Assidean As`si·de"an noun [ Hebrew khāsad to be pious.] One of a body of devoted Jews who opposed the Hellenistic Jews, and supported the Asmoneans.

Assident As"si·dent adjective [ Latin assidens , present participle of assid...re to sit by: confer French assident . See Assession .] (Medicine) Usually attending a disease, but not always; as, assident signs, or symptoms.

Assiduate As·sid"u·ate adjective [ Latin assiduatus , past participle of assiduare to use assiduously.] Unremitting; assiduous. [ Obsolete] " Assiduate labor." Fabyan.

Assiduity As`si·du"i·ty noun ; plural Assiduities [ Latin assiduitas : confer French assiduite . See Assiduous .] 1. Constant or close application or attention, particularly to some business or enterprise; diligence.

I have, with much pains and assiduity , qualified myself for a nomenclator.
Addison.

2. Studied and persevering attention to a person; - - usually in the plural.

Assiduous As·sid"u·ous adjective [ Latin assiduus , from assid...re to sit near or close; ad + sedēre to sit. See Sit .] 1. Constant in application or attention; devoted; attentive; unremitting.

She grows more assiduous in her attendance.
Addison.

2. Performed with constant diligence or attention; unremitting; persistent; as, assiduous labor.

To weary him with my assiduous cries.
Milton.

Syn. -- Diligent; attentive; sedulous; unwearied; unintermitted; persevering; laborious; indefatigable.

Assiege As·siege" transitive verb [ Middle English asegen , Old French asegier , French assiéger , from Late Latin assediare , assidiare , to besiege. See Siege .] To besiege. [ Obsolete] " Assieged castles." Spenser.

Assiege As·siege" noun A siege. [ Obsolete] Chaucer.

Assientist As`si·en"tist noun [ Confer French assientiste , Spanish asentista .] A shareholder of the Assiento company; one of the parties to the Assiento contract. Bancroft.

Assiento As`si·en"to noun [ Spanish asiento seat, contract or agreement, from asentar to place on a chair, to adjust, to make an agreement; a (L. ad ) + sentar , a participial verb; as if there were a Latin sedentare to cause to sit, from sedens , sedentis , present participle of sed...re to sit.] A contract or convention between Spain and other powers for furnishing negro slaves for the Spanish dominions in America, esp. the contract made with Great Britain in 1713.

Assign As·sign" transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Assigned ; present participle & verbal noun Assigning .] [ Middle English assignen , asignen , French assigner , from Latin assignare ; ad + signare to mark, mark out, designate, signum mark, sign. See Sign .] 1. To appoint; to allot; to apportion; to make over.

In the order I assign to them.
Loudon.

The man who could feel thus was worthy of a better station than that in which his lot had been assigned .
Southey.

He assigned to his men their several posts.
Prescott.

2. To fix, specify, select, or designate; to point out authoritatively or exactly; as, to assign a limit; to assign counsel for a prisoner; to assign a day for trial.

All as the dwarf the way to her assigned .
Spenser.

It is not easy to assign a period more eventful.
De Quincey.

3. (Law) To transfer, or make over to another, esp. to transfer to, and vest in, certain persons, called assignees , for the benefit of creditors.

To assign dower , to set out by metes and bounds the widow's share or portion in an estate. Kent.

Assign As·sign" noun [ From Assign , v. ] A thing pertaining or belonging to something else; an appurtenance. [ Obsolete]

Six French rapiers and poniards, with their assigns , as girdles, hangers, and so.
Shak.

Assign As·sign" noun [ See Assignee .] (Law) A person to whom property or an interest is transferred; as, a deed to a man and his heirs and assigns .

ASsign AS·sign" intransitive verb (Law) To transfer or pass over property to another, whether for the benefit of the assignee or of the assignor's creditors, or in furtherance of some trust.

Assignability As·sign`a·bil"i·ty noun The quality of being assignable.

Assignable As·sign"a·ble adjective Capable of being assigned, allotted, specified, or designated; as, an assignable note or bill; an assignable reason; an assignable quantity.

Assignat As`si`gnat" noun [ French assignat , from Latin assignatus , past participle of assignare .] One of the notes, bills, or bonds, issued as currency by the revolutionary government of France (1790-1796), and based on the security of the lands of the church and of nobles which had been appropriated by the state.

Assignation As`sig·na"tion noun [ Latin assignatio , from assignare : confer French assignation .] 1. The act of assigning or allotting; apportionment.

This order being taken in the senate, as touching the appointment and assignation of those provinces.
Holland.

2. An appointment of time and place for meeting or interview; -- used chiefly of love interviews, and now commonly in a bad sense.

While nymphs take treats, or assignations give.
Pope.

3. A making over by transfer of title; assignment.

House of assignation , a house in which appointments for sexual intercourse are fulfilled.

