M M (em). (continued 10)

MISTLETOE Mis"tle*toe, n. Etym: [AS. misteltan; mistel mistletoe + tan twig. AS. mistel is akin of D., G., Dan. & Sw. mistel, OHG. mistil, Icel. mistilteinn; and AS. tan to D. teen, OHG. zein, Icel. teinn, Goth. tains. Cf. Missel.] (Bot.)

Defn: A parasitic evergreen plant of Europe (Viscum album), bearing a glutinous fruit. When found upon the oak, where it is rare, it was an object of superstitious regard among the Druids. A bird lime is prepared from its fruit. [Written also misletoe, misseltoe, and mistleto.] Lindley. Loudon.

Note: The mistletoe of the United States is Phoradendron flavescens, having broader leaves than the European kind. In different regions various similar plants are called by this name.

MISTONUSK Mis"to*nusk, n. Etym: [From the Indian name.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: The American badger.

MISTOOK Mis*took", imp. & obs. p. p.

Defn: of Mistake.

MISTRADITION Mis`tra*di"tion, n.

Defn: A wrong tradition. "Monsters of mistradition." Tennyson.

MISTRAIN Mis*train", v. t.

Defn: To train amiss.

MISTRAL Mis"tral, n. Etym: [F., fr. Provençal.]

Defn: A violent and cold northwest wind experienced in the Mediterranean provinces of France, etc.

MISTRANSLATE Mis`trans*late", v. t.

Defn: To translate erroneously.

MISTRANSLATION Mis`trans*la"tion, n.

Defn: Wrong translation.

MISTRANSPORT Mis`trans*port", v. t.

Defn: To carry away or mislead wrongfully, as by passion. [Obs.] Bp. Hall.

MISTREADING Mis*tread"ing, n.

Defn: Misstep; misbehavior. "To punish my mistreadings." Shak.

MISTREAT Mis*treat", v. t.

Defn: To treat amiss; to abuse.

MISTREATMENT Mis*treat"ment, n.

Defn: Wrong treatment.

MISTRESS Mis"tress, n. Etym: [OE. maistress, OF. maistresse, F. maîtresse, LL. magistrissa, for L. magistra, fem. of magister. See Master, Mister, and cf. Miss a young woman.]

1. A woman having power, authority, or ownership; a woman who exercises authority, is chief, etc.; the female head of a family, a school, etc. The late queen's gentlewoman! a knight's daughter! To be her mistress' mistress! Shak.

2. A woman well skilled in anything, or having the mastery over it. A letter desires all young wives to make themselves mistresses of Wingate's Arithmetic. Addison.

3. A woman regarded with love and devotion; she who has command over one's heart; a beloved object; a sweetheart. [Poetic] Clarendon.

4. A woman filling the place, but without the rights, of a wife; a concubine; a loose woman with whom one consorts habitually. Spectator.

5. A title of courtesy formerly prefixed to the name of a woman, married or unmarried, but now superseded by the contracted forms, Mrs., for a married, and Miss, for an unmarried, woman. Now Mistress Gilpin (careful soul). Cowper.

6. A married woman; a wife. [Scot.] Several of the neighboring mistresses had assembled to witness the event of this memorable evening. Sir W. Scott.

7. The old name of the jack at bowls. Beau. & Fl. To be one's own mistress, to be exempt from control by another person.

MISTRESS Mis"tress, v. i.

Defn: To wait upon a mistress; to be courting. [Obs.] Donne.

MISTRESSSHIP Mis"tress*ship, n.

1. Female rule or dominion.

2. Ladyship, a style of address; — with the personal pronoun. [Obs.] Massinger.

MISTRIAL Mis*tri"al, n. (Law)

Defn: A false or erroneous trial; a trial which has no result.

MISTRIST Mis*trist", v. t.

Defn: To mistrust. [Obs.] Chaucer.

MISTROW Mis*trow", v. i.

Defn: To think wrongly. [Obs.]

MISTRUST Mis*trust", n.

Defn: Want of confidence or trust; suspicion; distrust. Milton.

MISTRUST Mis*trust", v. t.

1. To regard with jealousy or suspicion; to suspect; to doubt the integrity of; to distrust. I will never mistrust my wife again. Shak.

2. To forebode as near, or likely to occur; to surmise. By a divine instinct, men's minds mistrust Ensuing dangers. Shak.

MISTRUSTER Mis*trust"er, n.

Defn: One who mistrusts.

MISTRUSTFUL Mis*trust"ful, a.

Defn: Having or causing mistrust, suspicions, or forebodings. Their light blown out in some mistrustful wood. Shak. — Mis*trust"ful*ly, adv. — Mis*trust"ful*ness, n.

MISTRUSTINGLY Mis*trust"ing*ly, adv.

Defn: With distrust or suspicion.

MISTRUSTLESS Mis*trust"less, a.

Defn: Having no mistrust or suspicion. The swain mistrustless of his smutted face. Goldsmith.

MISTUNE Mis*tune", v. t.

Defn: To tune wrongly.

MISTURA Mis*tu"ra, n. Etym: [L. See Mixture.] (Med.) (a) A mingled compound in which different ingredients are contained in a liquid state; a mixture. See Mixture, n., 4. (b) Sometimes, a liquid medicine containing very active substances, and which can only be administered by drops. Dunglison.

MISTURN Mis*turn", v. t.

Defn: To turn amiss; to pervert.

MISTUTOR Mis*tu"tor, v. t.

Defn: To instruct amiss.

MISTY Mist"y, a. [Compar. Mistier; superl. Mistiest.] Etym: [AS. mistig. See Mist. In some senses misty has been confused with mystic.]

1. Accompained with mist; characterized by the presence of mist; obscured by, or overspread with, mist; as, misty weather; misty mountains; a misty atmosphere.

2. Obscured as if by mist; dim; obscure; clouded; as, misty sight. The more I muse therein [theology], The mistier it seemeth. Piers Plowman.

MISUNDERSTAND Mis*un`der*stand", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Misunderstood; p. pr. & vb. n. Misunderstanding.]

Defn: To misconceive; to mistake; to miscomprehend; to take in a wrong sense.

MISUNDERSTANDER Mis*un`der*stand"er, n.

Defn: One who misunderstands. Sir T. More.

MISUNDERSTANDING Mis*un`der*stand"ing, n.

1. Mistake of the meaning; error; misconception. Bacon.

2. Disagreement; difference of opinion; dissension; quarrel. "Misunderstandings among friends." Swift.

MISURATO Mi`su*ra"to, a. Etym: [It.] (Mus.)

Defn: Measured; — a direction to perform a passage in strict or measured time.

MISUSAGE Mis*us"age, n. Etym: [Cf. F. mésusage.]

Defn: Bad treatment; abuse. Spenser.

MISUSE Mis*use", v. t. Etym: [F. mésuser. See Mis-, prefix from French, and Use.]

1. To treat or use improperly; to use to a bad purpose; to misapply; as, to misuse one's talents. South. The sweet poison of misused wine. Milton.

2. To abuse; to treat ill. O, she misused me past the endurance of a block. Shak.

Syn. — To maltreat; abuse; misemploy; misapply.

MISUSE Mis*use", n.

1. Wrong use; misapplication; erroneous or improper use. Words little suspected for any such misuse. Locke.

2. Violence, or its effects. [Obs.] Shak.

MISUSEMENT Mis*use"ment, n.

Defn: Misuse. [Obs.]

MISUSER Mis*us"er, n.

1. One who misuses. "Wretched misusers of language." Coleridge.

2. (Law)

Defn: Unlawful use of a right; use in excess of, or varying from, one's right. Bouvier.

MISVALUE Mis*val"ue, v. t.

Defn: To value wrongly or too little; to undervalue. But for I am so young, I dread my work Wot be misvalued both of old and young. W. Browne.

MISVOUCH Mis*vouch", v. t.

Defn: To vouch falsely.

MISWANDER Mis*wan"der, v. i.

Defn: To wander in a wrong path; to stray; to go astray. [Obs.] Chaucer.

MISWAY Mis*way", n.

Defn: A wrong way. [Obs.] Chaucer.

MISWEAR Mis*wear", v. t.

Defn: To wear ill. [Obs.] Bacon.

MISWED Mis*wed", v. t.

Defn: To wed improperly.

MISWEEN Mis*ween", v. i.

Defn: To ween amiss; to misjudge; to distrust; to be mistaken. [Obs.] Spenser.

MISWEND Mis*wend", v. i.

Defn: To go wrong; to go astray. [Obs.] "The world is miswent." Gower.

MISWORD Mis*word", v. t.

Defn: To word wrongly; as, to misword a message, or a sentence.

MISWORD Mis*word", n.

Defn: A word wrongly spoken; a cross word. [Obs.] Sylvester. Breton.

MISWORSHIP Mis*wor"ship, n.

Defn: Wrong or false worship; mistaken practices in religion. Bp. Hall. Such hideous jungle of misworships. Carlyle.

MISWORSHIP Mis*wor"ship, v. t.

Defn: To worship wrongly. Bp. Hall.

MISWORSHIPER Mis*wor"ship*er, n.

Defn: One who worships wrongly.

MISWRITE Mis*write", v. t.

Defn: To write incorrectly.

MISWROUGHT Mis*wrought", a.

Defn: Badly wrought. Bacon.

MISY Mi"sy, n. Etym: [Cf. L. misy a mineral, perh. copperas, Gr. (Min.)

Defn: An impure yellow sulphate of iron; yellow copperas or copiapite.

MISYOKE Mis*yoke", v. t.

Defn: To yoke improperly.

MISZEALOUS Mis*zeal"ous, a.

Defn: Mistakenly zealous. [Obs.]

MITE Mite, n. Etym: [AS. mite mite (in sense 1); akin to LG. mite, D. mijt, G. miete, OHG. miza; cf. Goth. maitan to cut.]

1. (Zoöl.)

Defn: A minute arachnid, of the order Acarina, of which there are many species; as, the cheese mite, sugar mite, harvest mite, etc. See Acarina.

2. Etym: [D. mijt; prob. the same word.]

Defn: A small coin formerly circulated in England, rated at about a third of a farthing. The name is also applied to a small coin used in Palestine in the time of Christ. Two mites, which make a farthing. Mark xii. 49.

3. A small weight; one twentieth of a grain.

4. Anything very small; a minute object; a very little quantity or particle. For in effect they be not worth a myte. Chaucer.

MITER; MITRE Mi"ter, Mi"tre, n. Etym: [F. mitre, fr. L. mitra headband, turban, Gr.

1. A covering for the head, worn on solemn occasions by church dignitaries. It has been made in many forms, the present form being a lofty cap with two points or peaks. Fairholt.

2. The surface forming the beveled end or edge of a piece where a miter joint is made; also, a joint formed or a junction effected by two beveled ends or edges; a miter joint.

3. (Numis.)

Defn: A sort of base money or coin. Miter box (Carp. & Print.), an apparatus for guiding a handsaw at the proper angle in making a miter joint; esp., a wooden or metal trough with vertical kerfs in its upright sides, for guides. — Miter dovetail (Carp.), a kind of dovetail for a miter joint in which there is only one joint line visible, and that at the angle. — Miter gauge (Carp.), a gauge for determining the angle of a miter. — Miter joint, a joint formed by pieces matched and united upon a line bisecting the angle of junction, as by the beveled ends of two pieces of molding or brass rule, etc. The term is used especially when the pieces form a right angle. See Miter, 2. — Miter shell (Zoöl.), any one of numerous species of marine univalve shells of the genus Mitra. — Miter square (Carp.), a bevel with an immovable arm at an angle of 45º, for striking lines on stuff to be mitered; also, a square with an arm adjustable to any angle. — Miter wheels, a pair of bevel gears, of equal diameter, adapted for working together, usually with their axes at right angles.

MITER; MITRE Mi"ter, Mi"tre, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Mitered or Mitred; p. pr. & vb. n. Mitering or Mitring.]

1. To place a miter upon; to adorn with a miter. "Mitered locks." Milton.

2. To match together, as two pieces of molding or brass rule on a line bisecting the angle of junction; to bevel the ends or edges of, for the purpose of matching together at an angle.

MITER; MITRE Mi"ter, Mi"tre, v. i.

Defn: To meet and match together, as two pieces of molding, on a line bisecting the angle of junction.

MITERWORT Mi"ter*wort`, n. (Bot.)

Defn: Any plant of the genus Mitella, — slender, perennial herbs with a pod slightly resembling a bishop's miter; bishop's cap. False miterwort, a white-flowered perennial herb of the United States (Tiarella cardifolia).

MITHIC Mith"ic, a.

Defn: See Mythic.

MITHRAS Mi"thras, n. Etym: [L., from Gr.

Defn: The sun god of the Persians.

MITHRIDATE Mith"ri*date, n. (Med.)

Defn: An antidote against poison, or a composition in form of an electuary, supposed to serve either as a remedy or a preservative against poison; an alexipharmic; — so called from King Mithridates, its reputed inventor. [Love is] a drop of the true elixir; no mithridate so effectual against the infection of vice. Southey.

MITHRIDATIC Mith`ri*dat"ic, a.

Defn: Of or pertaining to King Mithridates, or to a mithridate.

MITIGABLE Mit"i*ga*ble, a.

Defn: Admitting of mitigation; that may be mitigated.

MITIGANT Mit"i*gant, a. Etym: [L. mitigans, p.pr. of mitigare. See Mitigate.]

