Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary 1908/Seine Serpent

by Thomas Davidson

fāte, fär; mē, hėr; mīne; mōte; mūte; mōōn; then.

Seine, sān, or sēn, n. a large net for catching fish.—v.t. to catch with such.—ns. Seine′-boat; Seine′-en′gine, a steam-engine used in hauling seines; Seine′-gang, a body of men engaged in seining, with their boats and other gear; Sein′er, one who seines: a vessel engaged in purse-seining for mackerel; Sein′ing, the art of using the seine. [Fr.,—L. sagena—Gr. sagēnē, a fishing-net.]

Seirospore, sī′rō-spōr, n. one of the non-sexual spores arranged in a chain in certain florideous algæ.—adj. Seirospor′ic.

Seised, sēzd, adj. (Spens.) taken possession of.—n. Seis′in (Spens.), possession.

Seismograph, sīs′mō-graf, n. an instrument for registering the shocks and concussions of earthquakes, a seismometer.—adjs. Seis′mal; Seis′mic, belonging to an earthquake.—ns. Seis′mogram, the record made by a seismometer; Seismog′rapher.—adjs. Seismograph′ic, -al, connected with the seismograph.—n. Seismog′raphy, the study of earthquake phenomena.—adjs. Seismolog′ic, -al.—ns. Seismol′ogist, a student of earthquake phenomena; Seis′mologue, a catalogue of earthquake observations; Seismol′ogy, the science of earthquakes and volcanoes; Seismom′eter, an instrument for measuring shakings, tremors, and tiltings of the earth.—adjs. Seismom′etric, -al.—ns. Seismom′etry, the measuring the phenomena of earthquakes; Seis′moscope, a name of the simpler form of seismometer.—adj. Seismoscop′ic. [Gr. seismos, an earthquake, graphein, to write.]

Seison, sī′son, n. a genus of parasitic leech-like rotifers.

Seisura, sī-sū′ra, n. a genus of Australian fly-catchers.

Seity, sē′i-ti, n. something peculiar to one's self.

Seiurus, sī-ū′rus, n. the genus of birds including the American wagtails.

Seize, sēz,—v.t. to take possession of forcibly: to take hold of: to grasp: to apprehend by legal authority: to come upon suddenly: to lash or make fast.—v.i. to lay hold of with the claws: in metallurgy, to cohere.—adj. Seiz′able.—ns. Seiz′er; Seiz′ing, the act of taking hold: (naut.) the operation of lashing with several turns of a cord. [O. Fr. saisir (Prov. sazir, to take possession of)—Old High Ger. sazzan, to set, Ger. setzen, Eng. set.]

Seizin, Seisin, sē′zin, n. the taking possession of an estate as of freehold: the thing possessed—the same as Sasine (q.v.).—n. Seiz′or, one who takes legal possession.

Seizure, sē′zhūr, n. act of seizing: capture: grasp: the thing seized: a sudden attack.

Sejant, Sejeant, sē′jant, adj. (her.) sitting. [Fr. séant, pr.p. of seoir—L. sedēre, to sit.]

Sejoin, sē-join′, v.t. (obs.) to separate.—n. Sejunc′tion, separation.

Sejugous, sē′jōō-gus, adj. (bot.) having six pairs of leaflets. [L. sejugis—sex, six, jugum, a yoke.]

Sekos, sē′kos, n. in Greek antiquities, any sacred enclosure, a sanctuary, cella of the temple.

Sel, sel, n. (Scot.) self.

Selache, sel′a-kē, n. a genus of sharks.—adjs. Selā′chian, Sel′achioid. [Gr. selachos, a sea-fish.]

Selaginella, sē-laj-i-nel′a, n. a genus of heterosporous cryptogams, allied to club-moss.

Selah, sē′lä, n. in the Psalms, a transliterated Hebrew word (connected by Gesenius with sālāh, rest), supposed to be a direction in the musical rendering of a passage, probably meaning 'pause.'

Selandria, sē-lan′dri-a, n. a genus of saw-flies.

Selasphorus, sē-las′fō-rus, n. the genus of lightning hummers.

Selcouth, sel′kōōth, adj. (Spens.) rarely known, uncommon.—adv. Sel′couthly. [A.S. selcúth for seldcúth—seld, seldom, cúth—known, cunnan, to know.]

Seld, seld, adj. (Spens.) rare, uncommon.—adv. seldom, rarely.—adjs. Seld′seen, rarely seen; Seld′-shown (Shak.), rarely shown. [Seldom.]

Seldom, sel′dum, adv. rarely: not often.—n. Sel′domness.—adv. Sel′dom-times. [A.S. seldum, seldan—seld (adj.), rare; Ger. selten.]

Select, sē-lekt′, v.t. to pick out from a number by preference: to choose: to cull.—adj. picked out: nicely chosen: choice: exclusive.—adj. Selec′ted.—adv. Selec′tedly.—ns. Selec′tedness; Selec′tion, act of selecting: things selected: a book containing select pieces.—adj. Selec′tive.—adv. Selec′tively, by selection.—ns. Select′man, in New England towns, one of a board of officers chosen annually to manage various local concerns; Select′ness; Select′or.—Select meeting, in the Society of Friends, a meeting of ministers and elders.—Natural selection, the preservation of some forms of animal and vegetable life and the destruction of others by the ordinary operation of natural causes. [L. seligĕre, selectum—se-, aside, legĕre, to choose.]

Selene, sē-lē′nē, n. (Gr. myth.) the goddess of the moon, the Latin Luna—also Phœbe: a genus of carangoid fishes, the moon-fishes.—n. Selē′niscope, an instrument for observing the moon.—adj. Selēnocen′tric, having relation to the centre of the moon.—ns. Selē′nograph, a delineation of the moon; Selēnog′rapher, a student of selenography.—adjs. Selēnograph′ic, -al.—ns. Selēnog′raphist, a selenographer; Selēnog′raphy, description of the moon.—adj. Selēnolog′ical, pertaining to the physiography of the moon.—ns. Selēnol′ogist, a selenographer; Selēnol′ogy, selenography.—adj. Selēnōtrop′ic, turning to the moon.—ns. Selēnot′ropism, Selēnot′ropy. [Gr. selēnē.]

Selenite, sel′en-īt, n. a transparent and beautiful variety of gypsum: a salt of selenium: a supposed inhabitant of the moon.—adjs. Selenit′ic; Selenitif′erous. [Gr. selēnitēs (lithos, stone), moon-like—selēnē, the moon.]

Selenites, sel-ē-nī′tez, n.pl. a genus of coleopterous insects.

Selenium, sē-lē′ni-um, n. an element discovered by Berzelius in the refuse of a sulphuric-acid factory in 1817.—n. Sel′ēnate, a compound of selenic acid with a base.—adjs. Selen′ic, Selē′nious.—n. Sel′enide, a compound of selenium with one other element or radical—also Selē′niuret.—adjs. Selenif′erous; Selē′niuretted, containing selenium. [Gr. sēlēne, the moon.]

Selenodont, sē-lē′nō-dont, adj. having crescentic ridges on the crown, as molar teeth.

Seleucidæ, se-lū′si-dē, n.pl. the descendants of Seleucus I., surnamed Nicator, who governed Syria from 312 B.C. to 65 B.C.

Seleucides, se-lū′si-dēz, n. a genus containing the twelve-wired bird of Paradise.

