Elevation El`e·va"tion noun [ Latin elevatio : confer French élévation .] 1. The act of raising from a lower place, condition, or quality to a higher; -- said of material things, persons, the mind, the voice, etc.; as, the elevation of grain; elevation to a throne; elevation of mind, thoughts, or character.

2. Condition of being elevated; height; exaltation. "Degrees of elevation above us." Locke.

His style . . . wanted a little elevation .

Sir H. Wotton.

3. That which is raised up or elevated; an elevated place or station; as, an elevation of the ground; a hill.

4. (Astron.) The distance of a celestial object above the horizon, or the arc of a vertical circle intercepted between it and the horizon; altitude; as, the elevation of the pole, or of a star.

5. (Dialing) The angle which the style makes with the substylar line.

6. (Gunnery) The movement of the axis of a piece in a vertical plane; also, the angle of elevation, that is, the angle between the axis of the piece and the line o... sight; -- distinguished from direction .

7. (Drawing) A geometrical projection of a building, or other object, on a plane perpendicular to the horizon; orthographic projection on a vertical plane; -- called by the ancients the orthography .

Angle of elevation (Geodesy) , the angle which an ascending line makes with a horizontal plane. -- Elevation of the host (R. C. Ch.) , that part of the Mass in which the priest raises the host above his head for the people to adore.

Elevator El"e·va`tor noun [ Latin , one who raises up, a deliverer: confer French élévateur .] One who, or that which, raises or lifts up anything ; as: (a) A mechanical contrivance, usually an endless belt or chain with a series of scoops or buckets, for transferring grain to an upper loft for storage. (b) A cage or platform and the hoisting machinery in a hotel, warehouse, mine, etc., for conveying persons, goods, etc., to or from different floors or levels; -- called in England a lift ; the cage or platform itself. (c) A building for elevating, storing, and discharging, grain. (d) (Anat.) A muscle which serves to raise a part of the body, as the leg or the eye. (e) (Surg.) An instrument for raising a depressed portion of a bone.

Elevator head , leg , & boot , the boxes in which the upper pulley, belt, and lower pulley, respectively, run in a grain elevator.

Elevator El"e·va`tor noun (Aëronautics) A movable plane or group of planes used to control the altitude or fore-and-aft poise or inclination of an airship or flying machine.

Elevatory El"e·va`to·ry adjective Tending to raise, or having power to elevate; as, elevatory forces.

Elevatory El"e·va`to·ry noun [ Confer French élévatoire .] (Surg.) See Elevator , noun (e) . Dunglison.

Élève É`lève" (a`lav") noun [ French, from élever to raise, bring up.] A pupil; a student.

Eleven E·lev"en (e*lĕv"'n) adjective [ Middle English enleven , Anglo-Saxon endleofan , endlufon , for nleofan ; akin to LG. eleve , ölwe , ölwen , Dutch elf , German elf , eilf , Old High German einlif , Icelandic ellifu , Swedish elfva , Danish elleve , Goth. ainlif , confer Lithuanian vënolika ; and from the root of English one + (prob.) a root signifying "to be left over, remain," appearing in English loan , or perhaps in leave , transitive verb , life . See One , and confer Twelve .] Ten and one added; as, eleven men.

Eleven E·lev"en noun 1. The sum of ten and one; eleven units or objects.

2. A symbol representing eleven units, as 11 or xi.

3. (Cricket & American Football) The eleven men selected to play on one side in a match, as the representatives of a club or a locality; as, the all-England eleven .

Eleventh E·lev"enth adjective [ Confer Anglo-Saxon endlyfta . See Eleven .] 1. Next after the tenth; as, the eleventh chapter.

2. Constituting one of eleven parts into which a thing is divided; as, the eleventh part of a thing.

3. (Mus.) Of or pertaining to the interval of the octave and the fourth.

Eleventh E·lev"enth noun 1. The quotient of a unit divided by eleven; one of eleven equal parts.

2. (Mus.) The interval consisting of ten conjunct degrees; the interval made up of an octave and a fourth.

Elf Elf (ĕlf) noun ; plural Elves (ĕlvz). [ Anglo-Saxon ælf , ylf ; akin to Middle High German alp , German alp nightmare, incubus, Icelandic ālfr elf, Swedish alf , elfva ; confer Sanskrit rbhu skillful, artful, rabh to grasp. Confer Auf , Oaf .] 1. An imaginary supernatural being, commonly a little sprite, much like a fairy; a mythological diminutive spirit, supposed to haunt hills and wild places, and generally represented as delighting in mischievous tricks.

