Chapter 1

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The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary: Letters D & E February, 1999 [Etext #662]

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Begin file 3 of 11: D and E. (Version 0.50) of An electronic field-marked version of:

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary Version published 1913 by the C. & G. Merriam Co. Springfield, Mass. Under the direction of Noah Porter, D.D., LL.D.

This electronic version was prepared by MICRA, Inc. of Plainfield, NJ. Last edit February 11, 1999.

MICRA, Inc. makes no proprietary claims on this version of the 1913 Webster dictionary. If the original printed edition of the 1913 Webster is in the public domain, this version may also be considered as public domain.

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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<! p. 364 !>

D.

D (d) 1. The fourth letter of the English alphabet, and a vocal consonant. The English letter is from Latin, which is from Greek, which took it from Phœnician, the probable ultimate origin being Egyptian. It is related most nearly to t and th; as, Eng. deep, G. tief; Eng. daughter, G. tochter, Gr. qyga`thr, Skr. duhitr. See Guide to Pronunciation, &radic;178, 179, 229.

2. (Mus.) The nominal of the second tone in the model major scale (that in C), or of the fourth tone in the relative minor scale of C (that in A minor), or of the key tone in the relative minor of F.

3. As a numeral D stands for 500. in this use it is not the initial of any word, or even strictly a letter, but one half of the sign &?; (or &?; ) the original Tuscan numeral for 1000.

Dab (db), n. [Perh. corrupted fr. adept.] A skillful hand; a dabster; an expert. [Colloq.]

One excels at a plan or the titlepage, another works away at the body of the book, and the third is a dab at an index.

Goldsmith.

Dab, n. [Perh. so named from its quickness in diving beneath the sand. Cf. Dabchick.] (Zoöl.) A name given to several species of flounders, esp. to the European species, Pleuronectes limanda. The American rough dab is Hippoglossoides platessoides.

Dab (db), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Dabbed (dbd); p. pr. & vb. n. Dabbing.] [OE. dabben to strice; akin to OD. dabben to pinch, knead, fumble, dabble, and perh. to G. tappen to grope.] 1. To strike or touch gently, as with a soft or moist substance; to tap; hence, to besmear with a dabber.

A sore should . . . be wiped . . . only by dabbing it over with fine lint.

S. Sharp.

2. To strike by a thrust; to hit with a sudden blow or thrust. "To dab him in the neck." Sir T. More.

Dab (?), n. 1. A gentle blow with the hand or some soft substance; a sudden blow or hit; a peck.

A scratch of her claw, a dab of her beak.

Hawthorne.

2. A small mass of anything soft or moist.

Dabb (db), n. (Zoöl.) A large, spine-tailed lizard (Uromastix spinipes), found in Egypt, Arabia, and Palestine; -- called also dhobb, and dhubb.

Dab"ber (db"br), n. That with which one dabs; hence, a pad or other device used by printers, engravers, etc., as for dabbing type or engraved plates with ink.

Dab"ble (db"b'l), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Dabbled (-b'ld); p. pr. & vb. n. Dabbling (-b'lng).] [Freq. of dab: cf. OD. dabbelen.] To wet by little dips or strokes; to spatter; to sprinkle; to moisten; to wet. "Bright hair dabbled in blood." Shak.

Dab"ble, v. i. 1. To play in water, as with the hands; to paddle or splash in mud or water.

Where the duck dabbles 'mid the rustling sedge.

Wordsworth.

2. To work in slight or superficial manner; to do in a small way; to tamper; to meddle. "Dabbling here and there with the text." Atterbury.

During the first year at Dumfries, Burns for the first time began to dabble in politics.

J. C. Shairp.

Dab"bler (db"blr), n. 1. One who dabbles.

2. One who dips slightly into anything; a superficial meddler. "our dabblers in politics." Swift.

Dab"bling*ly (?), adv. In a dabbling manner.

Dab"chick` (db"chk`), n. [For dabchick. See Dap, Dip, cf. Dipchick.] (Zoöl.) A small water bird (Podilymbus podiceps), allied to the grebes, remarkable for its quickness in diving; -- called also dapchick, dobchick, dipchick, didapper, dobber, devil-diver, hell-diver, and pied- billed grebe.

||Da*boi"a (?), n. (Zoöl.) A large and highly venomous Asiatic viper (Daboia xanthica).

