aridity

[Eng. arid; -ity. Fr. arid ité; Ital. aridita, ariditade, ariditate; Lat. arid i tas.] 1. Lit. The quality or state of being dry, aridne , dryne , drought; absence of moisture. (Used of soil, a country, of the bodily frame, or even the herbage of a plant, such as that of the genus of rushes termed Xerotes.) "salt, taken in great quantities, uantities, will reduce an animal body to the great extremity of aridity or dryne . -Arbuthnot on Aliments. 2. Fig .: Absence of proper feeling, as if the affections and other emotions had dried up. no sceptical logic or general triviality, insincerity and aridity of any time and its influences, can destroy this noble inborn loyalty and worship that is in man."- Carlyle: Heroes and Hero- Worship , Lect. i.