delude (delud)

t.; pret. and pp. deluded, ppr. deluding. [ IMG:content-2312.png:[blocks in formation] Whate'er his arts be, wife, I will have thee Delude them with a trick, thy obstinate silence. lead astray. B. Jonson, Devil is an A , i. 3. =Syn. 1. Mislead, Delude (see mislead ); to cozen, dupe, deluder (dē-lūdėr), n. One who deceives or beguiles; an impostor; one who holds out false pretenses. And thus the sweet deluders tune their song. Pope . deluge (del'ūj), n. [ deluge , deluge , deluve , F. déluge = Pr. diluvi = Sp. Pg. It. di luvio , diluvium , a flood, diluere , wash away, di- , dis- , away, + luere , wash. Cf. diluvial .] 1. Any overflowing of water; an inundation; a flood; specifically, the great flood or overflowing of the earth (called the uni versal deluge ) which, according to the account in Genesis, occurred in the days of Noah, or any of the similar floods found in the traditions of most ancient peoples, accompanied by a nearly total destruction of life. See flood . The apostle doth plainly intimate that the old world was subject to perish by a deluge , as this is subject to perish by conflagration. T. Burnet , Theory of the Earth. 2. Anything analogous to an inundation; anything that overwhelms or floods. A fiery deluge fed With ever-burning sulphur unconsumed. Milton , P. L., i. 68. Saw Babylon set wide her two-leav'd bra To let the military deluge pa . Cowper , Expostulation, IMG:content-2313.jpg:[blocks in formation] I'd weep the world to such a strain, That it should deluge once again. Marquis of Montrose , Death of Charles I. delul (de-löl'), n. [Ar.] A female dromedary. Also written deloul . Bedouins bestriding naked-backed Deluls , and clinging like apes to the hairy humps. R. F. Burton, El-Medinah, p. 259. deluvie tection by the subject of it by examination or reasoning. Thus, a mirage, or the momentary belief that a reflection in a mirror is a real object, is an illusion. A delusion is a fixed false mental conception, occasioned by an external object acting upon the senses, but not capable of correction or removal by examination or reasoning. Thus, a fixed belief that an inanimate object is a living person, that all one's friends are conspiring against one, that all food offered is poisoned, and the like, are delusions. A hallucination is a false conception occasioned by internal condition without external cause or aid of the senses, such as imagining that one hears an external voice when there is no sound to suggest such an idea. If a person walking at twilight, seeing a post, should believe it to be a spy pursuing him, and should imagine he saw it move, this would be an illusion; a continuous belief that every person one sees is a spy pursuing one, if such as cannot be removed by evidence, is a delusion; a belief that one sees such spies pursuing, when there is no object in sight capable of suggesting such a thought, is a hallucination. sions ansarily indications of insanitydand not delu popular use an illusion is an unreal appearance presented in any way to the bodily or the mental vision; it is often pleasing, harmle , or even useful. The word delusion expre es strongly the mental condition of the person who puts too great faith in an illusion or any other error: he "labors under a delusion." A delusion is a mental error or deception, and may have regard to things actually existing, as well as to illusions. Delusions are ordinarily repulsive and discreditable, and may even be mischievous. We speak of the illusions of fancy, hope, youth, and the like, but of the delusions of a fanatic or a lunatic. A hallucina tion is the product of an imagination disordered, perhaps beyond the bounds of sanity; a flighty or crazy notion or belief, generally of some degree of permanence; a special aberration of belief as to some specific point: the central suggestion in the word is that of the groundle ne of the belief or opinion. Poetry produces an illusion on the eye of the mind, as a magic lantern produces an illusion on the eye of the Macaulay , Milton. Dreams or illusions , call them what you will, They lift us from the commonplace of life To better things. Long fellow, Michael Angelo. The people never give up their liberties but under some delusion. Burke , Speech at County Meeting in Bucks, 1784. Those other words of delusion and folly, Liberty first and Union afterward. D. Webster, Reply to Hayne. de lunatico inquirendo (dē lū-nat'i-kō in-kwiren'dō). [L., of investigating a lunatic: de, of; lunatico, abl. of lunatic us, a lunatic (see body. lunatic); inquirendo, abl. ger. of inquirere, inquire, question, investigate (see inquire ).] The old title of the writ or commi ion (now commonly called an inquisition ) i ued formerly out of Chancery, and now by various courts, appointing commi ioners to investigate, with the aid of a jury, the mental condition of a person alleged to be of unsound mind, in order that, if found incapable of managing his own affairs, a committee may be appointed to take charge of them, and his dealing with others who might impose upon him be interdicted. delundung (de-lun'dung), n. The native name of the weasel-cat or linsang ( Prionodon gra Delundung, or Linsang ( Prionodon gracilis). cilis ) of Java and Malacca, of the subfamily Prionodontinæ and family Viverrid a. It is one of the civets, but has no scent-pouches. It is beautifully spotted, and has a long cylindrical tail and a slender body. Also delendung .