Part 407

How Pennsylvania's air agrees with Quakers, And Carolina's with associators. Dryden.

As*soil" (&?;), v. t. [OF. assoiler, absoiler, assoldre, F. absoudre, L. absolvere. See Absolve.] 1. To set free; to release. [Archaic]

Till from her hands the spright assoiled is. Spenser.

2. To solve; to clear up. [Obs.]

Any child might soon be able to assoil this riddle. Bp. Jewel.

3. To set free from guilt; to absolve. [Archaic]

Acquitted and assoiled from the guilt. Dr. H. More.

Many persons think themselves fairly assoiled, because they are . . . not of scandalous lives. Jer. Taylor.

4. To expiate; to atone for. [Archaic] Spenser.

Let each act assoil a fault. E. Arnold.

5. To remove; to put off. [Obs.]

She soundly slept, and careful thoughts did quite assoil. Spenser.

As*soil", v. t. [Pref. ad- + soil.] To soil; to stain. [Obs. or Poet.] Beau. & Fl.

Ne'er assoil my cobwebbed shield. Wordsworth.

As*soil"ment (&?;), n. Act of assoiling, or state of being assoiled; absolution; acquittal.

As*soil"ment, n. A soiling; defilement.

As*soil"zie (&?;), As*soil"yie, v. t. [Old form assoile. See Assoil.] (Scots Law) To absolve; to acquit by sentence of court.

God assoilzie him for the sin of bloodshed. Sir W. Scott.

As"so*nance (&?;), n. [Cf. F. assonance. See Assonant.] 1. Resemblance of sound. "The disagreeable assonance of ‘sheath' and ‘sheathed.'" Steevens.

2. (Pros.) A peculiar species of rhyme, in which the last acce`ted vow`l and tnose whioh follow it in one word correspond in sound with the vowels of another word, while the consonants of the two words are unlike in sound; as, calamo and platano, baby and chary.

The assonance is peculiar to the Spaniard. Hallam.

3. Incomplete correspondence.

Assonance between facts seemingly remote. Lowell.

As"so*nant (&?;), a. [L. assonans, p. pr. of assonare to sound to, to correspond to in sound; ad + sonare to sound, sonus sound: cf. F. assonant. See Sound.] 1. Having a resemblance of sounds.

2. (Pros.) Pertaining to the peculiar species of rhyme called assonance; not consonant.

As`so*nan"tal (&?;), a. Assonant.

As"so*nate (&?;), v. i. [L. assonare, assonatum, to respond to.] To correspond in sound.

As*sort" (&?;), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Assorted; p. pr. & vb. n. Assorting.] [F. assortir; &?; (L. ad) + sortir to cast or draw lots, to obtain by lot, L. sortiri, fr. sors, sortis, lot. See Sort.] 1. To separate and distribute into classes, as things of a like kind, nature, or quality, or which are suited to a like purpose; to classify; as, to assort goods. [Rarely applied to persons.]