccentric. -- Eccentric sheave, or Eccentric pulley, an eccentric. -- Eccentric strap, the ring, operating as a journal box, that encircles and receives motion from an eccentric; -- called also eccentric hoop.

Syn. -- Irregular; anomalous; singular; odd; peculiar; erratic; idiosyncratic; strange; whimsical.

ECCENTRIC Ec*cen"tric, n.

1. A circle not having the same center as another contained in some measure within the first.

2. One who, or that which, deviates from regularity; an anomalous or irregular person or thing.

3. (Astron.) (a) In the Ptolemaic system, the supposed circular orbit of a planet about the earth, but with the earth not in its center. (b) A circle described about the center of an elliptical orbit, with half the major axis for radius. Hutton.

4. (Mach.)

Defn: A disk or wheel so arranged upon a shaft that the center of the wheel and that of the shaft do not coincide. It is used for operating valves in steam engines, and for other purposes. The motion derived is precisely that of a crank having the same throw. Back eccentric, the eccentric that reverses or backs the valve gear and the engine. -- Fore eccentric, the eccentric that imparts a forward motion to the valve gear and the engine.

ECCENTRICAL Ec*cen"tric*al, a.

Defn: See Eccentric.

ECCENTRICALLY Ec*cen"tric*al*ly, adv.

Defn: In an eccentric manner. Drove eccentrically here and there. Lew Wallace.

ECCENTRICITY Ec`cen*tric"i*ty, n.; pl. Eccentricities. Etym: [Cf. F. excentricité.]

1. The state of being eccentric; deviation from the customary line of conduct; oddity.

2. (Math.)

Defn: The ratio of the distance between the center and the focus of an ellipse or hyperbola to its semi-transverse axis.

3. (Astron.)

Defn: The ratio of the distance of the center of the orbit of a heavenly body from the center of the body round which it revolves to the semi-transverse axis of the orbit.

4. (Mech.)

Defn: The distance of the center of figure of a body, as of an eccentric, from an axis about which it turns; the throw.

ECCHYMOSE Ec"chy*mose, v. t. (Med.)

Defn: To discolor by the production of an ecchymosis, or effusion of blood, beneath the skin; -- chiefly used in the passive form; as, the parts were much ecchymosed.

ECCHYMOSIS Ec`chy*mo"sis, n.; pl. Ecchymoses (. Etym: [NL., fr. Gr. (Med.)

Defn: A livid or black and blue spot, produced by the extravasation or effusion of blood into the areolar tissue from a contusion.

ECCHYMOTIC Ec`chy*mot"ic, a.

Defn: Pertaining to ecchymosis.

ECCLE Ec"cle, n. (Zoöl.)

Defn: The European green woodpecker; -- also called ecall, eaquall, yaffle. [Prov. Eng.]

ECCLESIA Ec*cle"si*a, n.; pl. Ecclesiæ (. Etym: [L., fr. Gr.

1. (Gr. Antiq.)

Defn: The public legislative assembly of the Athenians.

2. (Eccl.)

Defn: A church, either as a body or as a building.

ECCLESIAL Ec*cle"si*al, a.

Defn: Ecclesiastical. [Obs.] Milton.

ECCLESIARCH Ec*cle"si*arch, n. Etym: [LL. ecclesiarcha, fr. Gr. ecclésiarque.]

Defn: An official of the Eastern Church, resembling a sacrist in the Western Church.

ECCLESIAST Ec*cle"si*ast, n.

1. An ecclesiastic. Chaucer.

2. The Apocryphal book of Ecclesiasticus. [Obs.]

ECCLESIASTES Ec*cle`si*as"tes, n. Etym: [L., fr. Gr. Ecclesiastic, a.]

Defn: One of the canonical books of the Old Testament.

ECCLESIASTIC Ec*cle`si*as"tic, a. Etym: [L. ecclesiasticus, Gr. Ex-, and Hale, v. t., Haul.]

