Sure they 're conscious Of some intended mischief, and are fled To put it into act. Denbam's Sophy. 6. Incipient agency; tendency to an effort. Her legs were buskin'd, and the left before, In act to shoot; a silver bow she bore. Dryden. 7. A part of a play, during which the action proceeds without interruption. Many never doubt but the whole condition required by Christ, the repentance he came to preach, will, in that last scene of their last act, immediately before the exit, be as opportunely and acceptably performed, as at any other point of their lives. Hammond's Fundamentals. Five acts are the just measure of a play. Rose. 1. A decree of a court of justice, or edict of a legislature. They make edicts for usury to support usurers, repeal daily any wholesome act established against the rich, and provide more piercing statutes daily to chain up and restrain the poor. Shaks. You that are king, though he do wear the crown, Have caus'd him, by new act of parliament, To blot out me. Shakspeare's Henry VI. 9. Record of judicial proceedings. Judicial acts are all those matters which relate to judicial proceedings; and being reduced into writing by a public notary, are recorded by the authority of the judge. Ayliffe. ACTION. n. s. [action, Fr. actio, Lat.] 1. The quality or state of acting: opposite to rest. Shaksp. O noble English! that could entertain With half their forces the full power of France; And let another half stand laughing by, All out of work, and cold for action. 2. An act or thing done; a deed. This action, I now go on, Is for my better grace. Shakspeare's Wint. Tale. God never accepts a good inclination instead of a good action, where that action may be done; nay, so much the contrary, that if a good inclination be not seconded by a good action, the want of that action is made so much the more criminal and inexcusable. South. 3. Agency; operation. It is better, therefore, that the earth should move about its own center, and make those useful vicissitudes of night and day, than expose always the same side to the action of the sun. Bentley. He has settled laws, and laid down rules, conformable to which natural bodies are governed in their actions upon one another. Cheyne. 4. The series of events represented in a fable. This action should have three qualifications. First, it should be but one action; secondly, it should be an entire action; and, thirdly, it should be a great action. Addison. 5. Gesticulation; the accordance of the motions of the body with the words spoken; a part of oratory. He that speaks doth gripe the hearer'swrist, While he that hears makes fearful action With wrinkled brows. Shaksp. King John. Our orators are observed to make use of less gesture or action than those of other countries. Addison. 6. [In law.] It is used with the preposition against before the person, and for before the thing. Actions are personal, real, and mixt: action personal belongs to a man against another, by reason of any contract, offence, or cause of like force with a contract or offence, made or done by him, or some other for whose fact he is to answer. Action real is given to any man against another, that possesses the thing required or sued for in his own name, and no other man's. Action mixt is that which lies as well against or for the thing which we seek, as against the person that hath it; called mixt, because it hath a mixt respect both to the thing and to the person. Action is divided into civil, penal, and mixt. Action civil is that which tends only to the recovery of that which is due to us; as a sum of money formerly lent. Action penal is that which aims at some penalty or punishment in the party sued, be it corporal or pecuniary: as, in common law, the next friends of a man feloniously slain shall pursue the law against the murderer. Action mixt is that which seeks both the thing whereof we are deprived, and a penalty also for the unjust detaining of the same. Action upon the case, is an action given for redress of wrongs done without force against any man, by law not specially provided for. Action upon the statute, is an action brought against a man upon breach of a statute. Cowell. There was never man could have a juster action against filthy fortune than I, since, all other things being granted me, her blindness is the only lett. Sidney. For our reward then, First, all our debts are paid; dangers of law, Actions, decrees, judgments, against us quitted. Ben Jonson. 