Sycones Sy·co"nes noun plural [ New Latin , from Greek ... a fig.] (Zoology) A division of calcareous sponges.

» They usually resemble a fig, being vase-shaped with a fringed opening at the summit. The feeding cells are in ampullæ connected with radial tubes in the thickened walls of the body.

Syconium Sy·co"ni·um Sy*co"nus noun [ New Latin , from Greek ... the fig.] (Botany) A collective fleshy fruit, in which the ovaries are hidden within a hollow receptacle, as in the fig.

Sycophancy Syc"o·phan·cy noun [ Confer Latin sycophantia deceit, Greek ... false accusation.] The character or characteristic of a sycophant. Hence: -

(a) False accusation; calumniation; talebearing. [ Obsolete] Bp. Hall.

(b) Obsequious flattery; servility.

The sycophancy of A.Philips had prejudiced Mr. Addison against Pope.

Bp. Warburton.

Sycophant Syc"o·phant noun [ Latin sycophanta a slanderer, deceiver, parasite, Greek ... a false accuser, false adviser, literally, a fig shower; ... a fig + ... to show: confer French sycophante . The reason for the name is not certainly known. See Phenomenon .] 1. An informer; a talebearer. [ Obsolete] "Accusing sycophants , of all men, did best sort to his nature." Sir P. Sidney.

2. A base parasite; a mean or servile flatterer; especially, a flatterer of princes and great men.

A sycophant will everything admire:
Each verse, each sentence, sets his soul on fire.

Dryden.

Sycophant Syc"o·phant transitive verb [ CF. Latin sycophantari to deceive, to trick, Greek ....] 1. To inform against; hence, to calumniate. [ Obsolete]

Sycophanting and misnaming the work of his adversary.

Milton.

2. To play the sycophant toward; to flatter obsequiously.

Sycophant Syc"o·phant intransitive verb To play the sycophant.

Sycophantcy Syc"o·phant·cy noun Sycophancy. [ Obsolete]

Sycophantic, Sycophantical Syc`o·phan"tic, Syc`o·phan"tic·al adjective [ Confer Greek ... slanderous.] Of or pertaining to a sycophant; characteristic of a sycophant; meanly or obsequiously flattering; courting favor by mean adulation; parasitic.

To be cheated and ruined by a sycophantical parasite.

South.

Sycophantic servants to the King of Spain.

De Quincey.

Sycophantish Syc"o·phant`ish adjective Like a sycophant; obsequiously flattering. -- Syc"o*phant`ish*ly , adverb

Sycophantish satirists that forever humor the prevailing folly.

De Quincey.

Sycophantism Syc"o·phant·ism noun Sycophancy.

Sycophantize Syc"o·phant·ize intransitive verb To play the sycophant.

Sycophantry Syc"o·phant·ry noun Sycophancy. [ Obsolete]

Sycosis Sy·co"sis noun [ New Latin , from Greek ..., from ... a fig.] (Medicine) A pustular eruption upon the scalp, or the beared part of the face, whether due to ringworm, acne, or impetigo.

Syderolite Syd"er·o·lite noun A kind of Bohemian earthenware resembling the Wedgwood ware.

Sye Sye obsolete imperfect of See . Saw. Chaucer.

Syenite Sy"e·nite noun [ Latin Syenites (sc. lapis ), from Syene , Greek ....] (Min.) (a) Orig., a rock composed of quartz, hornblende, and feldspar, anciently quarried at Syene , in Upper Egypt, and now called granite . (b) A granular, crystalline, ingeous rock composed of orthoclase and hornblende, the latter often replaced or accompanied by pyroxene or mica. Syenite sometimes contains nephelite (elæolite) or leucite, and is then called nephelite (elæolite) syenite or leucite syenite .

Syenitic Sy`e·nit"ic adjective [ Written also sienitic .] 1. Relating to Syene; as, Syenitic inscriptions.