Self, self, n. one's own person: one's personal interest: one's own personal interest, selfishness: a flower having its colour uniform as opposed to variegated:—pl. Selves (selvz).—adj. very: particular: one's own: simple, plain, unmixed with any other.—ns. Self′-aban′donment, disregard of self; Self′-abase′ment, abasement through consciousness of unworthiness.—adj. Self′-absorbed′, absorbed in one's own thoughts.—ns. Self′-abuse′, the abuse of one's own person or powers: self-pollution; Self′-accusā′tion, the act of accusing one's self.—adjs. Self′-accus′atory; Self′-act′ing, acting of, or by, itself, specially denoting a machine or mechanism which does of itself something that is ordinarily done by manual labour.—n. Self′-activ′ity, an inherent power of acting.—adj. Self′-adjust′ing, requiring no external adjustment.—n. Self′-admis′sion (Shak.), admission of one's self.—n.pl. Self′-affairs′ (Shak.), one's own affairs.—adjs. Self′-affect′ed (Shak.), affected well towards one's self; Self′-affright′ed (Shak.), frightened at one's self.—n. Self′-applause′, applause of one's self.—adjs. Self′-appoint′ed, nominated by one's self; Self′-approv′ing, implying approval of one's own conduct; Self′-assert′ing, given to asserting one's opinion: putting one's self forward.—n. Self′-asser′tion.—adj. Self′-assumed′, assumed by one's own act.—n. Self′-assump′tion, conceit.—adj. Self′-begot′ten, generated or originated by one's own powers.—n. Self′-bind′er, the automatic binding apparatus attached to some reaping-machines.—adj. Self′-blind′ed, led astray by one's self.—n. Self′-blood′ (obs.), direct progeny: suicide.—adj. Self′-born′, born or produced by one's self.—n. Self′-boun′ty (Shak.), native goodness.—adj. Self′-cen′tred, centred in self.—n. Self′-char′ity (Shak.), love of one's self.—adjs. Self′-clō′sing, shutting automatically; Self′-collect′ed, self-possessed: self-contained; Self′-col′oured, of the natural colour: dyed in the wool: coloured with a single tint: (hort.) uniform in colour.—ns. Self′-command′, self-control; Self′-complā′cency, satisfaction with one's self, or with one's own performances.—adj. Self′-complā′cent, pleased with one's self: self-satisfied.—n. Self′-conceit′, an over-high opinion of one's self, one's own abilities, &c.: vanity.—adj. Self′-conceit′ed, having a high opinion of one's self, of one's own merits, abilities, &c.: vain.—ns. Self′-conceit′edness; Self′-condemnā′tion, condemnation by one's own conscience: a self-condemning.—adjs. Self′-condemned′; Self′-condemn′ing.—n. Self′-con′fidence, confidence in, or reliance on, one's own powers: self-reliance.—adj. Self′-con′fident, confident of one's own powers: in the habit of relying on one's own powers.—adv. Self′-con′fidently.—adj. Self′-confī′ding, relying on one's own powers.—n. Self′-congratulā′tion, the act of felicitating one's self.—adjs. Self′-con′jugate, conjugate to itself; Self′-con′scious, conscious of one's acts or states as originating in one's self: conscious of being observed by others.—n. Self′-con′sciousness, the act or state of being self-conscious: consciousness of being observed by others.—adj. Self′-consid′ering, considering in one's own mind, deliberating.—n. Self′-consist′ency, consistency with one's self, or principles.—adjs. Self′-consist′ent; Self′-con′stituted, constituted by one's self; Self′-consū′ming, consuming one's self, or itself: Self′-contained′, wrapped up in one's self, reserved: of a house, not approached by an entrance common to others: complete in itself.—ns. Self′-contempt′, contempt for one's self; Self′-content′, self-complacency; Self′-contradic′tion, the act or fact of contradicting one's self: a statement of which the terms are mutually contradictory.—adj. Self′-contradict′ory.—n. Self′-control′, control or restraint exercised over one's self: self-command.—adj. Self′-convict′ed, convicted by one's own inner consciousness, or avowal.—n. Self′-convic′tion.—adjs. Self′-correspond′ing, corresponding to itself; Self′-cov′ered, clothed in one's native semblance.—ns. Self′-creā′tion, the act of coming into existence by the vitality of one's own nature; Self′-crit′icism, criticism of one's self; Self′-cult′ure, culture or education of one's self without the aid of teachers; Self′-dān′ger (Shak.), danger from one's self; Self′-deceit′, deception respecting one's self; Self′-deceiv′er, one who deceives himself; Self′-decep′tion, the act of deceiving one's own self; Self′-defence′, the act of defending one's own person, property, &c. (Art of self-defence, boxing, pugilism); Self′-delā′tion, accusation of one's self; Self′-delū′sion, delusion respecting one's self; Self′-denī′al, the denial of one's self: the non-gratifying of one's own appetites or desires.—adj. Self′-deny′ing.—adv. Self′-deny′ingly.—n. Self′-depend′ence, reliance on one's self.—adj. Self′-depend′ent.—n. Self′-depreciā′tion, depreciation of one's self.—adj. Self′-deprē′ciātive.—ns. Self′-despair′, a despairing view of one's prospects, &c.; Self′-destruc′tion, the destruction of one's self: suicide.—adj. Self′-destruc′tive.—n. Self′-determinā′tion, determination by one's self without extraneus impulse.—adjs. Self′-deter′mined; Self′-deter′mining.—n. Self′-devel′opment, spontaneous development.—adj. Self′-devō′ted.—n. Self′-devō′tion, self-sacrifice.—adj. Self′-devour′ing, devouring one's self.—ns. Self′-dispar′agement, disparagement of one's self; Self′-dispraise′, censure of one's self; Self′-distrust′, want of confidence in one's own powers.—adjs. Self′-ed′ucated, educated by one's own efforts alone; Self′-elect′ive, having the right to elect one's self.—n. Self-end′ (obs.), an end for one's self alone.—adj. Self′-endeared′, self-loving.—ns. Self′-enjoy′ment, internal satisfaction; Self′-esteem′, the esteem or good opinion of one's self; Self′-estimā′tion; Self′-ev′idence.—adj. Self′-ev′ident, evident of itself or without proof: that commands assent.—adv. Self′-ev′idently.—ns. Self′-evolū′tion, development by inherent power; Self′-exaltā′tion, the exaltation of self; Self′-exam′inant, one who examines himself; Self′-examinā′tion, a scrutiny into one's own state, conduct, &c., esp. with regard to one's religious feelings and duties; Self′-exam′ple, one's own example.—adj. Self′-ex′ecuting, needing no legislation to enforce it.—n. Self′-exist′ence.—adjs. Self′-exist′ent, existing of or by himself or itself, independent of any other cause; Self′-explan′atory, obvious, bearing its meaning in its own face.—n. Self′-explicā′tion, the power of explaining one's self.—adjs. Self-faced′, undressed or unhewn; Self-fed′, fed by one's self.—n. Self′-feed′er, a self-feeding apparatus.—adj. Self′-feed′ing, feeding automatically.—ns. Self′-fertilisā′tion; Self′-fertil′ity, ability to fertilise itself.—adjs. Self′-fig′ured, figured or described by one's self; Self′-flatt′ering, judging one's self too favourably.—n. Self′-flatt′ery, indulgence in reflections too favourable to one's self.—adjs. Self′-foc′using, focusing without artificial adjustment; Self′-forget′ful, devoted to others, and forgetful of one's own interests.—adv. Self′-forget′fully.—adjs. Self′-gath′ered, wrapped up in one's self; Self-glazed′, covered with glass of a single tint; Self′-glō′rious, springing from vainglory or vanity: boastful; Self′-gov′erning.—ns. Self′-gov′ernment, self-control: government by the joint action of the mass of the people: democracy; Self′-gratulā′tion, congratulation of one's self.—adj. Self′-harm′ing, injuring one's self.—n. Self-heal′, prunella: the burnet saxifrage.—adj. Self′-heal′ing, having the power of healing itself.—ns. Self-help′, working for one's self; Self′hood, existence as a separate person: conscious personality.—adj. Self′-ī′dolised, regarded with extreme complacency by one's self.—n. Self′-import′ance, a high estimate of one's own importance: egotism: pomposity.—adjs. Self′-import′ant; Self′-imposed′, taken voluntarily on one's self; Self′-im′potent (bot.), unable to fertilise itself.—n. Self′-indul′gence, undue gratification of one's appetites or desires.—adj. Self′-indul′gent.—n. Self′-infec′tion, infection of the entire organism from a local lesion.—adj. Self′-inflict′ed, inflicted by one's self.—n. Self′-in′terest, private interest: regard to one's self.—adj. Self′-in′terested.—n. Self′-involū′tion, mental abstraction.—adjs. Self′-involved′, wrapped up in one's self; Self′ish, chiefly or wholly regarding one's own self: void of regard to others (Selfish theory of morals, the theory that man acts from the consideration of what will give him the most pleasure).—adv. Self′ishly.—ns. Self′ishness; Self′ism; Self′ist; Self′-justificā′tion, justification of one's self.—adjs. Self′-kin′dled, kindled of itself; Self′-know′ing, knowing of one's own self: possessed of self-consciousness.—n. Self′-knowl′edge, the knowledge of one's own character, abilities, worth, &c.—adjs. Self-left′, left to one's self; Self′less, having no regard to self, unselfish.—ns. Self′lessness, freedom from selfishness; Self-life′, a life only for one's own gratification.—adjs. Self′-like, exactly similar; Self′-lim′ited (path.), tending to spontaneous recovery after a certain course.—n. Self-love′, the love of one's self: tendency to seek one's own welfare or advantage: desire of happiness.—adjs. Self′-lov′ing, full of self-love; Self′-lum′inous, possessing the property of emitting light; Self-made′, made by one's self; denoting a man who has risen to a high position from poverty or obscurity by his own exertions.—ns. Self′-mas′tery, self-command: self-control; Self′-met′tle (Shak.), mettle or spirit which is natural to one, and not artificially inspired; Self′-mō′tion, spontaneous motion.—adj. Self-moved′, moved spontaneously from within.—ns. Self′-mur′der, the killing of one's self: suicide; Self′-mur′derer; Self′-neglect′ing (Shak.), the neglecting of one's self; Self′ness, egotism: personality; Self′-offence′, one's own offence; Self′-opin′ion, the tendency to form one's own opinion irrespective of that of others.—adjs. Self′-opin′ionated, obstinately adhering to one's own opinion; Self′-orig′inating, springing from one's self.—ns. Self′-partial′ity, overestimate of one's own worth; Self′-percep′tion, the faculty of immediate perception of the soul by itself.—adjs. Self′-perplexed′, perplexed by one's own thoughts; Self′-pī′ous, hypocritical.—n. Self′-pit′y, pity for one's self.—adjs. Self-pleached′ (Tenn.), interwoven by natural growth; Self′-pleas′ing, gratifying one's own wishes; Self-poised′, kept well balanced by self-respect.—n. Self′-pollū′tion, self-abuse, masturbation.—adj. Self′-possessed′, calm or collected in mind or manner: undisturbed.—ns. Self′-posses′sion, the possession of one's self or faculties in danger: calmness; Self-praise′, the praise of one's self; Self′-preservā′tion, the preservation of one's self from injury, &c.—adjs. Self′-preser′vative, Self-preser′ving.—ns. Self-pride′, self-esteem; Self′-prof′it, self-interest.—adj. Self′-prop′agating, propagating one's self or itself.—ns. Self′-protec′tion, self-defence; Self′-realisā′tion, the attainment of such development as one's mental and moral nature is capable of.—adjs. Self′-recip′rocal, self-conjugate; Self′-record′ing, making, as an instrument, a record of its own state.—n. Self′-regard′, regard for one's own self.—adjs. Self′-regard′ing; Self′-reg′istering, registering itself: denoting an instrument or machine having a contrivance for recording its own operations; Self′-reg′ulated, regulated by one's self or itself; Self′-reg′ulating, regulating itself; Self′-reg′ulative.—n. Self′-relī′ance, reliance on one's own abilities.—adj. Self′-relī′ant.—n. Self′-renunciā′tion, self-abnegation.—adj. Self′-repel′ling, repelling by its own inherent power.—ns. Self′-repres′sion, the keeping of one's self in the background; Self′-reproach′, the act of reproaching or condemning one's self.—adj. Self′-reproach′ing, reproaching one's self.—adv. Self′-reproach′ingly.—n. Self′-reproof′, the reproof of one's own conscience.—adjs. Self′-reprov′ing, reproving one's self, from conscious guilt; Self′-repug′nant, self-contradictory: inconsistent.—n. Self′-respect′, respect for one's self or one's character.—adjs. Self′-respect′ful; Self′-respect′ing; Self′-restrained′, restrained by one's own will.—ns. Self′-restraint′, a restraint over one's appetites or desires: self-control; Self′-rev′erence, great self-respect.—adjs. Self′-rev′erent; Self′-right′eous, righteous in one's own estimation: pharisaical.—n. Self′-right′eousness, reliance on one's supposed righteousness: sense of one's own merit or goodness, esp. if overestimated.—adjs. Self′-right′ing, that rights itself when capsized; Self′-rolled′, coiled on itself.—n. Self′-sac′rifice, the act of yielding up one's life, interests, &c. for others.—adjs. Self′-sac′rificing, yielding, or disposed to yield, up one's life, interests, &c.; Self′-same, the very same.—ns. Self′-same′ness, sameness as regards self or identity; Self′-satisfac′tion, satisfaction with one's self.—adjs. Self′-sat′isfied, satisfied with the abilities, performances, &c. of one's self; Self′-sat′isfying, giving satisfaction to one's self.—ns. Self-scorn′, a mood in which one entertains scorn for a former mood of self; Self′-seek′er, one who looks only to his own interests.—adj. Self′-seek′ing, seeking unduly one's own interest or happiness.—n. the act of doing so.—adj. Self′-shin′ing, self-luminous.—n. Self′-slaugh′ter (Shak.), the slaughter of one's self: suicide.—adjs. Self′-slaugh′tered, killed by one's self; Self′-ster′ile (bot.), unable to fertilise itself; Self-styled′, called by one's self: pretended; Self′-subdued′ (Shak.), subdued by one's own power; Self′-substan′tial (Shak.), composed of one's own substance.—n. Self′-suffi′ciency.—adjs. Self′-suffi′cient, confident in one's own sufficiency: haughty: overbearing; Self′-suffic′ing.—ns. Self′-sugges′tion, determination by causes inherent in the organism; Self′-support′, the maintenance of one's self.—adjs. Self′-support′ed; Self′-support′ing.—n. Self′-surren′der, the yielding up of one's self to another.—adj. Self′-sustained′, sustained by one's own power.—ns. Self′-sus′tenance, self-support; Self-sustentā′tion.—adjs. Self′-taught, taught by one's self; Self′-think′ing, forming one's own opinions: of independent judgment; Self′-tor′turable (Shak.), capable of being tortured by one's self.—ns. Self′-tor′ture; Self-trust′, self-reliance; Self-view′, regard for one's own interest; Self′-vī′olence, violence inflicted upon one's self; Self-will′, obstinacy.—adj. Self-willed′, governed by one's own will.—ns. Self′-willed′ness; Self′-wor′ship, the idolising of one's self; Self′-wor′shipper; Self-wrong′ (Shak.), wrong done by a person to himself.—Be beside one's self (see Beside); Be one's self, to be in full possession of one's powers; By one's self, or itself, apart, alone: without aid of another person or thing. [A.S. self, seolf, sylf; Dut. zelf, Ger. selbe, Goth. silba.]

