Chapter 419

Der"o*gate*ly , adv. In a derogatory manner.

Derogation <Xpage=396>

Der`o*ga"tion (?) , n. [L. derogatio : cf. F. d\'82rogation .]

1. The act of derogating, partly repealing, or lessening in value; disparagement; detraction; depreciation; -- followed by of , from , or to .

I hope it is no derogation to the Christian religion. Locke.

He counted it no derogation of his manhood to be seen to weep. F. W. Robertson.

2. (Stock Exch.) An alteration of, or subtraction from, a contract for a sale of stocks.

Derogative <Xpage=396>

De*rog"a*tive (?) , a. Derogatory. -- De*rog"a*tive*ly , adv. [R.]

Sir T. Browne.

Derogator <Xpage=396>

Der"o*ga`tor (?) , n. [L.] A detractor.

Derogatorily <Xpage=396>

De*rog"a*to*ri*ly (?) , adv. In a derogatory manner; disparagingly.

Aubrey.

Derogatoriness <Xpage=396>

De*rog"a*to*ri*ness , n. Quality of being derogatory.

Derogatory <Xpage=396>

De*rog"a*to*ry (?) , a. Tending to derogate, or lessen in value; expressing derogation; detracting; injurious; -- with from to , or unto .

Acts of Parliament derogatory from the power of subsequent Parliaments bind not. Blackstone.

His language was severely censured by some of his brother peers as derogatory to their other. Macaulay.

Derogatory clause in a testament (Law) , a sentence of secret character inserted by the testator alone, of which he reserves the knowledge to himself, with a condition that no will he may make thereafter shall be valid, unless this clause is inserted word for word; -- a precaution to guard against later wills extorted by violence, or obtained by suggestion.

Derotremata <Xpage=396>

Der`o*tre"ma*ta (?) , n. pl. [NL., fr. Gr. <?/ skin + <?/, <?/, hole.] (Zo\'94l.) The tribe of aquatic Amphibia which includes Amphiuma, Menopoma, etc. They have permanent gill openings, but no external gills; -- called also Cryptobranchiata . [Written also Derotrema .]

Derre <Xpage=396>

Der"re (?) , a. Dearer. [Obs.]

Chaucer.

Derrick <Xpage=396>

Der"rick (?) , n. [Orig., a gallows, from a hangman named Derrick . The name is of Dutch origin; D. Diederik , Dierryk , prop. meaning, chief of the people; cf. AS. pe\'a2dric , E. Theodoric , G. Dietrich . See Dutch , and Rich .] A mast, spar, or tall frame, supported at the top by stays or guys, with suitable tackle for hoisting heavy weights, as stones in building.

Derrick crane , a combination of the derrick and the crane, having facility for hoisting and also for swinging the load horizontally.

Derring <Xpage=396>

Der"ring , a. Daring or warlike. [Obs.]

Drad for his derring doe and bloody deed. Spenser.

Derringer <Xpage=396>

Der"rin*ger (?) , n. [From the American inventor.] A kind of short-barreled pocket pistol, of very large caliber, often carrying a half-ounce ball.

Derth <Xpage=396>

Derth (?) , n. Dearth; scarcity. [Obs.]

Spenser.

Dertrotheca <Xpage=396>

Der`tro*the"ca (?) , n. [NL., fr. Gr. <?/ beak + <?/ box, case.] (Zo\'94l.) The horny covering of the end of the bill of birds.

Dervish, Dervise, Dervis <Xpage=396>

Der"vish (?) , Der"vise (?) , Der"vis (?) , n. [Per. derw<?/sch , fr. OPer. derew to beg, ask alms: cf. F. derviche .] A Turkish or Persian monk, especially one who professes extreme poverty and leads an austere life.

Derworth <Xpage=396>

Der"worth (?) , a. [AS. de\'a2rwurpe , lit., dearworth.] Precious. [Obs.]

Piers Plowman.

Descant <Xpage=396>

Des"cant (?) , n. [OF. descant , deschant , F. d\'82chant , discant , LL. discantus , fr. L. dis + cantus singing, melody, fr. canere to sing. See Chant , and cf. Descant , v. i. , Discant .]