Defn: Tending to mitigate; mitigating; lentitive. Johnson.

MITIGATE Mit"i*gate, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Mitigated; p. pr. & vb. n. Mitigating.] Etym: [L. mitigatus, p.p. of mitigare to soften, mitigate; mitis mild, soft + the root of agere to do, drive.]

1. To make less severe, intense, harsh, rigorous, painful, etc.; to soften; to meliorate; to alleviate; to diminish; to lessen; as, to mitigate heat or cold; to mitigate grief.

2. To make mild and accessible; to mollify; — applied to persons. [Obs.] This opinion … mitigated kings into companions. Burke.

Syn. — To alleviate; assuage; allay. See Alleviate.

MITIGATION Mit`i*ga"tion, n. Etym: [OE. mitigacioun, F. mitigation, fr. L. mitigatio.]

Defn: The act of mitigating, or the state of being mitigated; abatement or diminution of anything painful, harsh, severe, afflictive, or calamitous; as, the mitigation of pain, grief, rigor, severity, punishment, or penalty.

Syn. — Alleviation; abatement; relief.

MITIGATIVE Mit"i*ga*tive, a. Etym: [L. mitigativus: cf. F. mitigatif.]

Defn: Tending to mitigate; alleviating.

MITIGATOR Mit"i*ga`tor, n.

Defn: One who, or that which, mitigates.

MITIGATORY Mit"i*ga*to*ry, a.

Defn: Tending to mitigate or alleviate; mitigative.

MITING Mit"ing, n. Etym: [From Mite.]

Defn: A little one; — used as a term of endearment. [Obs.] Skelton.

MITIS CASTING Mi"tis cast`ing. [Perh. fr. L. mitis mild.]

Defn: A process, invented by P. Ostberg, for producing malleable iron castings by melting wrought iron, to which from 0.05 to 0.1 per cent of aluminium is added to lower the melting point, usually in a petroleum furnace, keeping the molten metal at the bubbling point until it becomes quiet, and then pouring the molten metal into a mold lined with a special mixture consisting essentially of molasses and ground burnt fire clay; also, a casting made by this process; — called also wrought-iron casting.

MITIS METAL Mitis metal.

Defn: The malleable iron produced by mitis casting; — called also simply mitis.

MITOME Mi"tome, n. Etym: [Gr. (Biol.)

Defn: The denser part of the protoplasm of a cell.

MITOSIS Mi*to"sis, n. Etym: [NL., fr. Gr. (Biol.)

Defn: See Karyokinesis.

MITOTIC Mi*tot"ic, a. (Biol.)

Defn: Of or pertaining to mitosis; karyokinetic; as, mitotic cell division; — opposed to amitotic. —Mi*tot"ic*al*ly (#), adv.

MITRAILLE Mi`traille", n. Etym: [F. See Mitrailleur.]

Defn: Shot or bits of iron used sometimes in loading cannon.

MITRAILLEUR Mi`tra`illeur", n. Etym: [F.] (Mil.)

Defn: One who serves a mitrailleuse.

MITRAILLEUSE Mi`tra`illeuse", n. Etym: [F., fr. mitrailler to fire grapeshot, fr. mitraille old iron, grapeshot, dim. of OF. mite a mite.] (Mil.)

Defn: A breech-loading machine gun consisting of a number of barrels fitted together, so arranged that the barrels can be fired simultaneously, or successively, and rapidly.

MITRAL Mi"tral, a. Etym: [Cf. F. mitral. See Miter.]

Defn: Pertaining to a miter; resembling a miter; as, the mitral valve between the left auricle and left ventricle of the heart.

MITRE Mi"tre, n. & v.

Defn: See Miter.

MITRIFORM Mit"ri*form, a. Etym: [Miter + -form: cf. F. mitriforme.]

Defn: Having the form of a miter, or a peaked cap; as, a mitriform calyptra. Gray.

MITT Mitt, n. Etym: [Abbrev. fr. mitten.]

Defn: A mitten; also, a covering for the wrist and hand and not for the fingers.

MITTEN Mit"ten, n. Etym: [OE. mitaine, meteyn, F. mitaine, perh. of Celtic origin; cf. Ir. miotog, Gael. miotag, Ir. & Gael. mutan a muff, a thick glove. Cf. Mitt.]

1. A covering for the hand, worn to defend it from cold or injury. It differs from a glove in not having a separate sheath for each finger. Chaucer.

2. A cover for the wrist and forearm. To give the mitten to, to dismiss as a lover; to reject the suit of. [Colloq.] — To handle without mittens, to treat roughly; to handle without gloves. [Colloq.]

MITTENED Mit"tened, a.

Defn: Covered with a mitten or mittens. "Mittened hands." Whittier.

MITTENT Mit"tent, a. Etym: [L. mittens, p.pr. of mittere to send.]

Defn: Sending forth; emitting. [Obs.] Wiseman.

MITTIMUS Mit"ti*mus, n. Etym: [L., we send, fr. mittere to send.] (Law) (a) A precept or warrant granted by a justice for committing to prison a party charged with crime; a warrant of commitment to prison. Burrill. (b) A writ for removing records from one court to another. Brande & C.

MITTLER'S GREEN Mitt"ler's green`. (Chem.)

Defn: A pigment of a green color, the chief constituent of which is oxide of chromium.

MITTY Mit"ty, n.

Defn: The stormy petrel. [Prov. Eng.]

MITU Mi"tu, n. Etym: [Braz. mitu poranga.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: A South American curassow of the genus Mitua.

MITY Mit"y, a. Etym: [From Mite.]

Defn: Having, or abounding with, mites.

MIX Mix, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Mixed (less properly Mixt); p. pr. & vb. n. Mixing.] Etym: [AS. miscan; akin to OHG. misken, G. mischen, Russ. mieshate, W. mysgu, Gael. measg, L. miscere, mixtum, Gr. miçra mixed. The English word has been influenced by L. miscere, mixtum (cf. Mixture), and even the AS. miscan may have been borrowed fr. L. miscere. Cf. Admix, Mash to bruise, Meddle.]

1. To cause a promiscuous interpenetration of the parts of, as of two or more substances with each other, or of one substance with others; to unite or blend into one mass or compound, as by stirring together; to mingle; to blend; as, to mix flour and salt; to mix wines. Fair persuasions mixed with sugared words. Shak.

2. To unite with in company; to join; to associate. Ephraim, he hath mixed himself among the people. Hos. vii. 8.

3. To form by mingling; to produce by the stirring together of ingredients; to compound of different parts. Hast thou no poison mixed Shak. I have chosen an argument mixed of religious and civil considerations. Bacon.

MIX Mix, v. i.

1. To become united into a compound; to be blended promiscuously together.

2. To associate; to mingle. He had mixed Again in fancied safety with his kind. Byron.

MIXABLE Mix"a*ble, a.

Defn: Capable of being mixed.

MIXED Mixed, a.

Defn: Formed by mixing; united; mingled; blended. See Mix, v. t. & i. Mixed action (Law), a suit combining the properties of a real and a personal action. — Mixed angle, a mixtilineal angle. — Mixed fabric, a textile fabric composed of two or more kinds of fiber, as a poplin. — Mixed marriage, a marriage between persons of different races or religions; specifically, one between a Roman Catholic and a Protestant. — Mixed number, a whole number and a fraction taken together. — Mixed train, a railway train containing both passenger and freight cars. — Mixed voices (Mus.), voices of both males and females united in the same performance.

MIXEDLY Mix"ed*ly, adv.

Defn: In a mixed or mingled manner.

MIXEN Mix"en, n. Etym: [AS. mixen, myxen, fr. meohx, meox, dung, filth; akin to E. mist. See Mist.]

Defn: A compost heap; a dunghill. Chaucer. Tennyson.

MIXER Mix"er, n.

Defn: One who, or that which, mixes.

MIXOGAMOUS Mix*og"a*mous, a. Etym: [Gr. (Zoöl.)

Defn: Pairing with several males; — said of certain fishes of which several males accompany each female during spawning.

MIXOLYDIAN MODE Mix`o*lyd"i*an mode`. Etym: [Gr. Lydian.] (Mus.)

Defn: The seventh ecclesiastical mode, whose scale commences on G.

MIXTILINEAL; MIXTILINEAR Mix`ti*lin"e*al, Mix`ti*lin"e*ar, a. Etym: [L. mixtus mixed (p.p. of miscere to mix) + E. lineal, linear.]

Defn: Containing, or consisting of, lines of different kinds, as straight, curved, and the like; as, a mixtilinear angle, that is, an angle contained by a straight line and a curve. [R.]

MIXTION Mix"tion, n. Etym: [L. mixtio, mistio: cf. F. mixtion. See Mistion, Mix.]

1. Mixture. [Obs.]

2. A kind of cement made of mastic, amber, etc., used as a mordant for gold leaf.

MIXTLY Mixt"ly, adv.

Defn: With mixture; in a mixed manner; mixedly. Bacon.

MIXTURE Mix"ture, n. Etym: [L. mixtura, fr. miscere, mixtum, to mix: cf. F. mixture. See Mix.]

1. The act of mixing, or the state of being mixed; as, made by a mixture of ingredients. Hooker.

2. That which results from mixing different ingredients together; a compound; as, to drink a mixture of molasses and water; — also, a medley. There is also a mixture of good and evil wisely distributed by God, to serve the ends of his providence. Atterbury.

3. An ingredient entering into a mixed mass; an additional ingredient. Cicero doubts whether it were possible for a community to exist that had not a prevailing mixture of piety in its constitution. Addison.

4. (Med.)

Defn: A kind of liquid medicine made up of many ingredients; esp., as opposed to solution, a liquid preparation in which the solid ingredients are not completely dissolved.

5. (Physics & Chem.)

Defn: A mass of two or more ingredients, the particles of which are separable, independent, and uncompounded with each other, no matter how thoroughly and finely commingled; — contrasted with a compound; thus, gunpowder is a mechanical mixture of carbon, sulphur, and niter.

6. (Mus.)

Defn: An organ stop, comprising from two to five ranges of pipes, used only in combination with the foundation and compound stops; — called also furniture stop. It consists of high harmonics, or overtones, of the ground tone.

Syn. — Union; admixture; intermixture; medley.

MIZMAZE Miz"maze`, n.

Defn: A maze or labyrinth. [Obs.]

MIZZEN Miz"zen, a. Etym: [It. mezzana, fr. mezzano middle, fr. mezzo middle, half: cf. F. misaine foresail. See Mezzo.] (Naut.)

Defn: Hindmost; nearest the stern; as, the mizzen shrouds, sails, etc.

MIZZEN Miz"zen, n. (Naut.)

Defn: The hindmost of the fore and aft sails of a three-masted vessel; also, the spanker.

MIZZENMAST Miz"zen*mast, n. (Naut.)

Defn: The hindmost mast of a three-masted vessel, or of a yawl-rigged vessel.

MIZZLE Miz"zle, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Mizzled; p. pr. & vb. n. Mizzling.] Etym: [See Misle, and cf. Mistle.]

1. To rain in very fine drops. Spenser.

2. To take one's self off; to go. [Slang] As long as George the Fourth could reign, he reigned, And then he mizzled. Epigram, quoted by Wright.

MIZZLE Miz"zle, n.

Defn: Mist; fine rain.

MIZZY Miz"zy, n. Etym: [Cf. F. moisi moldy, musty, p.p. of moisir to mold, fr. L. mucere to be moldy.]

Defn: A bog or quagmire. [Obs.] Ainsworth.

M'-NAUGHT M'-Naught" (mak*nalt"), v. t. (Steam Engines)

Defn: To increase the power of (a single-cylinder beam engine) by adding a small high-pressure cylinder with a piston acting on the beam between the center and the flywheel end, using high-pressure steam and working as a compound engine, — a plan introduced by M'Naught, a Scottish engineer, in 1845.

MNEMONIC; MNEMONICAL Mne*mon"ic, Mne*mon"ic*al, a. Etym: [Gr. mind.]

Defn: Assisting in memory.

MNEMONICIAN Mne`mo*ni"cian, n.

Defn: One who instructs in the art of improving or using the memory.

MNEMONICS Mne*mon"ics, n. Etym: [Gr. mnémonique.]

Defn: The art of memory; a system of precepts and rules intended to assist the memory; artificial memory.

MNEMOSYNE Mne*mos"y*ne, n. Etym: [L., fr. Gr. Mnemonic.] (Class Myth.)

Defn: The goddess of memory and the mother of the Muses.

MNEMOTECHNY Mne"mo*tech`ny, n. Etym: [Gr. mnémotechnie.]

Defn: Mnemonics.

MO Mo, a., adv., & n. [Written also moe.] Etym: [AS. ma. See More.]

Defn: More; — usually, more in number. [Obs.] An hundred thousand mo. Chaucer. Likely to find mo to commend than to imitate it. Fuller.

-MO -mo.

Defn: A suffix added to the names of certain numerals or to the numerals themselves, to indicate the number of leaves made by folding a sheet of paper; as, sixteenmo or 16mo; eighteenmo or 18mo. It is taken from the Latin forms similarly used; as, duodecimo, sextodecimo, etc. A small circle, placed after the number and near its top, is often used for -mo; as, 16°, 18°, etc.