Defn: Of or pertaining to the church. See Ecclesiastical. "Ecclesiastic government." Swift.

ECCLESIASTIC Ec*cle`si*as"tic, n.

Defn: A person in holy orders, or consecrated to the service of the church and the ministry of religion; a clergyman; a priest. From a humble ecclesiastic, he was subsequently preferred to the highest dignities of the church. Prescott.

ECCLESIASTICAL Ec*cle`si*as"tic*al, a. Etym: [See Ecclesiastical, a.]

Defn: Of or pertaining to the church; relating to the organization or government of the church; not secular; as, ecclesiastical affairs or history; ecclesiastical courts. Every circumstance of ecclesiastical order and discipline was an abomination. Cowper. Ecclesiastical commissioners for England, a permanent commission established by Parliament in 1836, to consider and report upon the affairs of the Established Church. -- Ecclesiastical courts, courts for maintaining the discipline of the Established Church; -- called also Christian courts. [Eng.] -- Ecclesiastical law, a combination of civil and canon law as administered in ecclesiastical courts. [Eng.] -- Ecclesiastical modes (Mus.), the church modes, or the scales anciently used. -- Ecclesiastical States, the territory formerly subject to the Pope of Rome as its temporal ruler; -- called also States of the Church.

ECCLESIASTICALLY Ec*cle`si*as"tic*al*ly, adv.

Defn: In an ecclesiastical manner; according ecclesiastical rules.

ECCLESIASTICISM Ec*cle`si*as"ti*cism, n.

Defn: Strong attachment to ecclesiastical usages, forms, etc.

ECCLESIASTICUS Ec*cle`si*as"ti*cus, n. Etym: [L.]

Defn: A book of the Apocrypha.

ECCLESIOLOGICAL Ec*cle`si*o*log"ic*al, a.

Defn: Belonging to ecclesiology.

ECCLESIOLOGIST Ec*cle`si*ol"o*gist, n.

Defn: One versed in ecclesiology.

ECCLESIOLOGY Ec*cle`si*ol"o*gy, n. Etym: [Ecclesia + -logy.]

Defn: The science or theory of church building and decoration.

ECCRITIC Ec*crit"ic, n. Etym: [Gr. (Med.)

Defn: A remedy which promotes discharges, as an emetic, or a cathartic.

ECDERON Ec"der*on, n. Etym: [NL., fr. Gr. (Anat.)

Defn: See Ecteron. -- Ec`der*on"ic, a.

ECDYSIS Ec"dy*sis, n.; pl. Ecdyses. Etym: [NL., fr. Gr. 'e`kdysis a getting out, fr. 'ekdy`ein, to put off; 'ek out + dy`ein to enter.] (Biol.)

Defn: The act of shedding, or casting off, an outer cuticular layer, as in the case of serpents, lobsters, etc.; a coming out; as, the ecdysis of the pupa from its shell; exuviation.

ECGONINE Ec"go*nine (; 104), n. Etym: [Gr. 'e`kgonos sprung from.] (Chem.)

Defn: A colorless, crystalline, nitrogenous base, obtained by the decomposition of cocaine.

ECHAUGUETTE (), n. Etym: [F.]

Defn: A small chamber or place of protection for a sentinel, usually in the form of a projecting turret, or the like. See Castle.

ECHE Ech"e, a. or a. pron.

Defn: Each. [Obs.] Chaucer.

ECHELON Ech"e*lon, n. Etym: [F., fr. échelle ladder, fr. L. scala.]

1. (Mil.)

Defn: An arrangement of a body of troops when its divisions are drawn up in parallel lines each to the right or the left of the one in advance of it, like the steps of a ladder in position for climbing. Also used adjectively; as, echelon distance. Upton (Tactics).

