||Ce*ras"tes (?), n. [L., a horned serpent, fr. Gr. kera`sths horned, fr. ke`ras horn.] (Zo÷l.) A genus of poisonous African serpents, with a horny scale over each eye; the horned viper.
Ce"rate (?), n. [L. ceratum, ceratm, fr. cera wax.] (Med.) An unctuous preparation for external application, of a consistence intermediate between that of an ointment and a plaster, so that it can be spread upon cloth without the use of heat, but does not melt when applied to the skin.
&fist; Cerate consists essentially of wax (for which resin or spermaceti is sometimes substituted) mixed with oil, lard, and various medicinal ingredients. The cerate (formerly called simple cerate) of the United States Pharmacopoeia is a mixture of three parts of white wax and seven parts of lard.
Ce"ra*ted (?), p. a. [L. ceratus, p. p. of cerare to wax, fr. cera wax.] Covered with wax.
Cer"a*tine (?), a. [Gr. &?; the fallacy called "the horns." fr. ke`ras a horn.] (Logic.) Sophistical.
||Cer`a*to*bran"chi*a (?), n. pl. [NL., fr. Gr. ke`ras, ke`ratos, horn + bra`gchia, n. pl., gills.] (Zo÷l.) A group of nudibranchiate Mollusca having on the back papilliform or branched organs serving as gills.
Cer`a*to*bran"chi*al (?), a. (Anat.) Pertaining to the bone, or cartilage, below the epibranchial in a branchial arch. -- n. A ceratobranchial bone, or cartilage.
||Ce*rat"o*dus (?), n. [NL., fr. Gr. ke`ras, ke`ratos horn + &?; tooth.] (Zo÷l.) A genus of ganoid fishes, of the order Dipnoi, first known as Mesozoic fossil fishes; but recently two living species have been discovered in Australian rivers. They have lungs so well developed that they can leave the water and breathe in air. In Australia they are called salmon and baramunda. See Dipnoi, and Archipterygium.
Cer`a*to*hy"al (?), a. [Gr. ke`ras horn + the letter Υ.] (Anat.) Pertaining to the bone, or cartilage, below the epihyal in the hyoid arch. -- n. A ceratohyal bone, or cartilage, which, in man, forms one of the small horns of the hyoid.
||Cer`a*to*sau"rus (?), n. [NL., fr. Gr. ke`ras a horn + &?; lizard.] (Paleon.) A carnivorous American Jurassic dinosaur allied to the European Megalosaurus. The animal was nearly twenty feet in length, and the skull bears a bony horn core on the united nasal bones. See Illustration in Appendix.
||Cer`a*to*spon"gi*Š (?), n. pl. [NL., fr. Gr. ke`ras, ke`ratos horn + &?; sponge.] (Zo÷l.) An order of sponges in which the skeleton consists of horny fibers. It includes all the commercial sponges.
Ce*rau"nics (?), n. [Gr. &?; thunder and lightning.] That branch of physics which treats of heat and electricity. R. Park.
Ce*rau"no*scope (?), n. [Gr. &?; thunder and lightning + -scope.] An instrument or apparatus employed in the ancient mysteries to imitate thunder and lightning. T. Moore.
Cer*be"re*an (?), a. Of or pertaining to, or resembling, Cerberus. [Written also Cerberian.]
With wide Cerberean mouth.
Milton.