MOA Mo"a, n. Etym: [Native name.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: Any one of several very large extinct species of wingless birds belonging to Dinornis, and other related genera, of the suborder Dinornithes, found in New Zealand. They are allied to the apteryx and the ostrich. They were probably exterminated by the natives before New Zealand was discovered by Europeans. Some species were much larger than the ostrich.

MOABITE Mo"ab*ite, n.

Defn: One of the posterity of Moab, the son of Lot. (Gen. xix. 37.) Also used adjectively.

MOABITESS Mo"ab*i`tess, n.

Defn: A female Moabite. Ruth i. 22.

MOABITE STONE Mo"ab*ite stone. (Archæol.)

Defn: A block of black basalt, found at Dibon in Moab by Rev. F. A. Klein, Aug. 19, 1868, which bears an inscription of thirty-four lines, dating from the 9th century b. c., and written in the Moabite alphabet, the oldest Phonician type of the Semitic alphabet. It records the victories of Mesha, king of Moab, esp. those over Israel (2 Kings iii. 4, 5, 27).

MOABITISH Mo"ab*i`tish, a.

Defn: Moabite. Ruth ii. 6.

MOAN Moan, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Moaned; p. pr. & vb. n. Moaning.] Etym: [AS. m to moan, also, to mean; but in the latter sense perh. a different word. Cf. Mean to intend.]

1. To make a low prolonged sound of grief or pain, whether articulate or not; to groan softly and continuously. Unpitied and unheard, where misery moans. Thomson. Let there bechance him pitiful mischances, To make him moan. Shak.

2. To emit a sound like moan; — said of things inanimate; as, the wind moans.

MOAN Moan, v. t.

1. To bewail audibly; to lament. Ye floods, ye woods, ye echoes, moan My dear Columbo, dead and gone. Prior.

2. To afflict; to distress. [Obs.] Which infinitely moans me. Beau. & Fl.

MOAN Moan, n. Etym: [OE. mone. See Moan, v. i.]

1. A low prolonged sound, articulate or not, indicative of pain or of grief; a low groan. Sullen moans, hollow groans. Pope.

2. A low mournful or murmuring sound; — of things. Rippling waters made a pleasant moan. Byron.

MOANFUL Moan"ful, a.

Defn: Full of moaning; expressing sorrow. — Moan"ful*ly, adv.

MOAT Moat, n. Etym: [OF. mote hill, dike, bank, F. motte clod, turf: cf. Sp. & Pg. mota bank or mound of earth, It. motta clod, LL. mota, motta, a hill on which a fort is built, an eminence, a dike, Prov. G. mott bog earth heaped up; or perh. F. motte, and OF. mote, are from a LL. p.p. of L. movere to move (see Move). The name of moat, properly meaning, bank or mound, was transferred to the ditch adjoining: cf. F. dike and ditch.] (Fort.)

Defn: A deep trench around the rampart of a castle or other fortified place, sometimes filled with water; a ditch.

MOAT Moat, v. t.

Defn: To surround with a moat. Dryden.

MOATE Moate, v. i. Etym: [See Mute to molt.]

Defn: To void the excrement, as a bird; to mute. [Obs.]

MOB Mob, n. Etym: [See Mobcap.]

Defn: A mobcap. Goldsmith.

MOB Mob, v. t.

Defn: To wrap up in, or cover with, a cowl. [R.]

MOB Mob, n. Etym: [L. mobile vulgus, the movable common people. See Mobile, n.]

1. The lower classes of a community; the populace, or the lowest part of it. A cluster of mob were making themselves merry with their betters. Addison.

2. Hence: A throgn; a rabble; esp., an unlawful or riotous assembly; a disorderly crowd. The mob of gentlemen who wrote with ease. Pope. Had every Athenian citizen been a Socrates, every Athenian assembly would still have been a mob. Madison. Confused by brainless mobs. Tennyson. Mob law, law administered by the mob; lynch law. — Swell mob, well dressed thieves and swindlers, regarded collectively. [Slang] Dickens.

MOB Mob, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Mobbed; p. pr. & vb. n. Mobbing.]

Defn: To crowd about, as a mob, and attack or annoy; as, to mob a house or a person.

MOBBISH Mob"bish, a.

Defn: Like a mob; tumultuous; lawless; as, a mobbish act. Bp. Kent.

MOBCAP Mob"cap`, n. Etym: [D. mop-muts; OD. mop a woman's coif + D. muts cap.]

Defn: A plain cap or headdress for women or girls; especially, one tying under the chin by a very broad band, generally of the same material as the cap itself. Thackeray.

MOBILE Mo"bile, a. Etym: [L. mobilis, for movibilis, fr. movere to move: cf. F. mobile. See Move.]

1. Capable of being moved; not fixed in place or condition; movable. "Fixed or else mobile." Skelton.

2. Characterized by an extreme degree of fluidity; moving or flowing with great freedom; as, benzine and mercury are mobile liquids; — opposed to viscous, viscoidal, or oily.

3. Easily moved in feeling, purpose, or direction; excitable; changeable; fickle. Testament of Love. The quick and mobile curiosity of her disposition. Hawthorne.

4. Changing in appearance and expression under the influence of the mind; as, mobile features.

5. (Physiol.)

Defn: Capable of being moved, aroused, or excited; capable of spontaneous movement.

MOBILE Mo"bile, n. Etym: [L. mobile vulgus. See Mobile, a., and cf. 3d Mob.]

Defn: The mob; the populace. [Obs.] "The unthinking mobile." South.

MOBILITY Mo*bil"i*ty, n. Etym: [L. mobilitas: cf. F. mobilité.]

1. The quality or state of being mobile; as, the mobility of a liquid, of an army, of the populace, of features, of a muscle. Sir T. Browne.

2. The mob; the lower classes. [Humorous] Dryden.

MOBILIZATION Mob`i*li*za"tion, n. Etym: [F. mobilization.]

Defn: The act of mobilizing.

MOBILIZE Mob"i*lize, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Mobilized; p. pr. & vb. n. Mobilizing.] Etym: [F. mobiliser.]

Defn: To put in a state of readiness for active service in war, as an army corps.

MOBLE Mo"ble, v. t. Etym: [From Mob to wrap up.]

Defn: To wrap the head of in a hood. [Obs.] Shak.

MOBLES Mo"bles, n. pl.

Defn: See Moebles. [Obs.]

MOBOCRACY Mob*oc"ra*cy, n. Etym: [Mob rabble + -cracy, as in democracy.]

Defn: A condition in which the lower classes of a nation control public affairs without respect to law, precedents, or vested rights. It is good name that Dr. Stevens has given to our present situation (for one can not call it a government), a mobocracy. Walpole.

MOBOCRAT Mob"o*crat, n.

Defn: One who favors a form of government in which the unintelligent populace rules without restraint. Bayne.

MOBOCRATIC Mob`o*crat"ic, a.

Defn: Of, or relating to, a mobocracy.

MOCCASIN Moc"ca*sin, n. Etym: [An Indian word. Algonquin makisin.] [Sometimes written moccason.]

1. A shoe made of deerskin, or other soft leather, the sole and upper part being one piece. It is the customary shoe worn by the American Indians.

2. (Zoöl.)

Defn: A poisonous snake of the Southern United States. The water moccasin (Ancistrodon piscivorus) is usually found in or near water. Above, it is olive brown, barred with black; beneath, it is brownish yellow, mottled with darker. The upland moccasin is Ancistrodon atrofuscus. They resemble rattlesnakes, but are without rattles. Moccasin flower (Bot.), a species of lady's slipper (Cypripedium acaule) found in North America. The lower petal is two inches long, and forms a rose-colored moccasin-shaped pouch. It grows in rich woods under coniferous trees.

MOCCASINED Moc"ca*sined, a.

Defn: Covered with, or wearing, a moccasin or moccasins. "Moccasined feet." Harper's Mag.

MOCHA Mo"cha, n.

1. A seaport town of Arabia, on the Red Sea.

2. A variety of coffee brought from Mocha.

3. An Abyssinian weight, equivalent to a Troy grain. Mocha stone (Min.), moss agate.

MOCHE Moche, n. Etym: [F.]

Defn: A bale of raw silk.

MOCHE Moche, a.

Defn: Much. [Obs.] Chaucer.

MOCHEL Moch"el, a. & adv.

Defn: Much. [Obs.] Chaucer.

MOCHILA Mo*chi"la, n. Etym: [Sp.]

Defn: A large leather flap which covers the saddletree. [Western U.S.]

MOCK Mock, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Mocked; p. pr. & vb. n. Mocking.] Etym: [F. moquer, of uncertain origin; cf. OD. mocken to mumble, G. mucken, OSw. mucka.]

1. To imitate; to mimic; esp., to mimic in sport, contempt, or derision; to deride by mimicry. To see the life as lively mocked as ever Still sleep mocked death. Shak. Mocking marriage with a dame of France. Shak.

2. To treat with scorn or contempt; to deride. Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud. 1 Kings xviii. 27. Let not ambition mock their useful toil. Gray.

3. To disappoint the hopes of; to deceive; to tantalize; as, to mock expectation. Thou hast mocked me, and told me lies. Judg. xvi. 13. He will not … Mock us with his blest sight, then snatch him hence. Milton.

Syn. — To deride; ridicule; taunt; jeer; tantalize; disappoint. See Deride.

MOCK Mock, v. i.

Defn: To make sport contempt or in jest; to speak in a scornful or jeering manner. When thou mockest, shall no man make thee ashamed Job xi. 3. She had mocked at his proposal. Froude.

MOCK Mock, n.

1. An act of ridicule or derision; a scornful or contemptuous act or speech; a sneer; a jibe; a jeer. Fools make a mock at sin. Prov. xiv. 9.

2. Imitation; mimicry. [R.] Crashaw.

MOCK Mock, a.

Defn: Imitating reality, but not real; false; counterfeit; assumed; sham. That superior greatness and mock majesty. Spectator. Mock bishop's weed (Bot.), a genus of slender umbelliferous herbs (Discopleura) growing in wet places. — Mock heroic, burlesquing the heroic; as, a mock heroic poem. — Mock lead. See Blende (a). — Mock nightingale (Zoöl.), the European blackcap. — Mock orange (Bot.), a genus of American and Asiatic shrubs (Philadelphus), with showy white flowers in panicled cymes. P. coronarius, from Asia, has fragrant flowers; the American kinds are nearly scentless. — Mock sun. See Parhelion. — Mock turtle soup, a soup made of calf's head, veal, or other meat, and condiments, in imitation of green turtle soup. — Mock velvet, a fabric made in imitation of velvet. See Mockado.

MOCKABLE Mock"a*ble, a.

Defn: Such as can be mocked. Shak.

MOCKADO Mock"a*do, n.

Defn: A stuff made in imitation of velvet; — probably the same as mock velvet. [Obs.] Our rich mockado doublet. Ford.

MOCKADOUR Mock"a*dour, n.

Defn: See Mokadour. [Obs.]

MOCKAGE Mock"age, n.

Defn: Mockery. [Obs.] Fuller.

MOCKBIRD Mock"bird`, n. (Zoöl.)

Defn: The European sedge warbler (Acrocephalus phragmitis).

MOCKER Mock"er, n.

1. One who, or that which, mocks; a scorner; a scoffer; a derider.

2. A deceiver; an impostor.

3. (Zoöl.)

Defn: A mocking bird. Mocker nut (Bot.), a kind of hickory (Carya tomentosa) and its fruit, which is far inferior to the true shagbark hickory nut.

MOCKERY Mock"er*y, n.; pl. Mockeries. Etym: [F. moquerie.]

1. The act of mocking, deriding, and exposing to contempt, by mimicry, by insincere imitation, or by a false show of earnestness; a counterfeit appearance. It is, as the air, invulnerable, And our vain blows malicious mockery. Shak. Grace at meals is now generally so performed as to look more like a mockery upon devotion than any solemn application of the mind to God. Law. And bear about the mockery of woe. Pope.

2. Insulting or contemptuous action or speech; contemptuous merriment; derision; ridicule. The laughingstock of fortune's mockeries. Spenser.

3. Subject of laughter, derision, or sport. The cruel handling of the city whereof they made a mockery. 2 Macc. viii. 17.

MOCKING Mock"ing, a.

Defn: Imitating, esp. in derision, or so as to cause derision; mimicking; derisive. Mocking bird (Zoöl.), a North American singing bird (Mimus polyglottos), remarkable for its exact imitations of the notes of other birds. Its back is gray; the tail and wings are blackish, with a white patch on each wing; the outer tail feathers are partly white. The name is also applied to other species of the same genus, found in Mexico, Central America, and the West Indies. — Mocking thrush (Zoöl.), any species of the genus Harporhynchus, as the brown thrush (H. rufus). — Mocking wren (Zoöl.), any American wren of the genus Thryothorus, esp. T. Ludovicianus.

MOCKINGLY Mock"ing*ly, adv.

Defn: By way of derision; in a contemptuous or mocking manner.

MOCKINGSTOCK Mock"ing*stock`, n.

Defn: A butt of sport; an object of derision. [R.]

MOCKISH Mock"ish, a.

Defn: Mock; counterfeit; sham. [Obs.]

MOCKLE Moc"kle, a.

Defn: See Mickle.

MOCO Mo"co, n. (Zoöl.)

Defn: A South American rodent (Cavia rupestris), allied to the Guinea pig, but larger; — called also rock cavy.

MODAL Mo"dal, a. Etym: [Cf. F. modal. See Mode.]