7. In the plural, in France, the same as stocks in England. A'CTIONABLE. adj. [from action.] That admits an action in law to be brought against it; punishable. His process was formed; whereby he was found guilty of nought else, that I could learn, which was actionable, but of ambition. Howel, No man's face is actionable: these singularities are interpretable from more innocent causes. Collier A'CTIONARY, or A'CTIONIST. n. 5. [from action.] One that has a share in actions or stocks. A'CTION-TAKING. adj. Accustomed to resent by means of law; litigious. Dict. A knave, a rascal, a filthy worsted-stocking knave; a lily-liver'd action-taking knave. Shaksp ACTITA'TION. n. s. [from actito, Lat.] Action quick and frequent. To ACTIVATE. v. a. [from active.] To make active. This word is perhaps. used only by the author alleged. As snow and ice, especially being holpen, and their cold activated by nitre or salt, will turn water into ice, and that in a few hours; so it may be, it will turn wood or stiff clay into stone, in longer time. ACTIVE. adj. [activus, Lat.]· 1. That has the power or quality of acting. Bacon. 2. That which acts, opposed to passive, or that which suffers. -When an even flame two hearts did touch, His office was indulgently to fit Actives to passives, correspondency Only his subject was. you Donne. be If you think that, by multiplying the additaments in the same proportion that multiply the ore, the work will follow, you may deceived: for quantity in the passive will add more resistance than the quantity in the active Bacon. will add force. 3. Busy; engaged in action: opposed to idle or sedentary, or any state of which the duties are performed only by the mental powers. "Tis virtuous action that must praise bring forth, Without which, slow advice is little worth; Yet they who give good counsel, praise deserve, Tho' in the active part they cannot serve. Denham. 4. Practical; not merely theoretical. The world hath had in these men fresh experience, how dangerous such active errors are. 5. Nimble; agile; quick. Hooker. Some bend the stubborn bow for victory; Would you have Such an Herculean actor in the scene, When a good actor doth his part present, In every act he our attention draws, That at the last he may find just applause. Denham. These false beauties of the stage are no more lasting than a rainbow; when the actor ceases to shine upon them, they vanish in a twinkling. Dryden's Spanish Friar. ACTRESS. n. s. [actrice, Fr.] 1. She that performs any thing. Virgil has, indeed, admitted Fame as an actress in the Eneid; but the part she acts is very short, and none of the most admired cirAddison. cumstances of that divine work. We sprights have just such natures We had, for all the world, when human creatures; And therefore I, that was an actress here, Play all my tricks in hell, a goblin there. Dryden. 2. A woman that plays on the stage. ACTUAL. adj. [actuel, Fr.] 1. That comprises action. In this slumbry agitation, besides her walking and other actual performances, what, at any time, have you heard her say? Shakspeart. 2. Really in act; not merely potential. Sin, there in pow'r before Once actual; now in body, and to dwell Habitual habitant." Milton. And some with darts their active sinews try. Dryd. 3. In act; not purely in speculation. 6. In grammar. A verb active is that which signifies action; as, I teach. Clarke's Latin Grammar. A'CTIVELY, adv. [from active.] In an active manner; busily; nimbly. In an active signification; as, the word is used actively. A'CTIVENESS. n. s. [from active.] The quality of being active; quickness; nimbleness. This is a word more rarely used than activity. What strange agility and activeness do our common tumblers and dancers on the rope attain to, by continual exercise. Wilkins' Math. Mag. ACTIVITY. n. 3. [from active.] The quality of being active: applied either to things or persons. Salt put to ice, as in the producing of the artificial ice, increaseth the activity of cold. Bacon. Our adversary will not be idle, though we are; he watches every turn of our soul, and incident of our life and, if we remit our activity, will take advantage of our indolence. A'CTOR. n. s. [actor, Lat.] Rogers. 1. He that acts or performs any thing. The virtues of either age may correct the defects of both: and good for succession, that young men may be learners, while men in age are Bacon. actors. He who writes an Encomium Neronis, if he does it heartily, is himself but a transcript of Nero in his mind, and would gladly enough see such pranks, as he was famous for, acted again, though he dares not be the actor of them himself. South. 