The Gutenberg Webster's Unabridged Dictionary
Chapter 1585
Sor"ghum (?) , n. [NL., probably of Chinese origin.] (Bot.) (a) A genus of grasses, properly limited to two species, Sorghum Halepense , the Arabian millet, or Johnson grass (see Johnson grass ), and S. vulgare , the Indian millet (see Indian millet , under Indian ). (b) A variety of Sorghum vulgare , grown for its saccharine juice; the Chinese sugar cane.
Sorgo <Xpage=1373>
Sor"go (?) , n. [Cf. It. sorgo . See Sorghum .] (Bot.) Indian millet and its varieties. See Sorghum .
Sori <Xpage=1373>
So"ri (?) , n. , pl. of Sorus .
Soricine <Xpage=1373>
So"ri*cine (?) , a. [L. sorricinus , fr. sorex a shrew.] (Zo\'94l.) Of or pertaining to the Shrew family (Soricid\'91) ; like a shrew in form or habits; as, the soricine bat ( Glossophaga soricina ) .
Sorites <Xpage=1373>
So*ri"tes (?) , n. [L., from Gr. swrei`ths (sc. syllogismo`s ), properly, heaped up (hence, a heap of syllogisms), fr. swro`s a heap.] (Logic) An abridged form of stating of syllogisms in a series of propositions so arranged that the predicate of each one that precedes forms the subject of each one that follows, and the conclusion unites the subject of the first proposition with the predicate of the last proposition , as in following example; --
The soul is a thinking agent; A thinking agent can not be severed into parts; That which can not be severed can not be destroyed; Therefore the soul can not be destroyed.
&hand; When the series is arranged in the reverse order, it is called the Goclenian sorites , from Goclenius, a philosopher of the sixteenth century.
Destructive sorities . See under Destructive .
<-- Sorites paradox, (philos.) The paradox that arises from the assertion that if one item is removed from a heap (sorites) of objects, what remains is still a heap. Continued application of that rule for any finite heap ultimately causes a contradiction, when the "heap" has no objects left. Similar definitional problems prompted the invention of "fuzzy logic" -->
Soritical <Xpage=1373>
So"rit"ic*al , a. Of or pertaining to a sorites; resembling a sorites.
Sorn <Xpage=1373>
Sorn (?) , v. i. [See Sorehon .] To obtrude one's self on another for bed and board. [Scot.]
Sir W. Scott.
Sorner <Xpage=1373>
Sorn"er (?) , n. One who obtrudes himself on another for bed and board. [Scot.]
De Quncey.
Sororal <Xpage=1373>
So*ro"ral (?) , a. [L. soror sister: cf. F. sororal .] Relating to a sister; sisterly. [R.]
Sororicide <Xpage=1373>
So*ror"i*cide (?; 277) , n. [L. sororocida , and sororicidium ; soror a sister + caedere to kill.] The murder of one's sister; also, one who murders or kills one's own sister.
Johnson.
Sororize <Xpage=1373>
So*ro"rize (? ∨ ?) , v. i. [L. soror , sororis , a sister.] To associate, or hold fellowship, as sisters; to have sisterly feelings; -- analogous to fraternize . [Recent & R.]
Sorosis <Xpage=1373>
So*ro"sis (?) , n. [NL. See Sororize .] A woman's club; an association of women. [U. S.]
Sorosis <Xpage=1373>
So*ro"sis , n. [NL., fr. Gr. <?/ a heap.] (Bot.) A fleshy fruit formed by the consolidation of many flowers with their receptacles, ovaries, etc., as the breadfruit, mulberry, and pineapple.
Sorrage <Xpage=1373>
Sor"rage (?; 48) , n. [Cf. Sorrel , n. ] The blades of green or barley. [Obs.]
Bailey.
Sorrance <Xpage=1373>
Sor"rance (?) , n. Same as Sorance . [Obs.]
Sorrel <Xpage=1373>
Sor"rel (?) , a. [F. saur , saure , OF. sor , sore , probably of Teutonic origin; cf. D. zoor dry, LG. soor ; the meaning probably coming from the color of dry leaves. See Sear , a. , and cf. Sorel .] Of a yellowish or redish brown color; as, a sorrel horse .
Sorrel <Xpage=1373>
Sor"rel (?) , n. A yellowish or redish brown color.
Sorrel <Xpage=1373>
Sor"rel , n. [F. surelle , fr. sur sour, fr. OHG. s<?/r sour. See Sour .] (Bot.) One of various plants having a sour juice; especially, a plant of the genus Rumex , as Rumex Acetosa , Rumex Acetosella , etc.
