The Gutenberg Webster's Unabridged Dictionary: Section S

Chapter 73

Chapter 734,104 wordsPublic domain

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.

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 (?), 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, 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.

Sort"a*ble (?), a. [Cf. F. sortable suitable.] 1. Capable of being sorted.

2. Suitable; befitting; proper. [Obs.] con.

Sort"a*bly, adv. Suitable. [Obs.] otgrave.

Sort"al (?), a. Pertaining to a sort. [Obs.] Locke.

Sort"ance (?), n. [From Sort, v. i.] Suitableness; agreement. [Obs.] hak.

Sort"er (?), n. One who, or that which, sorts.

||Sor"tes (?), n., pl. of Sors.

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.

Sor"ti*lege (?), n. [F. sortilège, 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.

Sor`ti*le"gious (?), a. Pertaining to sortilege.

Sor"til"e*gy (?), n. Sortilege. [R.] De Quincey.

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.

Sort"ment (?), n. Assortiment. [Obs.]

||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.

Sor"we (?), n. & v. Sorrow. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Sor"we*ful (?), a. Sorrowful. [Obs.] Chaucer.

So"ry (?), n. [L. sory, Gr. &?;.] (Old Min. Chem.) Green vitriol, or some earth imregnated with it.

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`, adv. Tolerably; passably. H. James.

Soss (?; 115), v. i. [Cf. Souse.] To fall at once into a chair or seat; to sit lazily. [Obs.] Swift.

Soss, v. t. To throw in a negligent or careless manner; to toss. [Obs.] Swift.

Soss, n. 1. A lazy fellow. [Obs.] Cotgrave.

2. A heavy fall. [Prov. Eng.] Hallowell.

Soss, n. [See Sesspol.] Anything dirty or muddy; a dirty puddle. [Prov. Eng.]

||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 (?), 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 (?), a. Sottish; foolish; stupid; dull. [Obs.] "Rich, but sot." Marston.

Sot, v. t. To stupefy; to infatuate; to besot. [R.]

I hate to see a brave, bold fellow sotted.

Dryden.

Sot, v. i. To tipple to stupidity. [R.] Goldsmith.

So`ta*de"an (?), a. Sotadic.

So*tad"ic (?), a. Pertaining to, or resembling, the lascivious compositions of the Greek poet Sotades. -- n. A Sotadic verse or poem.

Sote (?), a. Sweet. [Obs.] Chaucer. Fairfax.

{ So"tel (?), So"til (?) }, a. Subtile. [Obs.]

So*te`ri*ol"o*gy (?), n. [Gr. &?; safety (from &?; saving, &?; a savoir, &?; to save) + -logy.] 1. A discourse on health, or the science of promoting and preserving health.

2. (Theol.) The doctrine of salvation by Jesus Christ.

Sothe (? or ?), a. Sooth. [Obs.] Chaucer.

{ So"thi*ac (?), Soth"ic (?) }, a. Of or pertaining to Sothis, the Egyptian name for the Dog Star; taking its name from the Dog Star; canicular.

Sothiac, or Sothic, year (Chronol.), the Egyptian year of 365 days and 6 hours, as distinguished from the Egyptian vague year, which contained 365 days. The Sothic period consists of 1,460 Sothic years, being equal to 1,461 vague years. One of these periods ended in July, a. d. 139.

So"til*te (?), n. Subtlety. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Sot"ted (?), a. & p. p. of Sot. Befooled; deluded; besotted. [Obs.] "This sotted priest." Chaucer.

Sot"ter*y (?), n. Folly. [Obs.] Gauden.

Sot"tish (?), a. [From Sot.] Like a sot; doltish; very foolish; drunken.

How ignorant are sottish pretenders to astrology!

Swift.

Syn. -- Dull; stupid; senseless; doltish; infatuate.

-- Sot"tish*ly, adv. -- Sot"tish*ness, n.

||Sot`to vo"ce (?). [It.] 1. (Mus.) With a restrained voice or moderate ||force; in an undertone.