2. He that personates a character; a stageplayer. For he that but conceives a crime in thought, Contracts the danger of an actual fault : Then what must he expect, that still proceeds To finish sin, and work up thoughts to deeds. Dryden. ACTUALITY. n. s. [from actual.] The state of being actual. The actuality of these spiritual qualities is thus imprisoned, though their potentiality be not quite destroyed; and thus a crass, extended, impenetrable, passive, divisible, unintelligent substance is generated, which we call matter. Cheyne ACTUALLY. adv. [from actual.] In act; in effect; really. All mankind acknowledge themselves able and sufficient to do many things, which actually they never do. South. Read one of the Chronicles, and you will think you were reading a history of the kings of Israel or Judah, where the historians were actually inspired, and where, by a particular scheme of providence, the kings were distinguished by judgments or blessings, according as they promo ted idolatry, or the worship of the true God. Addison. Though our temporal prospects should be full of danger, or though the days of sorrow should actually overtake us, yet still we must repose ourselves on God. Rogers A'CTUALNESS. n. s. [from actual.] The quality of being actual. ACTUARY. n. s. [actuarius, Lat.] The register who compiles the minutes of the proceedings of a court: a term of the civil law. Suppose the judge should say, that he would have the keeping of the acts of court remain with him, and the notary will have the custody af To A ́CTUATE, v. a. [from ago, actum, Lat.] To put into action; to invigorate or increase the powers of motion. The light made by this animal depends upon a living spirit, and seems, by some vital irradiation, to be actuated into this lustre. Brown. Such is every man, who has not actuated the grace given him, to the subduing of every reigning sin. Decay of Piety. Men of the greatest abilities are most fired with ambition; and, on the contrary, mean and narrow minds are the least actuated by it. Addison. Our passions are the springs which actuate the powers of our nature. Rogers. ACTUATE. adj. [from the verb.] Put into action; animated; brought into effect. The active informations of the intellect, filling the passive reception of the will, like form closing with matter, grew actuate into a third and distinct perfection of practice. South. ACTUO'SE. adj. [from act.] That has strong powers of action: a word little used. To A'CUATE. v. a. [acuo, Lat.] To sharpen; to invigorate with any powers of sharpness. Immoderate feeding upon powdered beef, pickled meats, and debauching with strong wines, do inflame and acuate the blood, whereby it is capacitated to corrode the lungs. Harvey on Consumptions. ACU'LEATE, adj. [aculeatus, Lat.] That has a point or sting; prickly; that terminates in a sharp point. ACU'MEN. n. s. [Lat.] a sharp point; figuratively, quickness of intellects. The word was much affected by the learned Aristarchus in common conversation, to signify genius or natural acumen. Pope. ACUMINATED. particip. adj. Ending in a point; sharp-pointed. This is not acuminated and pointed, as in the rest, but seemeth, as it were, cut off. Brown. I appropriate this word, Noli me tangere, to a small round acuminated tubercle, which hath not much pain, unless touched or rubbed, or exasperated by topicks. Wiseman. ACUTE. adj. [acutus, Lat.] 1. Sharp; ending in a point: opposed to obtuse or blunt. Having the ideas of an obtuse and an acute angled triangle, both drawn from equal bases and between parallels, I can, by intuitive knowledge, perceive the one not to be the other, but cannot that way know whether they be equal. Locke. 2. In a figurative sense, applied to men, ingenious; penetrating: opposed to dull or stupid. The acute and ingenious author, among many very fine thoughts, and uncommon reflections, has started the notion of seeing all things in God. Locke. 3. Spoken of the senses, vigorous; powerful in operation. Were our senses altered, and made much quicker and acuter, the appearance and outward scheme of things would have quite another face to us. Locke, 4. Acute disease. Any disease, which is attended with an increased velocity of blood, and terminates in a few days: opposed to chronical. Quincs. 5. Acute accent; that which raises or sharpens the voice. ACUTELY. adv. [from acute.] After an acute manner; sharply: it is used as well in the figurative as primitive sense. He that will look into many parts of Asia and America, will find men reason there, perhaps, as acutely as himself, who yet never heard of a ACUTENESS. n. s. [from acute.] syllogism. Locke 1. Sharpness. 2. Force of intellects. They would not be so apt to think, that there could be nothing added to the acuteness and penetration of their understandings. Locke 3. Quickness and vigour of senses. If eyes so framed could not view at once the hand and the hour-plate, their owner could not be benefited by that acuteness; which, whilst it discovered the secret contrivance of the machine, made him lose its use. Locke 4. Violence and speedy crisis of a malady. We apply present remedies according to indications, respecting rather the acuteness of the disease, and precipitancy of the occasion, than the rising and setting of stars. Brown. 