1. Of or pertaining to a mode or mood; consisting in mode or form only; relating to form; having the form without the essence or reality. Glanvill.

2. (Logic & Metaph.)

Defn: Indicating, or pertaining to, some mode of conceiving existence, or of expressing thought.

MODALIST Mo"dal*ist, n. (Theol.)

Defn: One who regards Father, Son, and Spirit as modes of being, and not as persons, thus denying personal distinction in the Trinity. Eadie.

MODALITY Mo*dal"i*ty, n. Etym: [Cf. F. modalité.]

1. The quality or state of being modal.

2. (Logic & Metaph.)

Defn: A modal relation or quality; a mode or point of view under which an object presents itself to the mind. According to Kant, the quality of propositions, as assertory, problematical, or apodeictic.

MODALLY Mo"dal*ly, adv.

Defn: In a modal manner. A compound proposition, the parts of which are united modally … by the particles "as" and "so." Gibbs.

MODE Mode, n. Etym: [L. modus a measure, due or proper measure, bound, manner, form; akin to E. mete: cf. F. mode. See Mete, and cf. Commodious, Mood in grammar, Modus.]

1. Manner of doing or being; method; form; fashion; custom; way; style; as, the mode of speaking; the mode of dressing. The duty of itself being resolved on, the mode of doing it may easily be found. Jer. Taylor. A table richly spread in regal mode. Milton.

2. Prevailing popular custom; fashion, especially in the phrase the mode. The easy, apathetic graces of a man of the mode. Macaulay.

3. Variety; gradation; degree. Pope.

4. (Metaph.)

Defn: Any combination of qualities or relations, considered apart from the substance to which they belong, and treated as entities; more generally, condition, or state of being; manner or form of arrangement or manifestation; form, as opposed to matter. Modes I call such complex ideas, which, however compounded, contain not in them the supposition of subsisting by themselves, but are considered as dependencies on, or affections of, substances. Locke.

5. (Logic)

Defn: The form in which the proposition connects the predicate and subject, whether by simple, contingent, or necessary assertion; the form of the syllogism, as determined by the quantity and quality of the constituent proposition; mood.

6. (Gram.)

Defn: Same as Mood.

7. (Mus.)

Defn: The scale as affected by the various positions in it of the minor intervals; as, the Dorian mode, the Ionic mode, etc., of ancient Greek music.

Note: In modern music, only the major and the minor mode, of whatever key, are recognized.

8. A kind of silk. See Alamode, n.

Syn. — Method; manner. See Method.

MODEL Mod"el, n. Etym: [F. modèle, It. modello, fr. (assumed) L. modellus, fr. modulus a small measure, dim. of modus. See Mode, and cf. Module.]

1. A miniature representation of a thing, with the several parts in due proportion; sometimes, a facsimile of the same size. In charts, in maps, and eke in models made. Gascoigne. I had my father's signet in my purse, Which was the model of that Danish seal. Shak. You have the models of several ancient temples, though the temples and the gods are perished. Addison.

2. Something intended to serve, or that may serve, as a pattern of something to be made; a material representation or embodiment of an ideal; sometimes, a drawing; a plan; as, the clay model of a sculpture; the inventor's model of a machine. [The application for a patent] must be accompanied by a full description of the invention, with drawings and a model where the case admits of it. Am. Cyc. When we mean to build We first survey the plot, then draw the model. Shak.

3. Anything which serves, or may serve, as an example for imitation; as, a government formed on the model of the American constitution; a model of eloquence, virtue, or behavior.

4. That by which a thing is to be measured; standard. He that despairs measures Providence by his own little, contracted model. South.

5. Any copy, or resemblance, more or less exact. Thou seest thy wretched brother die, Who was the model of thy father's life. Shak.

6. A person who poses as a pattern to an artist. A professional model. H. James. Working model, a model of a machine which can do on a small scale the work which the machine itself does, or expected to do.

MODEL Mod"el, a.

Defn: Suitable to be taken as a model or pattern; as, a model house; a model husband.

MODEL Mod"el, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Modeled or Modelled; p. pr. & vb. n. Modeling or Modelling.] Etym: [Cf. F. modeler, It. modellare.]

Defn: To plan or form after a pattern; to form in model; to form a model or pattern for; to shape; to mold; to fashion; as, to model a house or a government; to model an edifice according to the plan delineated.

MODEL Mod"el, v. i. (Fine Arts)

Defn: To make a copy or a pattern; to design or imitate forms; as, to model in wax.

MODELER Mod"el*er, n.

Defn: One who models; hence, a worker in plastic art. [Written also modeller.]

MODELING Mod"el*ing, n. (Fine Arts)

Defn: The act or art of making a model from which a work of art is to be executed; the formation of a work of art from some plastic material. Also, in painting, drawing, etc., the expression or indication of solid form. [Written also modelling.] Modeling plane, a small plane for planing rounded objects. — Modeling wax, beeswax melted with a little Venice turpentine, or other resinous material, and tinted with coloring matter, usually red, — used in modeling.

MODELIZE Mod"el*ize, v. t.

Defn: To model. [Obs.] B. Jonson.

MODENA Mod"e*na, n. Etym: [From Modena, in Italy.]

Defn: A certain crimsonlike color. Good.

MODENESE Mod`e*nese", a.

Defn: Of or pertaining to Modena or its inhabitants. — n. sing. & pl.

Defn: A native or inhabitant of Modena; the people of Modena.

MODER Mo"der, n. Etym: [OE. See Mother female parent.]

1. A mother. [Obs.] Chaucer.

2. The principal piece of an astrolabe, into which the others are fixed. [Obs.]

MODER Mod"er, v. t.

Defn: To moderate. [Obs.]

MODERABLE Mod"er*a*ble, a. Etym: [L. moderabilis.]

Defn: Modeate; temperate. [Obs.]

MODERANCE Mod"er*ance, n.

Defn: Moderation. [Obs.] Caxton.

MODERATE Mod"er*ate, a. Etym: [L. moderatus, p.p. of moderate, moderati, to moderate, regulate, control, fr. modus measure. See Mode.]

Defn: Kept within due bounds; observing reasonable limits; not excessive, extreme, violent, or rigorous; limited; restrained; as: (a) Limited in quantity; sparing; temperate; frugal; as, moderate in eating or drinking; a moderate table. (b) Limited in degree of activity, energy, or excitement; reasonable; calm; slow; as, moderate language; moderate endeavors. (c) Not extreme in opinion, in partisanship, and the like; as, a moderate Calvinist. A number of moderate members managed … to obtain a majority in a thin house. Swift.

(d) Not violent or rigorous; temperate; mild; gentle; as, a moderate winter. "Moderate showers." Walter. (e) Limited as to degree of progress; as, to travel at moderate speed. (f) Limited as to the degree in which a quality, principle, or faculty appears; as, an infusion of moderate strength; a man of moderate abilities. (g) Limited in scope or effects; as, a reformation of a moderate kind. Hooker.

MODERATE Mod"er*ate, n. (Eccl. Hist.)

Defn: One of a party in the Church of Scotland in the 18th century, and part of the 19th, professing moderation in matters of church government, in discipline, and in doctrine.

MODERATE Mod"er*ate, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Moderated; p. pr. & vb. n. Moderating.]

1. To restrain from excess of any kind; to reduce from a state of violence, intensity, or excess; to keep within bounds; to make temperate; to lessen; to allay; to repress; to temper; to qualify; as, to moderate rage, action, desires, etc.; to moderate heat or wind. By its astringent quality, it moderates the relaxing quality of warm water. Arbuthnot. To moderate stiff minds disposed to strive. Spenser.

2. To preside over, direct, or regulate, as a public meeting; as, to moderate a synod.

MODERATE Mod"er*ate, v. i.

1. To become less violent, severe, rigorous, or intense; as, the wind has moderated.

2. To preside as a moderator. Dr. Barlow [was] engaged … to moderate for him in the divinity disputation. Bp. Barlow's Remains (1693).

MODERATELY Mod"er*ate*ly, adv.

Defn: In a moderate manner or degree; to a moderate extent. Each nymph but moderately fair. Waller.

MODERATENESS Mod"er*ate*ness, n.

Defn: The quality or state of being moderate; temperateness; moderation.

MODERATION Mod`er*a"tion, n. Etym: [L. moderatio: cf. F. modération.]

1. The act of moderating, or of imposing due restraint.

2. The state or quality of being mmoderate. In moderation placing all my glory, While Tories call me Whig, and Whigs a Tory. Pope.

3. Calmness of mind; equanimity; as, to bear adversity with moderation. The calm and judicious moderation of Orange. Motley.

4. pl.

Defn: The first public examinations for degrees at the University of Oxford; — usually contracted to mods.

MODERATISM Mod"er*a*tism, n.

Defn: Moderation in doctrines or opinion, especially in politics or religion.

MODERATO Mod`e*ra"to, a. & adv. Etym: [It. See Moderate.] (Mus.)

Defn: With a moderate degree of quickness; moderately. Allegro moderato, a little slower than allegro. — Andante moderato, a little faster than andante.

MODERATOR Mod"er*a`tor, n. Etym: [L.: cf. F. modérateur.]

1. One who, or that which, moderates, restrains, or pacifies. Sir W. Raleigh. Angling was … a moderator of passions. Walton.

2. The officer who presides over an assembly to preserve order, propose questions, regulate the proceedings, and declare the votes.

3. In the University of Oxford, an examiner for moderations; at Cambridge, the superintendant of examinations for degrees; at Dublin, either the first (senior) or second (junior) in rank in an examination for the degree of Bachelor of Arts.

4. A mechamical arrangement for regulating motion in a machine, or producing equality of effect.

MODERATORSHIP Mod"er*a`tor*ship, n.

Defn: The office of a moderator.

MODERATRESS Mod"er*a`tress, n.

Defn: A female moderator. Fuller.

MODERATRIX Mod"er*a`trix, n. Etym: [L.]

Defn: A female moderator.

MODERN Mod"ern, a. Etym: [F. moderne, L. modernus; akin to modo just now, orig. abl. of modus measure; hence, by measure, just now. See Mode.]

1. Of or pertaining to the present time, or time not long past; late; not ancient or remote in past time; of recent period; as, modern days, ages, or time; modern authors; modern fashions; modern taste; modern practice. Bacon.

2. New and common; trite; commonplace. [Obs.] We have our philosophical persons, to make modern and familiar, things supernatural and causeless. Shak. Modern English. See the Note under English.

MODERN Mod"ern, n.

Defn: A person of modern times; — opposed to ancient. Pope.

MODERNISM Mod"ern*ism, n.

Defn: Modern practice; a thing of recent date; esp., a modern usage or mode of expression.

MODERNIST Mod"ern*ist, n. Etym: [Cf. F. moderniste.]

Defn: One who admires the moderns, or their ways and fashions.

MODERNITY Mo*der"ni*ty, n.

Defn: Modernness; something modern. Walpole.

MODERNIZATION Mod`ern*i*za"tion, n.

Defn: The act of rendering modern in style; the act or process of causing to conform to modern of thinking or acting.

MODERNIZE Mod"ern*ize, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Modernized; p. pr. & vb. n. Modernizing.] Etym: [Cf. F. moderniser.]

Defn: To render modern; to adapt to modern person or things; to cause to conform to recent or present usage or taste. Percy.

MODERNIZER Mod"ern*i`zer, n.

Defn: One who modernizes.

MODERNLY Mod"ern*ly, adv.

Defn: In modern times. Milton.

MODERNNESS Mod"ern*ness, n.

Defn: The quality or state of being modern; recentness; novelty. M. Arnold.

MODEST Mod"est, a. Etym: [F. modeste, L. modestus, fr. modus measure. See Mode.]

1. Restraining within due limits of propriety; not forward, bold, boastful, or presumptious; rather retiring than pushing one's self forward; not obstructive; as, a modest youth; a modest man.

2. Observing the proprieties of the sex; not unwomanly in act or bearing; free from undue familiarity, indecency, or lewdness; decent in speech and demeanor; — said of a woman. Mrs. Ford, the honest woman, the modest wife. Shak. The blushing beauties of a modest maid. Dryden.

3. Evincing modestly in the actor, author, or speaker; not showing presumption; not excessive or extreme; moderate; as, a modest request; modest joy.

Syn. — Reserved; unobtrusive; diffident; bashful; coy; shy; decent; becoming; chaste; virtuous.

MODESTLY Mod"est*ly, adv.

Defn: In a modest manner.

MODESTY Mod"es*ty, n. Etym: [L. modestia: cf. F. modestie. See Modest.]

1. The quality or state of being modest; that lowly temper which accompanies a moderate estimate of one's own worth and importance; absence of self-assertion, arrogance, and presumption; humility respecting one's own merit.

2. Natural delicacy or shame regarding personal charms and the sexual relation; purity of thought and manners; due regard for propriety in speech or action. Her blush is guiltiness, not modesty. Shak. Modesty piece, a narrow piece of lace worn by women over the bosom. [Obs.] Addison.

Syn. — Bashfulness; humility; diffidence; shyness. See Bashfulness, and Humility.

MODICITY Mo*dic"i*ty, n. Etym: [LL. modicitas; cf. F. modicité.]

Defn: Moderateness; smallness; meanness. [Obs.]

MODICUM Mod"i*cum, n. Etym: [L., fr. modicus moderate, fr. modus. See Mode.]