2. (Naval)

Defn: An arrangement of a fleet in a wedge or Encyc. Dict. Echelon lens (Optics), a large lens constructed in several parts or layers, extending in a succession of annular rings beyond the central lens; - - used in lighthouses.

ECHELON Ech"e*lon, v. t. (Mil.)

Defn: To place in echelon; to station divisions of troops in echelon.

ECHELON Ech"e*lon, v. i.

Defn: To take position in echelon. Change direction to the left, echelon by battalion from the right. Upton (Tactics).

ECHIDNA E*chid"na, n. Etym: [L., a viper, adder, Gr.

1. (Gr. Myth.)

Defn: A monster, half maid and half serpent.

2. (Zoöl.)

Defn: A genus of Monotremata found in Australia, Tasmania, and New Guinea. They are toothless and covered with spines; -- called also porcupine ant-eater, and Australian ant-eater.

ECHIDNINE E*chid"nine (; 104), n. Etym: [See Echidna.] (Chem.)

Defn: The clear, viscid fluid secreted by the poison glands of certain serpents; also, a nitrogenous base contained in this, and supposed to be the active poisonous principle of the virus. Brande & C.

ECHINATE; ECHINATED Ech"i*nate, Ech"i*na`ted, a. Etym: [L. echinatus. See Echinus.]

Defn: Set with prickles; prickly, like a hedgehog; bristled; as, an echinated pericarp.

ECHINID E*chi"nid, a. & n. (Zoöl.)

Defn: Same as Echinoid.

ECHINIDAN E*chin"i*dan, n. Etym: [Cf. F. échinide.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: One the Echinoidea.

ECHINITAL E*chin"i*tal, a.

Defn: Of, or like, an echinite.

ECHINITE Ech"i*nite, n. Etym: [Cf. F. échinite. See Echinus.] (Paleon.)

Defn: A fossil echinoid.

ECHINOCOCCUS E*chi`no*coc"cus, n. Etym: [NL., fr. Gr. (Zoöl.)

Defn: A parasite of man and of many domestic and wild animals, forming compound cysts or tumors (called hydatid cysts) in various organs, but especially in the liver and lungs, which often cause death. It is the larval stage of the Tænia echinococcus, a small tapeworm peculiar to the dog.

ECHINODERM E*chin"o*derm`, n. (Zoöl.)

Defn: One of the Echinodermata.

ECHINODERMAL E*chi`no*der"mal, a. (Zoöl.)

Defn: Relating or belonging to the echinoderms.

ECHINODERMATA E*chi`no*der"ma*ta, n. pl. Etym: [NL., fr. Gr. (Zoöl.)

Defn: One of the grand divisions of the animal kingdom. By many writers it was formerly included in the Radiata. [Written also Echinoderma.]

Note: The species usually have an exterior calcareous skeleton, or shell, made of many pieces, and often covered with spines, to which the name. They may be star-shaped, cylindrical, disk-shaped, or more or less spherical. The body consists of several similar parts (spheromeres) repeated symmetrically around a central axis, at one end of which the mouth is situated. They generally have suckers for locomotion. The group includes the following classes: Crinoidea, Asterioidea, Ophiuroidea, Echinoidea, and Holothurioidea. See these words in the Vocabulary, and also Ambulacrum.

ECHINODERMATOUS E*chi`no*der"ma*tous, a. (Zoöl.)

Defn: Relating to Echinodermata; echinodermal.

ECHINOID E*chi"noid, a. Etym: [Echinus + -oid.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: Of or pertaining to the Echinoidea. -- n.

Defn: One of the Echinoidea.

ECHINOIDEA Ech`i*noi"de*a, n. pl. Etym: [NL. See Echinus, and -oid.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: The class Echinodermata which includes the sea urchins. They have a calcareous, usually more or less spheroidal or disk-shaped, composed of many united plates, and covered with movable spines. See Spatangoid, Clypeastroid. [Written also Echinidea, and Echinoida.]