Selictar, sē-lik′tär, n. the sword-bearer of a Turkish chief. [Turk. silihdār—Pers. silahdār—Ar. silāh, arms, pl. of silh, a weapon.]

Selinum, sē-lī′num, n. a genus of umbelliferous plants—milk-parsley. [Gr. selinon, parsley.]

Selion, sel′yon, n. a ridge of land rising between two furrows. [O. Fr. seillon, Fr. sillon, a furrow.]

Seljuk, sel-jōōk′, n. a member of a Turkish family which, under Togrul Beg, grandson of a chief named Seljuk, overthrew the Abbaside califs of Bagdad about 1050, and gave way before the Osmanli or Ottoman princes.—adj. Selju′kian.

Sell, sel, n. a seat, a throne: (Spens.) a saddle: a saddler.—adj. Sell′iform, saddle-shaped. [O. Fr. selle—L. sella, for sedula, dim. of sedes, a seat.]

Sell, sel, v.t. to deliver in exchange for something paid as equivalent: to betray for money: to impose upon, cheat.—v.i. to have commerce: to be sold, to be in demand for sale:—pa.t. and pa.p. sōld.—n. a deception.—adj. Sell′able, that can be sold.—n. Sell′er, a furnisher: a vender: a small vessel for holding salt.—Sell one's life dearly, to do great injury to the enemy before one is killed; Sell one up, to sell a debtor's goods; Sell out, to dispose entirely of: to sell one's commission. [A.S. sellan, to hand over; cf. Ice. selja, Goth. saljan.]

Sellanders, sel′an-dėrs, n. an eruption in the tarsus of the horse. [Fr. solandre.]

Seltzer, selt′zėr, n. an effervescing alkaline mineral water brought from Nieder-Selters in Prussia.—n. Selt′zogene, a gazogene (q.v.).

Selvage, sel′vāj, n. that part of cloth which forms an edge of itself without hemming: a border: in mining, that part of a lode adjacent to the walls on either side: the edge-plate of a lock—also Sel′vedge.—adjs. Sel′vaged, Sel′vedged.—n. Selvagēē′, an untwisted skein of rope-yarn marled together. [Old Dut. selfegge, self, self, egge, edge.]

Selves, selvz, pl. of self.

Semantron, sē-man′tron, n. in the Greek Church, a long bar of wood struck with a mallet to summon worshippers. [Gr.,—sēmainein, to give a signal.]

Semaphore, sem′a-fōr, n. a contrivance for conveying signals, consisting of a mast with arms turned on pivots by means of cords or levers.—adjs. Semaphor′ic, -al, telegraphic—adv. Semaphor′ically. [Gr. sēma, a sign, pherein, to bear.]

Semasiology, sē-mā-si-ol′ō-ji, n. the science of the development of the meanings of words. [Gr. sēmasia—sēmainein, to signify, legein, to speak.]

Semasphere, sem′a-sfēr, n. an aerostatic signalling apparatus. [Gr. sēma, a sign, sphaira, a ball.]

Sematic, sē-mat′ik, adj. significant: indicative, as of danger: ominous.—n. Sematol′ogy, the science of verbal signs in the operations of thinking and reasoning. [Gr. sēma, a sign.]

Sematrope, sem′a-trōp, n. an adaptation of the heliotrope for transmitting military signals. [Gr. sēma, a sign, trepein, to turn.]

Semblable, sem′bla-bl, adj. (Shak.) resembling, similar, like.—n. likeness, resemblance.—adv. Sem′blably (Shak.) in like manner.—n. Sem′blance, likeness: appearance: figure.—adj. Sem′blant, resembling, like.—n. (Spens.) resemblance, figure.—adj. Sem′blative (Shak.), resembling, fit, suitable.—v.i. Sem′ble (obs.), to appear: to dissemble: to practise the art of imitation.—adj. like. [Fr.,—sembler, to seem, to resemble—L. similis, like.]

Semé, se-mā′, adj. (her.) strewn or scattered over with small bearings, powdered. [Fr., sown, semer—L. semināre, to sow.]

Semeiology, Semiology, sē-mī-ol′ō-ji, n. the sum of knowledge of the signs and symptoms of morbid conditions, symptomatology: the science of gesture or sign-language.—n. Semeiog′raphy, the description of the signs or symptoms of disease.—adjs. Semeiolog′ic, -al, pertaining to semeiology; Semeiot′ic, relating to signs, symptomatic.—n. Semeiot′ics, the science of signs: semeiology or symptomatology. [Gr. sēmeion, a mark, legein, to say.]

Semeion, sē-mī′on, n. in ancient prosody, the unit of time: one of the two divisions of a foot: a mark in paleography indicating metrical or other divisions:—pl. Semei′a. [Gr. sēmeion, a mark.]

Semele, sem′e-lē, n. a genus of bivalves. [Gr. Semelē, the mother of Bacchus.]

Semen, sē′men, n. the impregnating fluid of male animals, usually whitish, viscid, containing innumerable spermatozoa. [L.]

Semencine, sē′men-sin, n. santonica.

Semese, se-mēs′, adj. half-eaten. [L. semesus, half-eaten, semi-, half, esus—edĕre, to eat.]

Semester, sē-mes′tėr, n. one of the half-year courses in German universities.—adj. Semes′tral. [L. semestris—sex, six, mensis, a month.]