1. (Mus.) (a) Originally, a double song; a melody or counterpoint sung above the plain song of the tenor; a variation of an air; a variation by ornament of the main subject or plain song. (b) The upper voice in part music. (c) The canto , cantus , or soprano voice; the treble.

Grove.

Twenty doctors expound one text twenty ways, as children make descant upon plain song. Tyndale.

She [the nightingale] all night long her amorous descant sung. Milton.

&hand; The term has also been used synonymously with counterpoint, or polyphony, which developed out of the French d\'82chant , of the 12th century.

2. A discourse formed on its theme, like variations on a musical air; a comment or comments.

Upon that simplest of themes how magnificent a descant ! De Quincey.

Descant <Xpage=396>

Des*cant" (?) , v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Descanted ; p. pr. & vb. n. Descanting .] [From descant ; n. ; or directly fr. OF. descanter , deschanter ; L. dis- + cantare to sing.]

1. To sing a variation or accomplishment.

2. To comment freely; to discourse with fullness and particularity; to discourse at large.

A virtuous man should be pleased to find people descanting on his actions. Addison.

Descanter <Xpage=396>

Des*cant"er (?) , n. One who descants.

Descend <Xpage=396>

De*scend" (?) , v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Descended ; p. pr. & vb. n. Descending .] [F. descendre , L. descendere , descensum ; de- + scandere to climb. See Scan .]

1. To pass from a higher to a lower place; to move downwards; to come or go down in any way, as by falling, flowing, walking, etc.; to plunge; to fall; to incline downward; -- the opposite of ascend .

The rain descended , and the floods came. Matt. vii. 25.

We will here descend to matters of later date. Fuller.

2. To enter mentally; to retire. [Poetic]

[He] with holiest meditations fed, Into himself descended . Milton.

3. To make an attack, or incursion, as if from a vantage ground; to come suddenly and with violence; -- with on or upon .

And on the suitors let thy wrath descend . Pope.

4. To come down to a lower, less fortunate, humbler, less virtuous, or worse, state or station; to lower or abase one's self; as, he descended from his high estate .

5. To pass from the more general or important to the particular or less important matters to be considered.

6. To come down, as from a source, original, or stock; to be derived; to proceed by generation or by transmission; to fall or pass by inheritance; as, the beggar may descend from a prince; a crown descends to the heir.

7. (Anat.) To move toward the south, or to the southward.

8. (Mus.) To fall in pitch; to pass from a higher to a lower tone.

Descend <Xpage=396>

De*scend" (?) , v. t. To go down upon or along; to pass from a higher to a lower part of; as, they descended the river in boats; to descend a ladder.

But never tears his cheek descended . Byron.

Descendant <Xpage=396>

De*scend"ant (?) , a. [F. descendant , p. pr. of descendre . Cf. Descendent .] Descendent.

Descendant <Xpage=396>

De*scend"ant , n. One who descends, as offspring, however remotely; -- correlative to ancestor or ascendant .

Our first parents and their descendants . Hale.

The descendant of so many kings and emperors. Burke.

Descendent <Xpage=396>

De*scend"ent (?) , a. [L. descendens , -entis , p. pr. of descendre . Cf. Descendant .] Descending; falling; proceeding from an ancestor or source.

More than mortal grace Speaks thee descendent of ethereal race. Pope.

Descender <Xpage=396>

De*scend"er (?) , n. One who descends.

Descendibility <Xpage=396>

De*scend`i*bil"i*ty (?) , n. The quality of being descendible; capability of being transmitted from ancestors; as, the descendibility of an estate .

Descendible <Xpage=396>

De*scend"i*ble (?) , a.

1. Admitting descent; capable of being descended.

2. That may descend from an ancestor to an heir. "A descendant estate."

Sir W. Jones.

Descending <Xpage=396>

De*scend"ing , a. Of or pertaining to descent; moving downwards.

Descending constellations &or; signs (Astron.) , those through which the planets descent toward the south. -- Descending node (Astron.) , that point in a planet's orbit where it intersects the ecliptic in passing southward. -- Descending series (Math.) , a series in which each term is numerically smaller than the preceding one; also, a series arranged according to descending powers of a quantity.

Descendingly <Xpage=396>

De*scend"ing*ly , adv. In a descending manner.