5. Sharpness of sound. This acuteness of sound will shew, that whilst, to the eye, the bell seems to be at rest, yet the minute parts of it continue in a very brisk mo tion, without which they could not strike the air. Boyle ADA'CTED. part. adj. [adactus, Lat.] Driven by force: a word little used. The verb adact is not used. A'DAGE. n. s. [adagium, Lat.] A maxim Dict. handed down from antiquity; a proverb. Shallow unimproved intellects are confident pretenders to certainty; as if, contrary to the adage, science had no friend but ignorance. Glanville Fine fruits of learning! old ambitious fool, Dar'st thou apply that adage of the school, At if 'tis nothing worth that lies conceal'd, And science is not science till reveal'd? Dryden. ADAGIO. n. s. [Italian, at leisure.] A term used by musicians, to mark a slow time. A'DAMANT. n. s. [adamas, Lat. from a and dew, that is insuperable, infrangible.] 1. 2. A stone, imagined by writers, of impenetrable hardness. So great a fear my name amongst them spread, That they suppos'd I could rend bars of steel, And spurn in pieces posts of adamant. Shaks. Satan, with vast and haughty strides advanc'd, Came tow'ring, arm'd in adamant and gold. Milton. Eternal Deities, Who rule the world with absolute decrees, And write whatever time shall bring to pass, With pens of adamant, on plates of brass. Dryd. The diamond. `Hardness, wherein some stones exceed all E2 This is also evidenced in eggs, whereof the To A'DDLE. v. n. To grow; to increase. Where ivy embraceth the tree very sore, Poor slaves in metre, dull and addle-pated, Who rhyme below even David's psalms translated. To ADDRESS. v. a. [addresser, Fr. from Dryden. dereçar, Span. from dirigo, directum, Lat.] 1. To prepare one's self to enter upon any They fell directly on the English battle; Shaks. 3. To apply to another by words, with 4. Sometimes without a preposition. Addressing to Pollio, his great patron, and 8. A DE His suit was common; but, above the rest, To both the brother-princes thus addrest. Dryden. To address [in law] is to apply to the king in form. The representatives of the nation in parlia ment, and the privy-council, addressed the king to have it recalled. Swift. ADDRE'ss. n. s. [addresse, Fr.] Henry, in knots involving Emma's name, Prior. Most of the persons, to whom these addresses are made, are not wise and skilful judges, but are influenced by their own sinful appetites and passions. Watts' Improvement of the Mind. 2, Courtship. They often have revealed their passion to me; But, tell me, whose address thou favour'st most; I long to know, and yet I dread to hear it. Addison. A gentleman, whom, I am sure, you yourself would have approved, made his addresses to me. Addison. 3. Manner of addressing another; as, we say, a man of a happy or a pleasing address; a man of an awkward address. 4. Skill; dexterity. I could produce innumerable instances, from my own observation, of events imputed to the 'profound skill and address of a minister, which, in reality, were either mere effects of negligence, weakness, humour, passion, or pride, or at best but the natural course of things left to themselves. 5. Manner of directing a letter: a sense Swift. chiefly mercantile. ADDRESSER, n. s. [from address.] The person that addresses or petitions." ADDU'CENT. adj. [adducens, Lat.] A word applied to those muscles that bring forward, close, or draw together the parts of the body to which they are annexed. To ADDU'LCE. v. a. [addoucir, Fr, dulcis, Quincy, Lat.] To sweeten. Not in use. Thus did the French ambassadors, with great shew of their king's affection, and many sugared words, seek to addulce all matters between the A'DELING. n. s. [from ædel, Sax. illus two kings. Bacon's Henry VII, trious.] A word of honour among the Angles, properly appertaining to the king's children: king Edward the Confessor, being without issue, and intending to make Edgar his heir, called him adeling. Corvell. ADE'MPTION, n. s. [adimo, ademptum, Lat.] Taking away; privation. Dict ADENO'GRAPHY. n. s. [from a`duvqv and yçápw.] A treatise of the glands. ADEPT. n. s. [from adeptus, Lat, that is, adeptus artem.] He that is completely skilled in all the secrets of his art, It is, in its original signification, appropriated to the chymists, but is now extended to other artists. tent menstruums. The preservation of chastity is easy to true adepts. Pope. ADEPT. adj. Skilful; thoroughly versed. If there be really such adept philosophers as we are told of, I am apt to think, that, among their arcana, they are masters of extremely poBoyle. A'DEQUATE. adj. [adequatus, Lat.] Equal to; proportionate; correspondent to, so as