Abbreviate Ab·bre"vi·ate noun An abridgment. [ Obsolete] Elyot.

Abbreviated Ab·bre"vi·a`ted adjective Shortened; relatively short; abbreviate.

Abbreviation Ab·bre`vi·a"tion noun [ Late Latin abbreviatio : confer French abbréviation .] 1. The act of shortening, or reducing. 2. The result of abbreviating; an abridgment. Tylor. 3. The form to which a word or phrase is reduced by contraction and omission; a letter or letters, standing for a word or phrase of which they are a part; as, Gen. for Genesis ; U.S.A. for United States of America . 4. (Mus.) One dash, or more, through the stem of a note, dividing it respectively into quavers, semiquavers, or demi-semiquavers. Moore.

Abbreviator Ab·bre"vi·a`tor noun [ Late Latin : confer French abbréviateur .] 1. One who abbreviates or shortens. 2. One of a college of seventy-two officers of the papal court whose duty is to make a short minute of a decision on a petition, or reply of the pope to a letter, and afterwards expand the minute into official form.

Abbreviatory Ab·bre"vi·a·to·ry adjective Serving or tending to abbreviate; shortening; abridging.

Abbreviature Ab·bre"vi·a·ture noun 1. An abbreviation; an abbreviated state or form. [ Obsolete] 2. An abridgment; a compendium or abstract.

This is an excellent abbreviature of the whole duty of a Christian.
Jer. Taylor.

Abdal Ab"dal noun [ Arabic badīl , plural abdāl , a substitute, a good, religious man, saint, from badala to change, substitute.] A religious devotee or dervish in Persia.

Abderian Ab·de"ri·an adjective [ From Abdera , a town in Thrace, of which place Democritus, the Laughing Philosopher, was a native.] Given to laughter; inclined to foolish or incessant merriment.

Abderite Ab·de"rite noun [ Latin Abderita , Abderites , from Greek 'Abdhri`ths .] An inhabitant of Abdera, in Thrace. The Abderite , Democritus, the Laughing Philosopher.

Abdest Ab"dest noun [ Persian ābdast ; ab water + dast hand.] Purification by washing the hands before prayer; -- a Mohammedan rite. Heyse.

Abdicable Ab"di·ca·ble adjective Capable of being abdicated.

Abdicant Ab"di·cant adjective [ Latin abdicans , present participle of abdicare .] Abdicating; renouncing; -- followed by of .

Monks abdicant of their orders.
Whitlock.

Abdicant Ab"di·cant noun One who abdicates. Smart.

Abdicate Ab"di·cate transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Abdicated ; present participle & verbal noun Abdicating .] [ Latin abdicatus , past participle of abdicare ; ab + dicare to proclaim, akin to dicere to say. See Diction .] 1. To surrender or relinquish, as sovereign power; to withdraw definitely from filling or exercising, as a high office, station, dignity; as, to abdicate the throne, the crown, the papacy. » The word abdicate was held to mean, in the case of James II., to abandon without a formal surrender.

The cross-bearers abdicated their service.
Gibbon.

2. To renounce; to relinquish; -- said of authority, a trust, duty, right, etc.

He abdicates all right to be his own governor.
Burke.

The understanding abdicates its functions.
Froude.

3. To reject; to cast off. [ Obsolete] Bp. Hall. 4. (Civil Law) To disclaim and expel from the family, as a father his child; to disown; to disinherit. Syn. -- To give up; quit; vacate; relinquish; forsake; abandon; resign; renounce; desert. -- To Abdicate , Resign . Abdicate commonly expresses the act of a monarch in voluntary and formally yielding up sovereign authority; as, to abdicate the government. Resign is applied to the act of any person, high or low, who gives back an office or trust into the hands of him who conferred it. Thus, a minister resigns , a military officer resigns , a clerk resigns . The expression, "The king resigned his crown," sometimes occurs in our later literature, implying that he held it from his people. -- There are other senses of resign which are not here brought into view.

Abdicate Ab"di·cate intransitive verb To relinquish or renounce a throne, or other high office or dignity.

Though a king may abdicate for his own person, he cannot abdicate for the monarchy.
Burke.

Abdication Ab`di·ca"tion noun [ Latin abdicatio : confer French abdication .] The act of abdicating; the renunciation of a high office, dignity, or trust, by its holder; commonly the voluntary renunciation of sovereign power; as, abdication of the throne, government, power, authority.

