As"ymp*tote (?; 215), n. [Gr. &?; not falling together; 'a priv. + &?; to fall together; &?; with + &?; to fall. Cf. Symptom.] (Math.) A line which approaches nearer to some curve than assignable distance, but, though infinitely extended, would never meet it. Asymptotes may be straight lines or curves. A rectilinear asymptote may be conceived as a tangent to the curve at an infinite distance.
A*syn"ar*tete` (&?;), a. [Gr. &?; not united, disconnected; 'a priv. + &?; with + &?; to fasten to.] Disconnected; not fitted or adjusted. -- A*syn"ar*tet"ic (&?;), a.
Asynartete verse (Pros.), a verse of two members, having different rhythms; as when the first consists of iambuses and the second of trochees.
As`yn*det"ic (&?;), a. [See Asyndeton.] Characterized by the use of asyndeton; not connected by conjunctions. -- As`yn*det"ic*al*ly, adv.
A*syn"de*ton (&?;), n. [L., fr. Gr. &?;, fr. &?; unconnected; 'a priv. + &?; bound together, fr. &?;; &?; with + &?; to bind.] (Rhet.) A figure which omits the connective; as, I came, I saw, I conquered. It stands opposed to polysyndeton.
A*sys"to*le (&?;), n. [Pref. a- not + systole.] (Physiol.) A weakening or cessation of the contractile power of the heart.
A*sys"to*lism (&?;), n. The state or symptoms characteristic of asystole.
At (&?;), prep. [AS. æt; akin to OHG. az, Goth., OS., & Icel. at, Sw. åt, Dan. & L. ad.] Primarily, this word expresses the relations of presence, nearness in place or time, or direction toward; as, at the ninth hour; at the house; to aim at a mark. It is less definite than in or on; at the house may be in or near the house. From this original import are derived all the various uses of at. It expresses: -
1. A relation of proximity to, or of presence in or on, something; as, at the door; at your shop; at home; at school; at hand; at sea and on land.
2. The relation of some state or condition; as, at war; at peace; at ease; at your service; at fault; at liberty; at risk; at disadvantage.
3. The relation of some employment or action; occupied with; as, at engraving; at husbandry; at play; at work; at meat (eating); except at puns.
4. The relation of a point or position in a series, or of degree, rate, or value; as, with the thermometer at 80°; goods sold at a cheap price; a country estimated at 10,000 square miles; life is short at the longest.
5. The relations of time, age, or order; as, at ten o'clock; at twenty-one; at once; at first.
6. The relations of source, occasion, reason, consequence, or effect; as, at the sight; at this news; merry at anything; at this declaration; at his command; to demand, require, receive, deserve, endure at your hands.
7. Relation of direction toward an object or end; as, look at it; to point at one; to aim at a mark; to throw, strike, shoot, wink, mock, laugh at any one.
At all, At home, At large, At last, At length, At once, etc. See under All, Home, Large, Last (phrase and syn.), Length, Once, etc. -- At it, busily or actively engaged. -- At least. See Least and However. -- At one. See At one, in the Vocabulary.
Syn. -- In, At. When reference to the interior of any place is made prominent in is used. It is used before the names of countries and cities (esp. large cities); as, we live in America, in New York, in the South. At is commonly employed before names of houses, institutions, villages, and small places; as, Milton was educated at Christ's College; money taken in at the Customhouse; I saw him at the jeweler's; we live at Beachville. At may be used before the name of a city when it is regarded as a mere point of locality. "An English king was crowned at Paris." Macaulay. "Jean Jacques Rousseau was born at Geneva, June, 28, 1712." J. Morley. In regard to time, we say at the hour, on the day, in the year; as, at 9 o'clock, on the morning of July 5th, in the year 1775.
At"a*bal (&?;), n. [Sp. atabal, fr. Ar. at-tabl the drum, tabala to beat the drum. Cf. Tymbal.] A kettledrum; a kind of tabor, used by the Moors. Croly.
A*tac"a*mite (&?;), n. [From the desert of Atacama, where found.] (Min.) An oxychloride of copper, usually in emerald-green prismatic crystals.
At`aft"er (&?;), prep. After. [Obs.] Chaucer.