Dab"ster, n. [Cf. Dab an expert.] One who is skilled; a master of his business; a proficient; an adept. [Colloq.]

Sometimes improperly used for dabbler; as, "I am but a dabster with gentle art."

||Da`ca"po (?). [It., from [the] head or beginning.] (Mus.) From the beginning; a direction to return to, and end with, the first strain; -- indicated by the letters D. C. Also, the strain so repeated.

Dace (?), n. [Written also dare, dart, fr. F. dard dase, dart, of German origin. Dace is for an older darce, fr. an OF. nom. darz. See Dart a javelin.] (Zoöl.) A small European cyprinoid fish (Squalius leuciscus or Leuciscus vulgaris); -- called also dare.

In America the name is given to several related fishes of the genera Squalius, Minnilus, etc. The black-nosed dace is Rhinichthys atronasus the horned dace is Semotilus corporalis. For red dace, see Redfin.

||Dachs"hund` (?), n. [G., from dachs badger + hund dog.] (Zoöl.) One of a breed of small dogs with short crooked legs, and long body; -- called also badger dog. There are two kinds, the rough-haired and the smooth-haired.

Da"cian (?), a. Of or pertaining to Dacia or the Dacians. -- n. A native of ancient Dacia.

Da*coit" (d*koit"), n. [Hind. akait, kyat.] One of a class of robbers, in India, who act in gangs.

Da*coit"y (?), n. The practice of gang robbery in India; robbery committed by dacoits.

Da*co"tahs (?), n. pl.; sing. Dacotan (&?;). (Ethnol.) Same as Dacotas. Longfellow.

Dac"tyl (?), n. [L. dactylus, Gr. da`ktylos a finger, a dactyl. Cf. Digit.] 1. (Pros.) A poetical foot of three sylables (— ), one long followed by two short, or one accented followed by two unaccented; as, L. tëgmn, E. mer\b6ciful; -- so called from the similarity of its arrangement to that of the joints of a finger. [Written also dactyle.]

2. (Zoöl.) (a) A finger or toe; a digit. (b) The claw or terminal joint of a leg of an insect or crustacean.

Dac"tyl*ar (?), a. 1. Pertaining to dactyl; dactylic.

2. (Zoöl.) Of or pertaining to a finger or toe, or to the claw of an insect crustacean.

Dac"tyl*et (?), n. [Dactyl + &?;et.] A dactyl. [Obs.]

Dac*tyl"ic (?), a. [L. dactylicus, Gr. &?;, fr. &?;.] Pertaining to, consisting chiefly or wholly of, dactyls; as, dactylic verses.

Dac*tyl"ic, n. 1. A line consisting chiefly or wholly of dactyls; as, these lines are dactylics.

2. pl. Dactylic meters.

Dac*tyl"i*o*glyph (dk*tl"**glf), n. [Gr. daktyliogly`fos an engraver of gems; dakty`lios finger ring (fr. da`ktylos finger) + gly`fein to engrave.] (Fine Arts) (a) An engraver of gems for rings and other ornaments. (b) The inscription of the engraver's name on a finger ring or gem.

Dac*tyl`i*og"ly*phy (?), n. The art or process of gem engraving.

Dac*tyl`i*og"ra*phy (?), n. [Gr. dakty`lios finger ring + -graphy.] (Fine Arts) (a) The art of writing or engraving upon gems. (b) In general, the literature or history of the art.

Dac*tyl`i*ol"o*gy (?), n. [Gr. dakty`lios finger ring + -logy.] (Fine Arts) (a) That branch of archæology which has to do with gem engraving. (b) That branch of archæology which has to do with finger rings.

Dac*tyl"i*o*man`cy (?), n. [Gr. dakty`lios + -mancy.] Divination by means of finger rings.

Dac"tyl*ist (?), n. A writer of dactylic verse.

||Dac`tyl*i"tis (?), n. [NL., fr. Gr. da`ktylos finger + -itis.] (Med.) An inflammatory affection of the fingers. Gross.

Dac`tyl*ol"o*gy (?), n. [Gr. da`ktylos finger + -logy.] The art of communicating ideas by certain movements and positions of the fingers; -- a method of conversing practiced by the deaf and dumb.

