Designable Des"ig·na·ble adjective Capable of being designated or distinctly marked out; distinguishable. Boyle.

Designate Des"ig·nate adjective [ Latin designatus , past participle of designare . See Design , transitive verb ] Designated; appointed; chosen. [ R.] Sir G. Buck.

Designate Des"ig·nate transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Designated ; present participle & verbal noun Designating .] 1. To mark out and make known; to point out; to name; to indicate; to show; to distinguish by marks or description; to specify; as, to designate the boundaries of a country; to designate the rioters who are to be arrested.

2. To call by a distinctive title; to name.

3. To indicate or set apart for a purpose or duty; -- with to or for ; as, to designate an officer for or to the command of a post or station.

Syn. -- To name; denominate; style; entitle; characterize; describe.

Designation Des`ig·na"tion noun [ Latin designatio : confer French désignation .] 1. The act of designating; a pointing out or showing; indication.

2. Selection and appointment for a purpose; allotment; direction.

3. That which designates; a distinguishing mark or name; distinctive title; appellation.

The usual designation of the days of the week.

Whewell.

4. Use or application; import; intention; signification, as of a word or phrase.

Finite and infinite seem . . . to be attributed primarily, in their first designation , only to those things which have parts.

Locke.

Designative Des"ig·na·tive adjective [ Confer French désignatif .] Serving to designate or indicate; pointing out.

Designator Des"ig·na`tor noun [ Latin ] 1. (Rom. Antiq.) An officer who assigned to each his rank and place in public shows and ceremonies.

2. One who designates.

Designatory Des"ig·na·to·ry adjective Serving to designate; designative; indicating. [ R.]

Designedly De·sign"ed·ly adverb By design; purposely; intentionally; -- opposed to accidentally , ignorantly , or inadvertently .

Designer De·sign"er noun 1. One who designs, marks out, or plans; a contriver.

2. (Fine Arts) One who produces or creates original works of art or decoration.

3. A plotter; a schemer; -- used in a bad sense.

Designful De·sign"ful adjective Full of design; scheming. [ R.] -- De*sign"ful*ness , noun [ R.] Barrow.

Designing De·sign"ing adjective Intriguing; artful; scheming; as, a designing man.

Designing De·sign"ing noun The act of making designs or sketches; the act of forming designs or plans.

Designless De·sign"less adjective Without design. [ Obsolete] -- De*sign"less*ly , adverb [ Obsolete]

Designment De·sign"ment noun 1. Delineation; sketch; design; ideal; invention. [ Obsolete]

For though that some mean artist's skill were shown
In mingling colors, or in placing light,
Yet still the fair designment was his own.

Dryden.

2. Design; purpose; scheme. [ Obsolete] Shak.

Desilver De·sil"ver transitive verb To deprive of silver; as, to desilver lead.

Desilverization De·sil`ver·i·za"tion noun The act or the process of freeing from silver; also, the condition resulting from the removal of silver.

Desilverize De·sil"ver·ize transitive verb To deprive, or free from, silver; to remove silver from.

Desinence Des"i·nence noun [ Confer French désinence .] Termination; ending. Bp. Hall.

Desinent Des"i·nent adjective [ Latin desinens , present participle of desinere , desitum , to leave off, cease; de- + sinere to let, allow.] Ending; forming an end; lowermost. [ Obsolete] "Their desinent parts, fish." B. Jonson.

Desinential Des`i·nen"tial adjective [ Confer French désinentiel .] Terminal.

Furthermore, b , as a desinential element, has a dynamic function.

Fitzed. Hall.

Desipient De·sip"i·ent adjective [ Latin desipiens , present participle of desipere to be foolish; de- + sapere to be wise.] Foolish; silly; trifling. [ R.]

Desirability De·sir`a·bil"i·ty noun The state or quality of being desirable; desirableness.

Desirable De·sir"a·ble adjective [ French désirable , from Latin desiderabilis . See Desire , transitive verb ] Worthy of desire or longing; fitted to excite desire or a wish to possess; pleasing; agreeable.

All of them desirable young men.

Ezek. xxiii. 12.

As things desirable excite
Desire, and objects move the appetite.

Blackmore.

Desirableness De·sir"a·ble·ness noun The quality of being desirable.

The desirableness of the Austrian alliance.

Froude.

Desirably De·sir"a·bly adverb In a desirable manner.

Desire De·sire" transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Desired ; present participle & verbal noun Desiring .] [ French désirer , Latin desiderare , origin uncertain, perhaps from de- + sidus star, constellation, and hence orig., to turn the eyes from the stars. Confer Consider , and Desiderate , and see Sidereal .] 1. To long for; to wish for earnestly; to covet.

Neither shall any man desire thy land.

Ex. xxxiv. 24.

Ye desire your child to live.

Tennyson.

2. To express a wish for; to entreat; to request.

Then she said, Did I desire a son of my lord?

2 Kings iv. 28.

Desire him to go in; trouble him no more.

Shak.

3. To require; to demand; to claim. [ Obsolete]

A doleful case desires a doleful song.

Spenser.

4. To miss; to regret. [ Obsolete]

She shall be pleasant while she lives, and desired when she dies.

Jer. Taylor.