to bear an exact resemblance or proportion. It is used generally in a figurative sense, and often with the particle to. Contingent death seems to be the whole adequate object of popular courage; but a necessary and unavoidable coffin strikes paleness into the stoutest heart. Harvey on Consumptions. The arguments were proper, adequate, and sufficient to compass their respective ends. South. All our simple ideas are adequate; because, being nothing but the effects of certain powers in things, fitted and ordained by God to produce such sensations in us, they cannot but be correspondent and adequate to those powers. Locke. Those are adequate ideas, which perfectly represent their archetypes or objects. Inadequate are but a partial, or incomplete, representation of those archetypes to which they are referred. Watts' Logick. A'DEQUATELY, adv. [from adequate.] 1. In an adequate manner; with justness of representation; with exactness of proportion. Gratitude consists adequately in these two things; first, that it is a debt; and, secondly, that it is such a debt as is left to every man's ingenuity whether he will pay or no. South. 2. It is used with the particle to. Hammond. Piety is the necessary christian virtue, proportioned adequately to the omniscience and spirituality of that infinite Deity. A'DEQUATENESS. n. s. [from adequate.] The state of being adequate; justness of representation; exactness of proportion. ADESPO'TICK. adj. Not absolute; not despotick. Dict. To ADHE'RE. v. n. [adhæreo, Lat.] 1. To stick to, as wax to the finger: with to before the thing. 2. To stick, in a figurative sense; to be consistent; to hold together. Why every thing adheres together, that no dram of a scruple, no scruple of a scruple, no incredulous or unsafe circumstance-Shakspeare. 3. To remain firmly fixed to a party, person, or opinion. Good gentlemen, he hath much talk'd of you; And sure I am, two men there are not living To whom he more adheres. Shakspeare. Every man of sense will agree with me, that. angularity is laudable, when, in contradiction to a multitude, it adheres to the dictates of conscience, morality, and honour. Boyle. ADHERENCE. n. s. [from adhere.] See ADHÉSION, 1. The quality of adhering, or sticking; tenacity. 2. In a figurative sense, fixedness of mind; steadiness; fidelity. The firm adherence of the Jews to their religion is no less remarkable than their dispersion; considering it as persecuted or contemned over Addison. the whole earth. A constant adherence to one sort of diet may Arbuth. have bad effects on any constitution. Plain good sense, and a firm adherence to the point, have proved more effectual than those arts, which are contemptuously called the spirit of negociating. Swift. ADHE'RENCY. n. s. [the same with adberence.] 1. 2. Steady attachment. That which adheres. Vices have a native adherency of vezation. Decay of Piety. ADHERENT. adj. [from adhere.} 1. Sticking to. Close to the cliff with both his hands he clung, And stuck adherent, and suspended hung. Pope. 2. United with. 2 Modes are said to be inherent or adherent, that is, proper or improper. Adherent or improper modes arise from the joining of some accidental substance to the chief subject, which yet may be separated from it so when a bowl is wet, or a boy is clothed, these are adherent modes; for the water and the clothes are distinct substances, which adhere to the bowl, or to the boy. Watts. ADHERENT. n. s. [from adhere.] I. The person that adheres; one that sup ports the cause, or follows the fortune, of another: a follower; a partisan. Princes must give protection to their subjects and adherents, when worthy occasion shall require it. Raleigh. A new war must be undertaken upon the advice of those, who, with their partisans and adberents, were to be the sole gainers by it. Swift. 2. Any thing outwardly belonging to a person. When they cannot shake the main fort, they must try if they can possess themselves of the outworks, raise some prejudice against his dis cretion, his humour, his carriage, and his extrinsic adherents. Government of the Tongue. ADHE'RER. N. s. [from adhere.] He that adheres. He ought to be indulgent to tender consciences; but, at the same time, a firm adherer to the esta blished church. Swift. ADHE'SION. n. s. [adbasio, Lat.] 1. The act or state of sticking to something. Adhesion is generally used in the natural, and adherence in the metaphorical sense; as, the adhesion of iron to the magnet, and adherence of a client to his patron. Why therefore may not the minute parts of other bodies, if they be conveniently shaped for adhesion, stick to one another, as well as stick to this spirit? Boyle. The rest consisting wholly in the sensible configuration, as smooth and rough; or else more. |