ECHINOZOA E*chi`no*zo"a, n. pl. Etym: [NL., fr. Gr. (Zoöl.)

Defn: The Echinodermata.

ECHINULATE E*chin"u*late, a. (Bot. & Zoöl.)

Defn: Set with small spines or prickles.

ECHINUS E*chi"nus, n.; pl. Echini. Etym: [L., a hedgehog, sea urchin, Gr.

1. (Zoöl.)

Defn: A hedgehog.

2. (Zoöl.)

Defn: A genus of echinoderms, including the common edible sea urchin of Europe.

3. (Arch.) (a) The rounded molding forming the bell of the capital of the Grecian Doric style, which is of a peculiar elastic curve. See Entablature. (b) The quarter-round molding (ovolo) of the Roman Doric style. See Illust. of Column (c) A name sometimes given to the egg and anchor or egg and dart molding, because that ornament is often identified with Roman Doric capital. The name probably alludes to the shape of the shell of the sea urchin.

ECHIUROIDEA Ech`i*u*roi"de*a, n. pl. Etym: [NL., fr. echiurus, the name of one genus (Gr. -oid.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: A division of Annelida which includes the genus Echiurus and allies. They are often classed among the Gephyrea, and called the armed Gephyreans.

ECHO Ech"o, n.; pl. Echoes. Etym: [L. echo, Gr. va to sound, bellow; perh. akin to E. voice: cf. F. écho.]

1. A sound reflected from an opposing surface and repeated to the ear of a listener; repercussion of sound; repetition of a sound. The babbling echo mocks the hounds. Shak. The woods shall answer, and the echo ring. Pope.

2. Fig.: Sympathetic recognition; response; answer. Fame is the echo of actions, resounding them. Fuller. Many kind, and sincere speeches found an echo in his heart. R. L. Stevenson.

3. (a) (Myth. & Poetic) A wood or mountain nymph, regarded as repeating, and causing the reverberation of them. Sweet Echo, sweetest nymph, that liv'st unseen Within thy airy shell. Milton. (b) (Gr. Myth.)

Defn: A nymph, the daughter of Air and Earth, who, for love of Narcissus, pined away until nothing was left of her but her voice. Compelled me to awake the courteous Echo To give me answer from her mossy couch. Milton. Echo organ (Mus.), a set organ pipes inclosed in a box so as to produce a soft, distant effect; -- generally superseded by the swell. -- Echo stop (Mus.), a stop upon a harpsichord contrived for producing the soft effect of distant sound. -- To applaud to the echo, to give loud and continuous applause. M. Arnold. I would applaud thee to the very echo, That should applaud again. Shak.

ECHO Ech"o, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Echoed; p. pr. & vb. n. Echoing. -- 3d pers. sing. pres. Echoes (.]

1. To send back (a sound); to repeat in sound; to reverberate. Those peals are echoed by the Trojan throng. Dryden. The wondrous sound Is echoed on forever. Keble.

2. To repeat with assent; to respond; to adopt. They would have echoed the praises of the men whom they Macaulay.

ECHO Ech"o, v. i.

Defn: To give an echo; to resound; to be sounded back; as, the hall echoed with acclamations. "Echoing noise." Blackmore.

ECHOER Ech"o*er, n.

Defn: One who, or that which, echoes.

ECHOLESS Ech"o*less, a.

Defn: Without echo or response.

ECHOMETER E*chom"e*ter, n. Etym: [Gr. -meter: cf. F. échomètre.] (Mus)

Defn: A graduated scale for measuring the duration of sounds, and determining their different, and the relation of their intervals. J. J. Rousseau.

ECHOMETRY E*chom"e*try, n. Etym: [Cf. F. échométrie.]

1. The art of measuring the duration of sounds or echoes.

2. The art of constructing vaults to produce echoes.

ECHON; ECHOON Ech*on", Ech*oon", pron.

Defn: Each one. [Obs.] Chaucer.