Abdicative Ab"di·ca·tive adjective [ Latin abdicativus .] Causing, or implying, abdication. [ R.] Bailey.

Abdicator Ab"di·ca`tor noun One who abdicates.

Abditive Ab"di·tive adjective [ Latin abditivus , from abdere to hide.] Having the quality of hiding. [ R.] Bailey.

Abditory Ab"di·to·ry noun [ Latin abditorium .] A place for hiding or preserving articles of value. Cowell.

Abdomen Ab·do"men noun [ Latin abdomen (a word of uncertain etymol.): confer French abdomen .] 1. (Anat.) The belly, or that part of the body between the thorax and the pelvis. Also, the cavity of the belly, which is lined by the peritoneum, and contains the stomach, bowels, and other viscera. In man, often restricted to the part between the diaphragm and the commencement of the pelvis, the remainder being called the pelvic cavity. 2. (Zoology) The posterior section of the body, behind the thorax, in insects, crustaceans, and other Arthropoda.

Abdominal Ab·dom"i·nal adjective [ Confer French abdominal .] 1. Of or pertaining to the abdomen; ventral; as, the abdominal regions, muscles, cavity. 2. (Zoology) Having abdominal fins; belonging to the Abdominales; as, abdominal fishes. Abdominal ring (Anat.) , a fancied ringlike opening on each side of the abdomen, external and superior to the pubes ; -- called also inguinal ring .

Abdominal Ab·dom"i·nal noun ; E. plural Abdominals , Latin plural Abdominales . A fish of the group Abdominales.

Abdominales Ab·dom`i·na"les noun plural [ New Latin , masc. plural] (Zoology) A group including the greater part of fresh- water fishes, and many marine ones, having the ventral fins under the abdomen behind the pectorals.

Abdominalia Ab·dom`i·na"li·a noun plural [ New Latin , neut. plural] (Zoology) A group of cirripeds having abdominal appendages.

Abdominoscopy Ab·dom`i·nos"co·py noun [ Latin abdomen + Greek ... to examine.] (Medicine) Examination of the abdomen to detect abdominal disease.

Abdominothoracic Ab·dom`i·no·tho·rac"ic adjective Relating to the abdomen and the thorax, or chest.

Abdominous Ab·dom"i·nous adjective Having a protuberant belly; pot-bellied.

Gorgonius sits, abdominous and wan,
Like a fat squab upon a Chinese fan.
Cowper.

Abduce Ab·duce" transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Abduced ; present participle & verbal noun Abducing .] [ Latin abducere to lead away; ab + ducere to lead. See Duke , and confer Abduct .] To draw or conduct away; to withdraw; to draw to a different part. [ Obsolete]

If we abduce the eye unto either corner, the object will not duplicate.
Sir T. Browne.

Abduct Ab·duct" transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Abducted ; present participle & verbal noun Abducting .] [ Latin abductus , past participle of abducere . See Abduce .] 1. To take away surreptitiously by force; to carry away (a human being) wrongfully and usually by violence; to kidnap. 2. To draw away, as a limb or other part, from its ordinary position.

Abduction Ab·duc"tion noun [ Latin abductio : confer French abduction .] 1. The act of abducing or abducting; a drawing apart; a carrying away. Roget. 2. (Physiol.) The movement which separates a limb or other part from the axis, or middle line, of the body. 3. (Law) The wrongful, and usually the forcible, carrying off of a human being; as, the abduction of a child, the abduction of an heiress. 4. (Logic) A syllogism or form of argument in which the major is evident, but the minor is only probable.

Abductor Ab·duc"tor noun [ New Latin ] 1. One who abducts. 2. (Anat.) A muscle which serves to draw a part out, or form the median line of the body; as, the abductor oculi , which draws the eye outward.

Abeam A·beam" adverb [ Prefix a- + beam .] (Nautical) On the beam, that is, on a line which forms a right angle with the ship's keel; opposite to the center of the ship's side.

Abear A·bear" transitive verb [ Anglo-Saxon āberan ; prefix ā- + beran to bear.] 1. To bear; to behave. [ Obsolete]

So did the faery knight himself abear .
Spenser.

2. To put up with; to endure. [ Prov.] Dickens.

Abearance A·bear"ance noun Behavior. [ Obsolete] Blackstone.

Abearing A·bear"ing noun Behavior. [ Obsolete] Sir. T. More.

Abecedarian A`be·ce·da"ri·an noun [ Latin abecedarius . A word from the first four letters of the alphabet.] 1. One who is learning the alphabet; hence, a tyro. 2. One engaged in teaching the alphabet. Wood.