Defn: A little; a small quantity; a measured simply. "Modicums of wit." Shak. Her usual modicum of beer and punch. Thackeray.

MODIFIABILITY Mod`i*fi`a*bil"i*ty, n.

Defn: Capability of being modified; state or quality of being modifiable.

MODIFIABLE Mod"i*fi`a*ble, a. Etym: [From Modify.]

Defn: Capable of being modified; liable to modification.

MODIFICABLE Mo*dif"i*ca*ble, a.

Defn: Modifiable. [Obs.]

MODIFICATE Mod"i*fi*cate, v. t. Etym: [See Modify.]

Defn: To qualify. [Obs.] Bp. Pearson.

MODIFICATION Mod`i*fi*ca"tion, n. Etym: [L. modificatio a measuring: cf. F. modification. See Modify.]

Defn: The act of modifying, or the state of being modified; a modified form or condition; state as modified; a change; as, the modification of an opinion, or of a machine; the various modifications of light. Bentley.

MODIFICATIVE Mod"i*fi*ca*tive, n.

Defn: That which modifies or qualifies, as a word or clause.

MODIFICATORY Mod"i*fi*ca`to*ry, a.

Defn: Tending or serving to modify; modifying. Max Müller.

MODIFIER Mod"i*fi`er, n.

Defn: One who, or that which, modifies. Hume.

MODIFY Mod"i*fy, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Modified; p. pr. & vb. n. Modifying.] Etym: [F. modifier, L. modificare, modificari; modus limit + -ficare (in comp.) to make. See Mode, and -fy.]

1. To change somewhat the form or qualities of; to alter somewhat; as, to modify a contrivance adapted to some mechanical purpose; to modify the terms of a contract.

2. To limit or reduce in extent or degree; to moderate; to qualify; to lower. Of his grace He modifies his first severe decree. Dryden.

MODILLION Mo*dil"lion, n. Etym: [F. modillon, It. modiglione. Cf. Module, n.] (Arch.)

Defn: The enriched block or horizontal bracket generally found under the cornice of the Corinthian and Composite entablature, and sometimes, less ornamented, in the Ionic and other orders; — so called because of its arrangement at regulated distances.

MODIOLAR Mo*di"o*lar, a. Etym: [L. modiolus, dim. of modius the Roman corn measure.]

Defn: Shaped like a bushel measure.

MODIOLUS Mo*di"o*lus, n.; pl. Modioli. Etym: [L., a small measure.] (Anat.)

Defn: The central column in the osseous cochlea of the ear.

MODISH Mod"ish, a.

Defn: According to the mode, or customary manner; conformed to the fashion; fashionable; hence, conventional; as, a modish dress; a modish feast. Dryden. "Modish forms of address." Barrow. — Mod"ish*ly, adv. — Mod"ish*ness, n.

MODIST Mod"ist, n.

Defn: One who follows the fashion.

MODISTE Mo`diste", n. Etym: [F. See Mode, and cf. Modist.]

Defn: A female maker of, or dealer in, articles of fashion, especially of the fashionable dress of ladies; a woman who gives direction to the style or mode of dress.

MODIUS Mo"di*us, n.; pl. Modii. Etym: [L.] (Rom. Antiq.)

Defn: A dry measure, containing about a peck.

MODOCS Mo"docs, n. pl.; sing. Modoc (. (Ethnol.)

Defn: A tribe of warlike Indians formerly inhabiting Northern California. They are nearly extinct.

MODULAR Mod"u*lar, a.

Defn: Of or pertaining to mode, modulation, module, or modius; as, modular arrangement; modular accent; modular measure.

MODULATE Mod"u*late, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Modulated; p. pr. & vb. n. Modulating.] Etym: [L. modulatus, p.p. of modulari to measure, to modulate, fr. modulus a small measure, meter, melody, dim. of modus. See Mode.]

1. To form, as sound, to a certain key, or to a certain portion.

2. To vary or inflect in a natural, customary, or musical manner; as, the organs of speech modulate the voice in reading or speaking. Could any person so modulate her voice as to deceive so many Broome.

MODULATE Mod"u*late, v. i. (Mus.)

Defn: To pass from one key into another.

MODULATION Mod`u*la"tion, n. Etym: [L. modulatio: cf. F. modulation.]

1. The act of modulating, or the state of being modulated; as, the modulation of the voice.

2. Sound modulated; melody. [R.] Thomson.

3. (Mus.)

Defn: A change of key, whether transient, or until the music becomes established in the new key; a shifting of the tonality of a piece, so that the harmonies all center upon a new keynote or tonic; the art of transition out of the original key into one nearly related, and so on, it may be, by successive changes, into a key quite remote. There are also sudden and unprepared modulations.

MODULATOR Mod"u*la`tor, n. Etym: [L.]

Defn: One who, or that which, modulates. Denham.

MODULE Mod"ule, n. Etym: [F., fr. L. modulus a small measure, dim. of modus. See Mode, and cf. Model, Modulus, Mold a matrix.]

1. A model or measure.

2. (Arch.)

Defn: The size of some one part, as the diameter of semi-diameter of the base of a shaft, taken as a unit of measure by which the proportions of the other parts of the composition are regulated. Generally, for columns, the semi-diameter is taken, and divided into a certain number of parts, called minutes (see Minute), though often the diameter is taken, and any dimension is said to be so many modules and minutes in height, breadth, or projection.

MODULE Mod"ule, v. t. Etym: [See module, n., Modulate.]

Defn: To model; also, to modulate. [Obs.] Sandys. Drayton.

MODULUS Mod"u*lus, n.; pl. Moduli. Etym: [L., a small measure. See Module, n.] (Math., Mech., & Physics)

Defn: A quantity or coefficient, or constant, which expresses the measure of some specified force, property, or quality, as of elasticity, strength, efficiency, etc.; a parameter. Modulus of a machine, a formula expressing the work which a given machine can perform under the conditions involved in its construction; the relation between the work done upon a machine by the moving power, and that yielded at the working points, either constantly, if its motion be uniform, or in the interval of time which it occupies in passing from any given velocity to the same velocity again, if its motion be variable; — called also the efficiency of the machine. Mosley. Rankine. — Modulus of a system of logarithms (Math.), a number by which all the Napierian logarithms must be multiplied to obtain the logarithms in another system. — Modulus of elasticity. (a) The measure of the elastic force of any substance, expressed by the ratio of a stress on a given unit of the substance to the accompanying distortion, or strain. (b) An expression of the force (usually in terms of the height in feet or weight in pounds of a column of the same body) which would be necessary to elongate a prismatic body of a transverse section equal to a given unit, as a square inch or foot, to double, or to compress it to half, its original length, were that degree of elongation or compression possible, or within the limits of elasticity; — called also Young's modulus. — Modulus of rupture, the measure of the force necessary to break a given substance across, as a beam, expressed by eighteen times the load which is required to break a bar of one inch square, supported flatwise at two points one foot apart, and loaded in the middle between the points of support. Rankine.

MODUS Mo"dus, n.; pl. Modi. Etym: [L. See Mode.] (Old Law)

1. The arrangement of, or mode of expressing, the terms of a contract or conveyance.

2. (Law)

Defn: A qualification involving the idea of variation or departure from some general rule or form, in the way of either restriction or enlargement, according to the circumstances of the case, as in the will of a donor, an agreement between parties, and the like. Bracton.

3. (Law)

Defn: A fixed compensation or equivalent given instead of payment of tithes in kind, expressed in full by the phrase modus decimandi. Blackstone. They, from time immemorial, had paid a modus, or composition. Landor. Modus operandi ( Etym: [L.], manner of operating.

MODUS VIVENDI Mo"dus vi*ven"di. [L.]

Defn: Mode, or manner, of living; hence, a temporary arrangement of affairs until disputed matters can be settled.

MODY Mod"y, a. Etym: [From Mode.]

Defn: Fashionable. [R.]

MOE Moe, n.

Defn: A wry face or mouth; a mow. [Obs.]

MOE Moe, v. i.

Defn: To make faces; to mow. [Obs.]

MOE Moe, a., adv., & n. Etym: [AS. ma See More.]

Defn: More. See Mo. [Obs.] "Sing no more ditties, sing no moe." Shak.

MOEBLES Moe"bles, n. pl. Etym: [OE., fr. OF. moeble, mueble, movable, from L. mobilis.]

Defn: Movables; furniture; — also used in the singular (moeble). [Obs.] Chaucer.

MOELLINE Mo"el*line, n. Etym: [F. moelle, fr. L. medulla marrow.]

Defn: An unguent for the hair.

MOELLON Mo"el*lon, n. Etym: [F.]

Defn: Rubble masonry.

MOESOGOTHIC Moe`so*goth"ic, a.

Defn: Belonging to the Moesogoths, a branch of the Goths who settled in Moesia.

MOESOGOTHIC Moe`so*goth"ic, n.

Defn: The language of the Moesogoths; — also called Gothic.

MOEVE Moeve, v. t. & i.

Defn: To move. [Obs.] Chaucer.

MOFF Moff, n.

Defn: A thin silk stuff made in Caucasia.

MOG Mog, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Mogged; p. pr. & vb. n. Mogging.] [Etym. unknown.]

Defn: To move away; to go off. [Prov. Eng. or Local, U. S.]

MOGGAN Mog"gan, n.

Defn: A closely fitting knit sleeve; also, a legging of knitted material. [Scot.]

MOGUL Mo*gul", n. Etym: [From the Mongolian.]

1. A person of the Mongolian race.

2. (Railroad)

Defn: A heavy locomotive for freight traffic, having three pairs of connected driving wheels and a two-wheeled truck. Great, or Grand, Mogul, the sovereign of the empire founded in Hindostan by the Mongols under Baber in the sixteenth century. Hence, a very important personage; a lord; — sometimes only mogul. Dryden.

MOHA Mo"ha, n. (Bot.)

Defn: A kind of millet (Setaria Italica); German millet.

MOHAIR Mo"hair`, n. Etym: [F. moire, perh. from Ar. mukhayyar a kind of coarse camelot or haircloth; but prob. fr. L. marmoreus of marble, resembling marble. Cf. Moire, Marble.]

Defn: The long silky hair or wool of the Angora goat of Asia Minor; also, a fabric made from this material, or an imitation of such fabric.

MOHAMMEDAN Mo*ham"med*an, a. Etym: [From Mohammed, fr. Ar. muhámmad praiseworthy, highly praised.]

Defn: Of or pertaining to Mohammed, or the religion and institutions founded by Mohammed. [Written also Mahometan, Mahomedan, Muhammadan, etc.]

MOHAMMEDAN Mo*ham"med*an, n.

Defn: A follower of Mohammed, the founder of Islamism; one who professes Mohammedanism or Islamism.

MOHAMMEDAN CALENDAR Mo*ham"med*an cal"en*dar.

Defn: A lunar calendar reckoning from the year of the hegira, 622 a. d. Thirty of its years constitute a cycle, of which the 2d, 5th, 7th, 10th, 13th, 16th, 18th, 21st, 24th, 26th, and 29th are leap years, having 355 days; the others are common, having 354 days. By the following tables any Mohammedan date may be changed into the Christian date, or vice versa, for the years 1900-1935 a. d.

Months of the Mohammedan year.

1 Muharram . . . .. 30 2 Safar . . . . . . .. 29 3 Rabia I . . . . . . 30 4 Rabia II . . . .. 29 5 Jumada I . . . .. 30 6 Jumada II . . . . 29 7 Rajab . . . . . . .. 30 8 Shaban . . . . . . . 29 9 Ramadan . . . . . . 30 10 Shawwal . . . . . . 29 11 Zu'lkadah . . . . 30 12 Zu'lhijjah . . . 29* * in leap year, 30 days

a. h. a. d. a. h. a. d.

1317 begins May 12, 1899 1336* begins Oct.17, 1917 1318 May 1, 1900 1337 Oct. 7, 1918 1319* Apr.20, 1901 1338* Sept.26,1919 1320 Apr.10, 1902 1339 Sept.15,1920 1321+ Mar.30, 1903 1340 Sept.4, 1921 1322* Mar.18, 1904 1341* Aug.24, 1922 1323 Mar. 8, 1905 1342 Aug.14, 1923 1324 Feb.25, 1906 1343 Aug. 2, 1924 1325* Feb.14, 1907 1344* July 22,1925 1326 Feb. 4, 1908 1345 July 12,1926 1327* Jan.23, 1909 1346* July 1, 1927 1328 Jan.13, 1910 1347 June 20,1928 1329 Jan. 2, 1911 1348 June 9, 1929 1330* Dec.22, 1911 1349* May 29, 1930 1331 Dec.11, 1912 1350 May 19, 1931 1332 Nov.30, 1913 1351++ May 7, 1932 1333* Nov.19, 1914 1352* Apr.26, 1933 1334 Nov. 9, 1915 1353 Apr.16, 1934 1335 Oct.28, 1916 1354 Apr. 5, 1935 * Leap year + First year of the 45th cycle ++ First year of the 46th cycle

The following general rule for finding the date of commencement of any Mohammedan year has a maximum error of a day: Multiply 970,224 by the Mohammedan year, point off six decimal places, and add 621.5774. The whole number will be the year a. d., and the decimal multiplied by 365 will give the day of the year.

MOHAMMEDAN ERA Mohammedan Era.