2. Spoken low or in an undertone.

Sou (?), n.; pl. Sous (#) or (#). [F. sou, OF. sol, from L. solidus a gold coin, in LL., a coin of less value. See Sold, n., Solid, and and cf. Sol, Soldo.] An old French copper coin, equivalent in value to, and now displaced by, the five-centime piece ( of a franc), which is popularly called a sou.

Sou*a"ri nut` (?). (Bot.) The large edible nutlike seed of a tall tropical American tree (Caryocar nuciferum) of the same natural order with the tea plant; -- also called butternut. [Written also sawarra nut.]

||Sou"bah (?), n. See Subah.

||Sou"bah*dar (?), n. See Subahdar.

Sou`brette", n. [F.] A female servant or attendant; specifically, as a term of the theater, a lady's maid, in comedies, who acts the part of an intrigante; a meddlesome, mischievous female servant or young woman.

Sou`bri`quet" (?), n. See Sobriquet.

Souce (?), n. See 1st Souse.

Souce, v. t. & i. See Souse. [Obs.] penser.

Sou*chong" (?), n. [Chin. seou chong little plant or sort.] A kind of black tea of a fine quality.

Sou*dan" (?), n.[F.] A sultan. [Obs.]

Soud"ed (&?;), Soud"et (&?;), a. [See Solder.] United; consolidated; made firm; strengthened. [Obs.]

O martyr souded for virginity!

Chaucer.

Souf"fle (?), n. [F.] (Med.) A murmuring or blowing sound; as, the uterine souffle heard over the pregnant uterus.

Souf"flé (?), n. [F., fr. soufflé, p. p. of souffler to puff.] (Cookery) A side dish served hot from the oven at dinner, made of eggs, milk, and flour or other farinaceous substance, beaten till very light, and flavored with fruits, liquors, or essence.

Sough (?), n. A sow. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Sough (?), n. [Etymol. uncertain.] A small drain; an adit. [Prov. Eng.] W. M. Buchanan.

Sough (?; 277), n. [Cf. Icel. s&?;gr (in comp.) a rushing sound, or OE. swough, swogh, a sound, AS. sw&?;gan to rustle. Cf. Surf, Swoon, v. i.] 1. The sound produced by soughing; a hollow murmur or roaring.

The whispering leaves or solemn sough of the forest.

W. Howitt.

2. Hence, a vague rumor or flying report. [Scot.]

3. A cant or whining mode of speaking, especially in preaching or praying. [Scot.] Jamieson.

Sough, v. i. To whistle or sigh, as the wind.

Sought (?), imp. & p. p. of Seek.

Souke (?), v. t. & i. To suck. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Soul (?), a. Sole. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Soul (?), a. Sole. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Soul, v. i. [F. soûler to satiate. See Soil to feed.] To afford suitable sustenance. [Obs.] Warner.

Soul, n. [OE. soule, saule, AS. swel, swl; akin to OFries. s&?;le, OS. s&?;ola, D. ziel, G. seele, OHG. s&?;la, s&?;ula, Icel. sla, Sw. själ, Dan. siæl, Goth. saiwala; of uncertain origin, perhaps akin to L. saeculum a lifetime, age (cf. Secular.)] 1. The spiritual, rational, and immortal part in man; that part of man which enables him to think, and which renders him a subject of moral government; -- sometimes, in distinction from the higher nature, or spirit, of man, the so-called animal soul, that is, the seat of life, the sensitive affections and phantasy, exclusive of the voluntary and rational powers; -- sometimes, in distinction from the mind, the moral and emotional part of man's nature, the seat of feeling, in distinction from intellect; -- sometimes, the intellect only; the understanding; the seat of knowledge, as distinguished from feeling. In a more general sense, "an animating, separable, surviving entity, the vehicle of individual personal existence." Tylor.

The eyes of our souls only then begin to see, when our bodily eyes are closing.

Law.