At"a*ghan (&?;), n. See Yataghan.
A*take" (&?;), v. t. To overtake. [Obs.] Chaucer.
At"a*man (&?;), n. [Russ. ataman': cf. Pol. hetman, G. hauptmann headman, chieftain. Cf. Hetman.] A hetman, or chief of the Cossacks.
{ ||At`a*rax"i*a (&?;), At"a*rax`y (&?;), } n. [NL. ataraxia, Gr. 'ataraxi`a; 'a priv. + tarakto`s disturbed, tara`ssein to disturb.] Perfect peace of mind, or calmness.
{ A*taunt" (&?;), A*taunt"o (&?;), } adv. [F. autant as much (as possible).] (Naut.) Fully rigged, as a vessel; with all sails set; set on end or set right.
A*tav"ic (&?;), a. [Cf. F. atavique.] Pertaining to a remote ancestor, or to atavism.
At"a*vism (&?;), n. [L. atavus an ancestor, fr. avus a grandfather.] (a) The recurrence, or a tendency to a recurrence, of the original type of a species in the progeny of its varieties; resemblance to remote rather than to near ancestors; reversion to the original form. (b) (Biol.) The recurrence of any peculiarity or disease of an ancestor in a subsequent generation, after an intermission for a generation or two.
Now and then there occur cases of what physiologists call atavism, or reversion to an ancestral type of character.
J. Fiske
{ ||A*tax"i*a (&?;), At"ax*y (&?;), } n. [NL. ataxia, Gr. &?;, fr. &?; out of order; 'a priv. + &?; ordered, arranged, &?; to put in order: cf. F. ataxie.] 1. Disorder; irregularity. [Obs.] Bp. Hall.
2. (Med.) (a) Irregularity in disease, or in the functions. (b) The state of disorder that characterizes nervous fevers and the nervous condition.
Locomotor ataxia. See Locomotor.
A*tax"ic (&?;), a. [Cf. F. ataxique. See Ataxia.] (Med.) Characterized by ataxy, that is, (a) by great irregularity of functions or symptoms, or (b) by a want of coordinating power in movements.
Ataxic fever, malignant typhus fever. Pinel.
At`a*zir" (&?;), n. [OF., fr. Ar. al- tasr influence.] (Astron.) The influence of a star upon other stars or upon men. [Obs.] Chaucer.
Ate (?; 277), the preterit of Eat.
A"te (&?;), n. [Gr. &?;.] (Greek. Myth.) The goddess of mischievous folly; also, in later poets, the goddess of vengeance.
-ate (&?;). [From the L. suffix -atus, the past participle ending of verbs of the 1st conj.] 1. As an ending of participles or participial adjectives it is equivalent to - ed; as, situate or situated; animate or animated.
2. As the ending of a verb, it means to make, to cause, to act, etc.; as, to propitiate (to make propitious); to animate (to give life to).
3. As a noun suffix, it marks the agent; as, curate, delegate. It also sometimes marks the office or dignity; as, tribunate.
4. In chemistry it is used to denote the salts formed from those acids whose names end -ic (excepting binary or halogen acids); as, sulphate from sulphuric acid, nitrate from nitric acid, etc. It is also used in the case of certain basic salts.
A*tech"nic (&?;), a. [Pref. a- not + technic.] Without technical or artistic knowledge.
Difficult to convey to the atechnic reader.
Etching & Engr.
||At"e*les (&?;), n. [Gr. &?; incomplete; 'a priv. + &?; completion.] (Zoöl.) A genus of American monkeys with prehensile tails, and having the thumb wanting or rudimentary. See Spider monkey, and Coaita.
||A`te*lier" (&?;) n. [F.] A workshop; a studio.
A*tel"lan (&?;), a. [L. Atellanus, fr. Atella, an ancient town of the Osci, in Campania.] Of or pertaining to Atella, in ancient Italy; as, Atellan plays; farcical; ribald. -- n. A farcical drama performed at Atella.
A*thal"a*mous (&?;), a. [Gr. 'a priv. + &?; nuptial bed.] (Bot.) Not furnished with shields or beds for the spores, as the thallus of certain lichens.