Assignee As`sign·ee" noun [ French assigné , past participle of assigner . See Assign , v. , and confer Assign an assignee.] (Law) (a) A person to whom an assignment is made; a person appointed or deputed by another to do some act, perform some business, or enjoy some right, privilege, or property; as, an assignee of a bankrupt. See Assignment (c) . An assignee may be by special appointment or deed, or be created by jaw; as an executor. Cowell. Blount. (b) plural In England, the persons appointed, under a commission of bankruptcy, to manage the estate of a bankrupt for the benefit of his creditors.

Assigner As·sign"er (ăs*sīn"ẽr) noun One who assigns, appoints, allots, or apportions.

Assignment As·sign"ment noun [ Late Latin assignamentum : confer Old French assenement .] 1. An allotting or an appointment to a particular person or use; or for a particular time, as of a cause or causes in court.

2. (Law) (a) A transfer of title or interest by writing, as of lease, bond, note, or bill of exchange; a transfer of the whole of some particular estate or interest in lands. (b) The writing by which an interest is transferred. (c) The transfer of the property of a bankrupt to certain persons called assignees , in whom it is vested for the benefit of creditors.

Assignment of dower , the setting out by metes and bounds of the widow's thirds or portion in the deceased husband's estate, and allotting it to her.

» Assignment is also used in law as convertible with specification ; assignment of error in proceedings for review being specification of error; and assignment of perjury or fraud in indictment being specifications of perjury or fraud.

Assignor As`sign·or" noun [ Latin assignator . Confer Assigner .] (Law) An assigner; a person who assigns or transfers an interest; as, the assignor of a debt or other chose in action.

Assimilability As·sim`i·la·bil"i·ty noun The quality of being assimilable. [ R.] Coleridge.

Assimilable As·sim"i·la·ble adjective That may be assimilated; that may be likened, or appropriated and incorporated.

Assimilate As·sim"i·late transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Assimilated ; present participle & verbal noun Assimilating ] [ Latin assimilatus , past participle of assimilare ; ad + similare to make like, similis like. See Similar , Assemble , Assimilate .] 1. To bring to a likeness or to conformity; to cause a resemblance between. Sir M. Hale.

To assimilate our law to the law of Scotland.
John Bright.

Fast falls a fleecy; the downy flakes
Assimilate all objects.
Cowper.

2. To liken; to compa...e. [ R.]

3. To appropriate and transform or incorporate into the substance of the assimilating body; to absorb or appropriate, as nourishment; as, food is assimilated and converted into organic tissue.

Hence also animals and vegetables may assimilate their nourishment.
Sir I. Newton.

His mind had no power to assimilate the lessons.
Merivale.

Assimilate As·sim"i·late intransitive verb 1. To become similar or like something else. [ R.]

2. To change and appropriate nourishment so as to make it a part of the substance of the assimilating body.

Aliment easily assimilated or turned into blood.
Arbuthnot.

3. To be converted into the substance of the assimilating body; to become incorporated; as, some kinds of food assimilate more readily than others.

I am a foreign material, and cannot assimilate with the church of England.
J. H. Newman.

Assimilation As·sim`i·la"tion noun [ Latin assimilatio : confer French assimilation .] 1. The act or process of assimilating or bringing to a resemblance, likeness, or identity; also, the state of being so assimilated; as, the assimilation of one sound to another.

To aspire to an assimilation with God.
Dr. H. More.

The assimilation of gases and vapors.
Sir J. Herschel.

2. (Physiol.) The conversion of nutriment into the fluid or solid substance of the body, by the processes of digestion and absorption, whether in plants or animals.

Not conversing the body, not repairing it by assimilation , but preserving it by ventilation.
Sir T. Browne.

» The term assimilation has been limited by some to the final process by which the nutritive matter of the blood is converted into the substance of the tissues and organs.

Assimilative As·sim"i·la·tive adjective [ Confer Late Latin assimilativus , French assimilatif .] Tending to, or characterized by, assimilation; that assimilates or causes assimilation; as, an assimilative process or substance.

Assimilatory As·sim"i·la·to·ry adjective Tending to assimilate, or produce assimilation; as, assimilatory organs.

Assimulate As·sim"u·late transitive verb [ Latin assimulatus , past participle of assimulare , equiv. to assimilare . See Assimilate , transitive verb ] 1. To feign; to counterfeit; to simulate; to resemble. [ Obsolete] Blount.

2. To assimilate. [ Obsolete] Sir M. Hale.

Assimulation As·sim`u·la"tion noun [ Latin assimulatio , equiv. to assimilatio .] Assimilation. [ Obsolete] Bacon.

Assinego As`si·ne"go noun See Asinego .

Assish Ass"ish adjective Resembling an ass; asinine; stupid or obstinate.