2. Relating to, or like, syenite; as, syenitic granite.

Syke Syke noun & v. See Sike . [ Obsolete] Chaucer.

Syker Syk"er adjective & adverb See Sicker . [ Obsolete]

Syle Syle noun [ See Sile a young herring.] (Zoology) A young herring ( Clupea harengus ). [ Also written sile .]

But our folk call them syle , and nought but syle ,
And when they're grown, why then we call them herring.

J. Ingelow.

Syllabarium Syl`la·ba"ri·um noun ; plural Syllabaria . [ New Latin ] A syllabary.

Syllabary Syl"la·ba·ry noun A table of syllables; more especially, a table of the indivisible syllabic symbols used in certain languages, as the Japanese and Cherokee, instead of letters. S. W. Williams.

Syllabe Syl"labe noun [ French] Syllable. [ R.] B. Jonson.

Syllabic, Syllabical Syl·lab"ic, Syl·lab"ic·al adjective [ Greek ...: confer French syllabique .] 1. Of or pertaining to a syllable or syllables; as, syllabic accent.

2. Consisting of a syllable or syllables; as, a syllabic augment. "The syllabic stage of writing." Earle.

Syllabically Syl·lab"ic·al·ly adverb In a syllabic manner.

Syllabicate Syl·lab"i·cate transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Syllabicated ; present participle & verbal noun Syllabicating .] To form or divide into syllables; to syllabify.

Syllabication Syl·lab`i·ca"tion noun The act of forming syllables; the act or method of dividing words into syllables. See Guide to Pron. , §275.

Syllabification Syl·lab`i·fi·ca"tion noun [ See Syllabify .] Same as Syllabication . Rush.

Syllabification depends not on mere force, but on discontinuity of force.

H. Sweet.

Syllabify Syl·lab"i·fy transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Syllabified ; present participle & verbal noun Syllabifying .] [ Latin syllaba syllable + -fy .] To form or divide into syllables.

Syllabism Syl"la·bism noun The expressing of the sounds of a language by syllables, rather than by an alphabet or by signs for words. I. Taylor (The Alphabet).

Syllabist Syl"la·bist noun One who forms or divides words into syllables, or is skilled in doing this.

Syllabize Syl"la·bize transitive verb To syllabify. Howell.

Syllable Syl"la·ble noun [ Middle English sillable , Old French sillabe , French syllabe , Latin syllaba , Greek ... that which is held together, several letters taken together so as to form one sound, a syllable, from ... to take together; ... with + ... to take; confer Sanskrit labh , rabh . Confer Lemma , Dilemma .] 1. An elementary sound, or a combination of elementary sounds, uttered together, or with a single effort or impulse of the voice, and constituting a word or a part of a word. In other terms, it is a vowel or a diphtong, either by itself or flanked by one or more consonants, the whole produced by a single impulse or utterance. One of the liquids, l , m , n , may fill the place of a vowel in a syllable. Adjoining syllables in a word or phrase need not to be marked off by a pause, but only by such an abatement and renewal, or reënforcement, of the stress as to give the feeling of separate impulses. See Guide to Pronunciation , §275.

2. In writing and printing, a part of a word, separated from the rest, and capable of being pronounced by a single impulse of the voice. It may or may not correspond to a syllable in the spoken language.

Withouten vice [ i. e. mistake] of syllable or letter.

Chaucer.

3. A small part of a sentence or discourse; anything concise or short; a particle.

Before any syllable of the law of God was written.

Hooker.

Who dare speak
One syllable against him?

Shak.

Syllable Syl"la·ble transitive verb To pronounce the syllables of; to utter; to articulate. Milton.

Syllabub Syl"la·bub noun Same as Syllabub .

Syllabus Syl"la·bus noun ; plural English Syllabuses , Latin Syllabi . [ Latin , from the same source as English syllable .] A compendium containing the heads of a discourse, and the like; an abstract.