ECHOPATHY E*chop"a*thy, n. [Echo + -pathy, as in homeopathy.] (Med.)

Defn: A morbid condition characterized by automatic and purposeless repetition of words or imitation of actions.

ECHOSCOPE Ech"o*scope, n. Etym: [Gr. -scope.] (Med.)

Defn: An instrument for intensifying sounds produced by percussion of the thorax. Knight.

ECLAIR e`clair", n. Etym: [F.] (Cookery)

Defn: A kind of frosted cake, containing flavored cream.

ECLAIRCISE E*clair"cise, v. t. Etym: [F. éclaircir; pref. es- (L. ex) + clair clear, L. clarus.]

Defn: To make clear; to clear up what is obscure or not understood; to explain.

ECLAIRCISSEMENT E*clair"cisse*ment, n. Etym: [F., fr. éclaircir. See Eclaircise, v. t.]

Defn: The clearing up of anything which is obscure or not easily understood; an explanation. The eclaircissement ended in the discovery of the informer. Clarendon.

ECLAMPSIA Ec*lamp"si*a, n. Etym: [NL., from Gr. (Med.)

Defn: A fancied perception of flashes of light, a symptom of epilepsy; hence, epilepsy itself; convulsions.

Note: The term is generally restricted to a convulsive affection attending pregnancy and parturition, and to infantile convulsions.

ECLAMPSY Ec*lamp"sy, n. (Med.)

Defn: Same as Eclampsia.

ECLAT E*clat", n. Etym: [F. éclat a fragment, splinter, explosion, brilliancy, splendor, fr. éclater to splinter, burst, explode, shine brilliantly, prob. of German origin; cf. OHG. sleizan to slit, split, fr. slizan, G. schleissen; akin to E. slit.]

1. Brilliancy of success or effort; splendor; brilliant show; striking effect; glory; renown. "The eclat of Homer's battles." Pope.

2. Demonstration of admiration and approbation; applause. Prescott.

ECLECTIC Ec*lec"tic, a. Etym: [Gr. éclectique. See Eclogue, and cf. Elect.]

1. Selecting; choosing (what is true or excellent in doctrines, opinions, etc.) from various sources or systems; as, an eclectic philosopher.

2. Consisting, or made up, of what is chosen or selected; as, an eclectic method; an eclectic magazine. Eclectic physician, one of a class of practitioners of medicine, who select their modes of practice and medicines from all schools; formerly, sometimes the same as botanic physician. [U.S.] -- Eclectic school. (Paint.) See Bolognese school, under Bolognese.

ECLECTIC Ec*lec"tic, n.

Defn: One who follows an eclectic method.

ECLECTICALLY Ec*lec"tic*al*ly, adv.

Defn: In an eclectic manner; by an eclectic method.

ECLECTICISM Ec*lec"ti*cism, n. Etym: [Cf. F. éclecticisme. Cf. Electicism.]

Defn: Theory or practice of an eclectic.

ECLEGM Ec*legm", n. Etym: [F. éclegme, L. ecligma, fr. Gr. (Med.)

Defn: A medicine made by mixing oils with sirups. John Quincy.

ECLIPSE E*clipse", n. Etym: [F. éclipse, L. eclipsis, fr. Gr. Ex-, and Loan.]

1. (Astron.)

Defn: An interception or obscuration of the light of the sun, moon, or other luminous body, by the intervention of some other body, either between it and the eye, or between the luminous body and that illuminated by it. A lunar eclipse is caused by the moon passing through the earth's shadow; a solar eclipse, by the moon coming between the sun and the observer. A satellite is eclipsed by entering the shadow of its primary. The obscuration of a planet or star by the moon or a planet, though of the nature of an eclipse, is called an occultation. The eclipse of a small portion of the sun by Mercury or Venus is called a transit of the planet.