2. The seat of real life or vitality; the source of action; the animating or essential part. "The hidden soul of harmony." Milton.

Thou sun, of this great world both eye and soul.

Milton.

3. The leader; the inspirer; the moving spirit; the heart; as, the soul of an enterprise; an able general is the soul of his army.

He is the very soul of bounty!

Shak.

4. Energy; courage; spirit; fervor; affection, or any other noble manifestation of the heart or moral nature; inherent power or goodness.

That he wants algebra he must confess; But not a soul to give our arms success.

Young.

5. A human being; a person; -- a familiar appellation, usually with a qualifying epithet; as, poor soul.

As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country.

Prov. xxv. 25.

God forbid so many simple souls Should perish by the aword!

Shak.

Now mistress Gilpin (careful soul).

Cowper.

6. A pure or disembodied spirit.

That to his only Son . . . every soul in heaven Shall bend the knee.

Milton.

Soul is used in the formation of numerous compounds, most of which are of obvious signification; as, soul-betraying, soul-consuming, soul-destroying, soul- distracting, soul-enfeebling, soul-exalting, soul-felt, soul-harrowing, soul-piercing, soul-quickening, soul-reviving, soul-stirring, soul-subduing, soul-withering, etc.

Syn. -- Spirit; life; courage; fire; ardor.

Cure of souls. See Cure, n., 2. -- Soul bell, the passing bell. Bp. Hall. -- Soul foot. See Soul scot, below. [Obs.] -- Soul scot or Soul shot. [Soul + scot, or shot; cf. AS. swelsceat.] (O. Eccl. Law) A funeral duty paid in former times for a requiem for the soul. Ayliffe.

Soul (?), v. t. To indue with a soul; to furnish with a soul or mind. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Souled (?), a. Furnished with a soul; possessing soul and feeling; -- used chiefly in composition; as, great-souled Hector. "Grecian chiefs . . . largely souled." Dryden.

||Sou"li*li` (?), n. (Zoöl.) A long-tailed, crested Javan monkey ||(Semnopithecus mitratus). The head, the crest, and the upper surface ||of the tail, are black.

Soul"less (?), a. Being without a soul, or without greatness or nobleness of mind; mean; spiritless.

Slave, souless villain, dog!

Shak.

Soul"less*ly, adv. In a soulless manner. Tylor.

Soun (?), n. & v. Sound. [Obs.] aucer.

Sound (?), n. [AS. sund a swimming, akin to E. swim. See Swim.] The air bladder of a fish; as, cod sounds are an esteemed article of food.

Sound, n. (Zoöl.) A cuttlefish. [Obs.] Ainsworth.

Sound, a. [Compar. Sounder (?); superl. Soundest.] [OE. sound, AS. sund; akin to D. gezond, G. gesund, OHG. gisunt, Dan. & Sw. sund, and perhaps to L. sanus. Cf. Sane.] 1. Whole; unbroken; unharmed; free from flaw, defect, or decay; perfect of the kind; as, sound timber; sound fruit; a sound tooth; a sound ship.

2. Healthy; not diseased; not being in a morbid state; -- said of body or mind; as, a sound body; a sound constitution; a sound understanding.

3. Firm; strong; safe.

The brasswork here, how rich it is in beams, And how, besides, it makes the whole house sound.

Chapman.

4. Free from error; correct; right; honest; true; faithful; orthodox; -- said of persons; as, a sound lawyer; a sound thinker.

Do not I know you a favorer Of this new seat? Ye are nor sound.

Shak.

5. Founded in truth or right; supported by justice; not to be overthrown on refuted; not fallacious; as, sound argument or reasoning; a sound objection; sound doctrine; sound principles.

Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me.

2 Tim. i. 13.

6. heavy; laid on with force; as, a sound beating.

7. Undisturbed; deep; profound; as, sound sleep.

8. Founded in law; legal; valid; not defective; as, a sound title to land.

Sound is sometimes used in the formation of self- explaining compounds; as, sound-headed, sound-hearted, sound-timbered, etc.