Mountain sorrel . (Bot.) See under Mountain . -- Red sorrel . (Bot.) (a) A malvaceous plant ( Hibiscus Sabdariffa ) whose acid calyxes and capsules are used in the West Indies for making tarts and acid drinks . (b) A troublesome weed ( Rumex Acetosella ), also called sheep sorrel . -- Salt of sorrel (Chem.) , binoxalate of potassa; -- so called because obtained from the juice of Rumex Acetosella , or Rumex Axetosa . -- Sorrel tree (Bot.) , a small ericaceous tree ( Oxydendrum arboreum ) whose leaves resemble those of the peach and have a sour taste. It is common along the Alleghanies. Called also sourwood . -- Wood sorrel (Bot.) , any plant of the genus Oxalis.
Sorrento work <Xpage=1373>
Sor"ren"to work` (?) . Ornamental work, mostly carved in olivewood, decorated with inlay, made at or near Sorrento, Italy. Hence, more rarely, jig-saw work and the like done anywhere.
Sorrily <Xpage=1373>
Sor"ri*ly (?) , adv. In a sorry manner; poorly.
Thy pipe, O Pan, shall help, though I sing sorrily . Sir P. Sidney.
Sorriness <Xpage=1373>
Sor"ri*ness , n. The quality or state of being sorry.
Sorrow <Xpage=1373>
Sor"row (?) , n. [OE. sorwe , sorewe , sor<?/e , AS. sorg , sorh ; akin to D. zorg care, anxiety, OS. sorga , OHG. sorga , soraga , suorga , G. sorge , Icel., Sw., & Dan. sorg , Goth. sa\'a3rga ; of unknown origin.] The uneasiness or pain of mind which is produced by the loss of any good, real or supposed, or by diseappointment in the expectation of good; grief at having suffered or occasioned evil; regret; unhappiness; sadness.
Milton.
How great a sorrow suffereth now Arcite! Chaucer.
The safe and general antidote against sorrow is employment. Rambler.
Syn. -- Grief; unhappiness; regret; sadness; heaviness; mourning; affliction. See Affliction , and Grief .
Sorrow <Xpage=1373>
Sor"row , v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Sorrowed (?) ; p. pr. & vb. n. Sorrowing .] [OE. sorowen , sorwen , sorhen , AS. sorgian ; akin to Goth. sa\'a3rgan . See Sorrow , n. ] To feel pain of mind in consequence of evil experienced, feared, or done; to grieve; to be sad; to be sorry.
Sorrowing most of all . . . that they should see his face no more. Acts xx. 38.
I desire no man to sorrow for me. Sir J. Hayward.
Sorrowed <Xpage=1373>
Sor"rowed (?) (<?/) , a. Accompanied with sorrow; sorrowful. [Obs.]
Shak.
Sorrowful <Xpage=1373>
Sor"row*ful (?) , a. [OE. sorweful , AS. sorgful .] 1. Full of sorrow; exhibiting sorrow; sad; dejected; distressed. "This sorrowful prisoner."
Chaucer.
My soul is exceeding sorrowful , even unto death. Matt. xxvi. 38.
2. Producing sorrow; exciting grief; mournful; lamentable; grievous; as, a sorrowful accident .
Syn. -- Sad; mournful; dismal; disconsolate; drear; dreary; grievous; lamentable; doleful; distressing.
-- Sor"row*ful*ly , adv. -- Sor"row*ful*ness , n.
Sorrowless <Xpage=1373>
Sor"row*less , a. Free from sorrow.
Sorry <Xpage=1373>
Sor"ry (?) , a. [ Compar. Sorrier (?) ; superl. Sorriest .] [OE. sory , sary , AS. s\'berig , fr. s\'ber , n. , sore . See Sore , n. & a. The original sense was, painful; hence. miserable, sad.] 1. Grieved for the loss of some good; pained for some evil; feeling regret; -- now generally used to express light grief or affliction, but formerly often used to express deeper feeling. "I am sorry for my sins."
Piers Plowman.
Ye were made sorry after a godly manner. 2 Cor. vii. 9.
I am sorry for thee, friend; 't is the duke's pleasure. Shak.
She entered, were he lief or sorry . Spenser.
2. Melancholy; dismal; gloomy; mournful.
Spenser.
All full of chirking was this sorry place. Chaucer.
3. Poor; mean; worthless; as, a sorry excuse . "With sorry grace."
Chaucer.
Cheeks of sorry grain will serve. Milton.
Good fruit will sometimes grow on a sorry tree. Sir W. Scott.
Syn. -- Hurt; afflicted; mortified; vexed; chagrined; melancholy; dismal; poor; mean; pitiful.