Note: In ancient times, eclipses were, and among unenlightened people they still are, superstitiously regarded as forerunners of evil fortune, a sentiment of which occasional use is made in literature. That fatal and perfidious bark, Built in the eclipse, and rigged with curses dark. Milton.

2. The loss, usually temporary or partial, of light, brilliancy, luster, honor, consciousness, etc.; obscuration; gloom; darkness. All the posterity of our fist parents suffered a perpetual eclipse of spiritual life. Sir W. Raleigh. As in the soft and sweet eclipse, When soul meets soul on lovers' lips. Shelley. Annular eclipse. (Astron.) See under Annular. -- Cycle of eclipses. See under Cycle.

ECLIPSE E*clipse", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Eclipsed; p. pr. & vb. n. Eclipsing.]

1. To cause the obscuration of; to darken or hide; -- said of a heavenly body; as, the moon eclipses the sun.

2. To obscure, darken, or extinguish the beauty, luster, honor, etc., of; to sully; to cloud; to throw into the shade by surpassing. "His eclipsed state." Dryden. My joy of liberty is half eclipsed. Shak.

ECLIPSE E*clipse", v. i.

Defn: To suffer an eclipse. While the laboring moon Eclipses at their charms. Milton.

ECLIPTIC E*clip"tic, n. Etym: [Cf. F. écliptique, L. linea ecliptica, Gr. Ecliptic, a.]

1. (Astron.)

Defn: A great circle of the celestial sphere, making an angle with the equinoctial of about 23º 28'. It is the apparent path of the sun, or the real path of the earth as seen from the sun.

2. (Geog.)

Defn: A great circle drawn on a terrestrial globe, making an angle of 23º 28' with the equator; -- used for illustrating and solving astronomical problems.

ECLIPTIC E*clip"tic, a. Etym: [L. eclipticus belonging to an eclipse, Gr. Eclipse.]

1. Pertaining to the ecliptic; as, the ecliptic way.

2. Pertaining to an eclipse or to eclipses. Lunar ecliptic limit (Astron.), the space of 12º on the moon's orbit from the node, within which, if the moon happens to be at full, it will be eclipsed. -- Solar ecliptic limit, the space of 17º from the lunar node, within which, if a conjunction of the sun and moon occur, the sun will be eclipsed.

ECLOGITE Ec"lo*gite, n. Etym: [See Ecloque.] (Min.)

Defn: A rock consisting of granular red garnet, light green smaragdite, and common hornblende; -- so called in reference to its beauty.

ECLOGUE Ec"logue, n. Etym: [L. ecloga, Gr. égloque, écloque. See Ex-, and Legend.]

Defn: A pastoral poem, in which shepherds are introduced conversing with each other; a bucolic; an idyl; as, the Ecloques of Virgil, from which the modern usage of the word has been established.

ECONOMIC; ECONOMICAL E`co*nom"ic, E`co*nom"ic*al, a. Etym: [F. économique, L. oeconomicus orderly, methodical, Gr. Economy.]

1. Pertaining to the household; domestic. "In this economical misfortune [of ill-assorted matrimony.]" Milton.

2. Relating to domestic economy, or to the management of household affairs. And doth employ her economic art And busy care, her household to preserve. Sir J. Davies.

3. Managing with frugality; guarding against waste or unnecessary expense; careful and frugal in management and in expenditure; -- said of character or habits. Just rich enough, with economic care, To save a pittance. Harte.

4. Managed with frugality; not marked with waste or extravagance; frugal; -- said of acts; saving; as, an economical use of money or of time.

5. Relating to the means of living, or the resources and wealth of a country; relating to political economy; as, economic purposes; economical truths. These matters economical and political. J. C. Shairp. There was no economical distress in England to prompt the enterprises of colonization. Palfrey. Economic questions, such as money, usury, taxes, lands, and the employment of the people. H. C. Baird.

