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 (Volume 1).

  • Johnson, Samuel, 1709-1784.
Date:
1819
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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 (Volume 1). Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    ACR which is more common, before the crime. If I sin, then thou markest me, and thou wilt not acquit me/rommine iniquity Job, x. 14. By the suffrage of the most and best, he is already acquitted; and, by the sentence of some, condemned. Dryden. He that judges, without informing himself to the utmost that he is capable, cannot acquit himself of judging amiss. Locke. Neither do I reflect upon the memory of his majes- ty, whom I entirely acquit of any imputation. Swift. 3. To clear from any obligation. Steady to my principles, and not dispirited with my afflictions, I have, by the blessing of God on my endeavours, overcome all difficulties; and, in some measure, acquitted myself of the debt, which I owed the publick, when I undertook this work. Dryden. 4. In a similar sense, it is said, The man hath acquitted himself well; that is, he hath discharged his duty. Acquitment, ak-kwlt'ment. n. s. [from acquit.] The state of being acquitted; or act of acquitting. The word imports properly an acquitment or dis- charge of a man, upon some precedent accusation; and a full trial and cognizance of his cause, had thereupon. South. Acqui'ttal, ak-kwit'tal. n. s. In law, is a deliverance and setting free, from the suspicion or guiltiness of an offence. Cornell. The constant design of both these orators was, to drive some one particular point, either the condem- nation or acquittal of an accused person. Swift. To Acqui'TTANCE, ak-kwit'tanse. v. a. To procure an acquittance; to acquit; a word not in present use. But, if black scandal and foul-fac'd reproach Attend the sequel of your imposition; Your mere enforcement shall acquittance me From all the impure blots and stains thereof. , , Shakspeare. Acqui'TTANCE, ak-kwit'tanse. n. s. [from acquit.^ 1. The act of discharging from a debt. But soon shall find Forbearance, no acquittance, ere day end Justice shall not return, as beauty, scorn'd. Milton. 2. A writing, testifying the receipt of a debt. You can produce acquittances For such a sum, from special officers Of Charles his father. Shakspeare's Love's Labour Lost. They quickly pay their debt; and then Take no acquittances, but pay again. Donne. The same man bought and sold to himself, paid the money, and gave the acquittance. Arbutlinot. A'cre, a'kur.s8 «b „. s< [^Cpe, Sax.] A quantity of land containing, in length, forty perches, and four in breadth, or four thousand eight hundred and forty square yards. Diet. Search every acre in the high-grown field, And bring him to our eye. Shaksp. King Lear. A'cRin, ak'ktid. adj. [acer, Lat.] Of a hot biting taste; bitter; so as to leave a pain- ful heat upon the organs of taste. Bitter and acrid differ, only by the sharp particles of the first, being involved in a greater quantity of oil, than those of the last. Arbutlinot on Aliments. Acrimo'nious, ak-kie-m6'ne-us.314 adj. Abounding with acrimony; sharp; cor- rosive. If gall cannot be rendered acrimonious and bit- ter of itself; then, whatever acrimony or amaritude VOL. I. ACR redounds in it, must be from the admixture of me- lancholy. Harvey on Consumptions. A'crimont, ak'kre-mo-ne.6 n. s. [acri- monia, Lat.] 1. Sharpness, corrosiveness. There be plants, that have a milk in them when they are cut; as, figs, old lettuce, sow-thistles, spurge. The cause may be an inception of putrefaction; for those milks have all an acrimony, though one would think they should be lenitive. Bacon's Natural History. The chymists define salt, from some of its proper- ties, to be a body fusible in the fire;congealable again by cold, into brittle glebes or crystals; soluble in water, so as to disappear; not malleable; and having something in it, which affects the organs of taste with a sensation of aciimony or sharpness. Arbutlinot. 2. Sharpness of temper, severity,bitterness of thought or language. John the Baptist set himself, with much acrimony and indignation, to baffle this senseless arrogant conceit of theirs; which made them huff at the doc- trine of repentance, as a thing below them, and not at all belonging to them. South. A'critude, ak'kre-tude. n. s. [from acrid.