Volume 1
A dictionary of the English language: in which the words are deduced from their originals, and illustrated in their different significations by examples from the best writers. To which are prefixed, a history of the language, and an English grammar / by Samuel Johnson.
- Samuel Johnson
- Date:
- 1755
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: A dictionary of the English language: in which the words are deduced from their originals, and illustrated in their different significations by examples from the best writers. To which are prefixed, a history of the language, and an English grammar / by Samuel Johnson. Source: Wellcome Collection.
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![ABS Then was the hi d ftatutc made again ft alfentees, command¬ ing all fuch as had land in Ireland, to return and refide there¬ upon. Sir John Davies on Ireland. A great part of cftates in Ireland are owned by abfentees, and fuch as draw over the profits railed out of Ireland, refunding nothing. Child's Difcourfe on Trade. Absi'nthiated. part, [from ahfmthium, Lat. wormwood.] Imbittercd, impregnated with wormwood. Dili. SB SIS. See APSIS. To Absi'st. v. n. [abjijlo^ Lat.] To Hand off, to leave ofF. Dili. To ABSOLVE, v. a. [abfolvoy Lat.] j. To clear, to acquit of a crime in a judicial fenfe. Your great goodnefs, out of holy pity, A!Jok'd him with an axe. Shakejpeare’s Henry VIII. Our victors, bleft in peace, forget their wars. Enjoy pad dangers, and alfolve the ftars. Tided. As he hopes, and gives out, by the influence of his wealth, to be here abfolved; in condemning this man, you have an op¬ portunity of belying that general fcandal, of redeeming the credit loft by former judgments. Swift's Mifcellanies. 2. To fet free from an engagement or promife. CompelFd by threats to take that bloody oath. And the add ill, I am ahfolv'd by both. Waller's Ala id's Trag. This command, which muft neceflarily comprehend the per- fons of our natural fathers, muft mean a duty we owe them, diftindt from our obedience to the magiftrate, and from which the moft abfolute power of princes cannot alfolve us. Locke. 3. To pronounce a fin remitted, in the ecclefiaftical fenfe. But all is calm in this eternal fleep ; Here grief forgets to groan, and love to weep ; Ev’n fuperftition lofes ev’ry fear ; For God, not man, alfolves our frailties here. Pope's Eloifa to Abelard. 4. To finifh, to complete. If that which is fo fuppofed infinitely diftant from what is now current, is diftant from us by a finite interval, and not infinite¬ ly, then that one circulation which preceded it, and muft ne¬ ceflarily be like ours, and confequently abfolved in the fpace of twenty-four hours. Hale's Origin of Mankind. What caufe Mov’d the creator, in his holy reft Through all eternity, fo late to build In chaos ; and the work begun, how foon Abfoh'd. Milton's Paradife Lcjl, b. vii. 7. 94. Absolute, ad}, [abfolutus, Lat.] 1. Complete; applied as well to perfons as things. Becaufe the things that proceed from him are perfedb, with¬ out any manner of defedf or maim ; it cannot be, but that the words of his mouth are abfolute, and lack nothing which they fhould have, for performance of that thing whereunto they tend. Hooker, b. ii. § 6. 2. Unconditional; as, an abfolute promife. Although it runs in forms abfolute, yet it is indeed conditio¬ nal, as depending upon the qualification of the perfon to whom it is pronounced. . South's Sermons. 3. Not relative; as, abfolute fpace. I fee ftill the diftindtions of fovereign and inferior, of abfolute and relative worfhip, will bear any man out in the worfhip of any creature with refpedd to God, as well at leaft as it doth in the worfhip of images. Stillingfl. Def of Difc. on Rom. Idol. An abfolute mode is that which belongs to its fubjedd, with¬ out refpedd to any other beings whatfoever: but a relative mode is derived from the regard that one being has to others. Watts's Logic. In this fenfe we fpeak of the ablative cafe abfolute in grammar. 4. Not limited ; as, abfolute power. My crown is abfolute, and holds of none ; I cannot in a bafe lubjeddion live. Nor fuffer you to take, though I would give. Dryd. Ind. Emp. 5. Pofitive3 certain, without any hefitation. In this lenfeit rarely occurs. Long is it fince I faw him. But time hath nothing blurr’d thofe lines of favour, Which then he wore ; the (hatches in his voice, And burft of fpeaking were as his : I’m abfolute, ’Twas very Cloten. Shakejpeare's Cytnbcline. What is his ftrength by land ?—• — Great and increafing : but by fea He is an abfolute mafter. Shakejpeare's Antony and Cleopatra. Absolutely, adv. [from abfolute.] 