Almah

[A Heb. word derived from a root signifying to conceal.] ( Holy Scrip.) Almah signifies properly a virgin; the authors of the books of the Maccabees, and Ecclesiastes, speaking of the young unmarried women, give them the epithets, kept in-secluded hidden, to distinguish them from married women, who occasionally appear in public. St. Jerome establishes a distinction between Bethula, a young woman, and Al mah, a virgin, in that the latter is one who has never been seen by men. This is its proper signification in the Punic or Phoenician language, which is the same as the Hebrew. In this sense it occurs in the famous pa age of Isaiah vii. 16: "Behold, a virgin ( alman ) that conceived and bare a son." The Hebrew has no term that more properly signifies a virgin than almah; but it must be remarked that sometimes, by mistake for instance, a young woman, whether truly a virgin or not, is called almah. In like manner, in Latin, the name of virgo is sometimes given to a young woman who has not, strictly speaking, her virginity on the frontier it has always been deemed a military post of great importance. It was taken in 1762 by the Spaniards, and in 1810 by the French, who abandoned it in the following year, after blowing up the fortifica- tions. Pop . 6,850. Alme'na, n. [Ar. mana , or mend .] A weight of about 400 pounds in India. Alme'na, in Michigan , a post-township of Van Buren co., 50 m. S. by W. of Grand Rapids. Almendralejo, a town of Spain, prov. Estremadura, 28 m. from Badajos. A considerable number of horses, mules, goats, and sheep, are raised in the neighborhood. Almeria, a prov. of Spain, in And alus i a, mountainous, but fertile; area , 3,906 sq. n.; pop . 338,649. ALME'RIA, cap. of the above prov.; near the mouth of the river and at the bottom of the gulf of the same name. Lat. 36° 50′ N.; lon. 2° 32′ W.- Exp . principally barilla, lead and esparto. A. at the time of the Moors, was next to Granada, their richest city. The gulf runs 10 m. inland, and is 25 m. wide at its entrance. Pop . 40,000, Almeria, a town of Mexico, prov. of Vera Cruz. Lat. 20° 18' N.; lon. 97° 30′ W. Almanac, n. [Fr. almanach, from Sp. almanaque , probably derived from the Ar. al , the, and mana or man ah , a reckoning.] An A. or calendar , in the mod- ern sense of the word, is an annual publication, giving the civil divisions of the year, the movable and other feasts, and the times of the various astronomical phe- nomena, and such information relative to the weather as observation has hitherto furnished. The agricul- tural, political, and statistical information which is usually contained in popular almanacs, though as valu- able a part of the work as any, is comparatively of modern date. The Greeks preserved the chronology by Almight'ily, adv . With almighty power. the monthly course of the moon; which, after many Almightine , n. Unlimited power; omnipotence. inventions, they reconciled to the annual course of the Almight'y, a. [From all and mighty.] Of unlimited sun, and had doubtle their calendar. According to Porphyry, almanacs were known to the Egyptians be- fore the Arabs; and predictions of events were annexed to the month. The Romans had calendars containing names of feasts, lucky and unlucky days, customs in busbandry, . - Almanacs were used by the ancient northern nations in their computations of time. They were introduced into England by the Danes. The first A. printed was in 1457. Muller, or Regiomontanus, published the first that contained, eclipses, about 1475, at Nuremberg. The first A. printed in Pennsylvania, and we believe in North America, was i ued from the pre of William Bradford, near Philadelphia in 1665. Alman'da, in Mi ouri , a village of Crawford co., about 23 m. E.N.E. of Rolla. "The Lord said unto Abraham, I am the Almighty God."- Gen. xvii. 1. Al'mo. ( Anc . Geog .) A small river near Rome, falling into the Tiber, in which the statue of Cybele was annu- ally washed on the 25th of March. It is now called Acqua Santa . Almodovar del Cam'po, a town of Spain, prov. of La Mancha, 18 m. from Ciudad Real; pop . about 6,000. Almog'ia, a town of Spain in Granada; pop . 4,500. Almohades, or Almo'hedes, termed by Gibbon the fanatic princes of Morocco, a Mohammedan dynasty, that grew out of a religious sect formed by Mohammed Ben Abdallah, surnamed El Mehedi, the guide, or teacher. His succe or. Abdelmumen, captured Morocco in 1120, and established the dynasty of the Almohades in Africa. The next year he invaded Spain, won several battles, and established the dynasty in part of that country, and of Portugal. - The A. ceased to rule in Europe in 1237, and in Africa in 1270. Almon'bury, or ALMOND'BURY, a parish of England, W. Riding of Yorkshire. Manf . of woollens and cottons. Haddersfield, (q. v.) has so increased that now the parish of A. includes a part of that important city. Al'mond, n. [Fr. amande.] ( Bot .) The fruit of the Amygdal us communis .-See AMYGDAL US. (Anat.) One of the two glands, called tonsils, which are at the base of the tongue. Al'mond, in Alabama , a village of Randolph co. Al'mond, in New York , a post-township of Alleghany co., on the Can is to River, -In the above township, a village on the N. Y. and Erie Railroad, 123 m. E. of Dunkirk. Al'mond, in Wisconsin , a post-village and township of Portage co., about 58. miles north-west of Fond du Al'mond, or ALMON, two rivers of Scotland, one of which enters the Frith of Forth at Cramond, 5 m. N. W. of Edinburgh; the other rises in the Grampian hills, and enters the Frith of Tay. Neither is of great extent. Al'mond Grove, in Texas , a post-office of Red River Al'mond-tree, n . ( Bot . ) The Amygdal us communis.