Webster\'s Unabridged Dictionary

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<-- begin Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - 1913 -->
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A (named ? in the English, and most commonly in other
languages). The first letter of the English and of many
other alphabets. The capital A of the alphabets of Middle
and Western Europe, as also the small letter (a), besides
the forms in Italic, black letter, etc., are all descended
from the old Latin A, which was borrowed from the Greek
Alpha, of the same form; and this was made from the first
letter (?) of the Phoenician alphabet, the equivalent of the
Hebrew Aleph, and itself from the Egyptian origin. The Aleph
was a consonant letter, with a guttural breath sound that
was not an element of Greek articulation; and the Greeks
took it to represent their vowel Alpha with the sound, the
Phoenician alphabet having no vowel symbols.
This letter, in English, is used for several different
vowel sounds. See Guide to pronunciation, 43P74. The
regular long a, as in fate, etc., is a comparatively modern
sound, and has taken the place of what, till about the early
part of the 17th century, was a sound of the quality of
(as in far).
2. (Mus.) The name of the sixth tone in the model major
scale (that in C), or the first tone of the minor scale,
which is named after it the scale in A minor. The second
string of the violin is tuned to the A in the treble staff.
P A sharp (A#) is the name of a musical tone intermediate
between A and B.P A flat (A?) is the name of a tone
intermediate between A and G.
A per se (L. per se by itself), one pre minent; a
nonesuch. [Obs.]
O fair Creseide, the flower and A per se
Of Troy and Greece.
Chaucer.
A (? emph. ?). 1. [Shortened form of an. AS. ? one. See
One.] An adjective, commonly called the indefinite article,
and signifying one or any, but less emphatically. =At a
birth8; =In a word8; =At a blow8. Shak. It is placed before
nouns of the singular number denoting an individual object,
or a quality individualized, before collective nouns, and
also before plural nouns when the adjective few or the
phrase great many or good many is interposed; as, a dog, a
house, a man; a color; a sweetness; a hundred, a fleet, a
regiment; a few persons, a great many days. It is used for
an, for the sake of euphony, before words beginning with a
consonant sound [for exception of certain words beginning
with h, see An]; as, a table, a woman, a year, a unit, a
eulogy, a ewe, a oneness, such a one, etc. Formally an was
used both before vowels and consonants.
2. [Originally the preposition a (an, on).] In each; to
or for each; as, =twenty leagues a day8, =a hundred pounds a
year8, =a dollar a yard8, etc.
A (?), prep. [Abbreviated form of an (AS. on). See On.]
1. In; on; at; by. [Obs.] =A God's name.8 =Torn a pieces.8
=Stand a tiptoe.8 =A Sundays8 Shak. =Wit that men have now a
days.8 Chaucer. =Set them a work.8 Robynson (More's Utopia)
2. In process of; in the act of; into; to; P used with
verbal substantives in Ping which begin with a consonant.
This is a shortened form of the preposition an which was
used before the vowel sound); as in a hunting, a building, a
begging. =Jacob, when he was a dying8 Heb. xi. 21. =We'll a
birding together.8 = It was a doing.8 Shak. =He burst out a
laughing.8 Macaulay. The hyphen may be used to connect a
with the verbal substantive (as, aPhunting, aPbilding) or
the words may be written separately. This form of expression
is now for the most part obsolete, the a being omitted and
the verbal substantive treated as a participle.
A. [From AS. of off, from. See Of.] Of. [Obs.] =The name
of John a Gaunt.8 =What time a day is it ?8 Shak. =It's six
a clock.8 B. Jonson.
A. A barbarous corruption of have, of he, and sometimes
of it and of they. =So would I a done8 =A brushes his hat.8
Shak.
A. An expletive, void of sense, to fill up the meter
A merry heart goes all the day,
Your sad tires in a milePa.
Shak.