6. Regulative; relating to the adaptation of means to an end. Grew.

Note: Economical is the usual form when meaning frugal, saving; economic is the form commonly used when meaning pertaining to the management of a household, or of public affairs.

ECONOMICALLY E`co*nom"ic*al*ly, adv.

Defn: With economy; with careful management; with prudence in expenditure.

ECONOMICS E`co*nom"ics, n. Etym: [Gr. Economic.]

1. The science of household affairs, or of domestic management.

2. Political economy; the science of the utilities or the useful application of wealth or material resources. See Political economy, under Political. "In politics and economics." V. Knox.

ECONOMIST E*con"o*mist, n. Etym: [Cf. F. économiste.]

1. One who economizes, or manages domestic or other concerns with frugality; one who expends money, time, or labor, judiciously, and without waste. "Economists even to parsimony." Burke.

2. One who is conversant with political economy; a student of economics.

ECONOMIZATION E*con`o*mi*za"tion, n.

Defn: The act or practice of using to the best effect. [R.] H. Spenser.

ECONOMIZE E*con"o*mize, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Economized; p. pr. & vb. n. Economizing.] Etym: [Cf. F. économiser.]

Defn: To manage with economy; to use with prudence; to expend with frugality; as, to economize one's income. [Written also economise.] Expenses in the city were to be economized. Jowett (Thucyd. ). Calculating how to economize time. W. Irving.

ECONOMIZE E*con"o*mize, v. i.

Defn: To be prudently sparing in expenditure; to be frugal and saving; as, to economize in order to grow rich. [Written also economise.] Milton.

ECONOMIZER E*con"o*mi`zer, n.

1. One who, or that which, economizes.

2. Specifically: (Steam Boilers) An arrangement of pipes for heating feed water by waste heat in the gases passing to the chimney.

ECONOMY E*con"o*my, n.; pl. Economies. Etym: [F. économie, L. oeconomia household management, fr. Gr. vicus village, E. vicinity) + Vicinity, Nomad.]

1. The management of domestic affairs; the regulation and government of household matters; especially as they concern expense or disbursement; as, a careful economy. Himself busy in charge of the household economies. Froude.

2. Orderly arrangement and management of the internal affairs of a state or of any establishment kept up by production and consumption; esp., such management as directly concerns wealth; as, political economy.

3. The system of rules and regulations by which anything is managed; orderly system of regulating the distribution and uses of parts, conceived as the result of wise and economical adaptation in the author, whether human or divine; as, the animal or vegetable economy; the economy of a poem; the Jewish economy. The position which they [the verb and adjective] hold in the general economy of language. Earle. In the Greek poets, as also in Plautus, we shall see the economy . . . of poems better observed than in Terence. B. Jonson. The Jews already had a Sabbath, which, as citizens and subjects of that economy, they were obliged to keep. Paley.

4. Thrifty and frugal housekeeping; management without loss or waste; frugality in expenditure; prudence and disposition to save; as, a housekeeper accustomed to economy but not to parsimony. Political economy. See under Political.

Syn. -- Economy, Frugality, Parsimony. Economy avoids all waste and extravagance, and applies money to the best advantage; frugality cuts off indulgences, and proceeds on a system of saving. The latter conveys the idea of not using or spending superfluously, and is opposed to lavishness or profusion. Frugality is usually applied to matters of consumption, and commonly points to simplicity of manners; parsimony is frugality carried to an extreme, involving meanness of spirit, and a sordid mode of living. Economy is a virtue, and parsimony a vice.

I have no other notion of economy than that it is the parent to liberty and ease. Swift. The father was more given to frugality, and the son to riotousness [luxuriousness]. Golding.

ECORCHE (), n. Etym: [F.] (Fine Arts)

Defn: A manikin, or image, representing an animal, especially man, with the skin removed so that the muscles are exposed for purposes of study.

ECOSSAISE e`cos`saise", n. Etym: [F.] (Mus.)

Defn: A dancing tune in the Scotch style.