Semi-, sem′i, a prefix of Latin origin, meaning 'half,' and also less accurately 'partly,' 'incompletely.'—n. and adj. Semiac′id, half-acid, sub-acid.—n. Sem′iangle, the half of a given angle.—adj. Semi-an′nual, half-yearly.—adv. Sem′i-an′nually, once every six months.—adj. Semian′nular, semicircular.—ns. Sem′i-an′thracite, coal intermediate between anthracite and semi-bituminous coal; Sem′i-ape, a lemur.—adjs. Sem′i-aquat′ic (zool., bot.), entering the water, but not necessarily existing by it; Sem′i-Ā′rian, relating to the Christology of the so-called Semi-Arians (Eusebius of Cæsarea, &c.) who held a middle ground between the Arian hetero-ousia and the orthodox homo-ousia or co-equality of the Son with the Father, asserting the homoi-ousia, or similarity of essence.—n. Sem′i-Ā′rianism.—adjs. Sem′i-artic′ulate, loose-jointed; Sem′i-attached′, partially bound by affection or interest; Semibarbā′rian, half-barbarian or savage: partially civilised.—n. Semibar′barism.—adj. Sem′i-bitū′minous, partly bituminous, as coal.—ns. Sem′ibrēve, a musical note, half the length of a breve = 2 minims or 4 crotchets; Sem′ibull, a bull issued by a pope between the time of his election and that of his coronation.—adjs. Sem′icalcā′reous, partly chalky; Sem′i-cal′cined, half-calcined; Semicartilag′inous, gristly; Semicentenn′ial, occurring at the completion of fifty years.—n. a celebration at the end of fifty years.—adj. Semichō′ric.—ns. Semichō′rus, a small number of selected singers; Sem′icircle, half a circle: the figure bounded by the diameter of a circle and half the circumference.—adjs. Sem′icircled; Semicir′cular.—adv. Semicir′cularly.—ns. Semicircum′ference, half of the circumference of a circle; Sem′icirque, a semicircular hollow; Semiclō′sure, half-closure; Sem′icolon, the point (;) marking a division greater than the comma; Semicō′lon-butt′erfly, a butterfly with a silver mark on the under side; Sem′i-col′umn, a half-column.—adjs. Sem′i-colum′nar, flat on one side and rounded on the other; Sem′i-complete′ (entom.), incomplete; Sem′i-con′fluent (path.), half-confluent; Sem′i-con′jugate, conjugate and halved; Sem′i-con′scious, half or imperfectly conscious; Sem′i-conver′gent, convergent as a series, while the series of moduli is not convergent.—n. Sem′icope, an outer garment worn by some of the monastic clergy in the Middle Ages.—adjs. Sem′icor′neous, partly horny; Semicor′onate.—n. Sem′icor′onet (entom.), a line of spines half surrounding a part.—adjs. Sem′i-costif′erous, half-bearing a rib; Semicrit′ical, related to a differential equation and its criticoids.—n. Sem′icrome (mus.), a sixteenth note.—adjs. Sem′icrustā′ceous, half-hard; Semicrys′talline, imperfectly crystallised.—n. Semicū′bium, a half-bath.—adjs. Semicylin′drical, resembling a cylinder divided longitudinally; Semidef′inite, half-definite: Sem′i-depend′ent, half-dependent; Sem′ides′ert, half-desert; Sem′idetached′, partly separated: noting one of two houses joined by a party-wall, but detached from other buildings.—ns. Sem′i-diam′eter, half the diameter of a circle: a radius; Sem′i-diapā′son, a diminished octave; Sem′i-diaphanē′ity, half-transparency.—adj. Semi′-diaph′anous, half-transparent.—n. Semidiur′na, a group of lepidopterous insects including the hawk-moth.—adj. Semidiur′nal, accomplished in half a day: (entom.) flying in twilight.—n. Sem′i-dome′, half a dome, esp. as formed by a vertical section.—adj. Sem′idoub′le, having the outermost stamens converted into petals.—n. a festival on which half the antiphon is repeated before and the whole antiphon after the psalm.—n. Sem′i-ef′figy, a representation of a figure seen at half-length only.—adj. Sem′i-ellip′tical, having the form of an ellipse which is cut transversely.—ns. Sem′i-fā′ble, a mixture of truth and fable; Sem′i-faience′, pottery having a transparent glaze instead of the opaque enamel of true faience; Sem′i-fig′ure, a partial human figure in ornamental design.—v.t. Sem′i-flex, to half-bend.—n. Sem′i-flex′ion.—adj. Sem′i-flos′cular.—n. Sem′i-flos′cule, a floret with a strap-shaped corolla.—adjs. Sem′i-flos′culōse, Sem′i-flos′culous, having the corolla split, flattened out, and turned to one side, as in the ligular flowers of composites; Semiflu′id, half or imperfectly fluid; Sem′i-formed, half-formed.—n. Sem′i-frā′ter, a secular benefactor of a religious house, having a share in its intercessory prayers and masses.—adjs. Sem′i-fused′, half-melted; Semiglō′bōse, Semiglob′ular, having the shape of half a sphere.—adv. Semiglob′ularly.—ns. Sem′i-god, a demi-god; Sem′i-independ′ence.—adjs. Sem′i-independ′ent, not fully independent; Sem′i-in′finite, limited at one end and extending to infinity; Sem′i-lig′neous, partially woody: (bot.) having a stem woody at the base and herbaceous at the top; Semi-liq′uid, half-liquid.—n. Semi-liquid′ity.—adjs. Sem′i-log′ical, half-logical, partly logical; Sem′i-lū′cent, half-transparent; Semi-lū′nar, half-moon shaped, as the semi-lunar bone of the wrist; Sem′i-lū′nate, having the form of a half-moon; Sem′i-malig′nant, not very malignant, said of tumours; Sem′i-matūre′, half-ripe.—n. Semimembranō′sus, a long muscle of the back of the thigh.—adjs. Semimem′branous (anat.), partly membranous; Sem′i-men′strual, half-monthly, esp. of an inequality of the tide.—n. Sem′i-met′al, in old chemistry, a metal that is not malleable, as zinc.—adjs. Sem′i-metal′lic; Sem′i-month′ly, occurring twice a month.—n. Semi-mūte′, one who, having lost the faculty of hearing, has also lost the faculty of speech—also adj.—adj. Sem′i-nūde′, half-naked.—n. Sem′inymph, the pupa of an insect which undergoes only semi-metamorphosis.—adjs. Sem′i-obscure′, noting the wings of insects when deeply tinged with brownish-gray, but semi-transparent; Sem′i-offic′ial, partly official.—adv. Sem′i-offic′ially.—n. Sem′i-ō′pal, a variety of opal not possessing opalescence.—adj. Sem′i-opaque′, partly opaque.—n. Sem′i-op′tera, a genus of birds—the standard-wings.—adj. Sem′i-orbic′ular, having the shape of half a sphere.—n. Sem′i-or′dinate, half a chord bisected by the transverse diameter of a conic.—adjs. Sem′i-oss′eous, partly bony; Semiō′val, having the form of an oval; Semiovip′arous, imperfectly viviparous; Semipal′mate, half-webbed, as the toes of a bird.—ns. Semipalmā′tion; Semiparab′ola, one branch of a parabola being terminated at the principal vortex of the curve; Sem′iped, in prose, a half-foot.—adjs. Sem′ipedal; Sem′i-Pelā′gian, relating to the theology of the Semi-Pelagians (John Cassianus, &c.), who tried to find a middle course between the Augustinian doctrine of predestination and the Pelagian doctrine of the free-will of man.—n. Sem′i-Pelā′gianism.—adjs. Sem′i-pellū′cid, imperfectly transparent; Sem′ipen′niform, half-penniform; Sem′i-per′fect, nearly perfect; Sem′i-pis′cine, half-fish; Sem′i-plant′igrade, incompletely plantigrade: partly digitigrade; Sem′i-plas′tic, imperfectly plastic.—ns. Semiplotī′na, a group or sub-family of cyprinoid fishes; Sem′iplume, a feather of partly downy structure; Semiquad′rate, an aspect of two planets when distant from each other 45 degrees; Sem′iquāver, a musical note, half the length of a quaver: something of short duration.—adjs. Sem′i-recon′dite, half-hidden; Sem′i-rē′flex, involuntarily performed, but not entirely independent of the will; Sem′i-reg′ular, pertaining to a quadrilateral having four equal sides, but only pairs of equal angles; Sem′i-retrac′tile, retractile to some extent.—n. Sem′i-ring, a bronchial half-ring.—adjs. Sem′i-sag′ittate (entom.), shaped like the barbed end of a fish-hook; Sem′i-sav′age, semi-barbarian; Sem′i-Sax′on, early Middle English (c. 1150-1250); Sem′i-sep′tate, half-partitioned.—ns. Sem′i-sex′tile, the position of planets when they are distant from each other the twelfth part of a circle, or 30°; Sem′i-smile, a faint smile.—adjs. Sem′i-solid, partially solid; Semispher′ical, having the figure of a half-sphere.—ns. Sem′i-spinā′lis, a deep muscular layer of the back; Sem′i-square, an aspect of two planets when 45 degrees from each other; Sem′i-steel, puddled steel.—adjs. Sem′i-supernat′ural, half-divine and half-human; Sem′i-sū′pinated, placed between supination and pronation.—ns. Sem′i-tan′gent, the tangent of half an arc; Sem′i-tendinō′sus, a fusiform muscle on the back of the thigh.—adjs. Semiten′dinous, tendinous for half its length; Semitērē′te, half-round; Semiter′tian, partly tertian and partly quotidian.—n. Sem′itone, half a tone: one of the lesser intervals of the musical scale, as from B to C.—adj. Semiton′ic.—n. Sem′i-transpā′rency.—adjs. Sem′i-transpārent, half or imperfectly transparent; Sem′i-trop′ical, subtropical; Sem′i-tū′bular, like the half of a tube divided longitudinally; Sem′i-tychon′ic, approximating to Tycho Brahe's astronomical system; Sem′i-un′cial, intermediate between uncial and minuscule.—n. a method of writing Latin and Greek in use in the sixth and seventh centuries.—adjs. Semivit′reous, partially vitreous; Semivit′rified, half-vitrified; Sem′ivive (obs.) half-alive; Sem′i-vō′cal, pertaining to a semivowel: imperfectly sounding.—n. Semivow′el, a half-vowel, a letter possessing the character of both a vowel and a consonant, usually only w and y, but sometimes including also the liquids l and r and the nasals m and n.—adj. Sem′i-week′ly, issued twice a week.—Semicylindrical leaf, a leaf elongated, flat on one side, round on the other.

Seminal, sem′in-al, adj. pertaining to seed: radical: rudimentary.—n. (obs.) a seed.—n. Seminal′ity, the germinating principle.—v.t. Sem′ināte, to sow: to propagate: to disseminate.—n. Seminā′tion, act of sowing: natural dispersion of seed: propagation.—adjs. Seminif′erous, seed-bearing: producing seed; Seminif′ic, producing seed.—ns. Seminificā′tion; Sem′inist, one who holds that the admixture of the male and female seed originates the new individual. [L. semen, seminis, seed—serĕre, to sow.]

Seminary, sem′in-ar-i, n. the original place whence anything is derived, a nursery: a place of education, esp. in branches of knowledge to be afterwards applied in practice, as theology, &c.: a group of advanced students working in some specific subject of study under a teacher—also and more commonly Seminär′ (the German name): a seminary priest.—n. Sem′inarist, a student at a seminary: a R.C. priest educated in a foreign seminary.

Seminole; sem′i-nōl, n. one of a tribe of American Indians, originally a vagrant branch of the Creeks, now mostly confined to the Indian Territory.

Semiography, Semiology, Semiotics. See Semeiography, Semeiology, Semeiotics.

Semiotellus, sē-mi-ō-tel′us, n. a widely distributed genus of hymenopterous parasites.

Semis, sē′mis, n. a bronze coin of the ancient Roman republic, half the value of an as.

Semispata, sem-i-spā′ta, n. a Frankish dagger. [L. semi-, half, spatha, a sword.]

Semita, sem′i-ta, n. a fasciole of the spatangoid sea-urchins.—adj. Sem′ital. [L., a path.]

Semitaur, sem′i-tawr, n. a fabulous animal, half-bull, half-man. [L. semi-, half, taurus, a bull.]

Semitic, sem-it′ik, adj. pertaining to the Semites, or supposed descendants of Shem, or their language, customs, &c.—also Shemit′ic.—ns. Sem′ite; Semitisā′tion.—v.t. Sem′itise, to render Semitic in language or religion.—ns. Sem′itism, a Semitic idiom; Sem′itist, a Hebrew scholar.—Semitic languages, Assyrian, Aramean, Hebrew, Phœnician, together with Arabic and Ethiopic. [Applied by J. G. Eichhorn in 1817 to the closely allied peoples represented in Gen. x. as descended from Shem.]

Semmit, sem′it, n. (Scot.) an undershirt. [Samite.]

Semnopithecinæ, sem-nō-pith-ē-sī′nē, n. a sub-family of catarrhine monkeys.—adjs. Semnopith′ecine, Semnopith′ecoid.—n. Semnopithē′cus, the typical genus of the foregoing sub-family, the sacred monkeys of Asia. [Gr. semnos, honoured, pithēkos, an ape.]