Sound currency (Com.), a currency whose actual value is the same as its nominal value; a currency which does not deteriorate or depreciate or fluctuate in comparision with the standard of values.

Sound, adv. Soundly.

So sound he slept that naught might him awake.

Spenser.

Sound, n. [AS. sund a narrow sea or strait; akin to Icel., Sw., Dan. & G. sund, probably so named because it could be swum across. See Swim.] (Geog.) A narrow passage of water, or a strait between the mainland and an island; also, a strait connecting two seas, or connecting a sea or lake with the ocean; as, the Sound between the Baltic and the german Ocean; Long Island Sound.

The Sound of Denmark, where ships pay toll.

Camden.

Sound dues, tolls formerly imposed by Denmark on vessels passing through the Baltic Sound.

Sound, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Sounded; p. pr. & vb. n. Sounding.] [F. sonder; cf. AS. sundgyrd a sounding rod, sundline a sounding line (see Sound a narrow passage of water).] 1. To measure the depth of; to fathom; especially, to ascertain the depth of by means of a line and plummet.

2. Fig.: To ascertain, or try to ascertain, the thoughts, motives, and purposes of (a person); to examine; to try; to test; to probe.

I was in jest, And by that offer meant to sound your breast.

Dryden.

I've sounded my Numidians man by man.

Addison.

3. (Med.) To explore, as the bladder or urethra, with a sound; to examine with a sound; also, to examine by auscultation or percussion; as, to sound a patient.

<! p. 1375 !>

Sound (?), v. i. To ascertain the depth of water with a sounding line or other device.

I sound as a shipman soundeth in the sea with his plummet to know the depth of sea.

Palsgrave.

Sound, n. [F. sonde. See Sound to fathom.] (Med.) Any elongated instrument or probe, usually metallic, by which cavities of the body are sounded or explored, especially the bladder for stone, or the urethra for a stricture.

Sound, n. [OE. soun, OF. son, sun, F. son, fr. L. sonus akin to Skr. svana sound, svan to sound, and perh. to E. swan. Cf. Assonant, Consonant, Person, Sonata, Sonnet, Sonorous, Swan.] 1. The peceived object occasioned by the impulse or vibration of a material substance affecting the ear; a sensation or perception of the mind received through the ear, and produced by the impulse or vibration of the air or other medium with which the ear is in contact; the effect of an impression made on the organs of hearing by an impulse or vibration of the air caused by a collision of bodies, or by other means; noise; report; as, the sound of a drum; the sound of the human voice; a horrid sound; a charming sound; a sharp, high, or shrill sound.

The warlike sound Of trumpets loud and clarions.

Milton.

2. The occasion of sound; the impulse or vibration which would occasion sound to a percipient if present with unimpaired; hence, the theory of vibrations in elastic media such cause sound; as, a treatise on sound.

In this sense, sounds are spoken of as audible and inaudible.

3. Noise without signification; empty noise; noise and nothing else.

Sense and not sound . . . must be the principle.

Locke.

Sound boarding, boards for holding pugging, placed in partitions of under floors in order to deaden sounds. - - Sound bow, in a series of transverse sections of a bell, that segment against which the clapper strikes, being the part which is most efficacious in producing the sound. See Illust. of Bell. -- Sound post. (Mus.) See Sounding post, under Sounding.

Sound, v. i. [OE. sounen, sownen, OF. soner, suner, F. sonner, from L. sonare. See Sound a noise.] 1. To make a noise; to utter a voice; to make an impulse of the air that shall strike the organs of hearing with a perceptible effect. "And first taught speaking trumpets how to sound." Dryden.

How silver-sweet sound lovers' tongues!

Shak.

2. To be conveyed in sound; to be spread or published; to convey intelligence by sound.

From you sounded out the word of the Lord.

1 Thess. i. 8.

3. To make or convey a certain impression, or to have a certain import, when heard; hence, to seem; to appear; as, this reproof sounds harsh; the story sounds like an invention.

