Enicurus (enikuʻrus)

See Henicurus. enigma (e-nig'ma), n. [Formerly also ænigma (and by contraction, corruptly, egma ); = F. énigme = Sp. Pg. enigma = It. enigma, enimma, A custom was amongst the ancients of proposing an enigma at festivals, and adjudging a reward to him that solved it. Pope . 2. Anything inexplicable to an observer, such as the means by which something is effected, the motive for a course of conduct, the cause of a phenomenon, etc.: as, how it was done is an enigma; his conduct is to me an enigma. enigma Faith itself is but ænigma, a dark representation of God to us, till we come to that state, To see God face to face, and to know as also we are known. Donne , Sermons, xxi. The origin of physical and moral evil: an enigma which the highest human intellects have given up in despair. Macaulay , Sadler's Ref. Refuted. Divested of its colour-charm, attracting le study, the spectrum might still have remained an enigma for another hundred years. O. N. Rood, Modern Chromatics, p. 306. enigmatic, enigmatical (e-nig-mat'ik, -i-kal), [= F. énigmatique = Sp. enigmático = Pg. a. enigmatico = It. enigmatico, enimmatico, Your answer, sir, is enigmatical . Shak ., Much Ado, v. 4. That the prediction of a future judgment should induce a present repentance, that was never an enigmatical , a cloudy doctrine, but manifest to all, in all prophecies of that kind. Donne , Sermons, vi. The mysterious darkne in which the enigmatic prophecies in the Apocalypse concerning antichrist lay involved for many ages. War burton , Rise of Antichrist, Enigmatical canon. See canon1.- Enigmatical cog recondite. nition. See cognition. = Syn. Mysterious, puzzling, dark, enigmatically (e-nig-mat'i-kal-i), adv. In an obscure manner; in a meaning different from that which the words or circumstances commonly indicate. His death also was enigmatically described by the destruction or demolishment of his bodily temple. Barrow , Works, II. xxvii.