Read Ebook: The Gutenberg Webster's Unabridged Dictionary: Section I J K and L by Project Gutenberg Webster Noah
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Ebook has 12295 lines and 321824 words, and 246 pages
Begin file 5 of 11: I, J, K, and L. of An electronic field-marked version of:
This electronic version was prepared by MICRA, Inc. of Plainfield, NJ. Last edit February 11, 1999.
This version is only a first typing, and has numerous typographic errors, including errors in the field-marks. Assistance in bringing this dictionary to a more accurate and useful state will be greatly appreciated. This electronic dictionary is made available as a potential starting point for development of a modern on-line comprehensive encyclopedic dictionary, by the efforts of all individuals willing to help build a large and freely available knowledge base. Anyone willing to assist in any way in constructing such a knowledge base should contact:
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I . 1. I, the ninth letter of the English alphabet, takes its form from the Phoenician, through the Latin and the Greek. The Phoenician letter was probably of Egyptian origin. Its original value was nearly the same as that of the Italian I, or long e as in mete. Etymologically I is most closely related to e, y, j, g; as in dint, dent, beverage, L. bibere; E. kin, AS. cynn; E. thin, AS. ?ynne; E. dominion, donjon, dungeon. In English I has two principal vowel sounds: the long sound, as in pne, ce; and the short sound, as in pn. It has also three other sounds: That of e in term, as in thirst. That of e in mete , as in machine, pique, regime. That of consonant y , as in bunion, million, filial, Christian, etc. It enters into several digraphs, as in fail, field, seize, feign. friend; and with o often forms a proper diphtong, as in oil, join, coin.
See Guide to Pronunciation, ?? 98-106.
The dot which we place over the small or lower case i dates only from the 14th century. The sounds of I and J were originally represented by the same character, and even after the introduction of the form J into English dictionaries, words containing these letters were, till a comparatively recent time, classed together.
I- , prefix. See Y- .
I , pron. The nominative case of the pronoun of the first person; the word with which a speaker or writer denotes himself.
I"amb , n. An iambus or iambic.
The following couplet consists of iambic verses.
Thy gen- | ius calls | thee not | to pur- | chase fame In keen | iam- | bics, but | mild an- | agram.
Dryden.
It floats at the surface by means of a raft, which it constructs by forming and uniting together air bubbles of hardened mucus. The Tyrian purple of the ancients was obtained in part from mollusks of this genus.
a. Of or pertaining to medicine, or to medical men.
I"bex , n.; pl. E. Ibexes , L. Ibices . One of several species of wild goats having very large, recurved horns, transversely ridged in front; -- called also steinbok.
The Alpine ibex is the best known. The Spanish, or Pyrenean, ibex has smoother and more spreading horns.
I"bis , n. Any bird of the genus Ibis and several allied genera, of the family Ibidae, inhabiting both the Old World and the New. Numerous species are known. They are large, wading birds, having a long, curved beak, and feed largely on reptiles.
The sacred ibis of the ancient Egyptians has the head and neck black, without feathers. The plumage of the body and wings is white, except the tertiaries, which are lengthened and form a dark purple plume. In ancient times this bird was extensively domesticated in Egypt, but it is now seldom seen so far north. The glossy ibis , which is widely distributed both in the Old World and the New, has the head and neck feathered, except between the eyes and bill; the scarlet ibis and the white ibis inhabit the West Indies and South America, and are rarely found in the United States. The wood ibis of America belongs to the Stork family . See Wood ibis.
-ic . 1. A suffix signifying, in general, relating to, or characteristic of; as, historic, hygienic, telegraphic, etc.
Ice , n. 1. Water or other fluid frozen or reduced to the solid state by cold; frozen water. It is a white or transparent colorless substance, crystalline, brittle, and viscoidal. Its specific gravity being less than that of water, ice floats.
Water freezes at 32? F. or 0? Cent., and ice melts at the same temperature. Ice owes its cooling properties to the large amount of heat required to melt it.