Such . . . appear to be of the assich kind . . .
Udall.

Assist As·sist" transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Assisted ; present participle & verbal noun Assisting .] [ Latin assistere ; ad + sistere to cause to stand, to stand, from stare to stand: confer French assister . See Stand .] To give support to in some undertaking or effort, or in time of distress; to help; to aid; to succor.

Assist me, knight. I am undone!
Shak.

Syn. -- To help; aid; second; back; support; relieve; succor; befriend; sustain; favor. See Help .

Assist As·sist" intransitive verb 1. To lend aid; to help.

With God not parted from him, as was feared,
But favoring and assisting to the end.
Milton.

2. To be present as a spectator; as, to assist at a public meeting. [ A Gallicism] Gibbon. Prescott.

Assistance As·sist"ance noun [ Confer French assistance .] 1. The act of assisting; help; aid; furtherance; succor; support.

Without the assistance of a mortal hand.
Shak.

2. An assistant or helper; a body of helpers. [ Obsolete]

Wat Tyler [ was] killed by valiant Walworth, the lord mayor of London, and his assistance , . . . John Cavendish.
Fuller.

3. Persons present. [ Obsolete or a Gallicism]

Assistant As·sist"ant adjective [ Confer French assistant , present participle of assister .] 1. Helping; lending aid or support; auxiliary.

Genius and learning . . . are mutually and greatly assistant to each other.
Beattie.

2. (Mil.) Of the second grade in the staff of the army; as, an assistant surgeon . [ U.S.]

» In the English army it designates the third grade in any particular branch of the staff. Farrow.

Assistant As·sist"ant noun 1. One who, or that which, assists; a helper; an auxiliary; a means of help.

Four assistants who his labor share.
Pope.

Rhymes merely as assistants to memory.
Mrs. Chapone.

2. An attendant; one who is present. Dryden.

Assistantly As·sist"ant·ly adverb In a manner to give aid. [ R.]

Assister As·sist"er noun An assistant; a helper.

Assistful As·sist"ful adjective Helpful.

Assistive As·sist"ive adjective Lending aid, helping.

Assistless As·sist"less adjective Without aid or help. [ R.] Pope.

Assistor As·sist"or noun (Law) A assister.

Assithment As·sith"ment noun See Assythment . [ Obsolete]

Assize As·size" noun [ Middle English assise , asise , Old French assise , French assises , assembly of judges, the decree pronounced by them, tax, impost, from assis , assise , past participle of asseoir , from Latin assid...re to sit by; ad + sedēre to sit. See Sit , Size , and confer Excise , Assess .] 1. An assembly of knights and other substantial men, with a bailiff or justice, in a certain place and at a certain time, for public business. [ Obsolete]

2. (Law) (a) A special kind of jury or inquest. (b) A kind of writ or real action. (c) A verdict or finding of a jury upon such writ. (d) A statute or ordinance in general. Specifically: (1) A statute regulating the weight, measure, and proportions of ingredients and the price of articles sold in the market; as, the assize of bread and other provisions; (2) A statute fixing the standard of weights and measures. (e) Anything fixed or reduced to a certainty in point of time, number, quantity, quality, weight, measure, etc.; as, rent of assize . Glanvill. Spelman. Cowell. Blackstone. Tomlins. Burrill. [ This term is not now used in England in the sense of a writ or real action, and seldom of a jury of any kind, but in Scotch practice it is still technically applied to the jury in criminal cases. Stephen. Burrill. Erskine. ] (f) A court, the sitting or session of a court, for the trial of processes, whether civil or criminal, by a judge and jury. Blackstone. Wharton. Encyc. Brit. (g) The periodical sessions of the judges of the superior courts in every county of England for the purpose of administering justice in the trial and determination of civil and criminal cases; -- usually in the plural. Brande. Wharton. Craig. Burrill. (h) The time or place of holding the court of assize; -- generally in the plural, assizes .

3. Measure; dimension; size. [ In this sense now corrupted into size .]

An hundred cubits high by just assize .
Spenser.

[ Formerly written, as in French, assise .]

Assize As·size" transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Assized ; present participle & verbal noun Assizing .] [ From Assize , noun : confer Late Latin assisare to decree in assize. Confer Asses , v. ] 1. To assess; to value; to rate. [ Obsolete] Gower.

2. To fix the weight, measure, or price of, by an ordinance or regulation of authority. [ Obsolete]

Assizer As·siz"er noun An officer who has the care or inspection of weights and measures, etc.

Assizor As·siz"or noun (Scots Law) A juror.

Assober As·so"ber transitive verb [ Prefix ad- + sober . Confer Ensober .] To make or keep sober. [ Obsolete] Gower.

Associability As·so`cia·bil"i·ty noun The quality of being associable, or capable of association; associableness. "The associability of feelings." H. Spencer.

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