Christian iconography, the study of the representations in art of the
Deity, the persons of the Trinity, angels, saints, virtues, vices, etc.
I`co*nol"a*ter (?), n. [Gr. e'ikw`n an image + &?; to worship: cf. F.
iconolâtre.] One who worships images.
I`co*nol"a*try (?), n. [See Iconolater.] The worship of images as
symbols; -- distinguished from idolatry, the worship of images
themselves.
I`co*nol"o*gy (?), n. [Gr. &?;; e'ikw`n an image + &?; discourse: cf.
F. iconologie.] The discussion or description of portraiture or of
representative images. Cf. Iconography.
I`co*nom"a*chy (?), n. [Gr. &?; a war against images; e'ikw`n an image
+ &?; fight.] Hostility to images as objects of worship. [R.]
I`co*nom"ic*al (?), a. [Gr. &?;; e'ikw`n image + &?; fight.] Opposed to
pictures or images as objects of worship. [R.] Sir T. Browne.
I`co*noph"i*list (?), n. [Gr. e'ikw`n an image + &?; to love.] A
student, or lover of the study, of iconography.
I`co*sa*he"dral (?), a. [See Icosahedron.] (Geom.) Having twenty equal
sides or faces.
I`co*sa*he"dron (?), n. [Gr. &?;; &?; twenty + &?; seat, base, fr. &?;
to sit.] (Geom.) A solid bounded by twenty sides or faces.
Regular icosahedron, one of the five regular polyhedrons, bounded by
twenty equilateral triangules. Five triangles meet to form each solid
angle of the polyhedron.
||I`co*san"dri*a (?), n. pl. [NL., fr. Gr. &?; twenty +&?;, &?;, man,
||male: cf. F. icosandrie.] (Bot.) A Linnæan class of plants, having
||twenty or more stamens inserted in the calyx.
||
{ I`co*san"dri*an (?), I`co*san"drous (?), } a. (Bot.) Pertaining to
the class Icosandria; having twenty or more stamens inserted in the
calyx.
I`co*si*tet`ra*he"dron (?), n. [Gr. &?; twenty + &?;, combining form of
&?; four + &?; seat, base.] (Crystallog.) A twenty-four-sided solid; a
tetragonal trisoctahedron or trapezohedron.
-ics (?). A suffix used in forming the names of certain sciences,
systems, etc., as acoustics, mathematics, dynamics, statistics,
politics, athletics.
The names sciences ending in ics, as mathematics, mechanics,
metaphysics, optics, etc., are, with respect to their form, nouns in
the plural number. The plural form was probably introduced to mark the
complex nature of such sciences; and it may have been in imitation of
the use of the Greek plurals &?;, &?;, &?;, &?;, etc., to designate
parts of Aristotle's writings. Previously to the present century, nouns
ending in ics were construed with a verb or a pronoun in the plural;
but it is now generally considered preferable to treat them as
singular. In Greman we have die Mathematik, die Mechanik, etc., and in
French la metaphysique, la optique, etc., corresponding to our
mathematics, mechanics, metaphysics, optics, etc.
Mathematics have for their object the consideration of whatever is
capable of being numbered or measured.
John Davidson.
The citations subjoined will serve as examples of the best present
usage.
Ethics is the sciences of the laws which govern our actions as
moral agents.
Sir W. Hamilton.
All parts of knowledge have their origin in metaphysics, and
finally, perhaps, revolve into it.
De Quincey.
Mechanics, like pure mathematics, may be geometrical, or may be
analytical; that is, it may treat space either by a direct
consideration of its properties, or by a symbolical representation.
Whewell.
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Ic*ter"ic (?), n. A remedy for the jaundice.
{ Ic*ter"ic (?), Ic*ter"ic*al (?), } a. [L. ictericus, Gr. &?;, fr. &?;
jaundice: cf. F. ictérique.] 1. Pertaining to, or affected with,
jaundice.