Part 241

5. A skeleton; anything anatomized or dissected, or which has the appearance of being so.

The anatomy of a little child, representing all parts thereof, is accounted a greater rarity than the skeleton of a man in full stature. Fuller.

They brought one Pinch, a hungry, lean-faced villain, A mere anatomy. Shak.

An`a*trep"tic (&?;), a. [overturning, fr. &?; to turn up or over; &?; + &?; too turn.] Overthrowing; defeating; -- applied to Plato's refutative dialogues. Enfield.

||An"a*tron (&?;), n. [F. anatron, natron, Sp. anatron, natron, fr. Ar. al- natrn. See Natron, Niter.] [Obs.] 1. Native carbonate of soda; natron.

2. Glass gall or sandiver.

3. Saltpeter. Coxe. Johnson.

{ A*nat"ro*pal (&?;), A*nat"ro*pous (&?;), } a. [Gr. &?; up + &?; to turn.] (Bot.) Having the ovule inverted at an early period in its development, so that the chalaza is as the apparent apex; -- opposed to orthotropous. Gray.

A*nat"to (&?;), n. Same as Annotto.

An"bur*y (&?;), Am"bur*y (&?;), n. [AS. ampre, ompre, a crooked swelling vein: cf. Prov. E. amper a tumor with inflammation. Cf. the first syllable in agnail, and berry a fruit.] 1. (Far.) A soft tumor or bloody wart on horses or oxen.

2. A disease of the roots of turnips, etc.; -- called also fingers and toes.

-ance. [F. -ance, fr. L. -antia and also fr. - entia.] A suffix signifying action; also, quality or state; as, assistance, resistance, appearance, elegance. See -ancy.

All recently adopted words of this class take either -ance or -ence, according to the Latin spelling.

An"ces*tor (&?;), n. [OE. ancestre, auncestre, also ancessour; the first forms fr. OF. ancestre, F. ancêtre, fr. the L. nom. antessor one who goes before; the last form fr. OF. ancessor, fr. L. acc. antecessorem, fr. antecedere to go before; ante before + cedere to go. See Cede, and cf. Antecessor.] 1. One from whom a person is descended, whether on the father's or mother's side, at any distance of time; a progenitor; a fore father.

2. (Biol.) An earlier type; a progenitor; as, this fossil animal is regarded as the ancestor of the horse.

3. (Law) One from whom an estate has descended; -- the correlative of heir.

An`ces*to"ri*al (&?;), a. Ancestral. Grote.

An`ces*to"ri*al*ly, adv. With regard to ancestors.

An*ces"tral (?; 277), a. Of, pertaining to, derived from, or possessed by, an ancestor or ancestors; as, an ancestral estate. "Ancestral trees." Hemans.

An"ces*tress (&?;), n. A female ancestor.

An"ces*try (&?;), n. [Cf. OF. ancesserie. See Ancestor.] 1. Condition as to ancestors; ancestral lineage; hence, birth or honorable descent.

Title and ancestry render a good man more illustrious, but an ill one more contemptible. Addison.

2. A series of ancestors or progenitors; lineage, or those who compose the line of natural descent.

An"chor ("kr), n. [OE. anker, AS. ancor, oncer, L. ancora, sometimes spelt anchora, fr. Gr. 'a`gkyra, akin to E. angle: cf. F. ancre. See Angle, n.] 1. A iron instrument which is attached to a ship by a cable (rope or chain), and which, being cast overboard, lays hold of the earth by a fluke or hook and thus retains the ship in a particular station.

The common anchor consists of a straight bar called a shank, having at one end a transverse bar called a stock, above which is a ring for the cable, and at the other end the crown, from which branch out two or more arms with flukes, forming with the shank a suitable angle to enter the ground.

Formerly the largest and strongest anchor was the sheet anchor (hence, Fig., best hope or last refuge), called also waist anchor. Now the bower and the sheet anchor are usually alike. Then came the best bower and the small bower (so called from being carried on the bows). The stream anchor is one fourth the weight of the bower anchor. Kedges or kedge anchors are light anchors used in warping.

2. Any instrument or contrivance serving a purpose like that of a ship's anchor, as an arrangement of timber to hold a dam fast; a contrivance to hold the end of a bridge cable, or other similar part; a contrivance used by founders to hold the core of a mold in place.

3. Fig.: That which gives stability or security; that on which we place dependence for safety.