Syn. -- To long for; hanker after; covet; wish; ask; request; solicit; entreat; beg. -- To Desire , Wish . In desire the feeling is usually more eager than in wish . "I wish you to do this" is a milder form of command than "I desire you to do this," though the feeling prompting the injunction may be the same. C. J. Smith.

Desire De·sire" noun [ French désir , from désirer . See Desire , transitive verb ] 1. The natural longing that is excited by the enjoyment or the thought of any good, and impels to action or effort its continuance or possession; an eager wish to obtain or enjoy.

Unspeakable desire to see and know.

Milton.

2. An expressed wish; a request; petition.

And slowly was my mother brought
To yield consent to my desire .

Tennyson.

3. Anything which is desired; an object of longing.

The Desire of all nations shall come.

Hag. ii. 7.

4. Excessive or morbid longing; lust; appetite.

5. Grief; regret. [ Obsolete] Chapman.

Syn. -- Wish; appetency; craving; inclination; eagerness; aspiration; longing.

Desireful De·sire"ful adjective Filled with desire; eager. [ R.]

The desireful troops.

Godfrey (1594).

Desirefulness De·sire"ful·ness noun The state of being desireful; eagerness to obtain and possess. [ R.]

The desirefulness of our minds much augmenteth and increaseth our pleasure.

Udall.

Desireless De·sire"less adjective Free from desire. Donne.

Desirer De·sir"er noun One who desires, asks, or wishes.

Desirous De·sir"ous adjective [ French désireux , Old French desiros , from desir . See Desire , noun ] Feeling desire; eagerly wishing; solicitous; eager to obtain; covetous.

Jesus knew that they were desirous to ask him.

John xvi. 19.

Be not desirous of his dainties.

Prov. xxiii. 3.

Desirously De·sir"ous·ly adverb With desire; eagerly.

Desirousness De·sir"ous·ness noun The state of being desirous.

Desist De·sist" intransitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Desisted ; present participle & verbal noun Desisting .] [ Latin desistere ; de- + sistere to stand, stop, from stare to stand: confer French désister . See Stand .] To cease to proceed or act; to stop; to forbear; -- often with from .

Never desisting to do evil.

E. Hall.

To desist from his bad practice.

Massinger.

Desist (thou art discern'd,
And toil'st in vain).

Milton.

Desistance De·sist"ance noun [ Confer French desistance .] The act or state of desisting; cessation. [ R.] Boyle.

If fatigue of body or brain were in every case followed by desistance . . . then would the system be but seldom out of working order.

H. Spencer.

Desistive De·sist"ive adjective [ See Desist .] Final; conclusive; ending. [ R.]

Desition De·si"tion noun [ See Desinent .] An end or ending. [ R.]

Desitive Des"i·tive adjective Final; serving to complete; conclusive. [ Obsolete] " Desitive propositions." I. Watts.

Desitive Des"i·tive noun (Logic) A proposition relating to or expressing an end or conclusion. [ Obsolete] I. Watts.

Desk Desk noun [ Middle English deske , the same word as dish , disk . See Dish , and confer Disk .] 1. A table, frame, or case, usually with sloping top, but often with flat top, for the use writers and readers. It often has a drawer or repository underneath.

2. A reading table or lectern to support the book from which the liturgical service is read, differing from the pulpit from which the sermon is preached; also (esp. in the United States), a pulpit. Hence, used symbolically for "the clerical profession."

Desk Desk transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Desked ; present participle & verbal noun Desking .] To shut up, as in a desk; to treasure.

Deskwork Desk"work` noun Work done at a desk, as by a clerk or writer. Tennyson.

Desman Des"man (dĕs"m a n) noun [ Confer Swedish desman musk.] (Zoology) An amphibious, insectivorous mammal found in Russia ( Myogale moschata ). It is allied to the moles, but is called muskrat by some English writers. [ Written also dæsman .]

Desmid, Desmidian Des"mid, Des·mid"i·an noun [ Greek desmo`s chain + e'i^dos form.] (Botany) A microscopic plant of the family Desmidiæ , a group of unicellular algæ in which the species have a greenish color, and the cells generally appear as if they consisted of two coalescing halves.

Desmine Des"mine noun [ Greek de`smh , desmo`s , bundle, from dei^n to bind.] (Min.) Same as Stilbite . It commonly occurs in bundles or tufts of crystals.

Desmobacteria Des`mo·bac·te"ri·a (dĕs`mo*băk*tē"rĭ*ȧ) noun plural [ Greek desmo`s bond + English bacteria .] See Microbacteria .

Desmodont Des"mo·dont (-dŏnt) noun [ Greek desmo`s bond + 'odoy`s , 'odo`ntos , tooth.] (Zoology) A member of a group of South American blood-sucking bats, of the genera Desmodus and Diphylla . See Vampire .

Desmognathous Des·mog"na·thous adjective [ Greek desmo`s bond + gna`qos jaw.] (Zoology) Having the maxillo-palatine bones united; -- applied to a group of carinate birds ( Desmognathæ ), including various wading and swimming birds, as the ducks and herons, and also raptorial and other kinds.

Desmoid Des"moid adjective [ Greek desmo`s ligament + -oid .] (Anat.) Resembling, or having the characteristics of, a ligament; ligamentous.

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