Semolina, sem-ō-lē′na, n. the particles of fine, hard wheat which do not pass into flour in milling: an article of food consisting of granules of the floury part of wheat.—Also Sem′ōla, Semōli′nō. [It. semola—L. simila, the finest wheat flour.]

Semostomæ, sē-mos′tō-mē, n.pl. a sub-order of Discomedusæ, containing jelly-fishes.—adj. Sēmos′tomous, having long oral processes. [Gr. sēma, a mark, stoma, mouth.]

Semoted, sē-mō′ted, adj. (obs.) separated: remote.

Semotilus, sē-mot′i-lus, n. an American genus of leuciscine fishes, including the chub and dace. [Gr. sēma, a mark, ptilon, a feather.]

Semper idem, sem′pėr ī′dem, always the same. [L.]

Sempervirent, sem-pėr-vī′rent, adj. evergreen. [L. semper, always, virens—virēre, to be green.]

Semper vivum, sem′pėr vī′vum, n. a genus of polypetalous plants, including the house-leek. [L.]

Sempiternal, sem-pi-tėr′nal, adj. everlasting: endless—also Semp′itern.—v.t. Sempiter′nise, to perpetuate.—n. Sempiter′nity.—adj. Sempiter′nous.—n. Sempiter′num, a durable twilled woollen material. [L. sempiternus—semper, ever, æternus, eternal.]

Semple, sem′pl, adj. a Scotch form of simple, esp. meaning of low birth, the opposite of Gentle.

Semplice, sem′plē-che, adj. (mus.) simple, without embellishments. [It.]

Sempre, sem′pre, adv. (mus.) in the same style throughout. [It.,—L. semper, always.]

Sempster, sem′stėr, Sempstress, sem′stres, n. a woman who sews. [Seamstress.]

Semuncia, sē-mun′shi-a, n. a Roman coin of four drachmas weight, the twenty-fourth part of the Roman pound.—adj. Semun′cial.

Sen., sēn, an abbreviation of Senior.

Sen, sen, n. a Japanese copper coin the hundredth part of a yen or dollar.

Señal, se-nyal′, n. (Amer.) a landmark. [Sp.]

Senary, sen′ar-i, adj. containing six: of or belonging to six.—n. Senā′rius, in Latin prosody, a verse of six feet. [L. senarius—seni, six each—sex, six.]

Senate, sen′āt, n. a legislative or deliberative body, esp. the upper house of a national legislature, as of France, the United States, &c.: a body of venerable or distinguished persons: the governing body of the University of Cambridge.—ns. Sen′ate-house, a house in which a senate meets; Sen′ator, a member of a senate: in Scotland, the lords of session are called Senators of the College of Justice.—adj. Senatō′rial, pertaining to, or becoming, a senate or a senator.—adv. Senatō′rially, with senatorial dignity.—ns. Sen′atorship; Senā′tus, a governing body in certain universities.—Senātus academicus, the governing body of a Scotch university, consisting of the principal and professors; Senātus consult, a decree of the senate of ancient Rome. [L. senatus—senex, senis, an old man.]

Sence, sens, n. an obsolete form of sense.

Sench, sensh, v.t. to cause to sink.

Sencion, sen′shi-on, N. (obs.) groundsel. [L. senecio.]

Send, send, v.t. to cause to go: to cause to be conveyed: to despatch: to forward: to compel: to throw: to hurl: to authorise: to grant: to drive: to dismiss: to commission: to diffuse: to bestow.—v.i. to despatch a message or messenger: (naut.) to pitch into the trough of the sea:—pa.t. and pa.p. sent.—n. (Scot.) a messenger, esp. one sent for the bride: a present: the impulse of a wave on a ship.—ns. Sen′der, one who sends: (teleg.) the instrument by which a message is transmitted; Sen′ding, despatching: pitching bodily into the trough of the sea; Send′-off, a start as on a journey.—Send for, to require by message to come or be brought; Send forth, or out, to give, put, or bring forth; Send to Coventry, to cut: to exclude from society. [A.S. sendan; Ice. senda, Goth. sandjan, Ger. senden.]

Sendal, sen′dal, n. a thin silk or linen. [O. Fr.,—Low L. cendalum—L. sindon—Gr. sindōn.]

Seneca-oil, sen′ē-kä-oil, n. crude petroleum.—Seneca's microscope, a glass globe filled with water.

Senecio, sē-nē′si-o, n. a genus of composite plants—ragwort, &c.—adj. Senē′cioid.

Senega, sen′ē-ga, n. the seneca snakeroot, the dried root of Polygala Senega, good for snake-bites.

Senegal, sen′ē-gal, n. a small African blood-finch, the fire-bird.

Senescence, sē-nes′ens, n. the state of growing old or decaying: decay by time.—n. Senec′titude.—adj. Senes′cent, growing old: decaying with the lapse of time. [L. senescens, -entis, pr.p. of senescĕre, to grow old—senex, old.]

Seneschal, sen′e-shal, n. a steward: a major-domo.—n. Sen′eschalship. [O. Fr., (Fr. sénéchal)—sin-s, old, skalks, a servant.]

Senex, sē′neks, n. a South American hawk: a Brazilian swift.

Seng-gung, seng′-gung, n. the teledu or Javan badger.

Sengreen, sen′grēn, n. the house-leek: (her.) a figure resembling it. [A.S. singrene; Ger. singrün.]

Senhor, se-nyōr′, n. the Portuguese form corresponding to the Spanish señor and Italian signor.

Senile, sē′nil, adj. pertaining to old age or attendant on it: aged.—n. Senil′ity, old age: the imbecility of old age. [L. senilis—senex, senis, old.]

Senior, sēn′yor, adj. elder: older in office.—n. one older than another, the elder of two persons in one family bearing the same name: one older in office: an aged person: one of the older fellows of a college, a student in the fourth year of the curriculum.—v.i. Sē′niorise, to lord it over.—n. Sēnior′ity, priority of birth, or of service: a body of seniors—also Sē′niory (Shak.). [L., comp. of senex.]

Senna, sen′a, n. the purgative dried leaflets of several species of cassia. [Fr.,—Ar. sena.]

Sennet, sen′et, n. (Shak.) a particular set of notes on the trumpet or cornet.

Sennight, sen′nīt, n. a week. [Seven night.]

Sennit, sen′it, n. a sort of flat, braided cordage.—Also Sinn′et.

Senocular, sē-nok′ū-lar, adj. having six eyes.

Senonian, sē-nō′ni-an, n. (geol.) a division of the upper Cretaceous in France and Belgium.

Señor, se-nyōr′, n. a gentleman: in address, sir: as a title, Mr:—fem. Señora (se-nyō′ra), a lady: in address, madam: as a title, Mrs.—n. Señorita (sen-yō-rē′ta), a young lady: in address, miss: as a title, Miss. [Sp.]

Sens, sens, adv. (Spens.) since.

Sensation, sen-sā′shun, n. perception by the senses: the change in consciousness which results from the transmission of nervous impulses to the brain, feeling excited by external objects, by the state of the body, or by immaterial objects: a state of excited feeling.—adjs. Sen′sāte, -d, perceived by the senses; Sensā′tional, pertaining to sensation: having sensation: intended as a literary work to excite violent emotions: adhering to a philosophical sensationalism.—ns. Sensā′tionalism, the doctrine that our ideas originate solely in sensation, and that there are no innate ideas: sensualism: sensational writing; Sensā′tionalist, a believer in sensationalism: a sensational writer.—adj. Sensātionalist′ic.—adv. Sensā′tionally.—adjs. Sen′sative; Sensatō′rial, pertaining to sensation.—Sensation novels, novels that deal in violent effects, strained emotion, and usually improbable situations.

Sense, sens, n. a faculty by which objects are perceived: perception: discernment: understanding: power or soundness of judgment: reason: opinion: conviction: import: immediate consciousness.—ns. Sense′-bod′y, a sense-organ in acalephs supposed to have a visual or an auditory function; Sense′-cap′sule, a receptive chamber for sensory perception, connected with the ear, eye, and nose; Sense′-cen′tre, a centre of sensation.—adj. Sensed, chosen as to sense or meaning.—ns. Sense′-el′ement, an external sensation, as an element of perception; Sense′-fil′ament, a filament having the function of an organ of sense.—adjs. Sense′ful (Spens.), full of sense or meaning, reasonable, judicious, perceptive; Sense′less, without sense: incapable of feeling: wanting sympathy: foolish: unreasonable.—adv. Sense′lessly.—ns. Sense′lessness; Sense′-or′gan, any organ of sense, as the eye, ear, or nose; Sense′-percep′tion, perception by means of the senses; Sense′-rhythm, Hebrew parallelism; Sense′-skel′eton, the framework of a sense-organ; Sensibil′ity, state or quality of being sensible: actual feeling: capacity of feeling: susceptibility: acuteness of feeling: delicacy: mental receptivity.—adj. Sen′sible, capable of being perceived by the senses or by the mind: capable of being affected: easily affected: delicate: intelligent, marked by sense, judicious: cognisant: aware: appreciable: sensitive: amenable to.—n. Sen′sibleness.—adv. Sen′sibly.—adjs Sensifā′cient, producing sensation; Sensif′erous, Sensif′ic, Sensificā′tory; Sensig′enous, giving rise to sensation; Sen′sile, capable of affecting the senses.—ns Sen′sion, the becoming aware of being affected from without in sensation; Sen′sism, sensualism in philosophy; Sen′sist, a sensationalist.—n. Sensitisā′tion.—v.t. Sen′sitise, to render sensitive, to render capable of being acted on by actinic rays of light.—n. Sen′sitiser.—adj. Sen′sitive, having sense or feeling: susceptible to sensations: easily affected: pertaining to, or depending on, sensation.—adv. Sen′sitively.—ns Sen′sitiveness, Sen′sitivity, the state of being sensitive: keen sensibility: the state of being delicately adjusted, as a balance: (chem.) the state of being readily affected by the action of appropriate agents; Sensitom′eter, an apparatus for testing the degrees of sensitiveness of photographic films.—adjs Sensō′rial, pertaining to the sensorium, sensory; Sensoridigest′ive, partaking of digestive functions and those of touch, as the tongue of a vertebrate animal.—ns Sensō′rium, Sen′sory, the organ which receives the impressions made on the senses: the nervous centre to which impressions must be conveyed before they are received: the whole sensory apparatus of the body, the nervous system, &c.—adj. Sen′sual, pertaining to, affecting, or derived from the senses, as distinct from the mind: not intellectual or spiritual: given to the pleasures of sense: voluptuous: lewd: carnal: worldly.—n. Sensualisā′tion.—v.t. Sen′sualise, to make sensual: to debase by carnal gratification.—ns Sen′sualism, sensual indulgence: the doctrine that all our knowledge is derived originally from sensation: the regarding of the gratification of the senses as the highest end; Sen′sualist, one given to sensualism or sensual indulgence: a debauchee: a believer in the doctrine of sensualism.—adj. Sensualist′ic, sensual: teaching the doctrines of sensualism.—n. Sensual′ity, indulgence in sensual pleasures: lewdness.—adv. Sen′sually, in a sensual manner.—ns Sen′sualness; Sen′suism; Sen′suist.—adj. Sen′suous, pertaining to sense: connected with sensible objects: easily affected by the medium of the senses.—adv. Sen′suously.—n. Sen′suousness.—Sensitive flames, flames easily affected by sounds; Sensitive plant, one of certain species of Mimosa—from the peculiar phenomena of irritability which their leaves exhibit when touched or shaken; Sensuous cognition, cognition through the senses.—A sensitive person, one sensitive to mesmeric influence; The senses, or Five senses, sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. [Fr.,—L. sensus—sentīre, to feel.]