Syllabus Syl"la·bus noun (Law) The headnote of a reported case; the brief statement of the points of law determined prefixed to a reported case. The opinion controls the syllabus, the latter being merely explanatory of the former.

Syllepsis Syl·lep"sis noun [ Latin , from Greek sy`llhpsis a taking together, from .... See syllable , noun ] 1. (Rhet.) A figure of speech by which a word is used in a literal and metaphorical sense at the same time.

2. (Gram.) The agreement of a verb or adjective with one, rather than another, of two nouns, with either of which it might agree in gender, number, etc.; as, rex et regina beati.

Sylleptic, Sylleptical Syl·lep"tic, Syl·lep"tic·al adjective [ Greek ... collective.] Of or pertaining to a syllepsis; containing syllepsis. -- Syl*lep"tic*al*ly , adverb

Syllidian Syl·lid"i·an noun [ From New Latin Syllis , the typical genus.] (Zoology) Any one of numerous species of marine annelids of the family Syllidæ .

» Many of the species are phosphorescent; others are remarkable for undergoing strobilation or fission and for their polymorphism. The egg, in such species, develops into an asexual individual. When mature, a number of its posterior segments gradually develop into one or more sexual individuals which finally break away and swim free in the sea. The males, females, and neuters usually differ greatly in form and structure.

Syllogism Syl"lo·gism noun [ Middle English silogisme , Old French silogime , sillogisme , French syllogisme , Latin syllogismus , Greek syllogismo`s a reckoning all together, a reasoning, syllogism, from syllogi`zesqai to reckon all together, to bring at once before the mind, to infer, conclude; sy`n with, together + logi`zesqai to reckon, to conclude by reasoning. See Syn- , and Logistic , Logic .] (Logic) The regular logical form of every argument, consisting of three propositions, of which the first two are called the premises , and the last, the conclusion . The conclusion necessarily follows from the premises; so that, if these are true, the conclusion must be true, and the argument amounts to demonstration ; as in the following example:

Every virtue is laudable; Kindness is a virtue; Therefore kindness is laudable.

These propositions are denominated respectively the major premise , the minor premise , and the conclusion .

» If the premises are not true and the syllogism is regular, the reasoning is valid, and the conclusion, whether true or false, is correctly derived.

Syllogistic, Syllogistical Syl`lo·gis"tic, Syl`lo·gis"tic·al adjective [ Latin syllogisticus , Greek ...: confer French syllogistique .] Of or pertaining to a syllogism; consisting of a syllogism, or of the form of reasoning by syllogisms; as, syllogistic arguments or reasoning.

Syllogistically Syl`lo·gis"tic·al·ly adverb In a syllogistic manner.

Syllogization Syl`lo·gi·za"tion noun A reasoning by syllogisms. [ Obsolete or R.] Harris.

Syllogize Syl"lo·gize intransitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Syllogized ; present participle & verbal noun Syllogizing .] [ Greek ...: confer French syllogiser .] To reason by means of syllogisms.

Men have endeavored . . . to teach boys to syllogize , or frame arguments and refute them, without any real inward knowledge of the question.

I. Watts.

Syllogizer Syl"lo·gi`zer noun One who syllogizes.

Sylph Sylph noun [ French sylphe , m., from Greek ... a kind of grub, beetle, or moth; -- so called by Paracelsus.] 1. An imaginary being inhabiting the air; a fairy.

2. Fig.: A slender, graceful woman.

3. (Zoology) Any one of several species of very brilliant South American humming birds, having a very long and deeply-forked tail; as, the blue-tailed sylph ( Cynanthus cyanurus ).

Sylphid Sylph"id noun [ French sylphide , fem. See Sylph .] A little sylph; a young or diminutive sylph. "The place of the sylphid queen." J. R. Drake.

Ye sylphs and sylphids , to your chief give ear,
Fays, fairies, genii, elves, and demons, hear.

Pope.

Sylphine Sylph"ine adjective Like a sylph.

Sylphish Sylph"ish adjective Sylphlike. Carlyle.

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