AP. A, as a prefix to English words, is derived from
various sources. (1) It frequently signifies on or in (from
an, a forms of AS. on), denoting a state, as in afoot, on
foot, abed, amiss, asleep, aground, aloft, away (AS. onweg),
and analogically, ablaze, atremble, etc. (2) AS. of off,
from, as in adown (AS. ofdne off the dun or hill). (3) AS.
? (Goth. usP, urP, Ger. erP), usually giving an intensive
force, and sometimes the sense of away, on, back, as in
arise, abide, ago. (4) Old English yP or iP (corrupted from
the AS. inseparable particle geP, cognate with OHG. gaP,
giP, Goth. gaP), which, as a prefix, made no essential
addition to the meaning, as in aware. (5) French (L. ad
to), as in abase, achieve. (6) L. a, ab, abs, from, as in
avert. (7) Greek insep. prefix ? without, or privative, not,
as in abyss, atheist; akin to E. unP.
Besides these, there are other sources from which the
prefix a takes its origin.
A 1 (?). A registry mark given by underwriters (as at
Lloyd's) to ships in firstPclass condition. Inferior grades
are indicated by A 2 and A 3.
A 1 is also applied colloquially to other things to
imply superiority; prime; firstPclass; firstPrate.
XAam (?), n. [D. aam, fr. LL. ama; cf. L hama a water
bucket, Gr. ?] A Dutch and German measure of liquids,
varying in different cities, being at Amsterdam about 41
wine gallons, at Antwerp 36+, at Hamburg 38,. [Written also
Aum and Awm.]
XAard6Pvark7 (?), n. [D., earthPpig.] (Zol.) An
edentate mammal, of the genus Orycteropus, somewhat
resembling a pig, common in some parts of Southern Africa.
It burrows in the ground, and feeds entirely on ants, which
it catches with its long, slimy tongue.
XAard6Pwolf7 (?), n. [D, earthPwolf] (Zol.) A
carnivorous quadruped (Proteles Lalandii), of South Africa,
resembling the fox and hyena. See Proteles.
AaOron6ic (?), AaOron6icOal (?),} a. Pertaining to
Aaron, the first high priest of the Jews.
Aar6on's rod7 (?). [See Exodus vii. 9 and Numbers xvii.
8] 1. (Arch.) A rod with one serpent twined around it, thus
differing from the caduceus of Mercury, which has two.
2. (Bot.) A plant with a tall flowering stem; esp. the
great mullein, or hagPtaper, and the goldenProd.
AbP (?). [Latin prep., etymologically the same as E. of,
off. See Of.] A prefix in many words of Latin origin. It
signifies from, away , separating, or departure, as in
abduct, abstract, abscond. See AP(6).
XAb (?), n. [Of Syriac origin.] The fifth month of the
Jewish year according to the ecclesiastical reckoning, the
eleventh by the civil computation, coinciding nearly with
August.
W.Smith.
XAb6aOca (?), n. [The native name.] The ManilaPhemp
plant (Musa textilis); also, its fiber. See Manila hemp
under Manila.
AObac6iOnate (?), v.t. [LL. abacinatus, p.p. of
abacinare; ab off+bacinus a basin.] To blind by a redPhot
metal plate held before the eyes. [R.]
AObac7iOna6tion (?), n. The act of abacinating. [R.]
XAb7aOcis6cus (?), n. [Gr.?, dim of ?. See Abacus.]
(Arch.) One of the tiles or squares of a tessellated
pavement; an abaculus.
Ab6aOcist (?), n. [LL abacista, fr. abacus.] One who
uses an abacus in casting accounts; a calculator.
AOback6 (?), adv. [Pref. aP + back; AS. on ? at, on, or
toward the back. See Back.] 1. Toward the back or rear;
backward. =Therewith aback she started.8
Chaucer.
2. Behind; in the rear.
Knolles.
3. (Naut.) Backward against the mast;Psaid of the sails
when pressed by the wind.
Totten.
To be taken aback. (a) To be driven backward against the
mast;Psaid of the sails, also of the ship when the are thus
driven. (b) To be suddenly checked, baffled, or discomfited.
Dickens.