Sent, sent, n. (Spens.) scent, perception.

Sent, sent, pa.t. and pa.p. of send.

Sentence, sen′tens, n. opinion: a judgment pronounced on a criminal by a court or judge: a maxim: (gram.) a number of words containing a complete thought: sense: meaning: matter.—v.t. to pronounce judgment on: to condemn.—n. Sen′tencer, one who sentences.—adj. Senten′tial, pertaining to a sentence: comprising sentences.—adv. Senten′tially.—adj. Senten′tious, abounding with sentences or maxims: short and pithy in expression: bombastic, or affected in speech.—adv. Senten′tiously.—n. Senten′tiousness, brevity with strength.—Master of the Sentences, the great 12th-century schoolman, Peter Lombard (died 1160), from his work Sententiarum Libri IV., an arranged collection of sentences from Augustine, &c. [Fr.,—L. sententia—sentīre, to feel.]

Sentient, sen′shi-ent, adj. discerning by the senses: having the faculty of perception and sensation: (phys.) noting those parts which on stimulation give rise to sensation.—n. the mind as capable of feeling.—ns Sen′tience, Sen′tiency.—adv. Sen′tiently, in a sentient or perceptive manner.

Sentiment, sen′ti-ment, n. a thought occasioned by feeling: opinion: judgment: sensibility: feeling: a thought expressed in words: a maxim: a toast: emotion: an exhibition of feeling, as in literature or art: (pl., phren.) the second division of the moral faculties.—adj. Sentimen′tal, having or abounding in sentiments or reflections: having an excess of sentiment or feeling: affectedly tender.—v.t. Sentimen′talise, to talk sentiment.—ns Sentimen′talism, Sentimental′ity, quality of being sentimental: affectation of fine feeling; Sentimen′talist, one who affects sentiment or fine feeling: one guided by mere sentiment: one who regards sentiment as more important than reason.—adv. Sentimen′tally. [Fr.,—Late L.,—L. sentīre, to feel.]

Sentine, sen′tēn, n. (obs.) a sink. [L. sentina.]

Sentinel, sen′ti-nel, n. a soldier or soldier-marine at a point with the duty of watching for the approach of an enemy, or guarding the gun-park, camp, magazine, or other locality: a sentry.—adj. acting as a sentinel.—v.t. to watch over, as a sentinel.—adj. Sen′tinelled, furnished with a sentinel.—Sentinel crab, a crab of the Indian Ocean with long eye-stalks. [Fr. sentinelle—It. sentinella, a watch, prob. the L. sentinator, one who pumps bilge-water out of a ship—sentina, the hold of a ship. Others explain Fr. sentinelle as a dim. of sentier, a path—Low L. semitarius—L. semita, a footpath.]

Sentisection, sen-ti-sek′shun, n. painful vivisection—opp. to Callisection.

Sentry, sen′tri, n. a sentinel: a soldier on guard to observe the approach of danger: a watch-tower.—ns Sen′try-box, a box to shelter a sentry; Sen′try-go, any active military duty. [Prob. a corr. of sentinel—Low L. semitarius—L. semita, a path.]

Senvy, sen′vi, n. (obs.) mustard-seed. [O. Fr. seneve—L. sinapi—Gr. sinapi, mustard.]

Senza, sen′tsa, prep. (mus.) without. [It.]

Sep, sep, an abbreviation for sepal.

Sepal, sep′al, or sē′pal, n. a leaf or division of the calyx of a flower.—adjs. Sep′aline, Sep′aloid, Sep′alous.—n. Sepal′ody, change of petals into sepals. [Fr. sépale—L. separ, separate.]

Separate, sep′a-rāt, v.t. to divide: to part: to withdraw: to set apart for a certain purpose: to sever.—v.i. to part: to withdraw from each other: to become disunited.—adj. separated: divided: apart from another: distinct.—n. Separabil′ity.—adj. Sep′arable, that may be separated or disjointed.—n. Sep′arableness.—advs. Sep′arably; Sep′arately.—ns Sep′arateness; Sep′arating-disc, an emery-wheel for cutting a space between teeth; Separā′tion, act of separating or disjoining: state of being separate: disunion: chemical analysis: divorce without a formal dissolution of the marriage-tie; Separā′tionist; Sep′aratism, act of separating or withdrawing, esp. from an established church; Sep′aratist, one who separates or withdraws, esp. from an established church, a dissenter: a name applied by the Unionists to those Liberals in favour of granting Home Rule to Ireland.—adj. Sep′arātive, tending to separate.—ns. Sep′arātor, one who, or that which, separates: a divider; Sep′arātory, a chemical vessel for separating liquids of different specific gravities; Sep′arātrix, the line separating light from shade on any partly illuminated surface; Separā′tum, a separate copy of a paper which has been published in the proceedings of a scientific society.—Separate estate, property of a married woman over which her husband has no right of control; Separate maintenance, a provision made by a husband for the sustenance of his wife where they decide to live apart. [L. separāre, -ātum—se-, aside, parāre, to put.]

Sepawn=Supawn (q.v.).

Sephardim, se-fär′dēm, n.pl. the Spanish-Portuguese Jews, descended from those expelled from Spain in 1492—as distinguished from Ashkenazim, or German-Polish Jews.—adj. Sephar′dic.

Sephen, sef′en, n. a sting-ray of the Indian Ocean, valued for shagreen.

Sephiroth, sef′i-roth, n. in the cabbala, the first ten numerals identified with Scripture names of God.

Sepia, sē′pi-a, n. a fine, brown pigment used as a water-colour—from the ink-bag of a few species of cuttle-fish: Indian or China ink: a genus of cuttle-fishes.—n.pl. Sēpiā′cea, a group of cephalopods, same as Sēpiidæ.—n. Sēpiadā′rium, a genus of cuttles.—adjs. Sēpiā′rian, Sē′piāry, Sēpidā′ceous, Sē′pioid; Sē′pic, done in sepia, as a drawing.—ns. Sē′piost, Sepiostaire′, Sē′pium, cuttle-bone. [L.,—Gr. sēpia, the cuttle-fish.]

Sepiment, sep′i-ment, n. a hedge, a fence. [L. sæpimentum, a hedge.]

Sepose, sē-pōz′, v.t. (obs.) to set apart.—v.i. to go apart.—n. Sēposi′tion.

Sepoy, sē′poi, n. a native soldier, whether Hindu or Mohammedan, in the British army in India. [Hind. sipāhī, a soldier—Pers. sipāhī, a horseman.]

Seppuku, sep-puk′ōō, n. the hara-kiri. [Jap.]

Seps, seps, n. a genus of scincoid lizards. [Gr.]

Sepsis, sep′sis, n. putridity, rot: a genus of dipterous insects. [Gr. sēpsis, putrefaction.]

Sept, sept, n. in Ireland, a subdivision of a tribe: an enclosure, a railing.—adj. Sep′tal, belonging to a sept: partitional. [Probably a corr. of sect.]

Sept.=Septuagint; September.

Septan, sep′tan, adj. recurring every seventh day.

Septangle, sep′tang-gl, n. a figure with seven angles and seven sides.—adj. Septang′ūlar, having seven angles. [L. septem, seven, angulus, angle.]

Septaria, sep-tā′ri-a, n. a genus of shipworms—Teredo.

Septarium, sep-tā′ri-um, n. an ovate flattened nodule of argillaceous limestone or ironstone—turtle-stone:—pl. Septā′ria.—adj. Septā′rian.

Septate, -d, sep′tāt, -ed, adj. divided into compartments.

September, sep-tem′bėr, n. the ninth month of the year.—adj. Septem′bral.—n. Septem′brist, one of the perpetrators of the atrocious massacres in the prisons of Paris, Sept. 2-7, 1792.—September thorn, a British geometrid moth. [L. septem, seven.]

Septempartite, sep-tem-pär′tīt, adj. divided into seven parts.

Septemvir, sep-tem′vir, n. one of a board of seven men associated for certain duties.—n. Septem′virate, the office of septemvir.

Septenarius, sep-te-nā′ri-us, n. in Latin prosody, a verse consisting of seven feet.

Septenary, sep′te-nā-ri, adj. consisting of seven: lasting seven years: occurring once in seven years.—n.pl. Sep′tenaries, the number seven, the heptad. [L. septenarius—septem, seven.]

Septenate, sep′te-nāt, adj. (bot.) having seven parts.

Septennial, sep-ten′i-al, adj. lasting seven years: happening every seven years.—n. Septenn′ate, a period of seven years.—adv. Septenn′ially.—n. Septenn′ium.—Septennial Act, a statute of 1716 fixing the existence of a parliament at seven years. [L. septennis—septem, seven, annus, a year.]

Septentrion, sep-ten′tri-on, n. (Shak.) the north.—adjs. Septen′trion, -al, northern.—adv. Septen′trionally.—n.pl. Septentriō′nes, the constellation of the Great Bear, or the seven stars near the north pole-star, called Charles's Wain.

