dictionary

& a. [Fr. dictionnaire; Sp. diction a rio; Ital. dizionnario, from Low Lat. dic tionarium, from Lat. dictio =a saying.] A. As substantive : 1. A word-book; containing the words of any language in' alphabetical order, with their definitions; a vocabulary. In addition to the definition, most dictionaries give also the pronunciation, etymology, and various spellings of each word, and frequently add to these quotations from authors, illustrating the several uses or shades of meaning of each, and giving in some cases engravings or diagrams of the objects defined or described. "Dictionary writing was at that time much in fashion." -Goldsmith: On Polite Learning , ch. iii. 2. A work intended to furnish information on any subject, branch of science, ., under words or heads arranged alphabetically; as, a dictionary of medicine, a dictionary of biography, . B. As adj.: Of or pertaining to a dictionary; contained or given in a dictionary. are "The late dictionary explanations of it mere gue es."-F. J. Furnivall , in Notes and Queries, Nov. 4, 1882. (1) Crabb thus discriminates between diction ary and encyclopædia : "The definition of words, with their various changes, modifications, uses, acceptations, and applications, are the proper subjects of a dictionary ; the nature and property of things, with their construction, uses, powers, ., are the proper subjects of an encyclopædia. A general acquaintance with all arts and sciences as far as respects the use of technical terms, and a perfect acquaintance with the cla ical writers in the language, are e ential for the composition of a dic tionary; an entire acquaintance with all the mi nutie of every art and science is requisite for the ual may qualify himself for the task of writing a composition of encyclopædia . single individ dictionary ; but the universality and diversity of knowledge contained in an encyclopædia render it nece arily the work of many. A dictionary has been extended in its application to any work alphabetically arranged, as biographical, medical, botanical dictionaries , and the like, but still preserving this distinction, that the dictionary always contains only a general or partial illustration of the subject proposed, while the encyclopædia embraces the whole circuit of science." IMG:content-2452.png:[blocks in formation] the woody matter disposed in a compact circle, or washing the fused substance with water, and pre- in wedges containing central cellular ti ue, and cipitating the dicyano-diamidine with cupric sul- often showing medullary proce es. It comprises three orders, Dioscoreacese, or Yam tribe; Smila- ceæ, or the Sarsaparilla family; and Trilliacese, or the Trillium family. dic-ty-og-en-ous, a . [Eng. dictyogen; -ous.] Bot.: Having or presenting the characteristics or features of a Dictyogen; an epithet applied to cer- tain monocotyledonous plants, the leaves of which present a reticulated appearance. phyllon =a leaf.] and Permian. ( Page.) dic-ty-op-ter-a, s . pl . [Gr. diktyon =a fishing net, and ptera , pl. of pteron = Entom.: A sub-order of Orthoptera. It was intro- wing.] resemble the perfect insect. It contains the Blat- arranged as Blatt in a, a tribe of the order Orthop- tide Cockroaches, in some other cla ifications tera. pteris a kind of fern.] lished by Guttier for those forms po e ing the general habit of Neuropteris, but differing from it in having a somewhat radiate-reticulate venation, dic-ty-op-ỹ-ģē, s . [Gr. diktyon =a net, and puge Palæont .: A genus of Ganoid fishes from the Trias- =the anus.] phate, the rose-colored precipitate is decomposed by H2S. The free base is strongly alkaline; its crystals absorb CO2 from the air. It forms crystalline salts. When the sulphate is boiled with exce of baryta-water it evolves ammonia, and the filtered solution on evaporation yields urea. di-çy-a-nide, s. [Pref. di =twice, twofold, and Eng., ., cyanide (q. v.).] Chem.: A compound which contains the radical cyanogen (CN)' twice, the (CN) being united to another element, or dyad radical, as Hg (CN)2, mercuric dicyanide. The prefix di is often omitted in the case of metallic cyanides, the atomicity of the metal indicating the number of (CN) contained in it.