Ab6ack (?), n. An abacus. [Obs.]
B.Jonson.
AbOac6tiOnal (?), a. [L. ab + E. actinal.] (Zol.)
Pertaining to the surface or end opposite to the mouth in a
radiate animal;Popposed to actinal. =The aboral or abactinal
area.8
L.Agassiz.
AbOac6tion (?), n. Stealing cattle on a large scale.
[Obs.]
AbOac6tor (?), n. [L., fr. abigere to drive away;
ab+agere to drive.] (Law) One who steals and drives away
cattle or beasts by herds or droves. [Obs.]
XAObac6uOlus (?), n. ; pl. Abaculi (?). [L., dim. of
abacus.] (Arch.) A small tile of glass, marble, or other
substance, of various colors, used in making ornamental
patterns in mosaic pavements.
Fairholt.
Ab6aOcus (?), n.; E. pl. Abacuses ; L. pl. Abaci (?).
[L. abacus, abax, ?] 1. A table or tray strewn with sand,
anciently used for drawing, calculating, etc. [Obs.]
2. A calculating table or frame; an instrument for
performing arithmetical calculations by balls sliding on
wires, or counters in grooves, the lowest line representing
units, the second line, tens, etc. It is still employed in
China.
3. (Arch.) (a) The uppermost member or division of the
capital of a column, immediately under the architrave. See
Column. (b) A tablet, panel, or compartment in ornamented or
mosaic work.
4. A board, tray, or table, divided into perforated
compartments, for holding cups, bottles, or the like; a kind
of cupboard, buffet, or sideboard.
Abacus harmonicus (Mus.), an ancient diagram showing the
structure and disposition of the keys of an instrument.
Crabb.
Ab6aOda (?), n. [Pg., the female rhinoceros.] The
rhinoceros. [Obs.]
Purchas.
AObad6don (?), n. [Heb. ? destruction, abyss, fr. ? to
be lost, to perish.] 1. The destroyer, or angel of the
bottomless pit; P the same as Apollyon and Asmodeus.
2. Hell; the bottomless pit. [Poetic]
In all her gates, Abaddon rues
Thy bold attempt.
Milton.
AObaft6 (?), prep. [Pref. aPon + OE. baft, baften,
biaften, AS.?; be by + ? behind. See After, Aft, By.]
(Naut.) Behind; toward the stern from; as, abaft the
wheelhouse.
Abaft the beam. See under Beam.
AObaft6, adv. (Naut.) Toward the stern; aft; as, to go
abaft.
AObai6sance (?), n. [For obeisance; confused with F.
abaisser, E. abase] Obeisance. [Obs.]
Jonson.
AObai6ser (?), n. Ivory black or animal charcoal.
Weale.

AObaist6 (?), p.p. Abashed; confounded; discomfited.
[Obs.]
Chaucer.
AbOal6ienOate (?), v.t. [L. abalienatus, p.p. of
abalienare; ab + alienus foreign, alien. See Alien.] 1.
(Civil Law) To transfer the title of from one to another; to
alienate.
2. To estrange; to withdraw. [Obs.]
3. To cause alienation of (mind).
Sandys.
AbOal7ienOa6tion (?), n. [L. abalienatio: cf. F.
abalianation.] The act of abalienating; alienation;
estrangement. [Obs.]
XAb7aOlo6ne (?), n. (Zol.) A univalve mollusk of the
genus Haliotis. The shell is lined with motherPofPpearl, and
used for ornamental purposes; the seaPear. Several large
species are found on the coast of California, clinging
closely to the rocks.
AOband6 (?), v.t. [Contracted from abandon.]
1. To abandon. [Obs.]
Enforced the kingdom to aband.
Spenser.
2. To banish; to expel. [Obs.]
Mir. for Mag.
