tephromancy (tef romans i)

[Also tephra mancy; Tephrosia (tef-rō'si-ä), n. [NL. (Per so on, 1807), 6238 midrib. The red, purple, or white flowers are conspicuously papilionaceous, with the petals borne on claws, the banner roundish and externally silky, the keel incurved; they form racemes which are often leafy at the base and are terminal, opposite the leaves, or grouped in the upper axils. T. Virgin i an a is locally known as wild sweet - pea from its flowers, and as devil's - shoestrings and catgut from its long, slender, and very tough roots; book-names are hoary pea and goat's rue. Several species yield a dye, as T. tinct or i a, used for indigo at Mysore, and T. A pol line a (for which see Egyptian indigo, under indigo ). Τ. pur in India and T. toxic aria in Surinam are used me dicinally; the latter, under the name Surinam poison, is used in the West Indies and elsewhere to stupefy fish. tepid (tep'id), a. [= OF. tiede = It. tepido, tiepido, L. tepid us, lukewarm, tepid (cf. tepor, heat, Skt. tapas, heat), warm. The naked negro, panting at the Line,... Basks in the glare, or stems the tepid wave. Goldsmith, Traveller, 1. 71. tepidarium (tep-i-dā'ri-um), n.; pl. tepidaria (-). [L., a tepid bath, or the room set apart for it, tepid us, lukewarm, tepid: see tepid.] In the ancient Roman baths, an apartment heated to a certain temperature to prepare the body for the great heat of the hot and vapor baths, or to serve as a palliative to the cold of the frigidarium; also, the boiler in which the water was heated for the hot bath. tepidity (tē-pid'i-ti), n. [F. tépidité = Pr. tepid it at = It. tiepidità, They upbraided the tepidity and infidel basene of the Jer. Taylor, Works (ed. 1835), I. 49. Jewish nation. tepidly (tep'id-li), adv. In a tepid manner; lukewarmly.