Sors <Xpage=1373>
Sors (?) , n. ; pl. Sortes (#) . [L.] A lot; also, a kind of divination by means of lots.
Sortes Homeric\'91 ∨ Virgilian\'91 [L., Homeric or Virgilian lots] , a form of divination anciently practiced, which consisted in taking the first passage on which the eye fell, upon opening a volume of Homer or Virgil, or a passage drawn from an urn which several were deposited, as indicating future events, or the proper course to be pursued. In later times the Bible was used for the same purpose by Christians. <-- not very different from Chinese fortune cookies in concept. -->
Sort <Xpage=1373>
Sort (?) , n. [F. sorl , L. sors , sortis . See Sort kind.] Chance; lot; destiny. [Obs.]
By aventure, or sort , or cas [chance]. Chaucer.
Let blockish Ajax draw The sort to fight with Hector. Shak.
<page="1374"> Page 1374
Sort <Xpage=1374>
Sort , n. [F. sorie (cf. It. sorta , sorte ), from L. sors , sorti , a lot, part, probably akin to serere to connect. See Series , and cf. Assort , Consort , Resort , Sorcery , Sort lot.] 1. A kind or species; any number or collection of individual persons or things characterized by the same or like qualities; a class or order; as, a sort of men; a sort of horses; a sort of trees; a sort of poems.
2. Manner; form of being or acting.
Which for my part I covet to perform, In sort as through the world I did proclaim. Spenser.
Flowers, in such sort worn, can neither be smelt nor seen well by those that wear them. Hooker.
I'll deceive you in another sort . Shak.
To Adam in what sort Shall I appear? Milton.
I shall not be wholly without praise, if in some sort I have copied his style. Dryden.
3. Condition above the vulgar; rank. [Obs.]
Shak.
4. A chance group; a company of persons who happen to be together; a troop; also, an assemblage of animals. [Obs.] "A sort of shepherds." Spenser. "A sort of steers." Spenser. "A sort of doves." Dryden. "A sort of rogues." Massinger.
A boy, a child, and we a sort of us, Vowed against his voyage. Chapman.
5. A pair; a set; a suit.
Johnson.
6. pl. (Print.) Letters, figures, points, marks, spaces, or quadrats, belonging to a case, separately considered.
Out of sorts (Print.) , with some letters or sorts of type deficient or exhausted in the case or font; hence, colloquially, out of order; ill; vexed; disturbed. -- To run upon sorts (Print.) , to use or require a greater number of some particular letters, figures, or marks than the regular proportion, as, for example, in making an index.
Syn. -- Kind; species; rank; condition. -- Sort , Kind . Kind originally denoted things of the same family, or bound together by some natural affinity; and hence, a class. Sort signifies that which constitutes a particular lot of parcel, not implying necessarily the idea of affinity, but of mere assemblage. the two words are now used to a great extent interchangeably, though sort (perhaps from its original meaning of lot ) sometimes carries with it a slight tone of disparagement or contempt, as when we say, that sort of people, that sort of language. <-- surprisingly, "type" is not included in this synonym-list! in MW10, the list under "type" includes kind and sort. "class" is mentioned in the def, but not on the list of synonyms. -->
As when the total kind Of birds, in orderly array on wing, Came summoned over Eden to receive Their names of there. Milton.
None of noble sort Would so offend a virgin. Shak.
Sort <Xpage=1374>
Sort (?) , v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Sorted ; p. pr. & vb. n. Sorting .] 1. To separate, and place in distinct classes or divisions, as things having different qualities; as, to sort cloths according to their colors; to sort wool or thread according to its fineness.
Rays which differ in refrangibility may be parted and sorted from one another. Sir I. Newton.
2. To reduce to order from a confused state.
Hooker.
3. To conjoin; to put together in distribution; to class.
Shellfish have been, by some of the ancients, compared and sorted with insects. Bacon.
She sorts things present with things past. Sir J. Davies.
4. To choose from a number; to select; to cull.
That he may sort out a worthy spouse. Chapman.
I'll sort some other time to visit you. Shak.
5. To conform; to adapt; to accommodate. [R.]
I pray thee, sort thy heart to patience. Shak.
Sort <Xpage=1374>
Sort , v. i. 1. To join or associate with others, esp. with others of the same kind or species; to agree.
Nor do metals only sort and herd with metals in the earth, and minerals with minerals. Woodward.
The illiberality of parents towards children makes them base, and sort with any company. Bacon.
2. To suit; to fit; to be in accord; to harmonize.
They are happy whose natures sort with their vocations. Bacon.
Things sort not to my will. herbert.