AOban6don (?), v.t. [imp. & p.p. Abandoned (?); p.pr. &
vb.n. Abandoning .] [OF. abandoner, F.abandonner; a (L.
ad)+bandon permission, authority, LL. bandum, bannum, public
proclamation, interdiction, bannire to proclaim, summon: of
Germanic origin; cf. Goth. bandwjan to show by signs, to
designate OHG. banproclamation. The word meant to proclaim,
put under a ban, put under control; hence, as in OE., to
compel, subject, or to leave in the control of another, and
hence, to give up. See Ban.] 1. To cast or drive out; to
banish; to expel; to reject. [Obs.]
That he might ... abandon them from him.
Udall.
Being all this time abandoned from your bed.
Shak.
2. To give up absolutely; to forsake entirely ; to
renounce utterly; to relinquish all connection with or
concern on; to desert, as a person to whom one owes
allegiance or fidelity; to quit; to surrender.
Hope was overthrown, yet could not be abandoned.
I. Taylor.
3. Reflexively : To give (one's self) up without attempt
at selfPcontrol ; to yield (one's self) unrestrainedly ; P
often in a bad sense.
He abandoned himself ... to his favorite vice.
Macaulay.
4. (Mar. Law) To relinquish all claim to; P used when an
insured person gives up to underwriters all claim to the
property covered by a policy, which may remain after loss or
damage by a peril insured against.
Syn.P To give up; yield; forego; cede; surrender;
resign; abdicate; quit; relinquish; renounce; desert;
forsake; leave; retire; withdraw from. P To Abandon, Desert,
Forsake. These words agree in representing a person as
giving up or leaving some object, but differ as to the mode
of doing it. The distinctive sense of abandon is that of
giving up a thing absolutely and finally; as, to abandon
one's friends, places, opinions, good or evil habits, a
hopeless enterprise, a shipwrecked vessel. Abandon is more
widely applicable than forsake or desert. The Latin
original of desert appears to have been originally applied
to the case of deserters from military service. Hence, the
verb, when used of persons in the active voice, has usually
or always a bad sense, implying some breach of fidelity,
honor, etc., the leaving of something which the person
should rightfully stand by and support; as, to desert one's
colors, to desert one's post, to desert one's principles or
duty. When used in the passive, the sense is not necessarily
bad; as, the fields were deserted, a deserted village,
deserted halls. Forsake implies the breaking off of previous
habit, association, personal connection, or that the thing
left had been familiar or frequented; as, to forsake old
friends, to forsake the paths of rectitude, the blood
forsook his cheeks. It may be used either in a good or in a
bad sense.
AOban6don, n. [F. abandon. fr. abandonner. See Abandon,
v.] Abandonment; relinquishment. [Obs.]
XA7ban7don6 (?), n. [F. See Abandon.] A complete giving
up to natural impulses; freedom from artificial constraint;
careless freedom or ease.
AOban6doned (?), a. 1. Forsaken, deserted. =Your
abandoned streams.8
Thomson.
2. SelfPabandoned, or given up to vice; extremely
wicked, or sinning without restraint; irreclaimably wicked ;
as, an abandoned villain.
Syn.P Profligate; dissolute; corrupt; vicious; depraved;
reprobate; wicked; unprincipled; graceless; vile. P
Abandoned, Profligate, Reprobate. These adjectives agree in
expressing the idea of great personal depravity. Profligate
has reference to open and shameless immoralities, either in
private life or political conduct; as, a profligate court, a
profligate ministry. Abandoned is stronger, and has
reference to the searing of conscience and hardening of
heart produced by a man's giving himself wholly up to
iniquity; as, a man of abandoned character. Reprobate
describes the condition of one who has become insensible to
reproof, and who is morally abandoned and lost beyond hope
of recovery.
God gave them over to a reprobate mind.
Rom. i. 28.
AOban6donedOly, adv. Unrestrainedly.
AOban7donOee6 (?), n. (Law) One to whom anything is
legally abandoned.
AOban6donOer (?), n. One who abandons.
Beau. & Fl.
AOban6donOment (?), n. [Cf. F. abandonnement.]
1. The act of abandoning, or the state of being
abandoned; total desertion; relinquishment.
The abandonment of the independence of Europe.