Defn: The era in use in Mohammedan countries. See Mohammedan year, below.

MOHAMMEDANISM; MOHAMMEDISM Mo*ham"med*an*ism, Mo*ham"med*ism, n.

Defn: The religion, or doctrines and precepts, of Mohammed, contained in the Koran; Islamism.

MOHAMMEDANIZE; MOHAMMEDIZE Mo*ham"med*an*ize, Mo*ham"med*ize, v. t.

Defn: To make conformable to the principles, or customs and rites, of Mohammedanism. [Written also Mahometanize.]

MOHAMMEDAN YEAR Mohammedan year.

Defn: The year used by Mohammedans, consisting of twelve lunar months without intercalation, so that they retrograde through all the seasons in about 32½ years. The Mohammedan era begins with the year 622 a.d., the first day of the Mohammedan year 1332 begin Nov. 30, 1913, acording to the Gregorian calendar.

MOHAWK Mo"hawk, n.

1. (Ethnol.)

Defn: One of a tribe of Indians who formed part of the Five Nations. They formerly inhabited the valley of the Mohawk River.

2. One of certain ruffians who infested the streets of London in the time of Addison, and took the name from the Mohawk Indians. [Slang] Spectator. Macaulay.

MOHICANS Mo*hi"cans, n. pl.; sing. Mohican (. (Ethnol.)

Defn: A tribe of Lenni-Lenape Indians who formerly inhabited Western Connecticut and Eastern New York. [Written also Mohegans.]

MOHO Mo"ho, n. Etym: [Native name.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: A gallinule (Notornis Mantelli) formerly inhabiting New Zealand, but now supposed to be extinct. It was incapable of flight. See Notornis.

MOHOCK Mo"hock, n.

Defn: See Mohawk.

MOHOLI Mo*ho"li, n. (Zoöl.)

Defn: See Maholi.

MOHR Mohr, n. (Zoöl.)

Defn: A West African gazelle (Gazella mohr), having horns on which are eleven or twelve very prominent rings. It is one of the species which produce bezoar. [Written also mhorr.]

MOHUR Mo"hur, n. Etym: [Hind., fr. Per. muhur, muhr, a gold coin, a seal, seal ring.]

Defn: A British Indian gold coin, of the value of fifteen silver rupees, or $7.21. Malcom.

MOHURRUM; MUHARRAM Mo*hur"rum, Mu*har"ram, n. Etym: [Ar. muharram, prop., sacred, forbidden, n., the first month of the Mohammedan lunar year.]

1. The first month of the Mohammedan year. Whitworth.

2. A festival of the Shiah sect of the Mohammedans held during the first ten days of the month Mohurrum.

MOIDER Moi"der, v. i.

Defn: To toil. [Prov. Eng. & Scot.]

MOIDORE Moi"dore, n. Etym: [Pg. moeda d'ouro, lit., coin of gold. Cf. Money, and Aureate.]

Defn: A gold coin of Portugal, valued at about 27s. sterling.

MOIETY Moi"e*ty, n.; pl. Moieties. Etym: [F. moitié, L. medietas, fr. medius middle, half. See Mid, a., and cf. Mediate, Mediety.]

1. One of two equal parts; a half; as, a moiety of an estate, of goods, or of profits; the moiety of a jury, or of a nation. Shak. The more beautiful moiety of his majesty's subject. Addison.

2. An indefinite part; a small part. Shak.

MOIL Moil, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Moiled; p. pr. & vb. n. Moiling.] Etym: [OE. moillen to wet, OF. moillier, muillier, F. mouller, fr. (assumed) LL. molliare, fr. L. mollis soft. See Mollify.]

Defn: To daub; to make dirty; to soil; to defile. Thou … doest thy mind in dirty pleasures moil. Spenser.

MOIL Moil, v. i. Etym: [From Moil to daub; prob. from the idea of struggling through the wet.]

Defn: To soil one's self with severe labor; to work with painful effort; to labor; to toil; to drudge. Moil not too much under ground. Bacon. Now he must moil and drudge for one he loathes. Dryden.

MOIL Moil, n.

Defn: A spot; a defilement. The moil of death upon them. Mrs. Browning.

MOILE Moile, n. Etym: [F. mule a slipper.]

Defn: A kind of high shoe anciently worn. [Written also moyle.]

MOINEAU Moi"neau, n. Etym: [F.] (Fort.)

Defn: A small flat bastion, raised in the middle of an overlong curtain.

MOIRA Moi"ra, n. Etym: [NL., fr. Gr. (Greek Myth.)

Defn: The deity who assigns to every man his lot.

MOIRE Moire, n. Etym: [F. Cf. Mohair.]

1. Originally, a fine textile fabric made of the hair of an Asiatic goat; afterwards, any textile fabric to which a watered appearance is given in the process of calendering.

2. A watered, clouded, or frosted appearance produced upon either textile fabrics or metallic surfaces. Moire antique, a superior kind of thick moire.

MOIRE METALLIQUE Moi`ré" mé`tal`lique". Etym: [F.]

Defn: A crystalline or frosted appearance produced by some acids on tin plate; also, the tin plate thus treated.

MOIST Moist, a. Etym: [OE. moiste, OF. moiste, F. moite, fr. L. muccidus, for mucidus, moldy, musty. Cf. Mucus, Mucid.]

1. Moderately wet; damp; humid; not dry; as, a moist atmosphere or air. "Moist eyes." Shak.

2. Fresh, or new. [Obs.] "Shoes full moist and new." "A draught of moist and corny ale." Chaucer.

MOIST Moist, v. t.

Defn: To moisten. [Obs.] Shak.

MOISTEN Mois"ten, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Moistened; p. pr. & vb. n. Moistening.]

1. To make damp; to wet in a small degree. A pipe a little moistened on the inside. Bacon.

2. To soften by making moist; to make tender. It moistened not his executioner's heart with any pity. Fuller.

MOISTENER Mois"ten*er, n.

Defn: One who, or that which, moistens. Johnson.

MOISTFUL Moist"ful, a.

Defn: Full of moisture. [R.]

MOISTLESS Moist"less, a.

Defn: Without moisture; dry. [R.]

MOISTNESS Moist"ness, n.

Defn: The quality or state of being moist.

MOISTURE Mois"ture, n. Etym: [Cf. OF. moistour, F. moiteur.]

1. A moderate degree of wetness. Bacon.

2. That which moistens or makes damp or wet; exuding fluid; liquid in small quantity. All my body's moisture Scarce serves to quench my furnace-burning heat. Shak.

MOISTURELESS Mois"ture*less, a.

Defn: Without moisture.

MOISTY Moist"y, a.

Defn: Moist. [Obs.]

MOITHER Moi"ther, v. t. Etym: [Etymol. uncertain.]

Defn: To perplex; to confuse. [Prov. Eng.] Lamb.

MOITHER Moi"ther, v. i.

Defn: To toil; to labor. [Prov. Eng.]

MOJARRA Mo*jar"ra, n. [Sp.]

Defn: Any of certain basslike marine fishes (mostly of tropical seas, and having a deep, compressed body, protracile mouth, and large silvery scales) constituting the family Gerridæ, as Gerres plumieri, found from Florida to Brazil and used as food. Also, any of numerous other fishes of similar appearance but belonging to other families.

MOKADOUR Mok"a*dour, n. Etym: [Sp. mocador handkerchief.]

Defn: A handkerchief. [Obs.]

MOKE Moke, n.

Defn: A donkey. [Cant] Thackeray.

MOKE Moke, n.

Defn: A mesh of a net, or of anything resembling a net. Halliwell.

MOKY Mo"ky, a. Etym: [Cf. Icel. mökkvi cloud, mist, mökkr a dense cloud, W. mwg smoke, and E. muggy, muck.]

Defn: Misty; dark; murky; muggy. [Obs.]

MOLA Mo"la, n. (Zoöl.)

Defn: See Sunfish, 1.

MOLAR Mo"lar, a. Etym: [L. moles mass.] (Mech.)

Defn: Of or pertaining to a mass of matter; — said of the properties or motions of masses, as distinguished from those of molecules or atoms. Carpenter.

MOLAR Mo"lar, a. Etym: [L. molaris, fr. mola mill, fr. molere to grind in a mill. See Mill the machine.]

Defn: Having power to grind; grinding; as, the molar teeth; also, of or pertaining to the molar teeth. Bacon.

MOLAR Mo"lar, n. (Anat.)

Defn: Any one of the teeth back of the incisors and canines. The molar which replace the deciduous or milk teeth are designated as premolars, and those which are not preceded by deciduous teeth are sometimes called true molars. See Tooth.

MOLARY Mo"la*ry, a.

Defn: Same as 2d Molar.

MOLASSE Mo*lasse", n. Etym: [F. molasse, prob. fr. mollasse flabby, flimsy, fr. L. mollis soft.] (Geol.)

Defn: A soft Tertiary sandstone; — applied to a rock occurring in Switzerland. See Chart of Geology.

MOLASSES Mo*las"ses, n. Etym: [F. mélasse, cf. Sp. melaza, Pg. melaço, fr. L. mellaceus honeylike, honey-sweet, mel, mellis, honey. See Mellifluous, and cf. Melasses.]

Defn: The thick, brown or dark colored, viscid, uncrystallizable sirup which drains from sugar, in the process of manufacture; any thick, viscid, sweet sirup made from vegetable juice or sap, as of the sorghum or maple. See Treacle.

MOLD Mold, n. Etym: [See Mo a spot.]

Defn: A spot; a blemish; a mole. [Obs.] Spenser.

MOLD; MOULD Mold, Mould, n. Etym: [OE. molde, AS. molde; akin to D. mul, G. mull, mulm, OHG. molt, molta, Icel. mold, Dan. muld, Sw. mull, Goth. mulda, and E. meal flour. See Meal, and cf. Mole an animal, Mull, v.] [The prevalent spelling is, perhaps, mould; but as the u has not been inserted in the other words of this class, as bold, gold, old, cold, etc., it seems desirable to complete the analogy by dropping it from this word, thus spelling it as Spenser, South, and many others did. The omission of the u is now very common in America.]

1. Crumbling, soft, friable earth; esp., earth containing the remains or constituents of organic matter, and suited to the growth of plants; soil.

2. Earthy material; the matter of which anything is formed; composing substance; material. The etherial mold, Incapable of stain. Milton. Nature formed me of her softest mold. Addison.

MOLD; MOULD Mold, Mould, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Molded or Moulded; p. pr. & vb. n. Molding or Moulding.]

Defn: To cover with mold or soil. [R.]

MOLD; MOULD Mold, Mould, n. Etym: [From the p.p. of OE. moulen to become moldy, to rot, prob. fr. Icel. mygla to grow musty, mugga mugginess; cf. Sw. mögla to grow moldy. See Muggy, and cf. Moldy.] (Bot.)

Defn: A growth of minute fungi of various kinds, esp. those of the great groups Hyphomycetes, and Physomycetes, forming on damp or decaying organic matter.

Note: The common blue mold of cheese, the brick-red cheese mold, and the scarlet or orange strata which grow on tubers or roots stored up for use, when commencing to decay, are familiar examples. M. J. Berkley.

MOLD; MOULD Mold, Mould, v. t.

Defn: To cause to become moldy; to cause mold to grow upon.

MOLD; MOULD Mold, Mould, v. i.

Defn: To become moldy; to be covered or filled, in whole or in part, with a mold.

MOLD; MOULD Mold, Mould, n. Etym: [OE. molde, OF. mole, F. moule, fr. L. modulus. See Model.] [For spelling, see 2d Mold, above.]

1. The matrix, or cavity, in which anything is shaped, and from which it takes its form; also, the body or mass containing the cavity; as, a sand mold; a jelly mold. Milton.

2. That on which, or in accordance with which, anything is modeled or formed; anything which serves to regulate the size, form, etc., as the pattern or templet used by a shipbuilder, carpenter, or mason. The glass of fashion and the mold of form. Shak.

3. Cast; form; shape; character. Crowned with an architrave of antique mold. Pope.

4. (Arch.)

Defn: A group of moldings; as, the arch mold of a porch or doorway; the pier mold of a Gothic pier, meaning the whole profile, section, or combination of parts.

5. (Anat.)

Defn: A fontanel.

6. (Paper Making)

Defn: A frame with a wire cloth bottom, on which the pump is drained to form a sheet, in making paper by hand.

MOLD; MOULD Mold, Mould, v. t. Etym: [Cf. F. mouler, OF. moler, moller. See Mold the matrix.]

1. To form into a particular shape; to shape; to model; to fashion. He forgeth and moldeth metals. Sir M. Hale. Did I request thee, Maker, from my clay To mold me man Milton.

2. To ornament by molding or carving the material of; as, a molded window jamb.

3. To knead; as, to mold dough or bread.

4. (Founding)

Defn: To form a mold of, as in sand, in which a casting may be made.

MOLDABLE; MOULDABLE Mold"a*ble, Mould"a*ble, a.

Defn: Capable of being molded or formed.

MOLDBOARD; MOULDBOARD Mold"board`, Mould"board`, n.

1. A curved plate of iron (originally of wood) back of the share of a plow, which turns over the earth in plowing.

2. (Founding)

Defn: A follow board.

MOLDER; MOULDER Mold"er, Mould"er, n.

Defn: One who, or that which, molds or forms into shape; specifically (Founding), one skilled in the art of making molds for castings.