~\ An acrid taste; a biting heat on the palate. In green vitriol, with its astringent and sweetish tastes, is joined some aaitude. Grao's Musccum. Acroama'tical, ak'kro-a-mat'te-kal.609 adj. [ctKgexouxi, Gr. I hear.] Of or per- taining to deep learning; the opposite of exoterical. Acroa'ticks, ak-kro-at'tiks. n. «. \Jt,K%»x- Iijcoc, Gr.] Aristotle's lectures, on the more nice and principal parts of philo- sophy; to which, none but friends and scholars were admitted by him. Acro'nycal, ak-kr&n'e-kal. adj. [from «*fe«, summus, and vug nox; importing the beginning of night.] A term of astronomy applied to the stars; of which the rising or setting is called acronycal, when they either appear above or sink below the horizon at the time of sunset. It is opposed to cosmical. - Acro'nycally, ak-kron'e-kal-le. adv. from acronycal At the acronycal time. He is tempestuous in the summer, when he rises heliacally; and rainy in the winter, when he rises acronycally. Dryden. A'crospire, ak'kro-splre.181 n. s. [from «*£>05 and (T7ret£ct, Gr.] A shoot or sprout from the end of seeds, before they are put in the ground. Many corns will smilt, or have their pulp turned into a substance like thick cream; and will send forth their substance in an acrospire. Mortimer. A'crospired, ak'kro-spi-red.362part. adj. Having sprouts, or having shot out. For want of turning, when the malt is spread on the floor, it comes and sprouts at both ends; which is called acrospired, and is fit only for swine. Mortimer. Acuo'ss, a-kross'. adv. [from a for at, or the French a, as it is used in a travers, and cross.] Athwart; laid over some- thing so as to cross it. The harp hath the concave, not along the strings, but across the strings; and no harp hath the sound, so melting and prolonged, as the Irish harp. Bacon. This view'd, but not en joy 'd, with arms across He stood, reflecting on his country's loss. Dryden. There is a set of artisans; who, by the help of several poles, which they lay across each others shoulders, build themselves up into a kind of pyra- mid; so that you see a pile of men in the air, of four or five rows, rising one above another. Addison. D ACT An Acro'stiok, a-kross'tik. n. s. [from «*fos and «-/#««, Gr.] A poem, in which the first letter of every line being taken, makes up the name of the person or thing, on which the poem is written. Acro'stick, a-kross'tik. adj. 1. That, which relates to an acrostick. 2. That, which contains acrosticks. Leave writing plays; and choose for thy command Some peaceful province in acrostick land: There thou may'st wings display, and altars raise, And torture one poor word ten thousand ways. Dryden. A'CROTERS, or ACROTE'RIA, ak' kro-turs. n. s. [from «xfev, Gr. the ex- tremity of any body] Little pedestals without bases, placed at the middle and the two extremes of pediments; some- times serving, to support statues. To ACT, akt. v. n. [ago, actum, Lat.] 1. To be in action, not to rest. He hangs between, in doubt to act or rest. Pope. 2. To perform the proper functions. Albeit the will is not capable of being compelled to any of its actings; yet it is capable, of being made to act with more or less difficulty, according to the different impressions it receives from motives or ob- jects. Smith. 3. To practise arts or duties; to conduct one's self. 'Tis plain, that she (who for a kingdom now Would sacrifice her love, and break her vow) Not out of love, but interest, acts alone; And would, ev'u in my arms, lie thinking of a throne. Dryden's Conquest of Granada. The desire of happiness, and the constraint it puts upon us to act for it, no body accounts an abridg- ment of liberty. Locke. The splendor of his office, is the token of that sa- cred character, which he inwardly bears; and one of these ought constantly to put him in mind of the other, and excite him to act up to it, through the whole course of his administration. Atterbwy's Sermons. It is our part and duty, to co-operate with this grace, vigorously to exert those powers, and act up to those advantages to which it restores us. He has given eyes to the blind, and feet to the lame. Rogers's Sermons. 4. To produce effects, in some passive sub- ject. Hence, 'tis we wait the wond'rous cause to find, How body acts upon impassive mind. Garth's Dispensary. The stomach, the intestines, the muscles of the lower belly, all act upon the aliment: besides, the chyle is not sucked, but squeezed, into the mouths of the lacteals, by the action of the fibres of the guts. Arbutlinot on Aliments. To Act, akt. v. a. 1 To bear a borrowed character, as a stage-player. Honour and shame from no condition rise: Act well your part; there all the honour lies. Pope. 2. To counterfeit; to feign by action. His former trembling once again renew'd, With acted fear the villain thus pursu'd. Dryden- 3. To actuate; to put in motion; to regu- late the movements. Most people in the world are acted by levity and humour, by strange and irrational changes. South. Perhaps they are as proud as Lucifer, as covetous as Demas, as false as Judas; and, in the whole course of their conversation, act and are acted, not by devotion, but design. South. We suppose two distinct incommunicable con- sciousnessess acting the «ame body; the one con- stantly by day, the other by night; and, on the