Descension <Xpage=396>

De*scen"sion (?) , n. [OF. descension , L. descensio . See Descent .] The act of going downward; descent; falling or sinking; declension; degradation.

Oblique descension (Astron.) , the degree or arc of the equator which descends, with a celestial object, below the horizon of an oblique sphere. -- Right descension , the degree or arc of the equator which descends below the horizon of a right sphere at the same time with the object. [Obs.]

<page="397"> Page 397

Descensional <Xpage=397>

De*scen"sion*al (?) , a. Pertaining to descension.

Johnson.

Descensive <Xpage=397>

De*scen"sive (?) , a. Tending to descend; tending downwards; descending.

Smart.

Descensory <Xpage=397>

De*scen"so*ry (?) , n. [NL. descensorium : cf. OF. descensoire . See Descend .] A vessel used in alchemy to extract oils.

Descent <Xpage=397>

De*scent" (?) , n. [F. descente , fr. descendre ; like vente , from vendre . See Descend .]

1. The act of descending, or passing downward; change of place from higher to lower.

2. Incursion; sudden attack; especially, hostile invasion from sea; -- often followed by upon or on ; as, to make a descent upon the enemy .

The United Provinces . . . ordered public prayer to God, when they feared that the French and English fleets would make a descent upon their coasts. Jortin.

3. Progress downward, as in station, virtue, as in station, virtue, and the like, from a higher to a lower state, from a higher to a lower state, from the more to the less important, from the better to the worse, etc.

2. Derivation, as from an ancestor; procedure by generation; lineage; birth; extraction.

Dryden.

5. (Law) Transmission of an estate by inheritance, usually, but not necessarily, in the descending line; title to inherit an estate by reason of consanguinity.

Abbott.

6. Inclination downward; a descending way; inclined or sloping surface; declivity; slope; as, a steep descent .

7. That which is descended; descendants; issue.

If care of our descent perplex us most, Which must be born to certain woe. Milton.

8. A step or remove downward in any scale of gradation; a degree in the scale of genealogy; a generation.

No man living is a thousand descents removed from Adam himself. Hooker.

9. Lowest place; extreme downward place. [R.]

And from the extremest upward of thy head, To the descent and dust below thy foot. Shak.

10. (Mus.) A passing from a higher to a lower tone.

Syn. -- Declivity; slope; degradation; extraction; lineage; assault; invasion; attack.

Describable <Xpage=397>

De*scrib"a*ble (?) , a. That can be described; capable of description.

Describe <Xpage=397>

De*scribe" (?) , v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Described (?) ; p. pr. & vb. n. Describing .] [L. describere , descriptum ; de- + scribere to write: cf. OE. descriven , OF. descrivre , F. d\'82crire . See Scribe , and cf. Descry .]

1. To represent by drawing; to draw a plan of; to delineate; to trace or mark out; as, to describe a circle by the compasses; a torch waved about the head in such a way as to describe a circle.

2. To represent by words written or spoken; to give an account of; to make known to others by words or signs; as, the geographer describes countries and cities .

3. To distribute into parts, groups, or classes; to mark off; to class. [Obs.]

Passed through the land, and described it by cities into seven parts in a book. Josh. xviii. 9.

Syn. -- To set forth; represent; delineate; relate; recount; narrate; express; explain; depict; portray; chracterize.

Describe <Xpage=397>

De*scribe" , v. i. To use the faculty of describing; to give a description; as, Milton describes with uncommon force and beauty .

Describent <Xpage=397>

De*scrib"ent (?) , n. [L. describens , p. pr. of describere .] (Geom.) Same as Generatrix .

Describer <Xpage=397>

De*scrib"er (?) , n. One who describes.

Descrier <Xpage=397>

De*scri"er (?) , n. One who descries.

Description <Xpage=397>

De*scrip"tion (?) , n. [F. description , L. descriptio . See Describe .]

1. The act of describing; a delineation by marks or signs.

2. A sketch or account of anything in words; a portraiture or representation in language; an enumeration of the essential qualities of a thing or species.

Milton has descriptions of morning. D. Webster.

3. A class to which a certain representation is applicable; kind; sort.

A difference . . . between them and another description of public creditors. A. Hamilton.

The plates were all of the meanest description . Macaulay.