Abecedarian, Abecedary A`be·ce·da"ri·an, A`be·ce"da·ry adjective Pertaining to, or formed by, the letters of the alphabet; alphabetic; hence, rudimentary. Abecedarian psalms , hymns , etc., compositions in which (like the 119th psalm in Hebrew) distinct portions or verses commence with successive letters of the alphabet. Hook.

Abecedary A`be·ce"da·ry noun A primer; the first principle or rudiment of anything. [ R.] Fuller.

Abed A·bed" adverb [ Prefix a- in, on + bed .] 1. In bed, or on the bed.

Not to be abed after midnight.
Shak.

2. To childbed (in the phrase " brought abed ," that is, delivered of a child). Shak.

Abegge A·beg"ge Same as Aby . [ Obsolete] Chaucer.

Abele A·bele" noun [ Dutch abeel ( abeel- boom ), Old French abel , aubel , from a dim. of Latin albus white.] The white poplar ( Populus alba ).

Six abeles i' the churchyard grow.
Mrs. Browning.

Abelian, Abelite A·bel"i·an, A"bel·ite A`bel*o"ni*an noun (Eccl. Hist.) One of a sect in Africa (4th century), mentioned by St. Augustine, who states that they married, but lived in continence, after the manner, as they pretended, of Abel.

Abelmosk A"bel·mosk` noun [ New Latin abelmoschus , from Arabic abu-l-misk father of musk, i. e. , producing musk. See Musk .] (Botany) An evergreen shrub ( Hibiscus -- formerly Abelmoschus -- moschatus ), of the East and West Indies and Northern Africa, whose musky seeds are used in perfumery and to flavor coffee; -- sometimes called musk mallow .

Aber-de-vine Ab`er-de-vine" noun (Zoology) The European siskin ( Carduelis spinus ), a small green and yellow finch, related to the goldfinch.

Aberr Ab·err" intransitive verb [ Latin aberrare . See Aberrate .] To wander; to stray. [ Obsolete] Sir T. Browne.

Aberrance, Aberrancy Ab·er"rance, Ab·er"ran·cy noun State of being aberrant; a wandering from the right way; deviation from truth, rectitude, etc. Aberrancy of curvature (Geom.) , the deviation of a curve from a circular form.

Aberrant Ab·er"rant adjective [ Latin aberrans , -rantis , present participle of aberrare . See Aberr .] 1. Wandering; straying from the right way. 2. (Biol.) Deviating from the ordinary or natural type; exceptional; abnormal.

The more aberrant any form is, the greater must have been the number of connecting forms which, on my theory, have been exterminated.
Darwin.

Aberrate Ab"er·rate intransitive verb [ Latin aberratus , present participle of aberrare ; ab + errare to wander. See Err .] To go astray; to diverge. [ R.]

Their own defective and aberrating vision.
De Quincey.

Aberration Ab`er·ra"tion noun [ Latin aberratio : confer French aberration . See Aberrate .] 1. The act of wandering; deviation, especially from truth or moral rectitude, from the natural state, or from a type. "The aberration of youth." Hall. " Aberrations from theory." Burke. 2. A partial alienation of reason. "Occasional aberrations of intellect." Lingard.

Whims, which at first are the aberrations of a single brain, pass with heat into epidemic form.
I. Taylor.

3. (Astron.) A small periodical change of position in the stars and other heavenly bodies, due to the combined effect of the motion of light and the motion of the observer; called annual aberration , when the observer's motion is that of the earth in its orbit, and daily or diurnal aberration , when of the earth on its axis; amounting when greatest, in the former case, to 20.4'', and in the latter, to 0.3''. Planetary aberration is that due to the motion of light and the motion of the planet relative to the earth. 4. (Opt.) The convergence to different foci, by a lens or mirror, of rays of light emanating from one and the same point, or the deviation of such rays from a single focus; called spherical aberration , when due to the spherical form of the lens or mirror, such form giving different foci for central and marginal rays; and chromatic aberration , when due to different refrangibilities of the colored rays of the spectrum, those of each color having a distinct focus. 5. (Physiol.) The passage of blood or other fluid into parts not appropriate for it. 6. (Law) The producing of an unintended effect by the glancing of an instrument, as when a shot intended for A glances and strikes B. Syn. -- Insanity; lunacy; madness; derangement; alienation; mania; dementia; hallucination; illusion; delusion. See Insanity .