1. Completely, without reftriddion. All the contradiddions which grow in thofe minds, that nei¬ ther abfolutcly climb the rock of virtue, nor freely fink into the fea of vanity. _ Sidney. What merit they can build upon having joined with a pro- teftant army, under a king they acknowledged, to defend their own liberties and properties, is, to me, abjolutely inconceivable; and, I believe, will equally be fo for ever. Swift s Presb. Plea. 2. Without relation. Abfolutely we cannot difeommend, we cannot alfolutely ap¬ prove either willingnefs to live, or forwardnefs to die. Hooker, b. v. ABS Thefe then being the perpetual caufes of zeal; the greateft good, or the greateft evil; either alfolutely fo in themfelves, or relatively fo to us; it is therefore good to be zealoufly afledded for the one againftthe other. Sprat's Sermons. No fenfible quality, as light, and colour, and heat, and found, can be fubfiftent in the bodies themfelves, alfolutely con- fidered, without a relation to our eyes and cars, and other or¬ gans of fenfe. Thefe qualities are only the effects of our fen- fation, which arife from the different motions, upon our nerves, from objedts without, according to their various modifications and pofitions. Bentley s Sermons, 3. Without limits or dcpendancc. The prince long time had courted fortune’s love. But, once poflefs’d, did abfolutely reign : Thus, with their Amazons, the heroes ftrove. And conquer’d firft thofe beauties they would gain. Dryden's Annus Alirabilis. 4. Without condition. And of that nature, for the moft part, are things abfolutely unto all mens falvation neceflary, cither to be held or denied, either to be done or avoided. Hooker’s Preface. 5. Peremptorily, pofitively. Being as I am, why didft not thou Command me abfolutely not to go. Going into fuch danger, as thou faidft ? Parad. Lojl, b. ix. Absoluteness, n. f. [from abfolute.] 1. Compleatnefs. 2. Freedom from dependance, or limits. The abfolutenefs and illimitednefs of his commiflion was ge¬ nerally much fpoken of. Clarendon, b. viii. There is nothing that can raife a man to that generous ab¬ folutenefs of condition, as neither to cringe, to fawn, or to de¬ pend meanly ; but that which gives him that happinefs with¬ in himfelf, for which men depend upon others. South's Serm. 3. Defpoticifm. He kept a ftrait hand on his nobility, and chofe rather to advance clergymen and lawyers, which were more obfequious to him, but had lefs intereft in the people; which made for his abfolutenefs, but not for his fafety. Bacon’s Henry VII. Absolution, n.f. [abfolutio, Lat.] 1. Acquittal. Abfolution, in the civil law, imports a full acquittal of a perfon by fome final fentence of law; alfo, a temporary dif- charge of his farther attendance upon a mefne procefs, through a failure or defedt in pleading ; as it does likewife in the canon law, where, and among divines, it likewife fignifies a relaxa¬ tion of him from the obligation of fome fentence pronounced either in a court of law, or elfe in foro pcenitentiali. Thus there is, in this kind of law, one kind of abfolution, termed judicial, and another, ftiled a declaratory or extrajudicial abfo¬ lution. Ayliffe's Parergon Juris Canonici. 2. The remiflion of fins, or penance, declared by ecclefiaftical authority. The abfolution pronounced by a prieft, whether papift or proteftant, is not a certain infallible ground to give the per¬ fon, fo abfolved, confidence towards God. South's Sermons. ABsolutory. adj. [abfolutorius, Lat.] That which abfolves. Though an abfolutory fentence fhould be pronounced in fa¬ vour of the perfons, upon the account of nearnefs of blood ; yet, if adultery fhall afterwards be truly proved, he may be again proceeded againft as an adulterer. Ayliffe's Parergon. ABsonant. adj. [See Absonous.] Contrary to reafon,wide from the purpofe. ABsonous. adj. [,abfonus, Lat. ill-founding.] Abfurd, contrary to reafon. To fuppofe an uniter of a middle conftitution, that fhould partake of fome of the qualities of both, is unwarranted by any of our faculties ; yea, moft abfonous to our reafon. Glanville's Scepfts Scientifica, c. 4. > To A bso'rb. v. a. [abforbeo^'E'eX. preter, abjorbed 5 part. pret. abforbed, or abJorpt.~\ 1. To fwallow up. Some tokens fhew Of fearlefs friendfhip, and their finking mates Suftain ; vain love, tho’ laudable, abforpt By a fierce eddy, they together found The vaft profundity. Phillips’. Mofes imputed the deluge to the difruption of the abyfs ; and St. Peter, to the particular conftitution of that earth, which made it obnoxious to he abforpt in water. Burn. Theory. 2. To fuck up. See Absorbent. Suppofing the forementioned confumpticn fhould prove fo durable, as to abjorb and extenuate the faid fanguine parts to an extreme degree, it is evident, that the fundamental parts muft neceflarily come into danger. Harvey on Confumptions. AbsoBbent. n.f [abforbens, Lat.] A medicine that, by the foftnefs or porefity of its parts, either caufes the afperities of pungent humours, or dries away fuperfluous moifture in the body. Quincy. There is a third clafs of fubftances, commonly called abfor* bents; as, the various kinds of fhells, coral, chalk, crabs eyes, iAc. which likewife raife an effervefcence, and are therefore called I](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b30451541_0001_0074.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