- See AMYGDAL US. Alman'zor, or Al-mansur, ABU-MOHAMMED. One of the most famous captains of his age; B. in And alus i a, about A. D. 939. On the death of Al-Hakem II., caliph of Al'mond-willow, n . ( Bot . ) The Salix amygdalin a.- Cordova, he was appointed guardian of the infant caliph, and was virtually absolute sovereign for 23 years. He Al'mond-worts, n . pl. ( Bot .) The English name of was continually engaged in war. and though he under- took over 50 expeditions against the Christian princes of Spain, he was only once defeated. He appeared to be on the point of becoming master of all Spain, when the kings of Leon and Navarre, and the Count of Castile, combined against him, and totally defeated him at the great battle of Calatanazor, A. D. 998. The chagrin he experienced at his first personal defeat caused his death in 1002. A. was distinguished as the patron of letters, arts, and sciences. Alman'zor, or ALMANSUR II., JACOB, caliph of the Al- mohades, and the greatest prince of that dynasty, suc- ceeded his father Joseph on the throne of North Africa and Mohammedan Spain, in 1184. He gained in 1195, over Alfonso III., king of Castile, the memorable victory of Alarcos. D. 1199. Almeida, FRANCISCO DE, appointed, in 1505, the first Portuguese viceroy of India. His government of the colo- nies was firm and wise. When Albuquerque was sent out to supersede him, A. resisted and imprisoned him; but after a few months released him, resigned his vice- royalty, and embarked for Portugal. He was killed on his return in a quarrel with the natives of the Cape, in 1510.-A., LORENZO, his son, was also an enterprising commander and navigator, and distinguished himself by many expeditions in the Indian seas. D. 1508. Almeida, or ALMEDA, in Mi ouri , a post-village of Newton co., about 50 m. W.S.W. of Springfield. Almei'da, a fortified town of Portugal, prov. of Beira, 24 m. W. by N. of Ciudad Rodrigo. From its position Al'moner, n. [Fr. aumônier.] An officer whose duty is to distribute alms. In former times every sovereign, prince, noble, man of high estate, abbey or monastery, had his, or its, A. -The Lord High Almoner of England is an ecclesiastical officer whose duties, enunciated in an old judicial treatise of the time of Edward I., were to collect the fragments from the royal table for daily distribution to the poor, to visit the sick and poor persons in distre , to remind the king of the duty of almsgiving, and to see that the value of the cast-off robes should be given to increase the king's charity. Since 1730, the office of Lord High A. has been held by the archbishops of York. In France, the great A. of the kings of France was ever the highest ecclesiastical dignitary in that kingdom. The office has been restored by Napoleon III., who has also several A. performing the duties of ordinary priests in the chapels of the imperial palaces. The term of A. is generally applied to priests who have charge of hospitals or prisons. Al'monry, n . [Fr. aumônerie , from Lat. almonarium .] A room or place whence alms are distributed to the poor. ( Arch .) İn monastic establishments, the A. was gener- ally a stone building near the church. In some abbeys, it was removed to the gate-house, for keeping beggars from the refectory door. Almont, in Michigan , a township of Lapcer co. this township, a post-vill., 50 m. N. of Detroit. Almon'te, a vill. of co. Lanark, Ont. Almo'ra, a town of Hindostan, cap. of the British district of Kumaon, 90 m. N. by E. of Bareilly. Lat. 29° 35' N.; Lon. 79° 40′ E. The surrounding country is bleak and naked. A. stands on a ridge, 5,337 feet above the level of the sea, and is compactly built. Almuné'car, a seaport town of Spain, prov. of Gra- nada, 41 m. S. of Granada. The anchorage is only fit for small ve els. Pup . 5,400. Al'na, in Maine , a post-township of Lincoln co., on the Sheep scot river, 20 m. S.S E. of August a. Al'nage, n . [O. Fr. aulnage ; N. Fr. aunage .] Ell-me as- ure; measure by the ell. IMG:content-0145.jpg:[graphic][merged small][merged small] The American Dictionary and Cyclopedia "Come, then, my friend, my genius, come along, Thou master of the poet and the song." - Pope. by the action of nitric acid, be made to yield various - Forward; onward. compounds, which admit of being fixed by means of mordants upon silken and woollen fabrics, to which they impart red dyes of great durability and beauty. See ALOIN, and CHRYSAMMIC ACID. Along of, denotes owing to, or on account of; as in Shakspeare, when the mayor was willing to have the troops come in, "so 'twere not ' long of him;" i. e. not owing to his leave. So too, in the London "Punch," "This increase of price is all along of the foreigners." All along , the whole way, distance, or length; -pros trate. (Naut.) Alongside , side by side. - Along -shore, by the shore or coast; lengthwise, and near the shore. Fig . 91.-GROUP OF ALOES. Al'oes-wood. See AGALLOCHUM. Aloet'ic, Aloetical, a . [Fr. aloétique.] Consisting chiefly of aloe; belonging to or extracted from aloe or aloes.