MOLDER; MOULDER Mold"er, Mould"er, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Moldered or Mouldered; p. pr. & vb. n. Moldering or Mouldering.] Etym: [From Mold fine soft earth: cf. Prov. G. multern.]

Defn: To crumble into small particles; to turn to dust by natural decay; to lose form, or waste away, by a gradual separation of the component particles, without the presence of water; to crumble away. The moldering of earth in frosts and sun. Bacon. When statues molder, and when arches fall. Prior. If he had sat still, the enemy's army would have moldered to nothing. Clarendon.

MOLDER; MOULDER Mold"er, Mould"er, v. t.

Defn: To turn to dust; to cause to crumble; to cause to waste away. [Time's] gradual touch Has moldered into beauty many a tower. Mason.

MOLDERY; MOULDERY Mold"er*y, Mould"er*y, a.

Defn: Covered or filled with mold; consisting of, or resembling, mold.

MOLDINESS; MOULDINESS Mold"i*ness, Mould"i*ness, n. Etym: [From Moldy.]

Defn: The state of being moldy.

MOLDING; MOULDING Mold"ing, Mould"ing, n.

1. The act or process of shaping in or on a mold, or of making molds; the art or occupation of a molder.

2. Anything cast in a mold, or which appears to be so, as grooved or ornamental bars of wood or metal.

3. (Arch.)

Defn: A plane, or curved, narrow surface, either sunk or projecting, used for decoration by means of the lights and shades upon its surface. Moldings vary greatly in pattern, and are generally used in groups, the different members of each group projecting or retreating, one beyond another. See Cable, n., 3, and Crenelated molding, under Crenelate, v. t.

MOLDING; MOULDING Mold"ing, Mould"ing, p.a.

Defn: Used in making a mold or moldings; used in shaping anything according to a pattern. Molding, or Moulding, board. (a) See Follow board, under Follow, v. t. (b) A board on which bread or pastry is kneaded and shaped. — Molding, or Moulding, machine. (a) (Woodworking) A planing machine for making moldings. (b) (Founding) A machine to assist in making molds for castings. — Molding, or Moulding, mill, a mill for shaping timber. — Molding, or Moulding, sand (Founding), a kind of sand containing clay, used in making molds.

MOLDWARP; MOULDWARP Mold"warp, Mould"warp, n. Etym: [OE. moldwerp: AS. molde soil + weorpan to throw up; cf. OD. molworp, G. maulwurf, Icel. moldvarpa, Dan. muldvarp. See Mold soil, Warp, and cf. Mole the animal.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: See Mole the animal. Spenser.

MOLDY; MOULDY Mold"y, Mould"y, a. [Compar. Moldier or Mouldier; superl. Moldiest or Mouldiest.] Etym: [From Mold the growth of fungi.]

Defn: Overgrown with, or containing, mold; as, moldy cheese or bread.

MOLE Mole, n. Etym: [AS. mal; akin to OHG. meil, Goth. mail Cf. Mail a spot.]

1. A spot; a stain; a mark which discolors or disfigures. [Obs.] Piers Plowman.

2. A spot, mark, or small permanent protuberance on the human body; esp., a spot which is dark-colored, from which commonly issue one or more hairs.

MOLE Mole, n. Etym: [L. mola.]

Defn: A mass of fleshy or other more or less solid matter generated in the uterus.

MOLE Mole, n. Etym: [F. môle, L. moles. Cf. Demolish, Emolument, Molest.]

Defn: A mound or massive work formed of masonry or large stones, etc., laid in the sea, often extended either in a right line or an arc of a circle before a port which it serves to defend from the violence of the waves, thus protecting ships in a harbor; also, sometimes, the harbor itself. Brande & C.

MOLE Mole, n. Etym: [OE. molle, either shortened fr. moldwerp, or from the root of E. mold soil: cf. D. mol, OD. molworp. See Moldwarp.]

1. (Zoöl.)

Defn: Any insectivore of the family Talpidæ. They have minute eyes and ears, soft fur, and very large and strong fore feet.

Note: The common European mole, or moldwarp (Talpa Europæa), is noted for its extensive burrows. The common American mole, or shrew mole (Scalops aquaticus), and star-nosed mole (Condylura cristata) have similar habits.

Note: In the Scriptures, the name is applied to two unindentified animals, perhaps the chameleon and mole rat.

2. A plow of peculiar construction, for forming underground drains. [U.S.] Duck mole. See under Duck. — Golden mole. See Chrysochlore. — Mole cricket (Zoöl.), an orthopterous insect of the genus Gryllotalpa, which excavates subterranean galleries, and throws up mounds of earth resembling those of the mole. It is said to do damage by injuring the roots of plants. The common European species (Gryllotalpa vulgaris), and the American (G. borealis), are the best known. — Mole rat (Zoöl.), any one of several species of Old World rodents of the genera Spalax, Georychus, and several allied genera. They are molelike in appearance and habits, and their eyes are small or rudimentary. — Mole shrew (Zoöl.), any one of several species of short-tailed American shrews of the genus Blarina, esp. B. brevicauda. — Water mole, the duck mole.

MOLE Mole, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Moled; p. pr. & vb. n. Moling.]

1. To form holes in, as a mole; to burrow; to excavate; as, to mole the earth.

2. To clear of molehills. [Prov. Eng.] Pegge.

MOLEBUT Mole"but, n. (Zoöl.)

Defn: The sunfish (Orthagoriscus, or Mola). [Written also molebat.]

MOLECAST Mole"cast`, n.

Defn: A little elevation of earth made by a mole; a molehill. Mortimer.

MOLECH Mo"lech, n. Etym: [Heb. molek king.] (Script.)

Defn: The fire god of the Ammonites, to whom human sacrifices were offered; Moloch. Lev. xviii. 21.

MOLECULAR Mo*lec"u*lar, a. Etym: [Cf. F. moléculare. See Molecule.] (Phys. & Chem.)

Defn: Pertaining to, connected with, produced by, or consisting of, molecules; as, molecular forces; molecular groups of atoms, etc. Molecular attraction (Phys.), attraction acting between the molecules of bodies, and at insensible distances. — Molecular weight (Chem.), the weight of a molecule of any gas or vapor as compared with the hydrogen atom as a standard; the sum of the atomic weights of the constituents of a molecule; thus, the molecular weight of water (H2O) is 18.

MOLECULARITY Mo*lec`u*lar"i*ty, n. (Phys. & Chem.)

Defn: The state of consisting of molecules; the state or quality of being molecular.

MOLECULARLY Mo*lec"u*lar*ly, adv. (Phys. & Chem.)

Defn: With molecules; in the manner of molecules. W. R. Grove.

MOLECULE Mol"e*cule, n. Etym: [Dim. fr. L. moles a mass: cf. F. molécule. See 3d Mole.]

1. One of the very small invisible particles of which all matter is supposed to consist.

2. (Physics)

Defn: The smallest part of any substance which possesses the characteristic properties and qualities of that substance, and which can exist alone in a free state.

3. (Chem.)

Defn: A group of atoms so united and combined by chemical affinity that they form a complete, integrated whole, being the smallest portion of any particular compound that can exist in a free state; as, a molecule of water consists of two atoms of hydrogen and one of oxygen. Cf. Atom.

MOLE-EYED Mole"-eyed`, a.

Defn: Having eyes like those of the mole; having imperfect sight.

MOLEHILL Mole"hill`, n.

Defn: A little hillock of earth thrown up by moles working under ground; hence, a very small hill, or an insignificant obstacle or difficulty. Having leapt over such mountains, lie down before a molehill. South.

MOLENDINACEOUS; MOLENDINARIOUS Mo*len`di*na"ceous, Mo*len`di*na"ri*ous, a. Etym: [L. molendinarius, fr. molendinum a mill, fr. molere to grind.] (Bot.)

Defn: Resembling the sails of a windmill.

MOLESKIN Mole"skin`, n.

Defn: Any fabric having a thick soft shag, like the fur of a mole; esp., a kind of strong twilled fustian.

MOLEST Mo*lest", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Molested; p. pr. & vb. n. Molesting.] Etym: [F. molester, L. molestare, fr. molestus troublesome, fr. moles a heavy mass, load, burden. See 3d Mole.]

Defn: To trouble; to disturb; to render uneasy; to interfere with; to vex. They have molested the church with needless opposition. Hooker.

Syn. — To trouble; disturb; incommode; inconvenience; annoy; vex; tease.

MOLEST Mo*lest", n.

Defn: Molestation. [Obs.] Chaucer.

MOLESTATION Mol`es*ta"tion, n. Etym: [Cf. F. molestation.]

Defn: The act of molesting, or the state of being molested; disturbance; annoyance.

MOLESTER Mo*lest"er, n.

Defn: One who molests.

MOLESTFUL Mo*lest"ful, a.

Defn: Troublesome; vexatious. [R.]

MOLESTIE; MOLESTY Mo*les"tie, Mo*les"ty, n. Etym: [L. molestia.]

Defn: Molestation. [Obs.] Chaucer.

MOLEWARP Mole"warp`, n. (Zoöl.)

Defn: See Moldwarp.

MOLIMINOUS Mo*lim"i*nous, a. Etym: [L. molimen a great exertion; moles a heavy mass.]

Defn: Of great bulk or consequence; very important. [Obs.] Dr. H. More.

MOLINE Mo"line, n. Etym: [L. molina mill, fr. molere to grind. See Mill.]

Defn: The crossed iron that supports the upper millstone by resting on the spindle; a millrind. Cross moline (Her.), a cross each arm of which is divided at the end into two rounded branches or divisions.

MOLINISM Mo"lin*ism, n. (Eccl. Hist.)

Defn: The doctrines of the Molinists, somewhat resembling the tenets of the Arminians.

MOLINIST Mo"lin*ist, n. (Eccl. Hist.)

Defn: A follower of the opinions of Molina, a Spanish Jesuit (in respect to grace); an opposer of the Jansenists.

MOLL Moll, a. Etym: [G., fr. L. mollis soft, tender, elegiac. Cf. Molle.] (Mus.)

Defn: Minor; in the minor mode; as, A moll, that is, A minor.

MOLLAH Mol"lah, n. Etym: [Ar. maula, commonly mollain Turkey.]

Defn: One of the higher order of Turkish judges; also, a Turkish title of respect for a religious and learned man. [Written also moolah.]

MOLLE Mol"le, a. Etym: [See Moll.] (Mus.)

Defn: Lower by a semitone; flat; as, E molle, that is, E flat.

MOLLEBART Mol"le*bart, n.

Defn: An agricultural implement used in Flanders, consisting of a kind of large shovel drawn by a horse and guided by a man. [Written also mollebært and mouldebært.] Simmonds.

MOLLEMOKE Mol"le*moke`, n. Etym: [Sw. mallemucke the stormy petrel.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: Any one of several species of large pelagic petrels and fulmars, as Fulmarus glacialis, of the North Atlantic, and several species of Æstrelata, of the Southern Ocean. See Fulmar. [Written also mollymawk, malmock, mollemock, mallemocke, etc.]

MOLLIENT Mol"lient, a. Etym: [L. molliens, p.p. of mollire to soften, fr. mollis soft.]

Defn: Serving to soften; assuaging; emollient.

MOLLIENTLY Mol"lient*ly, adv.

Defn: Assuagingly.

MOLLIFIABLE Mol"li*fi`a*ble, a.

Defn: Capable of being mollified.

MOLLIFICATION Mol`li*fi*ca"tion, n. Etym: [LL. mollificatio; cf. F. mollification.]

Defn: The act of mollifying, or the state of being mollified; a softening. Chaucer.

MOLLIFIER Mol"li*fi`er, n.

Defn: One who, or that which, mollifies. Bacon.

MOLLIFY Mol"li*fy, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Mollified; p. pr. & vb. n. Mollifying.] Etym: [F. mollifier, L. mollificare; mollis soft + - ficare (in comp.) to make. See Enmollient, Moil, v. t., and -fy.]

1. To soften; to make tender; to reduce the hardness, harshness, or asperity of; to qualify; as, to mollify the ground. With sweet science mollified their stubborn hearts. Spenser.

2. To assuage, as pain or irritation, to appease, as excited feeling or passion; to pacify; to calm.

MOLLINET Mol"li*net, n. Etym: [Cf. Moline.]

Defn: A little mill.

MOLLIPILOSE Mol`li*pi*lose", a. Etym: [L. mollis soft + pilosus hairy.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: Having soft hairs; downy.

MOLLITIES Mol*li"ti*es, n. Etym: [L., softness.] (Med.)

Defn: Unnatural softness of any organ or part. Dunglison.

MOLLITUDE Mol"li*tude, n. Etym: [L. mollitudo, fr. mollis soft.]

Defn: Softness; effeminacy; weakness. [R.]

MOLLUSC Mol"lusc, n. (Zoöl.)

Defn: Same as Mollusk.

MOLLUSCA Mol*lus"ca, n. pl. Etym: [NL. See Mollusk.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: One of the grand divisions of the animal kingdom, including the classes Cephalopoda, Gastropoda, PteropodaScaphopoda, and Lamellibranchiata, or Conchifera. These animals have an unsegmented bilateral body, with most of the organs and parts paired, but not repeated longitudinally. Most of them develop a mantle, which incloses either a branchial or a pulmonary cavity. They are generally more or less covered and protected by a calcareous shell, which may be univalve, bivalve, or multivalve.

