addict (adikt)

t. [ addicted ( addicts himself) to meditation, play sure, or intemperance. [Now frequently used in a bad sense.] They have addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints. 1 Cor. xvi. 15. I advise thee ters. to addict thyself to the Study of Let Cotton, tr. of Montaigne (2d ed.), I. 385. 21. To give over or surrender; devote, attach, or a ign; yield up, as to the service, use, or control of: used both of persons and of things. Yours entirely addicted, mad anı. B. Jonson, Cynthia's Revels, iv. 3. The land about is exceedingly addicted to wood. Evelyn , Diary, April 18, 1680. Specifically-3. In Rom . law , to deliver over formally by the sentence of a judge, as a debtor to the service of his creditor. = Syn. 1. Addict , Devote , Apply , accustom. These words, where they approach in meaning, are most used reflexively. Addict and devote are often used in the pa ive. Addict has quite lost the idea of dedication; it is the yielding to impulse, and generally a bad one. Devote retains much of the idea of service or loyalty by vow; hence it is rarely used of that which is evil. Addicted to every form of folly; devoted to hunting, astronomy, philosophy. Apply is neutral morally, and implies industry or a iduity: as, he applied himself to his task, to learning. The Courtiers were all much addicted to Play. Barham, In golds by Legends, II. 7. We should reflect that the earliest intellectual exercise to which a young nation devotes itself is the study of its Maine, Village Communities, p. 380. laws. That we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. Ps. xc. 12. addictt (a-dikt'), a. [L. addict us , pp.: see the verb.] Addicted. If he be addict to vice, Quickly him they will entice. Shak ., Pa . Pil., xxi. addictedne (a-dik'ted-nes), n. The quality or state of being addicted. My former addictedne to make chymical experiments. Boyle .