Anchor ice, ice which sometimes forms about stones and other objects at the bottom of running or other water, and is thus attached or anchored to the ground. -- Bay ice, ice formed in bays, fiords, etc., often in extensive fields which drift out to sea. -- Ground ice, anchor ice. -- Ice age , the glacial epoch or period. See under Glacial. -- Ice anchor , a grapnel for mooring a vessel to a field of ice. Kane. -- Ice blink , a streak of whiteness of the horizon, caused by the reflection of light from ice not yet in sight. -- Ice boat. A boat fitted with skates or runners, and propelled on ice by sails; an ice yacht. A strong steamboat for breaking a channel through ice. -- Ice box or chest, a box for holding ice; a box in which things are kept cool by means of ice; a refrigerator. -- Ice brook, a brook or stream as cold as ice. Shak. -- Ice cream , cream, milk, or custard, sweetened, flavored, and frozen. -- Ice field, an extensive sheet of ice. -- Ice float, Ice floe, a sheet of floating ice similar to an ice field, but smaller. -- Ice foot, shore ice in Arctic regions; an ice belt. Kane. -- Ice house, a close-covered pit or building for storing ice. -- Ice machine , a machine for making ice artificially, as by the production of a low temperature through the sudden expansion of a gas or vapor, or the rapid evaporation of a volatile liquid. -- Ice master. See Ice pilot . -- Ice pack, an irregular mass of broken and drifting ice. -- Ice paper, a transparent film of gelatin for copying or reproducing; papier glac?. -- Ice petrel , a shearwater of the Antarctic seas, abundant among floating ice. -- Ice pick, a sharp instrument for breaking ice into small pieces. -- Ice pilot, a pilot who has charge of a vessel where the course is obstructed by ice, as in polar seas; -- called also ice master. -- Ice pitcher, a pitcher adapted for ice water. -- Ice plow, a large tool for grooving and cutting ice. -- Ice sludge, bay ice broken small by the wind or waves; sludge. -- Ice spar , a variety of feldspar, the crystals of which are very clear like ice; rhyacolite. -- Ice tongs, large iron nippers for handling ice. -- Ice water. Water cooled by ice. Water formed by the melting of ice. -- Ice yacht. See Ice boat . -- To break the ice. See under Break. -- Water ice, a confection consisting of water sweetened, flavored, and frozen.
Ice , v. t. 1. To cover with ice; to convert into ice, or into something resembling ice.
Ice"berg` , n. A large mass of ice, generally floating in the ocean.
Icebergs are large detached portions of glaciers, which in cold regions often project into the sea.
Ice"bird` , n. An Arctic sea bird, as the Arctic fulmar.
Ice"bound` , a. Totally surrounded with ice, so as to be incapable of advancing; as, an icebound vessel; also, surrounded by or fringed with ice so as to hinder easy access; as, an icebound coast.
Ice"-built` , a. 1. Composed of ice.
Iced , a. 1. Covered with ice; chilled with ice; as, iced water.
Iced cream. Same as Ice cream, under Ice.
Ice"fall` , n. A frozen waterfall, or mass of ice resembling a frozen waterfall. Coleridge.
Ice"land moss` . A kind of lichen found from the Arctic regions to the North Temperate zone. It furnishes a nutritious jelly and other forms of food, and is used in pulmonary complaints as a demulcent.
Ice"land spar` . A transparent variety of calcite, the best of which is obtained in Iceland. It is used for the prisms of the polariscope, because of its strong double refraction. Cf. Calcite.
Ice"man , n.; pl. Icemen . 1. A man who is skilled in traveling upon ice, as among glaciers.
Ice" plant` . A plant , sprinkled with pellucid, watery vesicles, which glisten like ice. It is native along the Mediterranean, in the Canaries, and in South Africa. Its juice is said to be demulcent and diuretic; its ashes are used in Spain in making glass.
Ice"quake` , n. The crash or concussion attending the breaking up of masses of ice, -- often due to contraction from extreme cold.
In the Southern dialect of Early English this is the regular form. Cf. Ik.
The female deposits her eggs upon, or in, the bodies of other insects, such as caterpillars, plant lice, etc. The larva lives upon the internal tissues of the insect in which it is parasitic, and finally kills it. Hence, many of the species are beneficial to agriculture by destroying noxious insects.
Ichneumon fly. See Ichneumon, 2.
Ich"nite , n. A fossil footprint; as, the ichnites in the Triassic sandstone. Page.
a. Of or pertaining to ichonography; describing a ground plot.
I"chor , n. 1. An ethereal fluid that supplied the place of blood in the veins of the gods.
Ich"thin , n. A nitrogenous substance resembling vitellin, present in the egg yolk of cartilaginous fishes.
Ich"thus , n. In early Christian and eccesiastical art, an emblematic fish, or the Greek word for fish, which combined the initials of the Greek words Ihsoy^s, Christo`s, Qeoy^ Gio`s Swth`r, Jesus, Christ, Son of God, Savior.
n. Fish glue; isinglass; a glue prepared from the sounds of certain fishes.
a. Somewhat like a fish; having some of the characteristics of fishes; -- said of some amphibians.
a. Of or pertaining to ichthyology.
a. Fish- shaped; as, the ichthyomorphic idols of ancient Assyria.
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