Burke.
2. (Mar. Law) The relinquishment by the insured to the
underwriters of what may remain of the property insured
after a loss or damage by a peril insured against.
3. (Com. Law) (a) The relinquishment of a right, claim,
or privilege, as to mill site, etc. (b) The voluntary
leaving of a person to whom one is bound by a special
relation, as a wife, husband, or child; desertion.
4. Careless freedom or ease; abandon. [R.]
Carlyle.
XAOban6Odum (?), n. [LL. See Abandon.] (Law) Anything
forfeited or confiscated.
Ab6aOnet (?), n. See Abnet.
XAOban6ga (?), n. [Name given by the negroes in the
island of St. Thomas.] A West Indian palm; also the fruit of
this palm, the seeds of which are used as a remedy for
diseases of the chest.
Ab7anOna6tion (?), Ab7anOnition (?),} n. [LL. abannatio;
ad + LL. bannire to banish.] (Old Law) Banishment. [Obs.]
Bailey.
Ab7arOtic7uOla6tion (?), n. [L. ab + E. articulation :
cf. F. abarticulation . See Article.] (Anat.) Articulation,
usually that kind of articulation which admits of free
motion in the joint; diarthrosis.
Coxe.
AObase6 (?), v.t. [imp.&p.p. Abased (?); p.pr. & vb. n.
Abasing.] [F. abaisser, LL. abassare, abbassare ; ad +
bassare, fr. bassus low. See Base, a.]
1. To lower or depress; to throw or cast down; as, to
abase the eye. [Archaic]
Bacon.
Saying so, he abased his lance.
Shelton.
2. To cast down or reduce low or lower, as in rank,
office, condition in life, or estimation of worthiness; to
depress; to humble; to degrade.
Whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased.
Luke xiv.ll.
Syn.P To Abase, Debase, Degrade. These words agree in
the idea of bringing down from a higher to a lower state.
Abase has reference to a bringing down in condition or
feelings; as to abase one's self before God. Debase has
reference to the bringing down of a thing in purity, or
making it base. It is, therefore, always used in a bad
sense, as, to debase the coin of the kingdom, to debase the
mind by vicious indulgence, to debase one's style by coarse
or vulgar expressions. Degrade has reference to a bringing
down from some higher grade or from some standard. Thus, a
priest is degraded from the clerical office. When used in a
moral sense, it denotes a bringing down in character and
just estimation; as, degraded by intemperance, a degrading
employment, etc. =Art is degraded when it is regarded only
as a trade.8
AObased6 (?), a. 1. Lowered; humbled.
2. (Her.) [F. abaiss.] Borne lower than usual, as a
fess; also, having the ends of the wings turned downward
towards the point of the shield.
AObas6edOly (?), adv. Abjectly; downcastly.
AObase6ment (?), n. [Cf. F. abaissement.] The act of
abasing, humbling, or bringing low; the state of being
abased or humbled; humiliation.
AObas6er (?), n. He who, or that which, abases.
AObash6 (?), v.t. [imp. & p.p. Abashed (?); p.pr. & vb.
n. Abashing.] [OE. abaissen, abaisshen, abashen, OF.esbahir,
F. bahir, to astonish, fr. L. ex + the interjection bah,
expressing astonishment. In OE. somewhat confused with
abase. Cf. Finish.] To destroy the selfPpossession of; to
confuse or confound, as by exciting suddenly a consciousness
of guilt, mistake, or inferiority; to put to shame; to
disconcert; to discomfit.
Abashed, the devil stood,
And felt how awful goodness is.
Milton.
He was a man whom no check could abash.
Macaulay.
Syn.P To confuse; confound; disconcert; shame. P To
Abash, Confuse, Confound. Abash is a stronger word than
confuse, but not so strong as confound. We are abashed when
struck either with sudden shame or with a humbling sense of
inferiority; as, Peter was abashed in the presence of those
who are greatly his superiors. We are confused when, from
some unexpected or startling occurrence, we lose clearness
of thought and selfPpossession. Thus, a witness is often
confused by a severe crossPexamination; a timid person is
apt to be confused in entering a room full of strangers. We
are confounded when our minds are overwhelmed, as it were,
by something wholly unexpected, amazing, dreadful, etc., so
that we have nothing to say. Thus, a criminal is usually
confounded at the discovery of his guilt.