Note: Formerly the Brachiopoda, Bryzoa, and Tunicata were united with the Lamellibranchiata in an artificial group called Acephala, which was also included under Mollusca. See Molluscoudea.

MOLLUSCAN Mol*lus"can, a. (Zoöl.)

Defn: Of or pertaining to mollusks. — n.

Defn: A mollusk; one of the Mollusca.

MOLLUSCOID Mol*lus"coid, a. Etym: [Mollusca + -oid.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: Resembling the true mollusks; belonging to the Molluscoidea. — n.

Defn: One of the Molluscoidea.

MOLLUSCOIDAL Mol`lus*coid"al, a. (Zoöl.)

Defn: Molluscoid.

MOLLUSCOIDEA Mol`lus*coi"de*a, n. pl. Etym: [NL. See Mollusk, and -oid.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: A division of Invertebrata which includes the classes Brachiopoda and Bryozoa; — called also Anthoid Mollusca.

Note: Originally the Tunicata were included under Molluscoidea, from which they are known to differ widely in structure and embryology. Molluscoidea were formerly considered a subdivision of Mollusca, but they are now known to have more relationship with Annelida than with Mollusca.

MOLLUSCOUS Mol*lus"cous, a. (Zoöl.)

Defn: Molluscan.

MOLLUSCUM Mol*lus"cum, n. Etym: [NL. See Mollusk.] (Med.)

Defn: A cutaneous disease characterized by numerous tumors, of various forms, filled with a thick matter; — so called from the resemblance of the tumors to some molluscous animals. Dunglison.

MOLLUSK Mol"lusk, n. Etym: [F. mollusque, L. mollusca a kind of soft nut with a thin shell, fr. molluscus soft, mollis soft. See Mollify.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: One of the Mollusca. [Written also mollusc.]

MOLLY Mol"ly, n. (Zoöl.)

Defn: Same as Mollemoke.

MOLLY Mol"ly, n.

Defn: A pet or colloquial name for Mary. Molly cottontail. (Zoöl.) See Cottontail. — Molly Maguire (ma*gwir"); pl. Molly Maguires (-gwirz). (a) A member of a secret association formed among the tenantry in Ireland about 1843, principally for the purpose of intimidating law officers and preventing the service of legal writs. Its members disguised themselves in the dress of women. (b) A member of a similar association of Irishmen organized in the anthracite coal region of Pennsylvania, about 1854, for the purpose of intimidating employers and officers of the law, and for avenging themselves by murder on persons obnoxious to them. The society was broken up by criminal prosecutions in 1876.

MOLLY-MAWK Mol"ly-mawk`, n. (Zoöl.)

Defn: See Mollemoke.

MOLOCH Mo"loch, n. Etym: [Heb. molek king.]

1. (Script.)

Defn: The fire god of the Ammonites in Canaan, to whom human sacrifices were offered; Molech. Also applied figuratively.

2. (Zoöl.)

Defn: A spiny Australian lizard (Moloch horridus). The horns on the head and numerous spines on the body give it a most formidable appearance.

MOLOKANE; MOLOKANY Mol`o*ka"ne, Mol`o*ka"ny, n. pl. [Russ. molokane.]

Defn: See Raskolnik.

MOLOSSE Mo*losse", n.

Defn: See Molossus.

MOLOSSES Mo*los"ses, n.

Defn: Molasses. [Obs.]

MOLOSSINE Mo*los"sine, n. (Zoöl.)

Defn: A bat of the genus Molossus, as the monk bat.

MOLOSSUS Mo*los"sus, n. Etym: [L., fr. Gr. (Gr. & Lat. Pros.)

Defn: A foot of three long syllables. [Written also molosse.]

MOLT Molt, obs.imp.

Defn: of Melt. Chaucer. Spenser.

MOLT; MOULT Molt, Moult, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Molted or Moulted; p. pr. & vb. n. Molting or Moulting.] Etym: [OE. mouten, L. mutare. See Mew to molt, and cf. Mute, v. t.] [The prevalent spelling is, perhaps, moult; but as the u has not been inserted in the otherwords of this class, as, bolt, colt, dolt, etc., it is desirable to complete the analogy by the spelling molt.]

Defn: To shed or cast the hair, feathers, skin, horns, or the like, as an animal or a bird. Bacon.

MOLT; MOULT Molt, Moult, v. t.

Defn: To cast, as the hair, skin, feathers, or the like; to shed.

MOLT; MOULT Molt, Moult, n.

Defn: The act or process of changing the feathers, hair, skin, etc.; molting.

MOLTABLE Molt"a*ble, a.

Defn: Capable of assuming a molten state; meltable; fusible. [Obs.]

MOLTEN Mol"ten, a. Etym: [See Melt.]

1. Melted; being in a state of fusion, esp. when the liquid state is produced by a high degree of heat; as, molten iron.

2. Made by melting and casting the substance or metal of which the thing is formed; as, a molten image.

MOLTO Mol"to, adv. Etym: [It.] (Mus.)

Defn: Much; very; as, molto adagio, very slow.

MOLY Mo"ly, n. Etym: [L., fr. Gr.

1. A fabulous herb of occult power, having a black root and white blossoms, said by Homer to have been given by Hermes to Ulysses to counteract the spells of Circe. Milton.

2. (Bot.)

Defn: A kind of garlic (Allium Moly) with large yellow flowers; — called also golden garlic.

MOLYBDATE Mo*lyb"date, n. (Chem.)

Defn: A salt of molybdic acid.

MOLYBDENA Mol`yb*de"na, n. Etym: [L. molybdaena galena, Gr. (Min.)

Defn: See Molybdenite.

MOLYBDENITE Mo*lyb"de*nite, n. Etym: [Cf. F. molybdénite. See Molybdena.] (Min.)

Defn: A mineral occurring in soft, lead-gray, foliated masses or scales, resembling graphite; sulphide of molybdenum.

MOLYBDENOUS Mo*lyb"de*nous, a. (Chem.)

Defn: See Molybdous.

MOLYBDENUM Mol`yb*de"num, n. Etym: [NL.: cf. F. molybdène. See Molybdena.] (Chem.)

Defn: A rare element of the chromium group, occurring in nature in the minerals molybdenite and wulfenite, and when reduced obtained as a hard, silver-white, difficulty fusible metal. Symbol Mo. Atomic weight 95.9.

MOLYBDIC Mo*lyb"dic, a. Etym: [Cf. F. molybdique. See molybdena.] (Chem.)

Defn: Of, pertaining to, or containing, molybdenum; specif., designating those compounds in which the element has a higher valence, as contrasted with molybdous compounds; as, molybdic oxide.

MOLYBDITE Mo*lyb"dite, n. (Min.)

Defn: Molybdic ocher.

MOLYBDOUS Mo*lyb"dous, a. Etym: [See Molybdena.]

Defn: Of, pertaining to, or containing, molybdenum; specif., designating those compounds in which molybdenum has a lower valence as contrasted with molybdic compounds.

MOME Mome, n. Etym: [Cf. Mumm, Momus.]

Defn: A dull, silent person; a blockhead. [Obs.] Spenser.

MOMENT Mo"ment, n. Etym: [F. moment, L. momentum, for movimentum movement, motion, moment, fr. movere to move. See Move, and cf. Momentum, Movement.]

1. A minute portion of time; a point of time; an instant; as, at thet very moment. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. 1 Cor. xv. 52.

2. Impulsive power; force; momentum. The moments or quantities of motion in bodies. Berkley. Touch, with lightest moment of impulse, His free will. Milton.

3. Importance, as in influence or effect; consequence; weight or value; consideration. Matters of great moment. Shak. It is an abstruse speculation, but also of far less moment and consequence of us than the others. Bentley.

4. An essential element; a deciding point, fact, or consideration; an essential or influential circumstance.

5. (Math.)

Defn: An infinitesimal change in a varying quantity; an increment or decrement. [Obs.]

6. (Mech.)

Defn: Tendency, or measure of tendency, to produce motion, esp. motion about a fixed point or axis. Moment of a couple (Mech.), the product of either of its forces into the perpendicular distance between them. — Moment of a force. (Mech.) (a) With respect to a point, the product of the intensity of the force into the perpendicular distance from the point to the line of direction of the force. (b) With respect to a line, the product of that component of the force which is perpendicular to the plane passing through the line and the point of application of the force, into the shortest distance between the line and this point. (c) With respect to a plane that is parallel to the force, the product of the force into the perpendicular distance of its point of application from the plane. — Moment of inertia, of a rotating body, the sum of the mass of each particle of matter of the body into the square of its distance from the axis of rotation; — called also moment of rotation and moment of the mass. — Statical moment, the product of a force into its leverage; the same as moment of a force with respect to a point, line, etc. — Virtual moment. See under Virtual.

Syn. — Instant; twinkling; consequence; weight; force; value; consideration; signification; avail.

MOMENTAL Mo*men"tal, a. Etym: [Cf. OF. momental.] [Obs.]

1. Lasting but a moment; brief. Not one momental minute doth she swerve. Breton.

2. Important; momentous.

3. (Mech.)

Defn: Of or pertaining to moment or momentum.

MOMENTALLY Mo*men"tal*ly, adv.

Defn: For a moment. [Obs.]

MOMENTANEOUS; MOMENTANY Mo`men*ta"ne*ous, Mo"men*ta*ny, a. Etym: [L. momentaneus: cf. F. momentané.]

Defn: Momentary. [Obs.] Hooker. "Momentany as a sound." Shak.

MOMENTARILY Mo"men*ta*ri*ly, adv.

Defn: Every moment; from moment to moment. Shenstone.

MOMENTARINESS Mo"men*ta*ri*ness, n.

Defn: The state or quality of being momentary; shortness of duration.

MOMENTARY Mo"men*ta*ry, a. Etym: [L. momentarius. See Moment.]

Defn: Done in a moment; continuing only a moment; lasting a very short time; as, a momentary pang. This momentary joy breeds months of pain. Shak.

MOMENTLY Mo"ment*ly, adv.

1. For a moment.

2. In a moment; every moment; momentarily.

MOMENTOUS Mo*men"tous, a. Etym: [Cf. L. momentosus rapid, momentary.]

Defn: Of moment or consequence; very important; weighty; as, a momentous decision; momentous affairs. — Mo*men"tous*ly, adv. — Mo*men"tous*ness, n.

MOMENTUM Mo*men"tum, n.; pl. L. Momenta, F. Momentums. Etym: [L. See Moment.]

1. (Mech.)

Defn: The quantity of motion in a moving body, being always proportioned to the quantity of matter multiplied into the velocity; impetus.

2. Essential element, or constituent element. I shall state the several momenta of the distinction in separate propositions. Sir W. Hamilton.

MOMIER Mom"i*er, n. Etym: [F. mômier, fr. OF. momer, mommer, to mumm, to mask one's self.]

Defn: A name given in contempt to strict Calvinists in Switzerland, France, and some parts of Germany, in the early part of the 19th century.

MOMMERY Mom"mer*y, n.

Defn: See Mummery. Rowe.

MOMOT Mo"mot, n. Etym: [Momot and motmot, the native American name.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: See Motmot.

MOMUS Mo"mus, n. Etym: [Gr. (Gr. Myth.)

Defn: The god of mockery and censure.

MON- Mon-.

Defn: Same as Mono-.

MONA Mo"na, n. Etym: [CF. Sp. & Pg. mona, fem. of mono a monkey, ape.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: A small, handsome, long-tailed West American monkey (Cercopithecus mona). The body is dark olive, with a spot of white on the haunches.

MONACHAL Mon"a*chal, a. Etym: [L. monachus a monk: cf. F. monacal. See Monk.]

Defn: Of or pertaining to monks or a monastic life; monastic.

MONACHISM Mon"a*chism, n. Etym: [Cf. F. monachisme.]

Defn: The system and influences of a monastic life; monasticism.

MONACID Mon*ac"id, a. Etym: [Mon- + acid.] (Chem.)

Defn: Having one hydrogen atom replaceable by a negative or acid atom or radical; capable of neutralizing a monobasic acid; — said of bases, and of certain metals.

MONAD Mon"ad, n. Etym: [L. monas, -adis, a unit, Gr.

1. An ultimate atom, or simple, unextended point; something ultimate and indivisible.

2. (Philos. of Leibnitz)

Defn: The elementary and indestructible units which were conceived of as endowed with the power to produce all the changes they undergo, and thus determine all physical and spiritual phenomena.

3. (Zoöl.)

Defn: One of the smallest flangellate Infusoria; esp., the species of the genus Monas, and allied genera.

4. (Biol.)

Defn: A simple, minute organism; a primary cell, germ, or plastid.

5. (Chem.)

Defn: An atom or radical whose valence is one, or which can combine with, be replaced by, or exchanged for, one atom of hydrogen. Monad deme (Biol.), in tectology, a unit of the first order of individuality.

MONADARIA Mon`a*da"ri*a, n. pl. Etym: [NL. See Monad.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: The Infusoria.

MONADELPHIA Mon`a*del"phi*a, n. pl. Etym: [NL., from Gr. (Bot.)

Defn: A Linnæan class of plants having the stamens united into a tube, or ring, by the filaments, as in the Mallow family.

MONADELPHIAN; MONADELPHOUS Mon`a*del"phi*an, Mon`a*del"phous, a. Etym: [Cf. F. monadelphie.] (Bot.)