Every elf , and fairy sprite,
Hop as light as bird from brier.

Shak.

2. A very diminutive person; a dwarf.

Elf arrow , a flint arrowhead; -- so called by the English rural folk who often find these objects of prehistoric make in the fields and formerly attributed them to fairies; -- called also elf bolt , elf dart , and elf shot . -- Elf child , a child supposed to be left by elves, in room of one they had stolen. See Changeling . -- Elf fire , the ignis fatuus. Brewer. -- Elf owl (Zoology) , a small owl ( Micrathene Whitneyi ) of Southern California and Arizona.

Elf Elf transitive verb To entangle mischievously, as an elf might do.

Elf all my hair in knots.

Shak.

Elfin Elf"in (-ĭn) adjective Relating to elves.

Elfin Elf"in noun A little elf or urchin. Shenstone.

Elfish Elf"ish adjective Of or relating to the elves; elflike; implike; weird; scarcely human; mischievous, as though caused by elves. " Elfish light." Coleridge.

The elfish intelligence that was so familiar an expression on her small physiognomy.

Hawthorne.

Elfishly Elf"ish·ly adverb In an elfish manner.

Elfishness Elf"ish·ness noun The quality of being elfish.

Elfkin Elf"kin noun A little elf.

Elfland Elf"land` noun Fairyland. Tennyson.

Elflock Elf"lock` noun Hair matted, or twisted into a knot, as if by elves.

Elgin marbles El"gin mar"bles Greek sculptures in the British Museum. They were obtained at Athens, about 1811, by Lord Elgin.

Elicit E·lic"it adjective [ Latin elictus , past participle of elicere to elicit; e + lacere to entice. Confer Delight , Lace .] Elicited; drawn out; made real; open; evident. [ Obsolete] "An elicit act of equity." Jer. Taylor.

Elicit E·lic"it transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Elicited ; present participle & verbal noun Eliciting .] To draw out or entice forth; to bring to light; to bring out against the will; to deduce by reason or argument; as, to elicit truth by discussion.

Elicitate E·lic"i·tate transitive verb To elicit. [ Obsolete]

Elicitation E·lic`i·ta"tion noun The act of eliciting. [ Obsolete] Abp. Bramhall.

Elide E·lide" transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Elided ; present participle & verbal noun Eliding .] [ Latin elidere to strike out or off; e + laedere to hurt by striking: confer French élider . See Lesion .] 1. To break or dash in pieces; to demolish; as, to elide the force of an argument. [ Obsolete] Hooker.

2. (Gram.) To cut off, as a vowel or a syllable, usually the final one; to subject to elision.

Eligibility El`i·gi·bil"i·ty noun [ Confer French éligibilité .] The quality of being eligible; eligibleness; as, the eligibility of a candidate; the eligibility of an offer of marriage.

Eligible El"i·gi·ble adjective [ French éligible , from Latin eligere . See Elect .] 1. That may be selected; proper or qualified to be chosen; legally qualified to be elected and to hold office.

2. Worthy to be chosen or selected; suitable; desirable; as, an eligible situation for a house.

The more eligible of the two evils.

Burke.

Eligibleness El"i·gi·ble·ness noun The quality of being worthy or qualified to be chosen; suitableness; desirableness.

Eligibly El"i·gi·bly adverb In an eligible manner.

Elimate El"i·mate transitive verb [ Latin elimatus , past participle of elimare to file up; e out + limare to file, from lima file.] To render smooth; to polish. [ Obsolete]

Eliminant E·lim"i·nant noun (Math.) The result of eliminating n variables between n homogeneous equations of any degree; -- called also resultant .

Eliminate E·lim"i·nate transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Eliminated ; present participle & verbal noun Eliminating .] [ Latin eliminatus , past participle of eliminare ; e out + limen threshold; probably akin to limes boundary. See Limit .] 1. To put out of doors; to expel; to discharge; to release; to set at liberty.

Eliminate my spirit, give it range
Through provinces of thought yet unexplored.

Young.

2. (Alg.) To cause to disappear from an equation; as, to eliminate an unknown quantity.

3. To set aside as unimportant in a process of inductive inquiry; to leave out of consideration.

Eliminate errors that have been gathering and accumulating.

Lowth.

4. To obtain by separating, as from foreign matters; to deduce; as, to eliminate an idea or a conclusion. [ Recent, and not well authorized]

5. (Physiol.) To separate; to expel from the system; to excrete; as, the kidneys eliminate urea, the lungs carbonic acid; to eliminate poison from the system.