Syn. -- Account; definition; recital; relation; detail; narrative; narration; explanation; delineation; representation; kind; sort. See Definition .

Descriptive <Xpage=397>

De*scrip"tive (?) , a. [L. descriptivus : cf. F. descriptif .] Tending to describe; having the quality of representing; containing description; as, a descriptive figure; a descriptive phrase; a descriptive narration; a story descriptive of the age.

Descriptive anatomy , that part of anatomy which treats of the forms and relations of parts, but not of their textures. -- Descriptive geometry , that branch of geometry. which treats of the graphic solution of problems involving three dimensions, by means of projections upon auxiliary planes.

Davies & Peck (Math. Dict. )

-- De*scrip"tive*ly , adv. -- De*scrip"tive*ness , n.

Descrive <Xpage=397>

De*scrive" (?) , v. t. [OF. descrivre . See Describe .] To describe. [Obs.]

Spenser.

Descry <Xpage=397>

De*scry" (?) , v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Descried (?) ; p. pr. & vb. n. Descrying .] [OE. descrien , discrien , to espy, prob. from the proclaiming of what was espied, fr. OF. descrier to proclaim, cry down, decry, F. d\'82crier . The word was confused somewhat with OF. descriven , E. describe , OF. descrivre , from L. describere . See Decry .]

1. To spy out or discover by the eye, as objects distant or obscure; to espy; to recognize; to discern; to discover.

And the house of Joseph sent to descry Bethel. Judg. i. 23.

Edmund, I think, is gone . . . to descry The strength o' the enemy. Shak.

And now their way to earth they had descried . Milton.

2. To discover; to disclose; to reveal. [R.]

His purple robe he had thrown aside, lest it should descry him. Milton.

Syn. -- To see; behold; espy; discover; discern.

Descry <Xpage=397>

De*scry" (?) , Discovery or view, as of an army seen at a distance. [Obs.]

Near, and on speedy foot; the main descry Stands on the hourly thought. Shak.

Desecate <Xpage=397>

Des"e*cate (?) , v. t. [L. desecare to cut off.] To cut, as with a scythe; to mow. [Obs.]

Desecrate <Xpage=397>

Des"e*crate (?) , v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Desecrated (?) ; p. pr. & vb. n. Desecrating (?) .] [L. desecratus , p. p. of desecrare (also desacrare ) to consecrate, dedicate; but taken in the sense if to divest of a sacred character; de- + sacrare to consecrate, fr. sacer sacred. See Sacred .] To divest of a sacred character or office; to divert from a sacred purpose; to violate the sanctity of; to profane; to put to an unworthy use; -- the opposite of consecrate .

The [Russian] clergy can not suffer corporal punishment without being previously desecrated . W. Tooke.

The founders of monasteries imprecated evil on those who should desecrate their donations. Salmon.

Desecrater <Xpage=397>

Des"e*cra`ter (?) , n. One who desecrates; a profaner.

Harper's Mag.

Desecration <Xpage=397>

Des`e*cra"tion (?) , n. The act of desecrating; profanation; condition of anything desecrated.

Desecrator <Xpage=397>

Des"e*cra`tor (?) , n. One who desecrates. " Desecrators of the church."

Morley.

Desegmentation <Xpage=397>

De*seg`men*ta"tion (?) , n. (Anat.) The loss or obliteration of division into segments; as, a desegmentation of the body .

Desert <Xpage=397>

De*sert" (?) , n. [OF. deserte , desserte , merit, recompense, fr. deservir , desservir , to merit. See Deserve .] That which is deserved; the reward or the punishment justly due; claim to recompense, usually in a good sense; right to reward; merit.

According to their deserts will I judge them. Ezek. vii. 27.

Andronicus, surnamed Pius For many good and great deserts to Rome. Shak.

His reputation falls far below his desert . A. Hamilton.

Syn. -- Merit; worth; excellence; due.

Desert <Xpage=397>

Des"ert (?) , n. [F. d\'82sert , L. desertum , from desertus solitary, desert, pp. of deserere to desert; de- + serere to join together. See Series .]

1. A deserted or forsaken region; a barren tract incapable of supporting population, as the vast sand plains of Asia and Africa are destitute and vegetation.

A dreary desert and a gloomy waste. Pope.