Satan stood
Awhile as mute, confounded what to say.
Milton.
AObash6edOly (?), adv. In an abashed manner.
AObash6ment (?), n. [Cf. F. bahissement.] The state of
being abashed; confusion from shame.
XAObas6si (?), XAObas6sis (?),} n. [Ar.& Per.?,
belonging to Abas (a king of Persia).] A silver coin of
Persia, worth about twenty cents.
AObat6aOble (?), a. Capable of being abated; as, an
abatable writ or nuisance.
AObate6 (?), v.t. [imp.& p.p. Abated, p.pr.& vb.n.
Abating.] [OF. abatre to beat down, F. abattre, LL. abatere;
ab or ad + batere, battere (popular form for L. batuere to
beat). Cf. Bate, Batter.]
1. To beat down; to overthrow. [Obs.]
The King of Scots ... sore abated the walls.
Edw.Hall.
2. To bring down or reduce from a higher to a lower
state, number, or degree; to lessen; to diminish; to
contract; to moderate; toto cut short; as, to abate a
demand; to abate pride, zeal, hope.
His eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated.
Deut.xxxiv.7.
3. To deduct; to omit; as, to abate something from a
price.
Nine thousand parishes, abating the odd hundreds.
Fuller.
4. To blunt. [Obs.]
To abate the edge of envy.
Bacon.
5. To reduce in estimation; to deprive. [Obs.]
She hath abated me of half my train.
Shak.
6. (Law) (a) To bring entirely down or put an end to; to
do away with; as, to abate a nuisance, to abate a writ. (b)
(Eng. Law) To diminish; to reduce. Legacies are liable to be
abated entirely or in proportion, upon a deficiency of
assets.
To abate a tax, to remit it either wholly or in part.
AObate6 (?), v.i. [See Abate, v.t.] 1. To decrease, or
become less in strength or violence; as, pain abates, a
storm abates.
The fury of Glengarry ... rapidly abated.
Macaulay.
2. To be defeated, or come to naught; to fall through;
to fail; as, a writ abates.
To abate into a freehold, To abate in lands (Law), to
enter into a freehold after the death of the last possessor,
and before the heir takes possession. See Abatement, 4.
Syn.P To subside; decrease; intermit; decline; diminish;
lessen. P To Abate, Subside. These words, as here compared,
imply a coming down from some previously raised or exited
state. Abate expresses this in respect to degrees, and
implies a diminution of force or of intensity; as, the storm
abates, the cold abates, the force of the wind abates; or,
the wind abates, a fever abates. Subside (to settle down)
has reference to a previous state of agitation or commotion;
as, the waves subside after a storm, the wind subsides into
a calm. When the words are used figuratively, the same
distinction should be observed. If we conceive of a thing as
having different degrees of intensity or strength, the word
to be used is abate. Thus we say, a man's anger abates, the
ardor of one's love abates, =Winter rage abates8. But if the
image be that of a sinking down into quiet from preceding
excitement or commotion, the word to be used is subside; as,
the tumult of the people subsides, the public mind subsided
into a calm. The same is the case with those emotions which
are tumultuous in their nature; as, his passion subsides,
his joy quickly subsided, his grief subsided into a pleasing
melancholy. Yet if, in such cases, we were thinking of the
degree of violence of the emotion, we might use abate; as,
his joy will abate in the progress of time; and so in other
instances.
AObate (?), n. Abatement. [Obs.]
Sir T.Browne.
AObate6ment (?), n. [OF. abatement , F. abattement.] 1.
The act of abating, or the state of being abated; a
lessening, diminution, or reduction; removal or putting an
end to; as, the abatement of a nuisance is the suppression
thereof.