Septet, Septette, sep-tet′, n. a work for seven voices or instruments: a company of seven musicians.

Sept-foil, sept′-foil, n. a plant, the roots of which are used in medicine, tanning, &c.: a figure of seven equal segments of a circle used in the R.C. Church as a symbol of her seven sacraments, the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, &c. [Fr. sept—L. septem, seven, foil—L. folium, a leaf.]

Septicemia, sep-ti-sē′mi-a, n. sepsis, blood-poisoning—also Septicæ′mia.—n. Sep′tic, a substance that promotes the putrefaction of bodies.—adjs. Sep′tic, -al, promoting putrefaction.—adv. Sep′tically.—adj. Septicē′mic.—n. Septic′ity, tendency to promote putrefaction.—adj. Septif′erous, conveying putrid poison. [Formed from Gr. sēptikos, putrefying, haima, blood.]

Septicidal, sep-ti-sī′dal, adj. dividing the partitions, as when fruit splits asunder—also Sep′ticide.—adv. Sep′ticidally. [L. sæptum, a fence, cædĕre, to cut.]

Septifarious, sep-ti-fā′ri-us, adj. turned seven different ways.

Septiferous, sep-tif′e-rus, adj. having a septum or septa, septate.

Septifluous, sep-tif′lōō-us, adj. flowing in seven streams.

Septifolious, sep-ti-fō′li-us, adj. seven-leaved.

Septiform, sep′ti-form, adj. sevenfold, having seven parts: like a septum, septal.

Septifragal, sep-tif′rā-gal, adj. (bot.) breaking away from the partitions, said of the valves of a pod. [L. septum, a partition, frangĕre, fractum, to break.]

Septilateral, sep-ti-lat′ėr-al, adj. having seven sides. [L. septem, seven, latus, lateris, a side.]

Septillion, sep-til′yun, n. the product of a million raised to the seventh power, or a unit with forty-two ciphers affixed: in the United States, France, &c., the eighth power of a thousand.

Septimanarian, sep-ti-mā-nā′ri-an, n. a monk on duty for a week. [L. septimanus—septem, seven.]

Septime, sep′tēm, n. the seventh position assumed by a fencer after drawing his weapon from the scabbard. [L. septimus, seventh—septem, seven.]

Septimole, sep′ti-mōl, n. a group of seven notes to be played in the time of four or six: sign .—Also Sep′tōle.

Septinsular, sept-in′sū-lar, adj. consisting of seven islands. [L. septem, seven, insula, island.]

Septisyllable, sep′ti-sil-a-bl, n. a word of seven syllables.

Septomaxillary, sep-tō-mak′si-lā-ri, adj. combining characters of a nasal septum and a maxillary bone.—n. a bone in some birds uniting the maxillopalatines of opposite sides.

Septonasal, sep-tō-nā′zal, adj. forming a nasal septum.—n. a bone of this kind.

Septuagenarian, sep-tū-aj-e-nā′ri-an, n. a person seventy years old.—adj. Septūag′enary, consisting of seventy.—n. one seventy years old. [L. septuagenarius—septuageni, seventy each—septem, seven.]

Septuagesima, sep-tū-a-jes′i-ma, n. the third Sunday before Lent—the seventieth day before Easter (the common but dubious explanation).—adj. Septuages′imal, consisting of seventy: counted by seventies. [L. septuagesimus—septem, seven. The name, like Quinquagesima and Sexagesima, was most probably adopted on a false analogy with Quadragesima, the Latin name of Lent.]

Septuagint, sep′tū-a-jint, n. the version in Hellenistic Greek of the Old Testament, said to have been made by 72 translators at Alexandria by command of Ptolemy Philadelphus (284-247 B.C.)—usually expressed by LXX.—adj. Septuagin′tal. [L. septuaginta—septem, seven.]

Septuary, sep′tū-ā-ri, n. (obs.) something composed of seven.

Septum, sep′tum, n. (bot., anat.) a partition separating two cavities: one of the radial plates of a coral:—pl. Sep′ta.—adj. Sep′tulate, having imperfect or spurious septa.—n. Sep′tulum, a little septum or small partition. [L.,—sæpīre, sepīre, to enclose.]

Septuple, sep′tū-pl, adj. sevenfold.—v.t. to make sevenfold: to multiply by seven.—n. Sep′tūplet, a septimole. [Low L. septuplus—septem, seven; on the analogy of quadruple.]

Sepulchre, sep′ul-kėr, n. a place of burial: tomb: a burial vault: a recess in some early churches in which the reserved sacrament, &c., were laid from Good Friday till Easter.—v.t. (Milt.) to place in a sepulchre: to bury or entomb.—adj. Sepul′chral, pertaining to a sepulchre, or to monuments erected for the dead: (fig.) deep, hollow in tone.—n. Sep′ulture, act of burying the dead: interment: burial.—v.t. to entomb. [Fr.,—L. sepulchrum—sepelīre, sepultum, to bury.]

Sepurture, sep′ur-tūr, adj. (her.) raised above the back and opened, of a bird's wings.

Sequacious, sē-kwā′shus, adj. inclined to follow a leader: attendant: manageable: pliant: observing logical sequence or consistence.—ns. Sequā′ciousness, Sequac′ity, disposition to follow. [L. sequax, sequacis—sequi, to follow.]

Sequel, sē′kwel, n. that which follows, the succeeding part: result, consequence: (obs.) descendants: (Scots law) thirlage. [Fr.,—L. sequela—sequi; Gr. hepesthai, to follow.]

Sequela, sē-kwē′la, n. that which follows: an inference, a corollary:—pl. Sē′quelæ.

Sequence, sē′kwens, n. state of being sequent or following: order of succession: a series of things following in a certain order, as a set of three or more cards in order of value: that which follows: consequence: (mus.) a regular succession of similar chords: in liturgics, a hymn in rhythmical prose, sung after the gradual and before the gospel.—adjs. Sē′quent, following, succeeding; Sēquen′tial.—n. Sēquential′ity.—adv. Sēquen′tially. [Fr.,—L. sequens, pr.p. of sequi, to follow.]

Sequester, sē-kwes′tėr, v.t. to separate: to withdraw from society: to seclude: to set apart: (law) to place anything contested into the hands of a third person till the dispute is settled: to hold the property of another till the profits pay the demands: to take possession of the estate of a bankrupt in order to distribute it among the creditors: to confiscate.—v.i. to renounce any interest in the estate of a husband.—n. (Shak.) the act of sequestering: an umpire.—adjs. Sēques′tered, retired, secluded; Seques′trable.—v.t. Sēques′trate (law), to sequester.—ns. Sēquestrā′tion, the Scotch legal term for bankruptcy: the act of sequestering, esp. the seizure of any one's property for the use of the state during dispute, or for the benefit of creditors: state of being separated: seclusion from society; Sēquestrā′tor, one who sequesters another's property: one to whom property is committed during dispute. [O. Fr. sequestrer—Low L. sequestrāre, -ātum—L. sequester, a depositary—sequi, to follow.]

Sequestrum, sē-kwes′trum, n. a necrosed section of bone.—n. Sequestrot′omy, the operation of removing such.

Sequin, sē′kwin, n. a gold Venetian coin of the 13th century=9s. 4d. [Fr.,—It. zecchino—zecca, the mint; of Ar. origin.]

Sequoia, sē-kwoi′a, n. a small genus of gigantic evergreen coniferous trees belonging to California—Wellingtonia. [A Latinised form of the name of the Cherokee chief Sequoiah.]

Sera, sē′ra, n. a lock of any kind:—pl. Sē′ræ. [L.]

Sérac, sā-rak′, n. a name for the cuboidal masses into which the névé breaks when passing down a steep incline. [Swiss Fr.]

Seraglio, se-ral′yō, n. the ancient residence of the Sultan at Constantinople, enclosing within its walls a variety of mosques, gardens, and large edifices, the chief of which is the Harem: a place where women are kept, a place of licentious pleasure: an enclosure. [It. serraglio—Low L. serāre, to lock up, from L. sera, a door-bar. The word was confused with Pers. serai, a palace.]

Serai, se-rä′i, n. a khan, a caravansary: a seraglio for women. [Pers. serai, a palace.]

Seralbumin, sēr-al-bū′min, n. albumin of the blood.

Serang, se-rang′, n. the skipper of a small East Indian vessel, the boatswain of a lascar crew. [Pers. sarhang, a commander.]

Serape, se-rä′pe, n. a Mexican shawl worn by men, often gay-coloured.

Serapeum, Serapeium, ser-a-pē′um, n. a temple of Serapis, esp. that near Memphis.

Seraph, ser′af, n. an angel of the highest rank in the traditional angelology of the church, due to Dionysius the Areopagite, who places the seraphim at the head of the nine choirs of angels, the first rank being formed by the seraphim, cherubim, and throni:—pl. Seraphs (ser′afs), Seraphim (ser′af-im), celestial beings on either side of the throne of Jehovah, seen in prophetic vision by Isaiah, and by him alone (vi. 2-6): a geometrid moth.—adjs. Seraph′ic, -al, pertaining to, or becoming, a seraph: angelic: pure: sublime: refined.—adv. Seraph′ically. [Heb. Serāphīm—sāraph, to burn.]

Seraphine, ser′a-fēn, n. a coarse-toned musical reed-instrument, played with a key-board—the precursor of the harmonium.

Serapias, se-rā′pi-as, n. a genus of orchids.

Serapis, ser-ā′pis, n. Apis honoured by the Romans under the attributes of Osiris: a genus of gasteropods: a genus of hymenopterous insects.

Seraskier, ser-as′kēr, n. a Turkish general, esp. the commander-in-chief or the minister of war.—n. Seras′kierate, the office of a seraskier. [Turk.,—Pers. sar, ser, head, Ar. ‛asker, army.]

Serb, serb, adj. Servian.—n. a Servian.

Serbonian, ser-bō′ni-an, adj. relating to a dangerous bog in Egypt, hence to any difficult situation.

Serdab, ser′dab, n. a secret chamber within the masonry of an ancient Egyptian tomb in which images of the deceased were stored. [Ar. serdāb.]

Sere. Same as Sear.

Sere, sēr, adj. (obs.) separate, several, many.

Sere, sēr, n. (obs.) a claw.

Serein, se-rang′, n. a fine rain which falls from a cloudless sky. [Fr.]

Serena, sē-rē′na, n. the damp, unwholesome air of evening.

