3. (Biol.) To have characters in common with two genera or families, so
as to form a connecting link between them; to interosculate. See
Osculant.
Os`cu*la"tion (?), n. [L. osculatio a kissing: cf. F. osculation.] 1.
The act of kissing; a kiss.
2. (Geom.) The contact of one curve with another, when the number of
consecutive points of the latter through which the former passes
suffices for the complete determination of the former curve. Brande &
C.
Os"cu*la*to*ry (?), a. 1. Of or pertaining to kissing; kissing. "The
osculatory ceremony." Thackeray.
2. (Geom.) Pertaining to, or having the properties of, an osculatrix;
capable of osculation; as, a circle may be osculatory with a curve, at
a given point.
Osculatory circle. (Geom.) See Osculating circle of a curve, under
Circle. -- Osculatory plane (to a curve of double curvature), a plane
which passes through three successive points of the curve. --
Osculatory sphere (to a line of double curvature), a sphere passing
through four consecutive points of the curve.
Os"cu*la*to*ry, n. [LL. osculatorium. See Osculate.] (R. C. Ch.) Same
as Pax, 2.
Os`cu*la"trix (?), n.; pl. Osculatrixes (#). [NL.] (Geom.) A curve
whose contact with a given curve, at a given point, is of a higher
order (or involves the equality of a greater number of successive
differential coefficients of the ordinates of the curves taken at that
point) than that of any other curve of the same kind.
Os"cule (?), n. [Cf. F. oscule. See Osculum.] (Zoöl.) One of the
excurrent apertures of sponges.
||Os"cu*lum (?), n.; pl. Oscula (#). [L., a little mouth.] (Zoöl.) Same
||as Oscule.
-ose (?). [L. -osus: cf. F. -ose. Cf. - ous.]
1. A suffix denoting full of, containing, having the qualities of,
like; as in verbose, full of words; pilose, hairy; globose, like a
globe.
2. (Chem.) A suffix indicating that the substance to the name of which
it is affixed is a member of the carbohydrate group; as in cellulose,
sucrose, dextrose, etc.
O"sier (?), n. [F. osier: cf. Prov. F. oisis, Armor. ozil, aozil, Gr.
&?;, &?;, &?;, L. vitex, and E. withy.] (Bot.) (a) A kind of willow
(Salix viminalis) growing in wet places in Europe and Asia, and
introduced into North America. It is considered the best of the willows
for basket work. The name is sometimes given to any kind of willow. (b)
One of the long, pliable twigs of this plant, or of other similar
plants.
The rank of osiers by the murmuring stream.
Shak.
Osier bed, or Osier holt, a place where willows are grown for basket
making. [Eng.] -- Red osier. (a) A kind of willow with reddish twigs
(Salix rubra). (b) An American shrub (Cornus stolonifera) which has
slender red branches; -- also called osier cornel.
O"sier, a. Made of osiers; composed of, or containing, osiers. "This
osier cage of ours." Shak.
O"siered (?), a. Covered or adorned with osiers; as, osiered banks.
[Poetic] Collins.
O"sier*y (?), n. An osier bed.
O*si"ris (?), n. [L., fr. Gr. &?;; of Egyptian origin.] (Myth.) One of
the principal divinities of Egypt, the brother and husband of Isis. He
was figured as a mummy wearing the royal cap of Upper Egypt, and was
symbolized by the sacred bull, called Apis. Cf. Serapis. -- O*sir"i*an
(#), a.
Os"man*li (?), n.; pl. Osmanlis (#). [So called from Osman. See
Ottoman.] A Turkish official; one of the dominant tribe of Turks;
loosely, any Turk.
Os"mate (?), n. (Chem.) A salt of osmic acid. [Formerly written also
osmiate.]
||Os`ma*te"ri*um (?), n.; pl. Osmateria (#). [NL., fr. Gr. &?; smell.]
||(Zoöl.) One of a pair of scent organs which the larvæ of certain
||butterflies emit from the first body segment, either above or below.
Os"ma*zome (?), n. [Gr. &?; smell, odor + &?; broth: cf. F. osmazôme.]
(Old Chem.) A substance formerly supposed to give to soup and broth
their characteristic odor, and probably consisting of one or several of
the class of nitrogenous substances which are called extractives.
Os`mi*am"ate (?), n. (Chem.) A salt of osmiamic acid.
Os`mi*am"ic (?), a. [Osmium + amido.] (Chem.) Of, pertaining to, or
designating, a nitrogenous acid of osmium, H2N2Os2O5, forming a
well-known series of yellow salts.
Os"mic (?), a. (Chem.) Pertaining to, derived from, or containing,
osmium; specifically, designating those compounds in which it has a
valence higher than in other lower compounds; as, osmic oxide.