Elimination E·lim`i·na"tion noun [ Confer French élimination .] 1. The act of expelling or throwing off ; (Physiol.) the act of discharging or excreting waste products or foreign substances through the various emunctories.

2. (Alg.) Act of causing a quantity to disappear from an equation; especially, in the operation of deducing from several equations containing several unknown quantities a less number of equations containing a less number of unknown quantities.

3. The act of obtaining by separation, or as the result of eliminating; deduction. [ See Eliminate , 4.]

Eliminative E·lim"i·na·tive adjective (Physiol.) Relating to, or carrying on, elimination.

Elinguate E·lin"guate transitive verb [ Latin elinguare .] To deprive of the tongue. [ Obsolete] Davies (Holy Roode).

Elinguation E`lin·gua"tion noun [ Latin elinguatio . See Elinguid .] (O. Eng. Law) Punishment by cutting out the tongue.

Elinguid E·lin"guid adjective [ Latin elinguis , prop., deprived of the tongue; hence, speechless; e + lingua tongue.] Tongue-tied; dumb. [ Obsolete]

Eliquament E·liq"ua·ment noun A liquid obtained from fat, or fat fish, by pressure.

Eliquation El`i·qua"tion noun [ Latin eliquatio , from eliquare to clarify, strain; e + liquare to make liquid, melt.] (Metallurgy) The process of separating a fusible substance from one less fusible, by means of a degree of heat sufficient to melt the one and not the other, as an alloy of copper and lead; liquation. Ure.

Elison E·li"son noun [ Latin elisio , from elidere , elisum , to strike out: confer French élision . See Elide .] 1. Division; separation. [ Obsolete] Bacon.

2. (Gram.) The cutting off or suppression of a vowel or syllable, for the sake of meter or euphony; esp., in poetry, the dropping of a final vowel standing before an initial vowel in the following word, when the two words are drawn together.

Elisor E·li"sor noun [ French éliseur , from élire to choose, Latin eligere . See Elect .] (Eng. Law) An elector or chooser; one of two persons appointed by a court to return a jury or serve a writ when the sheriff and the coroners are disqualified.

Élite É`lite" noun [ French, from élire to choose, Latin eligere . See Elect .] A choice or select body; the flower; as, the élite of society.

Élite É`lite" (ā`lēt") noun See Army organization , Switzerland .

Elix E·lix" transitive verb [ See Elixate .] To extract. [ Obsolete] Marston.

Elixate E·lix"ate transitive verb [ Latin elixatus , past participle of elixare to seethe, from elixus thoroughly boiled; e + lixare to boil, lix ashes.] To boil; to seethe; hence, to extract by boiling or seething. [ Obsolete] Cockeram.

Elixation El`ix·a"tion noun [ Confer French élixation .] A seething; digestion. [ Obsolete] Burton.

Elixir E·lix"ir noun [ French élixir , Spanish elixir , Arabic eliksīr the philosopher's stone, probably from Greek ... dry, (hence probably) a dry powder; confer Sanskrit kshā to burn.] 1. (Medicine) A tincture with more than one base; a compound tincture or medicine, composed of various substances, held in solution by alcohol in some form.

2. (Alchemy) An imaginary liquor capable of transmuting metals into gold; also, one for producing life indefinitely; as, elixir vitæ, or the elixir of life.

3. The refined spirit; the quintessence.

The . . . elixir of worldly delights.

South.

4. Any cordial or substance which invigorates.

The grand elixir , to support the spirits of human nature.

Addison.

Elizabethan E·liz"a·beth`an adjective Pertaining to Queen Elizabeth or her times, esp. to the architecture or literature of her reign; as, the Elizabethan writers, drama, literature. -- noun One who lived in England in the time of Queen Elizabeth. Lowell.

Elk Elk noun [ Icelandic elgr ; akin to Swedish elg , Anglo-Saxon eolh , Old High German elaho , Middle High German elch , confer Latin alces ; perhaps akin to English eland .] (Zoology) A large deer, of several species. The European elk ( Alces machlis or Cervus alces ) is closely allied to the American moose. The American elk, or wapiti ( Cervus Canadensis ), is closely related to the European stag. See Moose , and Wapiti .

Irish elk (Paleon.) , a large, extinct, Quaternary deer ( Cervus giganteus ) with widely spreading antlers. Its remains have been found beneath the peat of swamps in Ireland and England. See Illustration in Appendix; also Illustration of Antler . -- Cape elk (Zoology) , the eland.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
You are here: Webster > Letter E > Page 21 of 100.
« Previous ¦13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 ¦ Next »