2. The amount abated; that which is taken away by way of
reduction; deduction; decrease; a rebate or discount
allowed.
3. (Her.) A mark of dishonor on an escutcheon.
4. (Law) The entry of a stranger, without right, into a
freehold after the death of the last possessor, before the
heir or devisee.
Blackstone.
Defense in abatement, Plea in abatement, (Law), plea to
the effect that from some formal defect ( e.g. misnomer,
want of jurisdiction) the proceedings should be abated.
AObat6er (?), n. One who, or that which, abates.
Ab6aOtis, Aba6tOtis,} (?) n. [F. abatis, abattis, mass
of things beaten or cut down, fr. abattre. See Abate.]
(Fort.) A means of defense formed by felled trees, the ends
of whose branches are sharpened and directed outwards, or
against the enemy.
Ab6aOtised (?), a. Provided with an abatis.
AOba6tor (?), n. (Law) (a) One who abates a nuisance.
(b) A person who, without right, enters into a freehold on
the death of the last possessor, before the heir or devisee.
Blackstone.
XA7bat7toir6 (?), n.; pl. Abattoirs (?). [F., fr.
abattre to beat down. See Abate.] A public slaughterhouse
for cattle, sheep, etc.
Ab6aOture (?), n. [F. abatture, fr. abattre. See Abate.]
Grass and sprigs beaten or trampled down by a stag passing
through them.
Crabb.
XA7bat7voix6 (?), n. [F. abattre to beat down + voix
voice.] The soundingPboard over a pulpit or rostrum.
AbOawed6 (?), p.p. [Perh. p.p. of a verb fr. OF. abaubir
to frighten, disconcert, fr. L. ad + balbus stammering.]
Astonished; abashed. [Obs.]
Chaucer.
AbOax6iOal (?), AbOax6ile (?),} a. [L. ab + axis axle.]
(Bot.) Away from the axis or central line; eccentric.
Balfour.
AObay6 (?), n. [OF. abay barking.] Barking; baying of
dogs upon their prey. See Bay. [Obs.]
Abb (?), n. [AS. ?; pref. aP + web. See Web.] Among
weaves, yarn for the warp. Hence, abb wool is wool for the
abb.
Ab6ba (?), n. [Syriac ? father. See Abbot.] Father;
religious superior; P in the Syriac, Coptic, and Ethiopic
churches, a title given to the bishops, and by the bishops
to the patriarch.
Ab6baOcy (?), n.; pl. Abbacies (?). [L. abbatia, fr.
abbas, abbatis, abbot. See Abbey.] The dignity, estate, or
jurisdiction of an abbot.
AbOba6tial (?), a. [LL. abbatialis : cf. F. abbatial.]
Belonging to an abbey; as, abbatial rights.
AbObat6icOal (?), a. Abbatial. [Obs.]
XAb6b7 (?), n.[F. abb. See Abbot.] The French word
answering to the English abbot, the head of an abbey; but
commonly a title of respect given in France to every one
vested with the ecclesiastical habit or dress.
Littr.
5 After the 16th century, the name was given, in social
parlance, to candidates for some priory or abbey in the gift
of the crown. Many of these aspirants became well known in
literary and fashionable life. By further extension, the
name came to be applied to unbeneficed secular ecclesiastics
generally.
Ab6bess (?), n. [OF.abaesse, abeesse, F. abbesse, L.
abbatissa, fem. of abbas, abbatis, abbot. See Abbot.] A
female superior or governess of a nunnery, or convent of
nuns, having the same authority over the nuns which the
abbots have over the monks. See Abbey.
Ab6bey (?), n.; pl. Abbeys (?). [OF. abae, F. abbaye,
L. abbatia, fr. abbas abbot. See Abbot.] 1. A monastery or
society of persons of either sex, secluded from the world
and devoted to religion and celibacy; also, the monastic
building or buildings.
5 The men are called monks, and governed by an abbot;
the women are called nuns, and governed by an abbess.
2. The church of a monastery.