Osmic acid. (Chem.) (a) Osmic tetroxide. [Obs.] (b) Osmic acid proper,
an acid analogous to sulphuric acid, not known in the free state, but
forming a well-known and stable series of salts (osmates), which were
formerly improperly called osmites. -- Osmic tetroxide (Chem.), a white
volatile crystalline substance, OsO4, the most stable and
characteristic of the compounds of osmium. It has a burning taste, and
gives off a vapor, which is a powerful irritant poison, violently
attacking the eyes, and emitting a strong chlorinelike odor. Formerly
improperly called osmic acid.
||Os`mi*dro"sis (?), n. [NL., from Gr. &?; smell + &?; to sweat.]
||(Med.) The secretion of fetid sweat.
Os"mi*ous (?), a. (Chem.) Denoting those compounds of osmium in which
the element has a valence relatively lower than in the osmic compounds;
as, osmious chloride. [Written also osmous.]
Osmious acid (Chem.), an acid derived from osmium, analogous to
sulphurous acid, and forming unstable salts. It is a brown amorphous
substance.
Os"mite (?), n. (Chem.) A salt of osmious acid.
Os"mi*um (?), n. [Gr. &?; a smell, odor, akin to &?; to smell. So named
in allusion to the strong chlorinelike odor of osmic tetroxide. See
Odor.] (Chem.) A rare metallic element of the platinum group, found
native as an alloy in platinum ore, and in iridosmine. It is a hard,
infusible, bluish or grayish white metal, and the heaviest substance
known. Its tetroxide is used in histological experiments to stain
tissues. Symbol Os. Atomic weight 191.1. Specific gravity 22.477.
Os*mom"e*ter (?), n. [Gr. &?; impulse + -meter.] (Physics) An
instrument for measuring the amount of osmotic action in different
liquids.
Os*mom"e*try (?), n. (Physics) The study of osmose by means of the
osmometer.
Os"mose (?), n. [Gr. &?;, equiv. to &?; impulse, fr. &?; to push.]
(Chemical Physics) (a) The tendency in fluids to mix, or become equably
diffused, when in contact. It was first observed between fluids of
differing densities, and as taking place through a membrane or an
intervening porous structure. The more rapid flow from the thinner to
the thicker fluid was then called endosmose, and the opposite, slower
current, exosmose. Both are, however, results of the same force. Osmose
may be regarded as a form of molecular attraction, allied to that of
adhesion. (b) The action produced by this tendency.
Electric osmose, or Electric endosmose (Elec.), the transportation of a
liquid through a porous septum by the action of an electric current.
Os*mo"sis (?), n. [NL.] Osmose.
Os*mot"ic (?), a. Pertaining to, or having the property of, osmose; as,
osmotic force.
Os"mund (?), n. (Bot.) A fern of the genus Osmunda, or flowering fern.
The most remarkable species is the osmund royal, or royal fern (Osmunda
regalis), which grows in wet or boggy places, and has large bipinnate
fronds, often with a panicle of capsules at the top. The rootstock
contains much starch, and has been used in stiffening linen.
Os"na*burg (?), n. A species of coarse linen, originally made in
Osnaburg, Germany.
O"so-ber`ry (?), n. (Bot.) The small, blueblack, drupelike fruit of the
Nuttallia cerasiformis, a shrub of Oregon and California, belonging to
the Cherry tribe of Rosaceæ.
||Os*phra"di*um (?), n.; pl. Osphradia (#). [NL., fr. Gr. &?; strong
||scent, fr. &?; to smell.] (Zoöl.) The olfactory organ of some
||Mollusca. It is connected with the organ of respiration.
{ Os"prey, Os"pray } (?), n. [Through OF. fr. L. ossifraga (orig., the
bone breaker); prob. influenced by oripelargus (mountain stork, a kind
of eagle, Gr. &?;); cf. OF. orpres, and F. orfraie. See Ossifrage.]
(Zoöl.) The fishhawk.
Oss (?), v. i. [See Osse, n.] To prophesy; to presage. [R. & Obs.] R.
Edgeworth.
Osse (?), n. [Gr. &?;.] A prophetic or ominous utterance. [R. & Obs.]
Holland.
Os"se*an (?), n. (Zoöl.) A fish having a bony skeleton; a teleost.
Os"se*in (?), n. [L. os bone.] (Physiol. Chem.) The organic basis of
bone tissue; the residue after removal of the mineral matters from bone
by dilute acid; in embryonic tissue, the substance in which the mineral
salts are deposited to form bone; -- called also ostein. Chemically it
is the same as collagen.
Os"se*let (?), n. [F.] 1. A little bone.