Serenade, ser-e-nād′, n. evening music in the open air, esp. given by a lover to his mistress under her window at night: a piece of music suitable for such an occasion.—v.t. to entertain with a serenade.—ns. Serenā′der, one who serenades; Serenä′ta, an instrumental work for performance in the open air; Ser′enāte (Milt.), a serenade. [Fr.,—It. serenata, sereno, serene—L. serenus.]

Serene, sē-rēn′, adj. calm: unclouded: unruffled: an adjunct to the titles of certain German princes—a translation of Durchlaucht.—v.t. to tranquillise.—n. the chilly damp of evening: blight.—adv. Serēne′ly, calmly, coolly.—ns. Serēne′ness; Seren′itude; Seren′ity, state or quality of being serene, calmness, peace.—v.t. Serenise′, to make bright: to glorify. [L. serenus, clear.]

Serenoa, sē-rē′nō-a, n. a genus of dwarf palms in Florida.

Serf, sėrf, n. a slave attached to the soil and sold with it: a labourer rendering forced service in Russia: a menial.—ns. Serf′age, Serf′dom, condition of a serf. [Fr.,—L. servus, a slave.]

Serge, sėrj, n. a strong twilled fabric, once of silk, now usually of worsted.—n. Sergette′, a thin serge. [Fr.,—L. serica, silk—Seres, the Chinese.]

Sergeant, Serjeant, sär′jent, n. a non-commissioned officer of the army and marines next above a corporal, overlooking the soldiers in barracks, and assisting the officers in all ways in the field: a bailiff: a constable: a servant in monastic offices: a police-officer of superior rank.—ns. Ser′geancy, Ser′geantcy, Ser′geantship, office of a sergeant; Ser′geant-at-arms, an officer of a legislative body for keeping order, &c.; Ser′geant-fish, the cobra, so called from the lateral stripes; Ser′geant-mā′jor, the highest non-commissioned officer, employed to assist the adjutant: the cow-pilot, a fish; Ser′geantry, Ser′geanty, a kind of feudal tenure on condition of service due to the king only; Ser′jeant-at-arms, an officer who attends upon the Lord Chancellor with the mace, and who executes various writs of process in the course of a Chancery suit: a similar officer who attends on each House of Parliament, and arrests any person ordered by the House to be arrested; Ser′jeant-at-law, formerly in England the highest degree of barrister, once with exclusive audience in the Court of Common Pleas, their proper dress a violet-coloured robe with a scarlet hood, and a black coif, represented in modern times by a patch of silk at the top of the wig.—Grand sergeanty, a tenure of lands by special honorary service to the king; Petit sergeanty, a tenure of lands by a rent or tender. [Fr. sergent—L. serviens, -entis, pr.p. of servīre, to serve.]

Serial, sē′ri-al, adj. pertaining to, or consisting of, a series: appearing periodically.—n. a tale or other composition appearing in successive parts, as in a periodical: a publication issued in successive numbers, a periodical.—n. Sērial′ity.—advs. Sē′rially, Sē′riately, in a series or regular order.—adj. Sē′riāte, arranged in a series.—adv. Sē′riātim, one after another.—n. Sēriā′tion.

Serian, sē′ri-an, adj. Chinese—also Ser′ic.—ns. Ser′ica, a genus of melolonthine beetles; Sericā′ria, a genus of bombycid moths, containing the mulberry silkworm.—adjs. Ser′icate, -d, silky, covered with silky down; Sericeous (sērish′i-us), pertaining to, or consisting of, silk: (bot.) covered with soft silky hairs, as a leaf.—n.pl. Seric′ides, a section of melolonthine beetles.—ns. Ser′icin, the gelatinous substance of silk; Ser′icite, a variety of potash mica.—adj. Sericit′ic.—ns. Sericocar′pus, a genus of composite plants of the United States; Sericos′tōma, the typical genus of caddis-flies; Serictē′rium, a spinning gland; Ser′iculture, the breeding of silkworms—also Ser′iciculture; Sericul′turist. [Gr. Sēres, the Seres, an Asiatic people who supplied the Greeks and Romans with their silk.]

Sericon, ser′i-kon, n. in the jargon of alchemy, a red tincture—opp. to Bufo, a black.

Seriema, ser-i-ē′ma, n. a long-legged, crested Brazilian bird.—Also Caria′ma.

Series, sē′ri-ēz, n.sing. and pl. a succession of things connected by some likeness: sequence: order: (math.) a progression of numbers or quantities according to a certain law.—Arithmetical series, a series whose terms progress by the addition or subtraction of a constant difference; Geometrical series, a series whose successive terms progress by a constant multiplier or divisor—the common ratio; Reciprocal series, a series each of whose terms is the reciprocal of the corresponding term of another series. [L.,—serĕre, sertum, to join.]

Serif, ser′if, n. the short cross-line at the ends of unconnected Roman types, as in H, l, d, y, &c.—Also Cer′iph and Ser′iph.

Seriform, sē′ri-form, adj. noting a section of the Altaic family of languages, comprising Chinese, &c.

Serilophus, sē-ril′ō-fus, n. an Indian genus of broadbills. [Gr. sērikos, silky, lophos, a crest.]

Serin, ser′in, n. a small fringilline bird like the canary.—n. Serinette′, a bird-organ. [Fr.,—L. citrinus, citrine, yellow.]

Seringa, se-ring′gä, n. a name of several Brazilian trees yielding india-rubber. [Port.]

Seringhi, ser-ing-gē′, n. a musical instrument of the viol class used in India.

Serinus, sē-rī′nus, n. a genus of birds of the fringilline family, including canaries. [Fr. serin.]

Seriola, sē-rī′ō-la, n. a genus of carangoid fishes, the amber fishes.

Serious, sē′ri-us, adj. solemn: in earnest: important: attended with danger: weighty: professedly religious.—adjs. Sē′rio-com′ic, -al, partly serious and partly comical.—adv. Sē′riously, gravely, deeply: without levity.—n. Sē′riousness. [Fr. serieux—L. serius, akin to severus, severe.]

Seriph. See Serif.

Serjeant. See Sergeant.

Sermocination, ser-mos-i-nā′shun, n. (obs.) speech-making: (rhet.) a form of prosopopœia in which one answers a question he has himself asked.

Sermon, sėr′mon, n. a discourse on a text of Scripture delivered during divine service: any serious address, any serious counsel, admonition, or reproof.—v.t. to tutor, to lecture.—ns. Sermol′ogus, a volume containing sermons by the Church fathers; Sermoneer′, a sermoniser; Ser′moner, a preacher; Ser′monet, a little sermon.—adjs. Sermon′ic, -al, having the character of a sermon.—n. Ser′moning, the act of preaching: a homily.—v.i. Ser′monise, to compose or preach sermons: to lecture: to lay down the law.—v.t. to preach a sermon to.—ns. Sermonī′ser, one who preaches or writes sermons; Sermō′nium, a historical play, formerly acted by the inferior orders of the Roman Catholic clergy; Sermun′cle, a little sermon. [L. sermo, sermonis—serĕre, to join.]

Seroon, se-rōōn′, n. a crate or hamper in which Spanish and Levantine figs, raisins, &c. are usually packed.—n. Ser′on, a bale of about 200 lb. of Paraguay tea wrapped in hide. [Sp. seron.]

Seropurulent, sē-rō-pū′rōō-lent, adj. composed of serum mixed with pus.—adj. Serosanguin′olent, pertaining to bloody serum.

Serotine, ser′ō-tin, n. a small reddish vespertilionine bat. [L. serotinus—sero, late.]

Serotinous, sē-rot′i-nus, adj. (bot.) appearing late the season. [L. serotinus—sero, late.]

Serous, sē′rus, adj. resembling serum, thin, watery: secreting serum.—n. Seros′ity. [Serum.]

Serpent, sėr′pent, n. any member of the genus Ophidia, more popularly known as snakes—any reptile without feet which moves by means of its ribs and scales: a snake: a person treacherous or malicious: one of the constellations in the northern hemisphere: (mus.) a bass musical wind-instrument, entirely obsolete except in a few Continental churches, a tapered leather-covered wooden tube 8 feet long, twisted about like a serpent.—v.i. to wind along: to meander.—v.t. to girdle, as with the coils of a serpent.—ns. Serpentā′ria, the Virginia snakeroot; Serpentā′rius, the secretary-birds: the constellation Ophiuchus; Ser′pent-charm′er, one who charms or has power over serpents; Ser′pent-charm′ing, the art of charming or governing serpents; Ser′pent-cū′cumber, a long-fruited variety of the musk-melon; Ser′pent-dē′ity, the god of the Ophites, Abraxas; Ser′pent-eat′er, the secretary-bird: a wild goat in India and Cashmere; Ser′penteau, an iron circle with spikes to which squibs are attached, used in a breach.—n.pl. Serpent′es, the second order of the third class of limbless reptiles.—ns. Ser′pent-fish, the snake-fish; Ser′pent-grass, the alpine bistort.—adjs. Serpent′iform, ophidian in structure: snake-like; Ser′pentine, resembling a serpent: winding, tortuous: spiral: crooked.—n. a kind of firework: a 16th-cent. form of cannon: a mineral composed of silica and manganese, generally occurring massive, colour some shade of green, also red and brownish-yellow.—v.i. to wind or wriggle like a serpent.—adv. Ser′pentinely.—adjs. Serpentin′ic, Ser′pentinous.—adv. Serpentī′ningly, with a serpentine motion.—v.t. Ser′pentinise, to convert into serpentine.—v.i. Ser′pentise, to wind: meander.—adj. Ser′pent-like, like a serpent.—ns. Ser′pent-liz′ard, a lizard of the genus Seps; Ser′pent-moss, a greenhouse plant from the West Indies; Ser′pentry, serpentine motion: a place infested by serpents: serpents collectively; Ser′pent-star, a brittle star; Ser′pent-stone, snake-stone, adder-stone; Ser′pent's-tongue, the adder's-tongue fern; Ser′pent-tur′tle, an enaliosaur; Ser′pent-withe, a twining plant of tropical America; Ser′pent-wood, an East Indian shrub; Ser′pent-wor′ship, one of the most ancient and widespread forms of primitive religion, and still existing amongst many savage peoples; Sea′-ser′pent (see Sea).—Serpentine verse, a verse which begins and ends with the same word.—The old serpent, Satan. [L. serpens, -entis, pr.p. of serpĕre, to creep; akin to Gr. herpein.]