3. (Physics) An attachment to a microscope, telescope, or other optical instrument, for making the image erect instead of inverted.
Ere`long" (?; 115), adv. Before the &?;apse of a long time; soon; -- usually separated, ere long.
A man, . . . following the stag, erelong slew him.
Spenser.
The world, erelong, a world of tears must weep.
Milton.
||Er`e*ma*cau"sis (?), n. [NL., fr. Gr. &?; quietly + &?; burning, fr. &?; to burn.] A gradual oxidation from exposure to air and moisture, as in the decay of old trees or of dead animals.
Er"e*mit*age (?), n. See Hermitage.
Er"e*mite (?), n. [See Hermit.] A hermit.
Thou art my heaven, and I thy eremite.
Keats.
{ Er`e*mit"ic (?), Er`e*mit"ic*al (?), } a. Of or pertaining to an eremite; hermitical; living in solitude. "An eremitical life in the woods." Fuller. "The eremitic instinct." Lowell.
Er"e*mi`tish (?), a. Eremitic. Bp. Hall.
Er"e*mit*ism (?), n. The state of a hermit; a living in seclusion from social life.
E`rep*ta"tion (?), n. [L. erepere to creep out; e out + repere to creep.] A creeping forth. [Obs.]
E*rep"tion (?), n. [L. ereptio, fr. eripere to snatch away; e out + rapere to snatch.] A snatching away. [Obs.] Cockeram.
Er"e*thism (?), n. [Gr. &?; irritation, fr. &?; to stir, rouse, fr. &?; to stir: cf. F. éréthisme.] (Med.) A morbid degree of excitement or irritation in an organ. Hoblyn.
Er`e*this"tic (?), a. [Gr. &?; irritating.] Relating to erethism.
{ Ere`while" (?), Ere`whiles" (?), } adv. Some time ago; a little while before; heretofore. [Archaic]