I can not tell you precisely how they sorted . Sir W. Scott.
Sortable <Xpage=1374>
Sort"a*ble (?) , a. [Cf. F. sortable suitable.] 1. Capable of being sorted.
2. Suitable; befitting; proper. [Obs.]
con.
Sortably <Xpage=1374>
Sort"a*bly , adv. Suitable. [Obs.]
otgrave.
Sortal <Xpage=1374>
Sort"al (?) , a. Pertaining to a sort. [Obs.]
Locke.
Sortance <Xpage=1374>
Sort"ance (?) , n. [From Sort , v. i. ] Suitableness; agreement. [Obs.]
hak.
Sorter <Xpage=1374>
Sort"er (?) , n. One who, or that which, sorts.
Sortes <Xpage=1374>
Sor"tes (?) , n. , pl. of Sors .
Sortie <Xpage=1374>
Sor"tie (?; 277) , n. [F., fr. sortir to go out, to issue, probably fr. L. sortus , for surrectus , p.p. of surgere to raise up, to rise up. See Source .] (Mil.) The sudden issuing of a body of troops, usually small, from a besieged place to attack or harass the besiegers; a sally.
Sortilege <Xpage=1374>
Sor"ti*lege (?) , n. [F. sortil\'8age , fr. L. sors , sortis , a lot + legere to gather, to select.] The act or practice of drawing lots; divination by drawing lots.
A woman infamous for sortileges and witcheries. Sir W. Scott.
Sortilegious <Xpage=1374>
Sor`ti*le"gious (?) , a. Pertaining to sortilege.
Sortilegy <Xpage=1374>
Sor"til"e*gy (?) , n. Sortilege. [R.]
De Quincey.
Sortition <Xpage=1374>
Sor*ti"tion (?) , n. [L. sortitio , from sortiri to draw or cast lots, fr. sors , sortis , a lot.] Selection or appointment by lot. [Obs.]
Bp. Hall.
Sortment <Xpage=1374>
Sort"ment (?) , n. Assortiment. [Obs.]
Sorus <Xpage=1374>
So"rus (?) , n. ; pl. Sori (#) . [NL., fr. Gr. <?/ a heap.] (Bot.) One of the fruit dots, or small clusters of sporangia, on the back of the fronds of ferns.
Sorwe <Xpage=1374>
Sor"we (?) , n. & v. Sorrow. [Obs.]
Chaucer.
Sorweful <Xpage=1374>
Sor"we*ful (?) , a. Sorrowful. [Obs.]
Chaucer.
Sory <Xpage=1374>
So"ry (?) , n. [L. sory , Gr. <?/.] (Old Min. Chem.) Green vitriol, or some earth imregnated with it.
So-so <Xpage=1374>
So"-so` (?) , a. [ So + so .] Neither very good nor very bad; middling; passable; tolerable; indifferent.
In some Irish houses, where things are so-so , One gammon of bacon hangs up for a show. Goldsmith.
He [Burns] certainly wrote some so-so verses to the Tree of Liberty. Prof. Wilson.
So-so <Xpage=1374>
So"-so` , adv. Tolerably; passably.
H. James.
Soss <Xpage=1374>
Soss (?; 115) , v. i. [Cf. Souse .] To fall at once into a chair or seat; to sit lazily. [Obs.]
Swift.
Soss <Xpage=1374>
Soss , v. t. To throw in a negligent or careless manner; to toss. [Obs.]
Swift.
Soss <Xpage=1374>
Soss , n. 1. A lazy fellow. [Obs.]
Cotgrave.
2. A heavy fall. [Prov. Eng.]
Hallowell.
Soss <Xpage=1374>
Soss , n. [See Sesspol .] Anything dirty or muddy; a dirty puddle. [Prov. Eng.]
Sostenuto <Xpage=1374>
Sos`te*nu"to (?) , a. [It.] (Mus.) Sustained; -- applied to a movement or passage the sounds of which are to sustained to the utmost of the nominal value of the time; also, to a passage the tones of which are to be somewhat prolonged or protacted.
Sot <Xpage=1374>
Sot (?) , n. [F., fr. LL. sottus ; of unknown origin, cf. Ir. sotal pride, soithir proud, or Chald. & NHeb. shoten foolish.] 1. A stupid person; a blockhead; a dull fellow; a dolt. [Obs.]
outh.
In Egypt oft has seen the sot bow down, And reverence some d<?/ified baboon. Oldham.
2. A person stupefied by excessive drinking; an habitual drunkard. "A brutal sot ."
Granville.
Every sign That calls the staring sots to nasty wine. Roscommon.
Sot <Xpage=1374>