Good sir, why do you start, and seem to fear Things that do sound so fair?

Shak.

To sound in or into, to tend to; to partake of the nature of; to be consonant with. [Obs., except in the phrase To sound in damages, below.]

Soun[d]ing in moral virtue was his speech.

Chaucer.

-- To sound in damages (Law), to have the essential quality of damages. This is said of an action brought, not for the recovery of a specific thing, as replevin, etc., but for damages only, as trespass, and the like.

Sound, v. t. 1. To causse to make a noise; to play on; as, to sound a trumpet or a horn.

A bagpipe well could he play and soun[d].

Chaucer.

2. To cause to exit as a sound; as, to sound a note with the voice, or on an instrument.

3. To order, direct, indicate, or proclain by a sound, or sounds; to give a signal for by a certain sound; as, to sound a retreat; to sound a parley.

The clock sounded the hour of noon.

G. H. Lewes.

4. To celebrate or honor by sounds; to cause to be reported; to publish or proclaim; as, to sound the praises of fame of a great man or a great exploit.

5. To examine the condition of (anything) by causing the same to emit sounds and noting their character; as, to sound a piece of timber; to sound a vase; to sound the lungs of a patient.

6. To signify; to import; to denote. [Obs.] Milton.

Soun[d]ing alway the increase of his winning.

Chaucer.

Sound"a*ble (?), a. Capable of being sounded.

Sound"age (?; 48), n. Dues for soundings.

Sound"-board` (?), n. A sounding- board.

To many a row of pipes the sound-board breathes.

Milton.

Sound"er (?), n. One who, or that which; sounds; specifically, an instrument used in telegraphy in place of a register, the communications being read by sound.

Sound"er, n. (Zoöl.) A herd of wild hogs.

Sound"ing, a. Making or emitting sound; hence, sonorous; as, sounding words. Dryden.

Sound"ing, n. 1. The act of one who, or that which, sounds (in any of the senses of the several verbs).

2. (Naut.) [From Sound to fathom.] (a) measurement by sounding; also, the depth so ascertained. (b) Any place or part of the ocean, or other water, where a sounding line will reach the bottom; -- usually in the plural. (c) The sand, shells, or the like, that are brought up by the sounding lead when it has touched bottom.

Sounding lead, the plummet at the end of a sounding line. -- Sounding line, a line having a plummet at the end, used in making soundings. -- Sounding post (Mus.), a small post in a violin, violoncello, or similar instrument, set under the bridge as a support, for propagating the sounds to the body of the instrument; -- called also sound post. -- Sounding rod (Naut.), a rod used to ascertain the depth of water in a ship's hold. -- In soundings, within the eighty-fathom line. Ham. Nav. Encyc.

Sound"ing-board` (?), n. 1. (Mus.) A thin board which propagates the sound in a piano, in a violin, and in some other musical instruments.

2. A board or structure placed behind or over a pulpit or rostrum to give distinctness to a speaker's voice.

3. pl. See Sound boarding, under Sound, a noise.

Sound"less (?), a. Not capable of being sounded or fathomed; unfathomable. Shak.

Sound"less, a. Having no sound; noiseless; silent. -- Sound"less*ly, adv. -- Sound"less*ness, n.

Sound"ly, adv. In a sound manner.

Sound"ness, n. The quality or state of being sound; as, the soundness of timber, of fruit, of the teeth, etc.; the soundness of reasoning or argument; soundness of faith.

Syn. -- Firmness; strength; solidity; healthiness; truth; rectitude.

Soune (?), v. t. & i. To sound. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Sounst (?), a. Soused. See Souse. [Obs.]

Soup (?), n. [F. soupe, OF. sope, supe, soupe, perhaps originally, a piece of bread; probably of Teutonic origin; cf. D. sop sop, G. suppe soup. See Sop something dipped in a liquid, and cf. Supper.] A liquid food of many kinds, usually made by boiling meat and vegetables, or either of them, in water, -- commonly seasoned or flavored; strong broth.