There are two different manual alphabets, the one- hand alphabet (which was perfected by Abbé de l'Epée, who died in 1789), and the two-hand alphabet. The latter was probably based on the manual alphabet published by George Dalgarus of Aberdeen, in 1680. See Illustration in Appendix.

Dac*tyl"o*man`cy (?), n. Dactyliomancy. [R.] Am. Cyc.

Dac`tyl*on"o*my (?), n. [Gr. da`ktylos finger + no`mos law, distribution.] The art of numbering or counting by the fingers.

Dac`tyl*op"ter*ous (?), a. [Gr. da`ktylos finger + &?; wing, fin.] (Zoöl.) Having the inferior rays of the pectoral fins partially or entirely free, as in the gurnards.

||Dac`ty*lo*the"ca (dk`t*l*th"k), n. [NL., fr. Gr. da`ktylos finger, toe + qh`kh case, box.] (Zoöl.) The scaly covering of the toes, as in birds.

Dac`tyl*o*zo"oid (dk`t*l*z"oid), n. [Gr. da`ktylos finger + E. zooid.] (Zoöl.) A kind of zooid of Siphonophora which has an elongated or even vermiform body, with one tentacle, but no mouth. See Siphonophora.

Dad (dd), n. [Prob. of Celtic origin; cf. Ir. daid, Gael. daidein, W. tad, OL. tata, Gr. ta`ta, te`tta, Skr. tta.] Father; -- a word sometimes used by children.

I was never so bethumped with words, Since I first called my brother's father dad.

Shak.

Dad"dle (dd"d'l), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Daddled (?), p. pr. & vb. n. Daddling.] [Prob. freq. of dade.] To toddle; to walk unsteadily, like a child or an old man; hence, to do anything slowly or feebly.

Dad"dock (?), n. [Cf. Prov. E. dad a large piece.] The rotten body of a tree. [Prov. Eng.] Wright.

Dad"dy (?), n. Diminutive of Dad. Dryden.

Dad"dy long"legs` (?). 1. (Zoöl.) An arachnidan of the genus Phalangium, and allied genera, having a small body and four pairs of long legs; -- called also harvestman, carter, and grandfather longlegs.

2. (Zoöl.) A name applied to many species of dipterous insects of the genus Tipula, and allied genera, with slender bodies, and very long, slender legs; the crane fly; -- called also father longlegs.

Dade (?), v. t. [Of. uncertain origin. Cf. Dandle, Daddle.] To hold up by leading strings or by the hand, as a child while he toddles. [Obs.]

Little children when they learn to go By painful mothers daded to and fro.

Drayton.

Dade, v. i. To walk unsteadily, as a child in leading strings, or just learning to walk; to move slowly. [Obs.]

No sooner taught to dade, but from their mother trip.

Drayton.

Da"do (?), n.; pl. Dadoes (#). [It. dado die, cube, pedestal; of the same origin as E. die, n. See Die, n.] (Arch.) (a) That part of a pedestal included between the base and the cornice (or surbase); the die. See Illust. of Column. Hence: (b) In any wall, that part of the basement included between the base and the base course. See Base course, under Base. (c) In interior decoration, the lower part of the wall of an apartment when adorned with moldings, or otherwise specially decorated.

{ Dæ"dal (?), Dæ*dal"ian (?) }, a. [L. daedalus cunningly wrought, fr. Gr. &?;; cf. &?; to work cunningly. The word also alludes to the mythical Dædalus (Gr. &?;, lit., the cunning worker).] 1. Cunningly or ingeniously formed or working; skillful; artistic; ingenious.

Our bodies decked in our dædalian arms.

Chapman.

The dædal hand of Nature.

J. Philips.

The doth the dædal earth throw forth to thee, Out of her fruitful, abundant flowers.

Spenser.

2. Crafty; deceitful. [R.] Keats.

Dæd"a*lous (?), a. (Bot.) Having a variously cut or incised margin; -- said of leaves.

Dæ"mon (?), n., Dæ*mon"ic (&?;), a. See Demon, Demonic.

Daff (?), v. t. [Cf. Doff.] To cast aside; to put off; to doff. [Obs.]